Lopez Obrador claims constitutional authority, calls "National Democratic Convention" (Translation)

eluniversal.com.mx ^ | August 15, 2006 | Jorge Ramos ( translated by self )

[burzum]

This man is trying to start a civil war! Good grief!

[Stultis]

Fah! (I bet there's a few in Mexico who have half a mind to say...) Let the commies re"draft" the Constitution by mob rule. The prosperous, capitalist northern states can then just secede and let the parasites suck each other dry.

[longtermmemmory]

This is what algore tried to do in 2000. Kerry was PREPARED to do in 2004 AND what the young mobs do in france when they protested a law which actually required them to work.

Mexico is unstable and yet we have no protection on our border.

[rovenstinez]

In Mexico it's a way of life. Squatters have always been camped out at the Zocalo, Calle Lopez was shut down by the Trique Tribe of Indians. They had homes in Oaxaca, but wanted a home in Mexico City and a market to sell their weavings. They camped in the street, and got what they demanded. Thousands of people who brought cars into the country demanded that they get 'tags', and gov't has developed a policy of giving oil to the wheels that screeched. Power was never in contracts, agreements, treaties, charters, signed papers or law, it was in the ZAPATA on his horse. AMLO on his lst night likened himself as unto Higaldo. So if the PEOPLE think that they are 'more', no matter what agreements or promises to pay loans, or keep their word, anything can be annulled by the voice of the mob. People in Mexico generally don't trust police. This ball could bounce either way. But to put the glove on AMLO's hand, he was Governor of Mexico City, and not much was seen in terms of stopping corruption. When they paid 7 million dollars for Rudy Gulianti to come to town and talk about ZERO Tolerance, he wasn't allowed to bring in his trainers to teach police to enforce 100% of the law, 100% of the time. Everyone knew that the police didn't make enough in wages to feed their families, and would need to collect some of their own bribes and revenues on the side. The problem didn't start with the election, there is a lot of interest groups that know that if they loose power, they'll loose their source of livelihood.

[StJacques]

"Fah! (I bet there's a few in Mexico who have half a mind to say...) Let the commies re"draft" the Constitution by mob rule. The prosperous, capitalist northern states can then just secede and let the parasites suck each other dry."

Stultis, if you'll read rovenstinez's post #14 above you'll see that there are some in Mexico saying exactly that right now.

[BarbaricGrandeur]

I'm trying not to hit the panic button, but this really does look dangerous to me.

It is. No democratically justified constitution can withstand such attacks if they are concerted; not without relying on an authority beyond the will of the people. The internal logic of democracy would be compromised. Said constitution would lose, by denying the authority of the people, its own; which is based on the former.

Because the rule of law is obviously not compatible with the rule of the mob only in a few examples does democracy not lead to ideological revolutionary governments. And because there is no organic solution to the conflict between law and popular will other than one of cultural tradition (though, looking at recent American political trends we can see how week even that is), one of these rules will endeavor to make itself absolute over the other.

[StJacques]

". . . This ball could bounce either way. . . ."

That is not comforting. I'm hoping for the best for you all rovenstinez.

[StJacques]

". . . Because the rule of law is obviously not compatible with the rule of the mob only in a few examples does democracy not lead to ideological revolutionary governments. And because there is no organic solution to the conflict between law and popular will other than one of cultural tradition (though, looking at recent American political trends we can see how week even that is), one of these rules will endeavor to make itself absolute over the other."

That is profound BarbaricGrandeur. You should bottle that and save it for a rainy day.

[OldArmy52]

What I want to know, is if Gore reruns for Prez and loses again, will he do this?

[Shuttle Shucker]

Meanwhile, it would seem that now NOBODY is betting on his chances for ultimate victory:

[ChipShot]

If it really was time to panic, I do not think we would see the peso getting stronger and the Bolsa (Mexico's stock exchange) rising as it has the past few days. Nor would the numbers of protesters be going down.

