Michael Jackson, who appeared at 1 )Bill Clinton´s inauguration 2) Bill Clinton is married to Hillary Clinton 3) Hillary Clinton the Secretary of State of the US, attended the 4) OAS Summit in San Pedro Sula, Honduras 5) Where she met EX-PRESIDENT, NOTE : EX PRESIDENT ZELAYA

Let's not forget that Barack Obama has met Hugo Chavez earlier this year, which cuts down one degree of separation.

I can see only one degree: In the same week, the MIchael Jackson death coverage was the most covered news item, and the Hoduras Zelaya coup was the least covered (if at all) by CNN in english. The coverage of the events is inversely proportional to their importance.

Keep America ignorant about the world, yeah.

so sad that the perils our country is going through can be a little game for you......hope you have your fun when you end up with another communist in your back yard.

Chavez created a direct link between Jackson and Zelaya, he criticized CNN for spending more time covering Jackson's death than Zelaya's destitution, link here:
http://espanol.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090626/noticias-entretenimiento/espectaculos_medios_chavez_cnn

Michael Jackson (1)
Knew Bill Clinton (2)
Who knows the president of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernandez (3)
Who went to Nicaragua, where Zelaya was meeting with Caribbean leaders (4)
To discuss how they were going to get him back into Honduras.(5)

mel zelaya is from Honduras the home of Dr Sebt who treated Micheal Jackson for his health

mel zelaya is from Honduras the home of Dr Sebi *famous for curing HIV who treated Micheal Jackson for his health.

I knew it! It was the CIA and the great satan who killed MJ!

Bubbles MJ's main chimp is from Honduras and is a long standing broker in Honduran politics. Bubbles was so upset at MJ's death that he took his anger out on the sitting Honduran president and order the party by phone to rebell.

Michael Jackson (1) danced in a video with Naomi Campbell (2), who has shared the runway with supermodel Cindy Crawford (3), who was married to Richard Gere (4), who is a friend and supporter of the Dalai Lama (5), who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and has met with Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias (6), who welcomed President Zelaya (7) in his country on the day of the coup.

I dont want to play this game. I just woul like to say that CNN should be more imparcial in his coverage about the Zelaya`s overthrow, instead of support clearly the Roberto Micheletti government. We`ve lived a dicatorship in South America for 30 years, so we know exactely what is going on in Honduras. We thought this cancer had been removed from latin america. But we were wrong.

Don't people have anything better to do than thinking about games like this?

Manuel Zelaya -> Political ally of Hugo Chavez
Hugo Chavez -–> Has befriended Sean Penn. They share political views and Penn has been invited to Venezuela several times
Sean Penn ->Ex husband of Madonna
Madonna --> Has had Janet Jackson as Long Time arch-rival. Madonna made ironic comments on Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunctioning"
Janet Jackson --> Sister of Michel Jackson

Wow... This is as ignorant as things can possibly get. I can't believe I actually spent 2 minutes of my life reading this lame article... I thought it was something else more interesting.... Did you ran out of ideas? Go back to the drawing board, and get a "First" degree of innovation before you move on to the "Sixth"...

Michael Jackson (1) was very close to Diana Ross (2) who’s been interviewd by Larry King (3) who’s interviewd Barrack Obama (4) who met Jose Miguel Insulza (5) -president of the OAS- who supports Manuel Zelaya (6)...

It is hard to believe that space was dedicated to this

Obviously, by this blog, CNN has too many people on their payroll.

How stupid!

Michael Jackson (1) was interviewed by Barbara Walters (2) who has also interviewed Hugo Chavez (3) whose support of J. M. Zelaya (4) was widely publicized in the recent Honduran coup!

good one.

someone had too much "friday personal admin" to take care of

steve

Its sad to see a serious news agency make a mockery of what is happening in Honduras.

Zelaya

1) Otto Reich, latin America advisor to G.W. Bush (Reich met Zelaya and was advisor to CEO Robert Allen AT&T)
2) Robert Allen , who knows Warren
3) Warren Buffet who knows Oprah
4) Oprah Winfrey who knows
5) Sean Combs who knows Justin
6) Justin Timberlake who performed with

Michael Jackson

Becky:

It may be "that time of the week" for some, but to us in Honduras is a time get ourselves together and finish off ex-president Zelaya. We are the only country in Latin America to stand up to Chavez's tentacles. It may me a long shot for you guys, but the time will come when the communists (Chavez and friends) will knock on your door. We have stopped the avalanche for now, but things have started to roll in Mexico. Watch out big boys, it's coming. I just don't know how in the world you can't see it coming.

