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Glenn Beck's chalkboard talks are becoming notorious for their ludicrousness, so in most regards, yesterday's was really nothing exceptional. But it was so absurd that it was worth noting, because it's really emblematic of just how far gone Beck really has become.

The point, as you can see, was to claim that President Obama is taking the same path toward dictatorial rule as Hugo Chavez.

No, really.

Because Obama's history is just like Chavez's:

-- Chavez first attempted to come to power through a military coup.

-- Shortly after his election, he called for a constitutional convention that rewrote the Venezuelan Constitution.

-- He survived a short-lived coup in 2002.

-- He has called for an end to presidential term limits.

-- He has shut down opposition press organs.

Beck seems to think that calling out Fox as a propaganda organ is the exact same thing as ordering it to cease operations. Because, you know, any critical rebuttal of Fox's endless war on Obama is exactly the same thing as silencing dissent.

You could say there's a distinct lack of perspective here. Or, as BC's Alan Wolfe put it, Beck "lives in a complete alternative universe."

From Democracy Now--“Bush Was Responsible for Destroying Haitian Democracy”–Randall Robinson on Obama Tapping Bush to Co-Chair US Relief Efforts:

We speak with TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson, author of An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, from Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President. On President Obama tapping former President Bill Clinton and former President George W Bush to co-chair US relief efforts in Haiti, Robinson says, “Bush was responsible for destroying Haitian democracy…Clinton has largely sponsored a program of economic development that supports the idea of sweatshops… but that is not what we should focus on now. We should focus on saving lives.”

Democracy Now continues to do some of the best reporting out there on Haiti and the role that our government among others has played in creating the extreme poverty there that made this disaster worse than it had to be. It's just shameful that we've had nothing even remotely resembling the reporting they've done out of our mainstream media. They can't admit the military coups, the burden the debt placed on that country has caused or how horrid our intervention in their government has been for the people of Haiti.

Here's the bio for Randall Robinson per Goodman:

AMY GOODMAN: Randall Robinson, founder and past president of TransAfrica. He fasted almost until death years ago under the Clinton administration to try to get President Clinton to close Guantanamo. In that case, it was to close Guantanamo so that Haitian refugees who were trying to escape the coup in Haiti were able to come into the United States. Randall Robinson’s latest book is called An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, from Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President.

Transcript below the fold.

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I am happy that CNN and Anderson Cooper have decided to go down to Haiti to shine a spotlight on just how dire the circumstances there are with their coverage over the last few days. That said, this "Keeping Them Honest" segment left a lot to be desired. They failed to note some of the reasons for the extreme poverty there that Susie wrote about here at C&L--Let's Talk About Haiti's REAL Deal With The Devil: Exploitation By The Western World.. They failed to talk about how so much of the intervention in that country has been nothing but destructive as covered by Democracy Now. And no mention of the coup in 2004 that The Nation reported on--Coup in Haiti.

I'm no expert on Haiti but you don't have to be one to see how horrid the mainstream media has been with telling us what has caused this natural disaster to be even worse. While this segment hit at some of the real problems in that country, they really just whitewashed the underlying causes and the role The United States and other countries have had in making their misery as horrid as it is now.

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Amy Goodman and Sharif Abdel Kouddous discuss Haiti's history of military coups and other reasons for the extreme poverty that has savaged that country with their guests Kim Ives and Edwidge Danticat. This is the type of discussion you surely won't hear on our mainstream media which is busy ambulance chasing instead of looking at the root causes of the poverty that have made this horrible natural disaster even worse. You can watch the entire segment at Democracy Now's site--Haiti Devastated by Largest Earthquake in 200 Years, Thousands Feared Dead.

SHARIF ABDEL KOUDDOUS: And can you explain why are there UN peacekeepers deployed on the ground? Explain for people. We had the ouster of the democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. Where does it stand politically right now in Haiti?

KIM IVES: Well, the UN occupation is extremely unpopular. This was sent in after Aristide was removed by a plot essentially by the US, France and Canada on February 29, 2004. US, France and Canada sent in occupation troops, which remained there for three months. And then they handed off the mission to the UN, as they’ve done in the past—in 1995, in particular—to the UN to carry out. That’s mainly done by the Brazilians, are heading that. But it’s extremely unwelcome. People are sick and tired of the millions being spent, having guys riding around in giant tanks pointing guns at them. And, you know, essentially, this is a force to keep the country bottled up. And I don’t know what’s going to happen now, because the dogs of madness have really—are going to be unleashed by this catastrophe.

SHARIF ABDEL KOUDDOUS: I want to read a statement that was just released by the former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He said, “My wife and I stand with the people of our country and mourn the death and destruction that has befallen Haiti. It is a tragedy that defies expression; a tragedy that compels all people to the highest levels of human compassion and solidarity. From Africa, the ancestral home of Haiti, we send our profoundest condolences and love to the thousands of children, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters worst affected.” Where in Africa right now is he speaking from, Kim?