I see haggard, unshaven AMLO with spittle flying from his lips, standing in the city square 4 years from now holding a "Vota por Vota" sign and accepting propinas from American Democrats wanting to get their picture taken with him.

At least I can hope.

[GeronL]

Hillary will. She might have marches in major cities across the country organized on election night to declare the election "fraudulent" and ACORN and other groups would love to start riots on her behalf I am sure.

[GeronL]

Yes. Imagine a million "refugees" coming into the border states.

[StJacques]

I am aware of the strength of the Mexican peso and the Bolsa as well, so there is reason to remain optimistic.

But there are some very strong factors tending to disorder as well. The state of Oaxaca has become "ungovernable" for all intents and purposes, following the dissolution of order that began with a teacher's strike in May and their ensuing insistence that the blatantly corrupt PRI Governor of the state step down. Chiapas has continued to exhibit instances of violent reprisal against some of the truly landless rural poor and it's only in slightly better shape than Oaxaca. And then there are the petroleum and electricity workers unions who fear the reforms Calderon and PAN intend to bring to modernize those industries and end their "job factory" relevance to the Mexican economy. If you put all of those together and couple it with the fact that Lopez Obrador's PRD has control over the Federal District Government in Mexico City, whose Governor today warned of conflict with the federal government over the exercise of police power in Mexico City, you will see that there are good reasons to fear what AMLO may do.

But make no mistake about it, I hope you're right.

[expatpat]

Loserman Lopez, like most socialists, has trouble listening to the voice of the people when it disagrees with what he thinks it should say.

[Reverend Bob]

Yes, it does look dangerous. Hopefully it will seal his doom as well. I can't believe that either Fox or Calderon will let this go on much beyond beyond the finalization of the election results. Rioting and unrest seem likely, but it looks like the government is safe and that the vast majority of Mexicans will be happy to see this guy crushed when the time comes. He got thirty-some percent in the election. I'm guessing (from your posts) that his support is much weaker now. The real question is whether the PRD, and the Mexican hard-left, can survive this debacle.

[Maelstorm]

They won't be happy till we have to invade Mexico again.

[justa-hairyape]

Loserman Lopez, like most socialists, has trouble listening to the voice of the people when it disagrees with what he thinks it should say.

Interesting that there is potentially a major personality quirk that is common between post modern leftist totalitarians and Islamic fascists (other then their obvious reactionary responses to modern progress). Neither groups will admit or accept defeat easily. We have Hezbollha fascists who: lost control of their own airspace; lost control of South Lebanon; lost most of there structures to air raids; lost some of their leaders; caused the destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure; and yet they still deny being defeated and have claimed victory. Same psychological condition applies to leftist politicians in the west (Gore, Obrador) and east (Russian Chekist). As a matter of fact the US leftist democrats even think they can run the congress and senate while their are minorities.

So we have a common mental dysfunction between both halves of the Unholy Alliance.

[ASOC]

Any of the usuall sign of police/Army mobilization?

[StJacques]

As best as I can see ASOC, the Mexican federal government is trying to play the entire Lopez Obrador protest movement down, but this particular challenge is quite new -- it was just put up at 8:19 p.m. Central Time -- and there has been no official response as of yet. The Federal Preventive Police have come out in force to keep the protestors off the grounds of the national legislature, where they have planned to disrupt Vicente Fox's scheduled September 1 address to the Mexican people, which is something similar to the "State of the Union" address our President gives every year. But I do expect to see some kind of commentary from President Fox in this regard, as well as an extension to many of the prominent political players in Mexico.

I'll keep an eye on it and notify the board when I see anything significant.

And by the way, September 16 is Mexico's El Grito de la Independencia, Mexico's true "Independence Day," though they also celebrate Cinco de Mayo in a similar fashion. Basically the 16th of September is the celebration of their independence from Spain and Cinco de Mayo celebrates their great victory over the French in 1862. Lopez Obrador is obviously "working the calendar" to select a day when there will be lots of people in Mexico City to boost attendance at his planned "convention."