HONDURAS

PUBLISHED IN THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINAL ON JULY 31, 2009
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Obama's lack of will

I must live in a morally inverted parallel universe from that of Gary Grass and Babette Grunow ("Support democracy in Honduras," July 17).

While they criticize President Barack Obama for not sufficiently supporting ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, I never thought that I would see an American president stand with the likes of Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro against those who would protect their fragile democracy against would-be dictators such as Zelaya and the tide of leftist anti-American regimes that are sweeping Latin America.

These forces are being abetted by the mainstream media, who describe the ouster of Zelaya (in response to his attempt to circumvent the constitutional ban on serving more than one term) as a "military coup." What kind of military coup results in the constitutional removal of a president by the Supreme Court, backed by Congress, succeeded by a member of his own party, without any military personnel winding up in power?

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised about the president's actions when he also 1) refuses to back the Iranian protesters against their tyrannical theocracy; 2) supports the Russians at the expense of Poles, Czechs and Georgians; 3) puts the onus on Israel rather than on those who desire to eliminate it; and 4) picks on sub-Saharan Africans for corruption and human rights violations while ignoring, in his Cairo speech, the brutal oppression of Arab states against their own people.

I suppose I can't be shocked when a president who has promised to "transform" America attempts to do just that to fundamental American values and principles.

Jim Beer