All of us in Wonderland

Have you ever felt that you have fallen down the rabbit hole along with Alice? What is going on today? Important elections are being held around the country and especially in New Jersey, Virginia and New York. The White House and the liberal press are saying that when the Conservatives win in the important races it doesn’t mean that President Obama is losing support, it just means there is a rift forming in the Republican Party between the conservative and moderate Republicans. The same people that are saying this were saying a just year ago that the Conservative movement was dead. They are also the same people that are saying that most Americans want a health care reform bill no matter the cost, the stimulus money is working, and it is not important that the only U.S. car manufacturer not to take bail out money - Ford - is the only manufacturer that is showing a profit. President Obama is indecisive on what to do in Afghanistan, believes Iran and North Korea can be reasoned with, and that Ex-Honduran President Zelaya should be put back in office.

But I don’t want to talk about the elections today. I don’t want to talk about the health care bills that may just cost Nancy Pelosi her re-election next year or at the very least her job as Speaker of the House. I won’t talk today about Ford or GM or Chrysler, and I also won’t talk about Afghanistan, North Korea and Iran.

I want to talk about Honduras because it is a very good example of President Obama’s practicing his version of foreign policy, and what he thinks his place in the world actually is.

Here is the sequence of events as President Zelaya of Honduras was Constitutionally removed from office by the Honduran government:

Since 1981 Honduras has considered itself a friend of the United States. In the '80s, it allowed the Nicaraguan Resistance or "Contras" to operate from base camps there. It lent troops for Operation Iraqi Freedom and continues to support a small U.S. military presence on Honduran soil. Economic ties are strong.

On June 28, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was expelled from the country for multiple constitutional violations. The U.S. quickly joined an international chorus deploring the expulsion, denouncing as a military coup what the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress called for a defense of their constitution and rule of law.

The new Honduran government says it wants to end polarization, restore order, and move to elections in November, but the international community demands Zelaya's restoration to power.
The U.S. under the leadership of President Obama, finds itself running with a dangerous crowd -- one whose agenda is not necessarily dedicated to defending democracy.

Begin with ex-President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya – who won election in 2005. Formerly a centrist, this morphed into a disciple of leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. His popularity plunged over the next three years, with rising crime, poverty and recession. Honduran presidents are limited to one four-year term. Nonetheless, Zelaya launched an unconstitutional re-election bid that caused his removal by the government.

In backing Zelaya to the hilt, Venezuela's elective-dictator Hugo Chavez has pitched the crisis to its current level. Chavez is no champion of democracy -- at home or abroad. Since pushing through a referendum that removed Venezuela's presidential term limits, Chavez has unleashed a ferocious campaign against the domestic opposition, elected officials, and political and economic liberty.

Two weeks ago when the Iranian people rose in protest against electoral fraud, Chavez unswervingly aligned with the repressive Ayatollahs, dismissing the massive outpouring of protest as a CIA plot.

Then there's Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, arguably the least democratic president in Latin America. Thanks to a pact with another corrupt Nicaraguan president, a constitutional change that allowed him to win office with 37% of the vote, and stolen municipal elections in November 2008, Ortega still claims a seat at the ‘democracy’ table. Ortega undoubtedly harbors a festering vendetta against pro-American Honduras. A relic of the '80s Sandinista regime, Ortega sees this crisis as pay-back time for Honduras' sins of supporting the Contras.

Another dutiful friend of Zelaya is United Nations General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto Brockman. Formerly Ortega's foreign minister during the Sandinista era. Excellency Mr. D'Escoto has duly denounced the coup and volunteered to accompany Zelaya when he returns to Honduras.

Also flying democratic colors is Cuban dictator Raul Castro, leader of a country without a free election since 1949. On June 29 Fidel's younger brother lashed out at the "the fascists" in Honduras who had the audacity to "trample on the political rights of Hondurans." Castro's Cuba holds over 200 political prisoners, denies freedom of speech, and preserves a state security system to defend its totalitarian regime.

Finally, another senior hemispheric leader dead set against the "illegal" Honduran regime is Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Miguel Insulza. Propping up Zelaya in Honduras can only advance his efforts to bring Communist Cuba into the OAS.These ‘friends’ of Zelaya have one goal – to dismantle political opposition, dismantle free media, and dismantle civil society.

These are the people that President Obama has aligned himself with. What could possibly be the attraction?