South Carolina's own, embarrassing Jim DeMint gave the middle finger this week to the U.S.'s diplomacy stances towards the de facto regime of acting Honduran President Roberto Micheletti by visiting the country, supporting the recent military coup against a leftist president, which has been opposed by the Obama administration and all the surrounding countries in the region.
Not a single nation has recognized Micheletti’s government, but Washington Note’s Steve Clemons explains that DeMint is intent on taking Honduran matters into his own hands:
Jim DeMint is acting on behalf of, in cahoots with, and against the foreign policy of the United States of America in encouraging post-coup Honduran government officials defy the United States. He is encouraging a political leadership which has no legitimacy and which not recognized by other democracies in the region — while the ousted President makes cell phone UN General Assembly statements from a couch-bed in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa.
However, DeMint's office denies this.
Wesley Denton, a spokesman for Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), just told TPM that the Senator is not attempting to intervene in support of the military coup in Honduras, as part of his trip there today -- that it is simply a fact-finding mission to find out about the events on the ground.
The New York Times has a different story.
One of the de facto government’s main supporters in Washington, Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, has announced plans to visit Tegucigalpa on Friday. One Congressional staff member said Mr. DeMint hoped to meet with members of the de facto government and other Hondurans. Other staff members said he intended to encourage Mr. Micheletti and his supporters to resist.
But TPM has more.
Denton also said that DeMint is not blocking the Obama administration's nominees to deal with foreign policy in the region, which was cited by the office of Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) as a reason to attempt to deny DeMint funding for the trip. Instead, DeMint only wants to have a full debate and roll call vote.
"Sen. DeMint cannot prevent Sen. Reid from bringing the nominees to the floor, he can have a vote at any time. Sen. DeMint has objected to unanimous consent," said Denton, also adding: "In fact that's all you can do. In the Senate when, someone says you're holding up a bill or a nominee, what one Senator can object to is passage by unanimous consent. No one Senator can stop the Senate working the majority of its will through 60 votes.
DeMint could care less about what our president wants. He's already shown this type of pure defiance during the teabaggers pep rally on Washington last month. Only in S.C. can we have an elected person run around the country telling "freedom fighters" the fight is on to protect our "freedoms" from our president.
Funny.
He can, however, say "screw you guys, I am going to support anti-freedom in another country" and tell others he's not doing that.
I say flush him.
UPDATE:
Six House members on Friday sent a letter to the president of the Honduran Congress warning that the Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and his travel delegation to Honduras do not represent the views of the White House or Congress, but are mere members of the “minority party.”
“We understand that you received visitors from our Congress who represent the minority party, the Republican Party, who have expressed views that differ markedly from those of President Obama’s administration and the Democratic Majority in the U.S. Congress,” they wrote.
1 comments:
What is wrong with trying to find the truth of what happened and is happening here in Honduras?
Is the truth so dangerous if it doesn't fit the party line? Has the US ever been wrong on foreign policy decisions?
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