By the way, Michael Jackson is way off our thoughts right now. Great performer he was, indeed. RIP.

Michael Jackson (1) was very close to Diana Ross (2) who’s been interviewd by Larry King (3) who’s interviewd Barrack Obama (4) who met Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and got a book from him (5) whose support to J. M. Zelaya (6) was widely publicized in the recent Honduran coup!

I just realise that you said on the show that we need 5 to connect between
MJ and Zelaya so here I resubmit

1) Michale Jackson
2) Justin Timberlake
3) Oprah Winfrey
4) Warren Buffet
5) Robert Allen (AT&T)
6) Otto Reich ( adivisor to G.W.Bush for Latin Aamerica who meet...
7) Zelaya

Find something else to connect. You are making a mockery of what is happening in HONDURAS!

easy! just checked with google images
MJ-Mandela-Fidel Castro-Zelaya

4 degrees!

thats 3 degrees!!! sorry didnt see it.

Michael Jackson (1) worked with Ronald Reagan (2) in a campaing against drug use, Reagan's VP was George H.W. Bush (3) who's son, George W. Bush (4) met while in office with J.M. Zelaya (5)

Michael Jackson was named by President George H.W. Bush as "artist of the dacade" in a White House special during the late 80's who ordered the invasion of Panama to overthrow Manuel Noriega, who was for some time very close to Omar Torrijos, president of Panama, who's son, Martin Torrijos, during his presidency that ended July 1, 2009, recognized Manuel Zelaya as the legitimate president of Honduras after the coup.

A shorter one!!: Michael Jackson (1) was interviewed by Barbara Walters (2) who also interviewed Fidel Castro (3) who met with J.M. Zelaya (4) and ironically is calling for respect of democracy in Honduras after Zelaya's removal from office!!!!

Ok, so my country's fate is a game!!
Thank you so much!

you could've skipped 4)! : Barack Obama did actually meet Hugo Chavez (that time when Chavez gave Obama a book in a summit) back in April, I think

because both have a ranch and liked to invite young boys to their bed.

Hello, this is the connection I found:

Michael Jackson (1) was close friends to Quincy Jones (2), who personally knows and produced a musical to former president Bill Clinton (3), who is married to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (4), who met Colombian President Avaro Uribe (5), who attended the inauguration of El Salvador's president Mauricio Funes (6), who recently had Zelaya come over to the "Presidential House" for talks on the Honduran Military coup.

Since brazilian president is also close to Zelaya, we could forget Hugo Chávez! It would be much better!

Juvenile...

Well I just hope this one is unbeatable!!! ... LOL

Hugo Chavez will use these 6 degrees of separation to "prove" that a group of right wing CIA operatives had Michael Jackson's doctor induce him a lethal overdose of painkillers in order to take press atention to a U.S. backed coup d'etat in Honduras.
Ajmadinejad, Evo Morales and Daniel Ortega will likely second Chavez on the theory.

Actually it is only 5 degrees of separation. You should remember that Obama shook hands with Chavez on April 18, 2009 at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad.

Less than 6 degrees:

Michael Jackson (1) was received in the 80's by Ronald Regan(2) who also invited to white house 1986's Nobel Peace Price Oscar Arias (3) who is the actual Costa Rica President who recived JM Zelaya (4) on Sunday morning after being deported from Honduras.

Michael Jackson (1) was received in the 80’s by Ronald Reagan(2) who also invited to white house 1986’s Nobel Peace Prize Oscar Arias (3) who is the actual Costa Rica President who recived JM Zelaya (4) on Sunday morning after being deported from Honduras

Michael Jackson (1) was interviewed by Oprah (2), who sponsored Obama (3) who met Brazilian president Lula da Silva (4) who meets Venezuelan president Chavez (5) who met and supports J.M. Zelaya (6)

Michael Jackson just tragically passed away only a few days ago. It is not of very good taste to have this competition.

