Obama Doubles Down on Honduras

Despite the fact that the Honduras' President was removed by court order, Obama is not happy.

President Barack Obama says the weekend ouster of Honduran leader Manuel Zelaya was a "not legal" coup and that he remains the country's president.

Obama spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday after meetings with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. Obama said he wanted to be very clear that President Zelaya is the democratically elected president.

Obama pledged the U.S. to "stand on the side of democracy" and to work with other nations and international entities to resolve the matter peacefully.

That's fairly strong language: "not legal."

But Obama has plenty of folks who agree with him:

...Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega, Hillary Clinton and, of course, Hugo [Chavez].

That list is from an earlier report published in the Wall Street Journal.

Here's more:

While Honduran law allows for a constitutional rewrite, the power to open that door does not lie with the president. A constituent assembly can only be called through a national referendum approved by its Congress.

But Mr. Zelaya declared the vote on his own and had Mr. Chávez ship him the necessary ballots from Venezuela.

...The attorney general had already made clear that the referendum was illegal, and he further announced that he would prosecute anyone involved in carrying it out. Yesterday, Mr. Zelaya was arrested by the military and is now in exile in Costa Rica.

Castro, Chavez, Ortega. I don't know if I like those associates, Mr. Obama.