crankyHorseshit and hogwash. They weren't ignoring the rule of law. They were upholding it. Octavio Sánchez, a lawyer and a former presidential adviser (2002-05) and minister of culture (2005-06) of the Republic of Honduras, explains in this Christian Science Monitor column that, by insisting on his referendum, former President Zelaya removed himself from office immediately, with no impeachment required:
Our Constitution takes such intent seriously. According to Article 239: "No citizen who has already served as head of the Executive Branch can be President or Vice-President. Whoever violates this law or proposes its reform [emphasis added], as well as those that support such violation directly or indirectly, will immediately cease in their functions and will be unable to hold any public office for a period of 10 years."
Notice that the article speaks about intent and that it also says "immediately" – as in "instant," as in "no trial required," as in "no impeachment needed."
Zelaya got a mob together to force the military to turn over the ballots to be used to hold his referendum. By doing so, he demonstrated that he was not willing to follow the Honduran Constitution. The Supreme Court and legislature agreed that he'd forfeited his office, and mandated his replacement.
The change in power in Honduras was a proper, legal response to an unconstitutional abuse of power. Obama and Clinton show their true colors in siding with Chavez and Castro against it. For all of the screaming about interfering in other governments' internal affairs, we sure are doing a lot of it in this case.