(1) Michael Jackson
(2) was good friends with Elizabeth Taylor
(3) Who was interviewed on Larry King Live
(4) Who ran a segment on Shin Fujiyama as part of his CNN Heroes piece
(5) who held an event for the ground breaking of a village project that was attended by Roberto Micheletti in El Progreso, Honduras in December of 2007
(6) who has replaced Manuel Zelaya as the sitting president of Honduras after his removal by the Honduran military

Shin Fujiyama (
Roberto Micheletti (New President of Honduras)

(1) Michael Jackson
(2) who was good friends with Elizabeth Taylor
(3) Who was interviewed on Larry King Live
(4) Who ran a segment on Shin Fujiyama as part of his CNN Heroes piece
(5) who held an event for the ground breaking of a village project that was attended by Roberto Micheletti in El Progreso, Honduras in December of 2007
(6) who has replaced Manuel Zelaya as the sitting president of Honduras after his removal by the Honduran military

Shin Fujiyama (
Roberto Micheletti (New President of Honduras)

idiotic

Who will travel with Daniel Ortega to Honduras

DUMBEST thing I've ever heard. Moreover, enough reporting on MJ's death its been exhausted.

What a distasteful comment!!!! you guys and the spanish channel had been a way wrong about Honduras, send a reporter who hasn't been married to a leftist Sandinista commander, PLEASE

It is simple: Eliminate the step about Larry King. Obama has met already with Diana Ross.

It doesn't take six.........Michael Jackson's music was was a part of the childhood of President Obama whose Sec. of State Hilary Clinton was just recently in Honduras for the OAS conference where she met and worked with now exiled President Mel Zelaya.

Michael Jackson (1) had a monkey(2) who is the father of Hugo Chavez(3) who is the boss of Manuel Zelaya(4) who was flushing Honduras down the toilet until the so-called Honduran coup(5)

Our best wishes to CNN and CNNEspanol who appear to be on Hugo Chavez's payroll with the way their covering this story!

much shorter connection:

Michael Jackson -> Tatum O'Neal -> Ryan O'Neal -> Farrah Fawcett

mainly interesting due to death occuring on the same day.

jackson (1) meets danny glover (2) who meets chavez (3) who meets zelaya. (4)

(1)Michael Jackson met Naomi Campbell at a video shooting
(2) Naomi Campbell met President Hugo Chavez
(3) Hugo Chavez supported President Zelaya in the recent coup in Honduras

Michael Jackson met Argentina former President Menem when visited Argentina, Menem met Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner acutal argentina president (they shared the Senate), Cristina Kirchner met Zelaya on several sumits, and is traveling to reinstate him in Honduras right new.

You... are a "crazywoman" But you have very nice eyes in your photo

Is this REALLY what CNN want's on it's front page? Not funny or entertaining, and definitely not news.

Michael Jackson (1) is dubbed "The King of Pop" by Elizabeth Taylor (2) who was first married to Conrad Hilton (3) great-grandfather of famous socialite Paris Hilton (4) who started off in a modelling agency owned by richman Donald Trump (5), who shares a first name with famous raging moody Donald Duck (6), who would do a much better job at running the Republic of Honduras than Manuel Zelaya (7)!!!!!!!

VIVA HONDURAS!!!

Michael Jackson met Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe in 1998, Mugabe met Chavez in Caracas in 2004, Chavez has met Zelaya many times.

Barrack???

Michael Jackson (1) has met Larry King (2) during an Awards show in 2007, hosted by Rev. Jesse Jackson. King has also interviewed Mexican President Vicente Fox (3), who has received J. M. Zelaya (4) in November 2006 in his Los Pinos residence.

Though its real funny, you got something right..... Chavez supports J.M Zelaya. We hondurans do not want this man as our president any longer. R. Micheletti is not the elected president, however we are all willing to respect and recognize him as our president until the elections in november. CNN HAS TO BE UNBIASED!

Michael Jackson's (1) video for Liberian Girl has a cameo by Danny Glover (2) who is directing the film Toussaint, which is funded by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez (3) whose support to J. M. Zelaya (4) was widely publicized in the recent Honduran coup.

Only you think what happened in Honduras is a lot of fun, Degeneration of the truth is not information
Zelaya was becoming a Dictator

Chavez News Network

investigate first then inform

Here is a four degree of separation between Zelaya and Jackson:

Zelaya(1) and Salvadorean president Elias Saca met Arnold Schwarzenegger (2) on June 6th 2008 to talk about the possibility of hiring Honduran employees for temporary agricultural jobs in California.

