Although the
Obama administration condemned the coup against Honduran President
Zelaya, its overall response has been quite anemic.  The
Honduran coup people have resisted all efforts at genuine mediation
and seem to be playing a waiting game hoping to drag things out
until the scheduled Honduran election or until everyone goes to
sleep.
The failure of the Obama administration
to take strong and decisive action against the coup and the willingness
of many people in the mainstream USA
to buy into the anti-Zelaya propaganda has been most disturbing.
The lies that have been perpetrated against Zelaya, to the effect
that he was seeking to unconstitutionally extend his term, were
used by right-wingers in the USA
in order to justify the coup. The facts have been distorted. There
was no such effort. But, for the sake of argument, what if he were
attempting to move an electoral initiative to extend his term in
office? New York City Mayor Bloomberg pushed through a successful
effort to permit him to run for an unprecedented third term. The
last time that i checked, the tanks were not rolling through the
streets of New York in order to unseat the ambitious Mayor.
What is more unsettling is that
the US Right has made Honduras a cause celebre.
A Republican delegation went to visit the coup leaders within the
last few weeks, despite or perhaps because of the Obama administration’s
stand against the coup. In fact, the Republicans are flaunting their
opposition to the Obama administration’s weak condemnation of the
illegal ouster.
You can call me paranoid, however,
there is a separate concern that i have been having. In the USA
a segment of the extreme Right has been going out of its way to
suggest that Obama is not the legitimate President of the USA.
This is quite a bit different from what progressives faced in 2000
when, in fact, George W. Bush was selected as President by the US
Supreme Court (and was NOT legitimate). Right-wing extremists are
suggesting that because Obama is--according to them--not really
a citizen of the USA and because he is allegedly threatening the
US Constitution (through efforts such as healthcare reform and the
economic stimulus), he should not be treated as the Commander in
Chief. There are, in fact, right-wing groups that are organizing
among the US
military and police services in order to create a cadre of people
who are supposedly loyal to the Constitution and will take action
against alleged threats. President Obama is targeted as an alleged
threat by them.
 The
failure of the Obama administration to take a strong stand against
the illegal ouster of a legitimately elected President of Honduras
says, in effect, that democracy is relative. That is, democracy
is relative to what the USA
says democracy should be. This is not a new notion, of course. This
has been the consistent stand of the USA
since its beginning. Yet in the current situation the message that
it is permissible to take out a standing and legitimately elected
president can give a green light to those who believe that this
can and should be applied here at home.
In the early 1960s, France
still occupied Algeria.
Then President Charles De Gaulle, recognizing that France
could not hold onto Algeria
due to the massive support that the national liberation movement
received from the Algerian people, began negotiations to grant independence.
A segment of the French political Right, including elements of the
French military, were infuriated and began to organize. In 1961
they carried out a failed mutiny in Algeria that they hoped would spread to France. They then began underground
operations and created the Organisation de l’Armee Secrete (the
OAS, or Secret Army Organization). The OAS began a
campaign of terror in France and Algeria and, while ultimately destroyed, sought
to overthrow De Gaulle who they deemed to be illegitimate and a
traitor.
When the Obama administration
tolerates a coup, as they are doing with Honduras
- despite their fancy rhetoric – they, in fact, legitimize the notion
that elections can be disregarded. Zelaya was chosen by the Honduran
people. Those segments of the Honduran government that moved against
him, chose not to await the next elections but instead to take steps
that are not being recognized by any nation in the Western Hemisphere. Yet the Obama administration, the Administration
of the one country that could bring the Honduran coup people to
their knees, has refused to move firmly and with conviction.
The political Right in the USA smells blood. In fact, they are stirring up
a situation in order to not only undermine the credibility of the
Obama administration but to also make it impossible for them to
reliably govern. If the USA
is willing to permit one coup to take place due to alleged constitutional
questions, then why would matters stop at the border of Honduras? Why should not the
political Right create the same sort of crisis here at home?
If for no other reason than
the survival of his Administration, it is in the interests of President
Obama to ensure that the Honduran coup people go packing.
BlackCommentator.com
Executive Editor, Bill Fletcher, Jr., is a Senior Scholar with the
Institute for Policy Studies,
the immediate past president of
TransAfrica Forum
and co-author of, Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path
toward Social Justice  (University
of California Press), which examines the crisis of organized labor
in the USA. Click here
to contact Mr. Fletcher.
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