I don't know; there is something about Honduran President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya being seized from his home, still in his pajamas, that is reminiscent of some science fiction/fantasy dystopian satirical film. Terry Gilliam's Brazil comes to mind.
And the fact that Manuel Zelaya's...er..."replacement," Roberto Micheletti, who was flown in with a military helicopter, did enter the Presidential Palace on Monday, not through the main doorway but through the rooftop, adds to the surreality of the whole.
But then, reality IS stranger than fiction.
And sometimes, it is the other way around:
Spontaneous outburst in Miami in protest to a recount ofthe Miami-Dade ballots, November 22, 2000
Spontaneous outburst in Tegucigalpa, in support of Micheletti,and in protest to an eventual return of "Mel" Zelaya, June 30, 2009
It is certainly true that "reality can be stranger than fiction." I mean if you just take a good look at the years between 2000 and 2008 in the United States you will find a most horrifying reality, doubtless one that children will find hard to believe in the years to come.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and the "adults" are still defending the escapades of the last 8 years.
ReplyDeleteThis recording was made on a phone camera by Zelaya supporter Oscar Baron and made available to CNN.
ReplyDeleteThe video shows a line of buses stopped on a road in what is reported to be the city of Limones. The city is about 70 miles (112 kilometers) northeast of the capital, Tegucigalpa.
A noisy, chaotic crowd is milling around the buses while soldiers move among them. Some slight pushing can be seen.
"The people united can never be defeated," many crowd members chant in unison.
Gunfire is heard and the people united grow quieter. More shots are heard and then the video shows soldiers shooting out the tires on a yellow bus. Air hissing from a tire can be heard and the video shows a flattened tire.
Honduran military officials said they were unaware of any such incidents.
Soldiers firing their automatic rifles on a crowd of protesters, killing at least one person, was the bloody peak of a day on Sunday that mixed the tragic with the surreal as a plane carrying the ousted President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, and United Nations President Miguel d’Escoto, was trying to land into Tegucigalpa to the cheers of the demonstrators who had gathered around the airport. The clashes erupted as the ousted president’s aircraft was blocked from landing and directed to El Salvador, according to the interim government’s aviation agency. At least one protester was killed and eight people were injured, rescue officials said.
ReplyDeleteOur "infotainment" news media hasn't been too interested in any of this over the past several days. Not with Michael Jackson's death.
ReplyDeleteThey even gave more time to some pitch-man who also recently died, a guy who must have learned his trade hawking used cars. You know, by screaming, jumping, waving his arms.
They really know their priorities, the corporate "infotainment" media does. And who truly matters. Even Ed Schultz, surely taking his orders from the suits on high, devoted the lead of his show to Michael Jackson's death.
It's not as if Jackson's death doesn't matter..... but, well, you know.
This goes to show you; everything is relative, I guess.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe the media used-up all its outrage on Iran and had none left to spare over Honduras. Who knows?
I wonder what the media would make of it, if anything like this were to happen here.
Just imagine . . .
BACK TO THE FUTURE IV: Washington, January 2007:
Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership order the arrest and rendition of President Bush to Mexico using loyalists to the Dem leadership in the US military to accomplish this process. Pelosi and the Dems then quickly assemble enough of a majority to vote on a hastily written bill of sorts. The vote declares that Bush is no longer president and that Nancy Pelosi is now the POTUS.
A resignation letter alleged to have been written by Bush is provided to the compliant media. Yet Bush, who is by now in Mexico, denies ever having written a resignation letter or resigning. Pelosi, Justice Stevens, and SecDef Robert Gates all tell you this is legal.
Quite an interesting thread, at-Largely, about this exercise in politics-fiction.
Still, as entertaining as this may be, reality has a way of remaining stranger than fiction:
- Doc Brown: Tell me, Future Boy, who's President of the United States in 1985?
- Marty: Ronald Reagan.
- Doc Brown: Ronald Reagan? The actor? Then who's vice-president, Jerry Lewis? I suppose Jane Wyman is the First Lady? And Jack Benny is Secretary of the Treasury!
Hillary Clinton's real scandal is Honduras, not Benghazi.
ReplyDeleteMore here.
And here.