Arnlold was interviewed by Larry King (3) on Aug 10, 2003. And King met Jackson (4) on Apr 14, 2009 in Beverly Hills as you can see on the photograph shown at http://article.wn.com/view/2009/04/14/Shuttering_Neverland_Michael_Jacksons_Effects_Go_to_Auction/

I couldn't find direct proof of Arnlod getting to know Jackson but if somebody does, then you have a three degree of separation between Zelaya and Jackson

Cheers

Roberto Alvo

Are you nuts?

This kind of thing cheapens real political events and (I hate to say this) a talented, sad man's death by making it into "CNN: The Center of the Universe." Ick. This feels like a lot of "Over here! Look at me! Look at me!" when you should be reporting on things. Cut out the shameless corporate self-promotion.

Hi Becky, Look this is not a game.
Here in Honduras we are very upset with CNN for not giving the world accurate news. You have never mentioned that the equipement and including ballots for Zelaya's so called election of June 28th arrived in this country from Venezuela in a Venezuelan air force plane.
You never mentioned that the public hospitals lack medicines because the funds dissappeared. You never mentioned that Zelaya during his almost 4 yeas in office has not done anything to help the poor people in educating them. You never mentioned that we have just recently had a large earthquake and that the infrastructure and including bridges came down, Zelaya did not care, he was too busy with his election. His ballot , a yes or a no asking if we want the constitution changed,..........the answer is no. NO NO NO , we do not want him to be president for life as is Chavez elected by the uneducated and since 70% of our population is uneducated, guess who will be president for life?
Zelaya has severely lied about everything. I heard him during one his speeches that "no one would stop him".
Did you know that small planes from Venezuela were landing daily here in fields loaded with cocaine? Who do you think was behind this?
I myself is a senior citizen taking care of my elederly mother and I have never seen anything like this. I cannot understand how can a criminal such as Zelaya have the world's approval. How?

Did you really just mis-spell our presidents name?!?

As a American living in Honduras I can assure you that Hondurans are very aware that Michael Jackson is dead. However for the most of them, their freedom in a democratic society is more important. Mr. Zelaya was removed from office for crimes against the Honduran constitution. Most polls show that the overwhelming majority favor the NEW government. What is being portrayed as a "military coup" is as far from the truth as it can get. Not for one instant was the military ever in control of the country... The Americans here in Honduras are very confused as to why President Obama chose to side with Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega, Raul and Fidel Castro...

Wat mij het meest opgevallen is, deze week, is dat de Europese Unie nog altijd te weinig doet voor het ontwikkelen van Afrika. Nu weet ik wel dat er verschillende acties lopen onder andere door middel van de Wereldbank. Toch is het volgens mij niet genoeg. Gewoon, als ik zie dat China een no-nonsense aanpak heeft. Gelijk het de Chinezen in eigenland doen. Infrastructuur bouwen van goede kwaliteit, dan ontwikkeld het land zich voor een deel van zichzelf. Je ziet het aan de creditcrisis die er nu is. De Chinezen pakken het gewoon goed aan. Ook de Stimulus die zij aan de economie gegeven hebben, werkt al. De snelheid waarmee zij hun stimuluspakketten in omloop gebracht hebben, is een voorbeeld voor de wereld. Maargoed, ik was met Europa bezig en hun houding ten opzichte van Afrika. Europa mist hier kansen, om de toestroom van mensen uit Afrika te stoppen en hun eigen Europese economie in een hogere versnelling te laten gaan. Als Afrika zelf ontwikkelt, zullen de mensen daar blijven en de ontwikkeling zal daar versnellen. Voor Europa is het profitabel omdat men in Afrika handel erbij wint en de toestroom van mensen op een natuurlijke wijze kan stoppen. Afrika is een continent met een ontzettend groeipotentiaal. Dit betekent natuurlijk voor Europa ook een groeipotentiaal. Naar mijn mening heeft Afrika niet voedsel nodig, maar middelen om eigen voedsel te produceren, waar Europa een deel van de knowhow en de mechanisatie kan leveren. Maar wat belangrijker is, een goede infrastructuur. Nu investeert de wereld bank in infrastructuur van het telefoonnetwerk in een Afrikaans land. Dat is te begroeten. Maar belangrijker zijn machines die Wegen en Spoorwegen kunnen bouwen. De verouderde spoorwegen moeten opgeknapt worden in Afrika. Nieuwe Spoorwegen moeten gepland worden. Als deze acties uitgevoerd worden, groeit Afrika als kool. Een negatief voorbeeld is India, waar men groeit zonder de infrastructuur aan te pakken. Zij kunnen, India, als ze niets doen, aan hun eigen succes te onder gaan.
Lovende woorden moet men ook geven aan de Arabische landen, die in Afrika reeds lange tijd goed investeren, ook met een no-nonsense beleid. Zij zijn net als de Chinezen, voor op Europa en de USA.

