Amateur hour in Honduras

The President and his Secretary of State have made some bonehead moves but this one boggles the mind. When Honduras President Zelaya violated the law in his country, making moves that are more than reminiscent of Hugo Chavez's takeover of Venezuela, he lost the support of his party, the Catholic Church, the judiciary and a significant percentage of the public. The military escorted him out of the country in order to preserve the rule of law. Astonishingly the US administration backed Mr. Zelaya rather than the rule of law. They're playing with fire.

Honduras is a strong democratic ally of the US in Central America, something we don't have in surplus. Since his removal Mr. Zelaya has demonstrated that he's all but batshit crazy, ranting from his Brazilian lair.

It's been 89 days since Manuel Zelaya was booted from power. He's sleeping on chairs, and he claims his throat is sore from toxic gases and "Israeli mercenaries'' are torturing him with high-frequency radiation.

 Zelaya rants from the security of the Brazilian Embassy while his followers wreak havoc on the streets.

After several weeks of relative peace and calm in Honduras − and no curfews, despite what the international media consistently misreports − former president Mel Zelaya returned to Honduras Monday and instigated violence again.

Virtually every private car in the area of the Brazilian Embassy where Zelaya is hiding was damaged by breaking out some or all of the windows and ruining the tires. Ironically, Mel Zelaya's own mother's car was parked on the street and was likewise vandalized.

Private homes in the area were broken into and robbed. Citizens were assaulted. Death threats were sprayed unto neighbors' walls. Mountains of trash were strewn in the streets.

At least one woman's house was completely ransacked, robbed, and her two employees were terrorized. The Zelayistas smoked marijuana as they destroyed and smashed everything in her house up to and including the ceilings, doors, and windows − the video of her home shown on the news was horrifying. Other neighbors were terrorized, assaulted, threatened with rape, and forced to prepare food by the rioters while they were being robbed. Numerous citizens called the police about home invasions.

Despite this the US has continued to back Mr. Zelaya insisting that he be reinstated. Since then our brilliant leadership has cut off aid, denied visas to Honduras' independent judiciary, threated their assets and threatened to refuse to recognize elections scheduled for later this year. How astonishing this must seem to the average Honduran citizen who would have thought the US would have been supportive of our ally as they enforced their laws.

The Obama administration is backing the Hugo Chavez's leftist ally Zelaya at the expense of democratic rule in Honduras. It's enough to make you shake your head and wonder just what exactly is the underlying political philosophy that drives this administration and how will this manifest itself in our lives?