A Coup of Thaiese

P.M. Dawn and a lovely day for a coup...
A gaggle of geese, a murder of crows and now a coup of Thaiese. Many of you enlightened Bushido readers already know the identity of Thaiese, they are people (plural) of Thailand. Early Tuesday morning, while the Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra (AKA P.M. Dawn, just kidding I made that up) was preparing for his address to the U.N. General Assembly another General (Sondhi Boonyaratkalin) was smoking the Cubans Thaksin keeps in the top right hand drawer of his desk as he lead a military coup to oust the (democratically) elected Prime Minister. For the Taiese reading this, all government offices, banks, schools, and the mail will not run on Tuesday, added note- martial law is in effect so you might not want to rome the streets either. Thailand's Constitution is on hold for the time being and the oldest sitting Monarch (the envy of every infidel and "Fidel" alike) will "hold court" until the military and the democratic elections are held to resume the status quo.

A Bangkok, We Have a Problem...
Prime Minister Thaksin canceled his address to the United Nations General Assembly today and declared a "state of emergency" in Thailand. He will return to the country early Wednesday. A noble gesture, but as we've seen time and time before (this ain't Thailand's first rodeo, err military coup) he will most likely be arrested, tried in "kangaroo" court and executed. I would have recommended staying State side for a bit and either hitting the shoe stores with Condi or taking a relaxing bus ride with Willie, but that's just me. (Btw, what's the deal with the Po-Pos always busting guys named William for pot when they are touring the country by bus? And as a side note: if you are on a campaign or touring with guys older than 55, you should get a little slack from the police.) I digress; the U.S. State Department's response to the coup in Thailand was the following: "The U.S. State Department is uneasy about the military takeover and hopes political differences can be resolved through democratic principles. 'We are monitoring the situation with concern,' a statement said. 'We continue to hope that the Thai people will resolve their political differences in accord with democratic principles and the rule of law'." How funny is that? The State Department said, "rule of law". Aren't we in the process of tossing our's along with Article 3 of the Geneva Convention out the window? Don't worry folks, I am sure BushCo knows what it is doing. Obviously, when a former Air-Force Military lawyer objects (slam the gavel Sen. Graham) and a former guest of the Hanoi Hilton objects (ummm, Senator McCain, I thought you were trying to make nice with your party to get tapped for the next election) the "right" thing to do is not to forget the "rules of law" which not only stood up to the " Evil Empire" but also out-lasted those guys in black pajamas named "Charlie ". Right? (Moment of Soap-box Zen: And you wonder why the Bushido has always been against a one-party system controlling all 3-branches of government. Because as they say, "absolute power, corrupts absolutely .")

*For more on this visit Glenn Greenwald's Unclaimed Territory, he's written an excellent expose of the "rule of law" and the rejection of history John "Torture" Yoo penned in the Old Grey Lady on Sunday.

Some People Ask Why?, I Ask Why Not?
Acting Prime Minister, General Sondhi staged the coup because of the Thaiese' demand for the Prime Minister's resignation due in part of the Sondhi Administration's "emasculation of the country's democratic institutions, allegations of corruption, electoral skullduggery and the worsening Muslim insurgency in the Southern region of Thailand" (close to 2,000 Thai have lost their lives due to these insurgents). Although Thaksin, a former telecom tycoon, has the support of the rural poor, wealthiest 10% of Thaiese and right-wing conservatives, his Administration has alienated and disenfranchised the middle-class, intellectuals, constitutionists and pro-democracy activists in the country.

The reason I gave the Bushido's readers a laundry list of why the coup was staged is so you would have something to think about in terms of why this country (the United States) needs to maintain our prior commitments to the "rule of law", our Constitution (did anyone notice or celebrate Constitution Day Monday?) and the Geneva Convention. Why? Because our hypocricy will know no bounds if we attack and sanction other countries for breaking or disregarding the "rule of law" when America does not live by the same code of conduct. If I didn't follow the Bushido Code, could I cast my steely blade down upon the necks of those who have no code at all? I think not! And as Americans we should hold ourselves to a higher standard if we want to be the defenders of freedom and democracy, because if we don't then we are nothing more than bullies without both credibility and credence. As we say (Bob) "Ney" and turn our heads to corruption and evil because our attention is too busy focused on our careers, lives or football, then we are embarrasing ourselves in front of the World. And folks, if a blogger in South Carolina is writing about a military coup in Thailand, then we must realize that the World is watching us too.