Glück Auf

Yeah, your stupid little "game"just got a lot more serious, didn't it? You are not a journalist. You are just a wannabe celebrity type. People out in the world live with the realities of the issues. Don't you understand that? Get over yourself and put yourself in their shoes if you ever want to do your job properly. What is going on in Honduras right now is more real that some stupid six degrees connection with Michael Jackson.

Let me comment on those Hondurans who have a problem with CNN.

CNN can only report and what they see and get from different sources. They show the demonstrations on both sides, so not really bias are they?

Now what you all say about Zelaya is maybe true or maybe not true. Fact is that the parliament could have taken Zelaya's immunity away and then he could have been arrested. However your parliament and military decided to certainly do something which has nothing to do with democratic law.

Your own parliament is at fault at the current situation. As a matter of fact your parliament did not follow the own law and constitution.

They could have solved that issue in a legal manner, but decided to do the most stupid thing they could, they send the military to take him on a plane and kick him out of the country.

Even in your world this looks more like a coup than following the law.

Instead of blaming CNN you better make sure law and order is respected in your country.

Right.. For all those who get so mad now, don't get so freakin upset about this. I don't see any disrespect. And, G Lobus, don't write your stuff in Dutch on an international forum.

This is a well written secuence to clarify the events for the destitution of Honduran Ex-President Mel Zelaya. Help us to distribute this.

I don’t profess to be an expert at Honduran politics or constitution, but I
have been here a while and stay pretty involved with what’s going on in
Honduras and especially Roatan. For those that don’t know me, I’m an
American investor that has lived in Honduras full time since 2002. I’m very
active on several commissions and have met with minister level executives of
the Honduran government many times in the past few years.

There have been a lot of comments, descriptions, and hypothesis over the
past few days. I’ve spent a LOT of time reading Spanish and English reports,
talking to a lot of people on the islands and on the mainland, and listening
to the local politicians. I’d like to present my take on what’s happened.
This is especially for Nick who’s been posting on the Roatan Tourist
discussion group, but hopefully it will help clarify some points for others
as well.

· Mel Zelaya was elected 3 ½ years ago with an underwhelming 49% of
the vote. He was seen as a fairly conservative member of the liberal party.
The general feeling when he was elected was that he wasn’t the greatest
pick, but his background as a wealthy logger and rancher coupled with his
more liberal social policies would probably be OK.

· Almost from day 1, Mel started shifting Honduras policies to the
left.

o Remember when he tried to nationalize the oil industry – forcing all
fuel distributors to buy from 1 company so that Mel could control the price?
The US rightfully reminded Mel that the US oil companies had a lot invested
here and the confiscating of those assets would not be a good thing. Mel
changed his mind a couple of days later.

o Mel gave away the fishing rights to an area that Honduras has been
fishing for decades if not a hundred years. He gave those rights to
Nicaragua for nothing – or at least nothing that was ever publicly reported.
Mel forgot to mention this transaction to anyone in the country, let alone
the fisherman. Guess how the fishermen found out? The Nicaraguan Navy
confiscated several boats over a period of a few weeks. The crews on these
boats were detained from a few days to a few weeks. Some of the boats were
eventually returned to the rightful owners – after paying “fines”. Some of
the boats even had the electronics and gear still on board when they were
returned to the owners. The Honduran government did absolutely nothing to
repatriate these boats.

o Mel wanted Honduras to join ALBA – a collection of countries that was
formed by Cuba and Venezuela to counteract NAFTA/CAFTA from the US. When
this was announced, there was a lot of concern – especially from the
business community. I was in a meeting with the local congressman less than
a week before it was ratified. The message being sent was that this was just
a way to get cheap oil from Venezuela. The congress wouldn’t consider
ratifying this treaty for 6 or 8 months and by then Mel would have the oil
that he was after. Again, less than a week later Mel got the treaty was
ratified by the congress.

o Not too long ago, the minimum wage was raised from L. 3,500 per month to
L. 5,500. That’s about a 60% increase. I’m not saying that the minimum wage
didn’t need to be raised, but this huge increase was 3 times more than the
labor unions were requesting (20%) and 6 times more than the business
organizations had offered (10%). These increases caused tremendous layoffs
on the mainland. Many maquillas (garment factories) began to move to
Nicaragua because the cost of business in Honduras had gotten too high. This
was another huge drop in jobs. I’ve not seen the actual number of jobs lost
because of the 60% increase in minimum wage, but it was staggering.

o The Honduran constitution says that each year the President presents the
annual budget to congress for approval. If the approval is not obtained by a
specific date (I think it’s the end of January, but am not 100% sure) the
budget from last year will be used until the new budget is approved by
congress.

