The way the world works

I am naive. If the legally elected president is forced out of a country by the military, I think that is clearly a coup. So I would think that the proper course of action is to officially declare it a coup and, as required by the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act, send no funds to the installed government. It seems very clear to me. But, like I said, I'm naive and believe in a right way to do things. If, say, around spring of 2008, the Marines decided to ship out then-President George W. Bush, I would not have done my "finally!" happy dance. I was willing to save that for Inauguration Day. I need at least a pretense of democracy.

So why is the administration of President Obama having to be dragged by the rest of the hemisphere into speaking out against the coup in Honduras? Why is Secretary of State Clinton not willing to say that elected Honduran President Zelaya should be returned to power? Why is she carefully avoiding officially labeling his ouster as a "coup" so that funds (we're talking $100 million in aid here) can still flow to Honduras?

While I continue to shake my head, check out an article in the UK Guardian, Does the US back the Honduran coup?, and a story from Associated Press, Zelaya to discuss Honduras crisis with Clinton.