I can't understand why our president would support something in Honduras he would surely never support here.

...sure about that, are you?

Well, I spent years pooh-poohing such talk about Bush, and I predicted he'd leave office when he did -- at the end of his second term.

Don't you think I should keep up the appearance of consistency?

Sorry, Eric. One of these things is not like the other. Your efforts to stay perfectly non-aligned end even-handed are blinding you to certain realities. It reminds me of the way the press would talk about the US vs. USSR back in the day, or Palestine/Israel to this very day.

Despite the deranged vaporings of the left, nothing that Bush ever did indicated that he had any desire to dishonor his office by attempting an end-run around the Constitution as amended concerning the presidential term. (Signing statements are a different issue, and are a "bipartisan" tradition, unfortunately.) On the other hand the amount radical change that Obama and the Democrat majority is trying to hurriedly push through; bills voted on unread, undermining every established part of society, plus the Won's personality cult, has every resemblance to the way Chavez corrupted the democratic institutions of his country to get his way without any check or balance, and to become "president for life" (i.e. a dictator). Plus, he seems put off by democratic movements (Iran) and rather comfortable with dictators, given his siding with them in this current set of events. His Marxist background and mentors, the people he has chosen to associate with (Wright), the means he has used to get elected to office, all paint a dark picture. The parallels are strong, and saying that "it can't happen here" or "of course that would be impossible in the USA" cuts very little ice with me now. We are now a banana republic, the radicals are in charge, the press is falling over themselves to kiss the One's ring, the opposition is confused and having trouble finding their a** with a flashlight and a map and the tattered checks and balances on tyrannical government are strained to the breaking point.

Just because you don't like the cultural conservatives does not mean that they have (or had during Bush's term) any real power to "turn back the clock" or become a "Taliban" or "Iran-like Guardian Council" in any way. As best they got were some symbolic measures passed that made no real difference.

No. Not the same at all.

I still think I should keep up the appearance of consistency.

Just seems more civilized. Like taking afternoon tea, you know....

There is a lot of water to pass under the bridge before Obama can consider trying for a third term.
First he must survive the first term. His present record is a very shaky start, (positively touted by the idiot media). His inconsistent performance in finance, national security and international affairs is rapidly becoming questionable. He must soon stand for something rather than trying to support everything.
European media is already questioning what Obama and the USA are trying to do.

Yes, but as long as the press is covering for him, it won't happen. They are still too powerful. The press completely abdicated their responsibility (and any claim to virtue or our attention) during the last election cycle. That Reverend Wright video saying "God Damm America" would have been the end for any other politician (i.e. any Republican or any white Democrat), with no hope of recovery. (Decades spent listening to that crap with the wife and kids? No excuse.)

But the press rushed to his defense, and made something as blatant as that go away. Along with Ayres association, the failed Anneberg Challenge thing, his Chicago political history, etc. All scrubbed, ignored, etc. And it happened here, right in front of our eyes. After seeing all that, the "conventional wisdom" about politics no longer has meaning.

(Which, BTW, is why the "conventional wisdom" concerning what Palin may be doing is also meaningless. If it works, it works; if it doesn't, it doesn't.)

We live in completely unsettled times, everything is shaken up, the possible outcomes are widely distributed. I would not be surprised if any of these outcomes eventuate:

1. Obama becomes president for life, remakes the country in the model of Chavez and Mugabe, whites and other non-favored groups are dispossessed of all their property and heavily persecuted. The economy collapses and large numbers of people starve.

2. Civil war. Blood in the streets, brains on the wall. Revolt, insurrection, massacre. All old institutions destroyed. Foreigners meddle, and stir the pot. Sectional nuclear war.

3. True small-gevernment conservative resurgence (headed by Palin or not), rejection of the far-left Obama excesses, the ship is righted, rule of law instead of men restored. National healing, we pull back from the brink, and stop hating and demonizing each other. The national elites are tied back into the mainstream feelings and opinions of everyday Americans via things like term limits and election reform. (What I hope for, but my faith is dimming.)

4. Center-left PUMA's and independents finally and sharply break with the loony far left, reject radical socialism in favor of pragmatic centrism, and recreate a sane Democratic party that is fit to govern. (Low probability, but I'll take it if I can get it...)

5. Extreme religious right reaction, counter-revolution. A true American Taliban emerges and purges with gun and concentration camp all liberal influence from every sector of society. Most colleges permanently closed, unions banned, every liberal power base decimated. No-one of any un-approved faith is tolerated, especially atheists and Muslims. Gays shoved back into the closet, anti-sexual laws proliferate, personal freedom is lost.

6. Ehaustion. Things get more corrupt, and everybody knows it, but we keep pretending that nothing much is wrong. Both parties abusive and statist. Slow decay, the light dims. Endless deep stagnation, no fixes work.

7. Third party turnover. The Democratic and/or Republican parties disappear from the stage, and a new balance is achieved.

and many more. We are cursed to live in interesting times.

Which is why I can't understand why our president would support something in Honduras he would surely never support here.

Well, look who else is agin the Honduras "coup", maybe that'll give you an idea.