§ Mel never submitted a budget for 2009, hence the Congress can’t approve
it so Honduras is operating in 2009 on 2008’s budget.

§ Now, why would a President not submit a budget? Who knows for sure but
one of the possibilities is that 2009 is an election year. Mel would like to
stay in power past 2009. The budget in 2008 didn’t include an election, so
in essence there is NO money available for the 2009 election because we’re
operating on 2008’s budget. There are other theories about hiding graft and
corruption, but I would assume that anyone that becomes President in
Honduras wouldn’t be concerned about hiding corruption and theft in the
budget – he certainly didn’t mind doing it the previous 3 years!

· Somewhere along the way, Mel decided to take a lesson from his
mentor (Chavez) and arrange it so that he could remain in power for as long
as he wanted. There was a little problem with this. The Honduran
constitution, enacted in 1982, has 378 articles. 6 of these articles are
“cast in stone”, meaning that they can NOT be changed. These 6 articles deal
with defining the type of government, territory claims, and presidential
term limits. They are the basis of the Honduran democracy.

o One other tidbit from the constitution – Article 42, Section 5 says that
anyone who is found to “incite, promote, or aid in the continuation or
re-election of the President” would face loss of citizenship. Remember this
one later on in this saga.

· To further complicate things for Zelaya, ANY changes to the
constitution have to be initiated by the legislative branch. The congress
has to convene a constituent assembly. That’s basically a group of people
selected by the congress to analyze any proposed changes and form those
ideas into the new constitution. After the proposed changes are formulated,
the congress would approve them to be put to a national referendum. The
executive branch (the President) has nothing to do with that process.

· Mel didn’t think that the congress would go along with his ideas
of staying in power so he decided he’d call his own referendum. He doesn’t
have the authority to do that – remember that constitutional changes can
only be done by the legislature AND the term limits are one of the articles
cast in stone – but he goes ahead and calls one anyway.

· The Honduran Supreme Court says “Sorry Mel, you can’t do a
referendum. That’s not within your power as president”.

· Mel, or more probably one of his advisors, figures out that if a
referendum can’t be done, we could probably do a survey or a poll instead!
Great idea – nobody will figure out that the poll that we’re now going to do
is exactly the same thing as we were going to do with the referendum.

· Damn those people on the Supreme Court! They figured out the ruse!
They ruled unanimously that regardless of what you call it, if it acts like
a referendum the president can’t do it. If it looks like a duck, and walks
like a duck, and quacks like a duck . . . .

· Mel continues to talk of doing the poll on June 28 regardless of
the Supreme Court

· The Congress looks at the poll that Mel wants to do and gives an
opinion that the poll would be illegal and they will not support it.
Remember that Mel’s own political party is in control of the congress.

· The Attorney General also analyzes the poll and determines that it
is illegal. Over the course of the weeks leading to June 28, the AG
reiterates many times that the poll is illegal and anyone participating in
the poll would be committing a crime and could be arrested.

· Mel runs into another logistical snafu. He needs some ballots
printed. The entire political structure of Honduras (except him) has ruled
that the poll is illegal. It’s a pretty sure bet that he can’t get the
government to print the ballots for an illegal referendum so he asks his
buddy Hugo Chavez to print the ballots. Of course Hugo says “No Problem
Commrade!”

· The rhetoric in the 2 weeks before the “poll” gets tense. Every
legal opinion in Honduras says that the poll is illegal. The Supreme Court
reaffirms its ruling that the poll is illegal. The Attorney General keeps
saying that the poll is illegal and that anyone participating is committing
a crime. Mel’s own political party says that the poll is illegal. There
literally is not one legitimate group in the country that is siding with Mel
about the poll.

