COUPS ARE NOT DEMOCRATIC.

Last week, I wondered about the situation in Honduras:

Seeing Obama and Chavez on the same side -- which will, ironically, help undermine Chavez' authority as chief anti-American demagogue in South America -- will no doubt angry up Republican blood. Who will be the first American conservative to side with the military junta?

Well, it didn't take long, as Mark Leon Goldberg reports. Several House Republicans, led by Florida's Connie Mack and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, are trying to pass a resolution in support of the coup. But of course, coups are not democratic. I don't question the illegality of deposed President Manuel Zelaya's controversial referendum, but the solution to that problem is not having the military take over the country and suspend basic civil rights. Conservatives don't seem to get that the United States doesn't have to take sides in every world conflict while neatly labeling the players "good" and "bad." When you create unrealistic expectations abroad, it leads to misunderstandings in complex situations that defy simple categories. It also undermines the ability of the United States to support democracy as a beneficial institution independent of regimes we may disagree with.

-- Tim Fernholz