· Traditionally the military handles the distribution of the ballots
and voting materials. The head of the military, Romeo Vasquez Velasquez says
that the military will not participate in the poll because the Supreme Court
is the entity that determines what is legal and what is illegal in Honduras.
The Supreme Court has determined that the poll is illegal, so the military
will not participate.

· Mel Zelaya promptly fired Romeo Vasquez. The other heads of
military (Navy and Air Force) as well as the Minister of Defense resigned in
support of Vasquez.

· The next day the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Vasquez was
fired without reason and demanded his reinstatement. Zelaya refused.

· The ballots arrive in Honduras (from Venezuela on a Venezuelan
flagged plane). The Attorney General demands that the ballots be confiscated
and held at a military installation.

· Mel decides that if the military won’t distribute the ballots,
he’ll get his own people to distribute them

· Mel gets a couple of busses and a few cars full of supporters.
They drive to the Air Force installation that was holding the ballots. They
forcibly entered the installation and took the ballots. Not only was this
“breaking and entering” it was a complete betrayal of a lawful order of the
Attorney General

· The Attorney General says that the President has committed treason
and asks for him to be removed from office. The congress created a
commission to examine Zelaya’s actions and determine if removal from office
is appropriate.

· A side note here about removal from office. I’m in no way a
Honduran constitutional expert, but from what I understand, there’s not a
clear means to impeach a sitting president. In a lot of constitutions, the
impeachment of a president would be done by the legislative branch. In
Honduras, there’s no such structure. There could be criminal charges brought
against the president and the trial would be handled by the judicial branch.
Not much different than anyone else accused of a crime. I’ve not heard of
any provision to temporarily remove a president from office until the
criminal charges were adjudicated. What would you do? Let a man accused of
treason remain as the sitting president until the trial was completed? That
would be insane, but that may be the only choice.

· On Saturday, June 27, Mel got most, if not all, of the ballots
distributed around the country. The polls were set to open at 7am on Sunday.

· The Supreme Court voted to remove Zelaya. The Congress decided to
remove Zelaya. The Attorney General stated many times that Zelaya was
committing illegal acts and in fact committing treason. The military
determined that the poll was illegal and that their responsibility was to
uphold the constitution as opposed to supporting the president.

· Early Sunday morning, about 6am, the military went to the
president’s house and removed him from the building. He was put on a plane
to Costa Rica. This was done to enforce the ruling from the Supreme Court.

· This is where Article 42 of the constitution comes into play. The
way that I read that article, Zelaya should have lost his Honduran
citizenship at this point.

· Once Mel had been removed, the President of the Congress (Roberto
Micheletti) was sworn in as the new President of Honduras. This was exactly
the person that is indicated by the constitution. It was a proper and legal
succession of the presidency. The first thing that Micheletti did was
confirm that the regularly scheduled elections would be held in November.
His post is temporary until the new President was duly elected.

· It’s been said all over the press that Mel was arrested in his
pajamas. I personally don’t believe that. In an hour he would have been at
some polling place to vote and also to motivate those that showed up. This
was the biggest day of his life. I’d be amazed if he slept at all – I know I
wouldn’t be able to. There was one report that Mel was actually in suit
pants and a crisply ironed white shirt when he was arrested and he asked to
change into other clothes. Quite frankly, I see this as more likely.

I believe that this is an accurate depiction of the events that led to
Zelaya’s expulsion on Sunday. If I’m wrong on a any points, I don’t think
I’m off by much. The salient points are certainly accurate.

I personally think that it would have been better to arrest Zelaya and hold
him somewhere in the country. He was removed from Honduras in the interest
of public safety. The feeling at the time was that if he was held within
Honduras, his supporters would take violent actions to release him from
captivity. It would be a difficult decision and I’m sure the powers that be
did what they thought was best.

I have been disgusted at the world reaction to these events. It’s like they
only looked at what happened on Sunday morning and ignored what events led
to that day. I don’t understand how the removal of Zelaya was anything less
than a small country demanding that their country remain democratic. Their
constitutional process worked exactly right to remove a rogue president with
an agenda that was detrimental to the Honduran constitution and society.
While the actions of June 28 would fit some definitions of a coup, it was
certainly a legal and CONSTITUTIONAL coup. There have been several articles
written that state that it was a MANDATORY coup. That’s a very difficult
concept for most people from the first world to understand, but there are
some coups that are good and even required.

I’ve read so much over the past few days that I can’t remember where I read
this, but the author was talking about the events in Honduras. He concluded
by stating quite simply that if you find yourself aligned with Castro,
Chavez, and Ortega – you should REALLY look at where you’re standing.

I think that the Hondurans should be honored for what occurred. I know that
I’ve never been prouder of a group of people than I’ve been of Hondurans the
past several days. Instead of being isolated from the world and denounced as
being “anti-democratic” they should be lifted on the shoulders of all free
men around the world. I’m sure that there are plenty of people in Cuba,
Venezuela, and North Korea that would LOVE to hear the story of what a small
country can do to ensure democracy lives in their society for their children
to enjoy. That is if the people in those countries ever hear of the great
accomplishments of a small third world country with ideals and principals
larger than the “democratic showcase” of the first world.

Mitch

Dambisa Moyo is in mine opinion a good connector for the world.
She earns the connector of the day.
Author, “Dead Aid”

For me I think.

Michael Jackson -> Tatum O’Neal -> Ryan O’Neal -> Farrah Fawcett

http://www.inanosms.com

Hey Ramsi:

You are obviously not from Honduras, or know anything about Honduras for that matter.
Listen, we hate communism, we hate Chavez and Castro. We did what we had to do to get this corrupt president out of Honduras. He wouldn't listen to anybody or obbey the law.
We kicked him out of the country, are proud of it and we will go through hell if we have to in order to defend a democracy that has cost so much to so many.
He won't be back, even if we have to die defending our ground. Communism or whatever you want to call it is extending its tentacles. It owns the OAS and many other international organizations that are supposed to defend freedom. Watch out big USA, they are coming your way. Don't laugh, you won't know what hit you. They are working on you now and you just don't know it. It may take 10 or 50 years, but they will come to you. Why do you think Obama hasn't made a decision on this issue ? He's undecided ? Come on !! Remember all the accusations about Obama being a socilist right before he was elected ? Coincidence ? I'm telling you, the tentacles of the monster are reaching the US, you guys just don't know it. Venezuela is under it, and Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador, Dominica, Cuba, Nicaragua, Brazil, Paraguay is about to, the new Salvadorean president is a former FMLN (El Salvador's guerrilla) chief and his first trip as president of El Salvador just hours after being brought to power was to.......guess where ? VENEZUELA !!!! Guatemala's president is also a socialist. Please pay attention at what is happening in Mexico. The drug cartels are taking over the country. That's how the communists work. They make friends with the drug lords and make political compromises. Now, who's Mexico's neighbor ? OOOOOPPPSSSS, it's the US !!!! Whare are the Mexicans getting all their weapons from ? It's the US !!!
Believe me, it's closer than most people think it is.
Meanwhile, the Honduras are standing up to these guys and everybody is against us !!!! It's so pathetic.
Remember, it's coming your way. And don't give me the "on this country we have laws" crap. We have laws also. For these guys, there are no laws. They will get their people to managa the law.
Think about this and have a laugh. IT'S COMING ANY WAY.

@ Mitch
All you wrote makes a lot of sense and make the rulings of the supreme court legitimate, however to enforce a court ruling you do not send the military you send the federal police.
If a person is supposed to be taking into custody due to a court hearing then he should be taken to jail or put under house arrest.

Taking a sitting President by military force out of the presidential compound and putting him on a plane makes things look like a coup even if it was not.

At the same time it would have been wise to inform the countries (not the presidents) closest allies about what they are about to do.

Overall the current government put themselves in the mess. Sadly now the common folks have to pay the price. My suggestion let him in the country and put him under house arrest.

Then the parliament takes his immunity away from him and then he can be put in front of the court.

In any case more people will die and both sides are to blame.

@ Becky sorry to highjack your thread.

I don't understand this game that CNN is leading. A great person has passed on. He made an impact on the world through the music that he brought to us. I think this trivialises his passing. It may have been fun if it was done while he was alive. CNN would do better in guiding its viewers to sober reflection at moments such as this.

Micheal Jackson was "A GREAT MAN" and no one can forget him.He was a "NICE PERSON".Pary for him"MAY GOD REST HIS SOUL IN HEAVEN".I love u "MICHEAL JACKSON"...........

I don't understand any of you!

America should leave MJ,his kids legitimacy and whatever attached to his death, because all will lead to opening of old wounds. the kids morealso might end up in more tragedy. JUST LET THE MISERY BE!

wilfred K.
Nigeria