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(Gen. Zia - Tea and Kleenex - there's a message here)

When this interview was conducted on May 18, 1980, Afghanistan was under Soviet occupation a little over six months. There was also the matter of fifty American hostages in Tehran and the U.S. elections heating up. Zia headed up a military coup that overthrew the legitimate elected government of Ali Bhutto and after staging a rather dubious trial, executed him, much to the shock and horror of the rest of the world. Zia would later die in a helicopter crash, also of dubious circumstances.

I think it would be fair to say that the instability of the region has a long history and having Atomic weapons capabilities makes the stomach turn just a bit faster as a result.

General Zia managed to conduct a one-on-one with Walter Cronkite and offered a few insights that, in hindsight may seem prophetic.

Gen. Zia: “What I am trying to say is, The United States Of America must see the true priorities in this region. If this region has any strategic significance in the minds of the United States citizens, if this region has any significance to the ultimate interests of the United States of America and the free world, then I am afraid the question of hostages should not be viewed on the emotional plain. I very strongly recommend, Mister Cronkite, that we should view the situation in a much bigger perspective. It is a global problem in my opinion. The lives of fifty American nationals is as dear and as valuable to me as it is to any United States citizen. But I say there are much greater things at stake at the present moment, and we should take out the emotional aspects of an election year or of the human aspects of this, this cannot be ignored, I must agree. But I think there are much greater stakes involved in this issue than only the lives of fifty nationals.”

So in retrospect, listening to this interview now and knowing our current situation with Afghanistan and our relationship with Pakistan, it would seem the current problems with the Taliban in the region have been more or less a work-in-progress the last 25 or so years.

Nothing is ever as it seems and nothing ever happens instantly.

We posted a story on Tuesday about John Perry's over-the-top article at Newsmax, in which he makes the totally baseless claim that a military coup to overthrow President Obama was a real possibility.

Some C&L readers noticed Wednesday morning that the link to the original Newsmax article went to the main page instead of the article and sure enough, it appears Newsmax scrubbed the article.

Luckily, the amazing Jamie found the cached article and took the above screen grab. You can read the full, original article here.

Did the powers that be at Newsmax realize that maybe, just maybe, they had finally crossed the line? I'm curious to know why such staunch defenders of the constitution decided to cut and run on this one. They can't put the genie back in the bottle. They published an article suggesting a military coup was a real possibility and now they've scrubbed it. Do they agree with Perry, or not? They need to explain publicly why the article was pulled.

You can write Newsmax directly and ask them why they scrubbed the article -- click here.

From John L. Perry at Newsmax:

There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America's military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the Obama problem. Don't dismiss it as unrealistic.

America isn't the Third World. If a military coup does occur here it will be civilized. That it has never happened doesn't mean it wont. Describing what may be afoot is not to advocate it. So, view the following through military eyes:

Did you get that? Perry doesn't advocate a military overthrow of the Obama administration, he's...just sayin'. Does anyone doubt that we'll see "military coup" signs at the next tea party? Mr. Perry believes he has the pulse of our military, but his assumptions go beyond the pale, straining the limits of credulity:

Top military officers can see the Constitution they are sworn to defend being trampled as American institutions and enterprises are nationalized.

They can see that Americans are increasingly alarmed that this nation, under President Barack Obama, may not even be recognizable as America by the 2012 election, in which he will surely seek continuation in office.

They can see that the economy ravaged by deficits, taxes, unemployment, and impending inflation is financially reliant on foreign lender governments. Read on...

There are so many flaws in this clown's logic, I don't know where to begin. What he's actually describing is George Bush's presidency, not Barack Obama's. If you can stand to click through to Perry's article, I would be most interested to hear your thoughts on his assumptions. As Jamie asked -- can you say treason?

Also worth remembering: Rush Limbaugh actually promoted this idea a few months ago.

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Wolf Blitzer asks Fareed Zakaria if he agrees with former CIA agent Bob Baer's assessment that there has been a military coup by the revolutionary guard in Iran. Zakaria is not as willing to use the word coup, but does feel that there is some conflict between the clerics in Iran.

As Zakaria points out, the dynamics of those conflicts and the ease with which they can be blamed on American interference is exactly why it was wise for the Obama administration to be cautious with their rhetoric.

BLITZER: One Middle East expert says what we're seeing unfold in Iran right now isn't just a government crackdown, but an actual coup by the country's elite revolutionary guard.

ZAKARIA: Do you think it's pretty clear that the government has the ability to really consolidate power and crackdown on this?

BAER: Fareed, I'm quite sure there's been a military coup d'etat by the Islamic revolutionary corp in Tehran. They're taken over. And the fact that the Basij came out so quickly. They could have only done that on orders from the IRGC. The fact that Ahmadinejad's a former IRGC officer, he has the backing of senior officers. I think what we've seen is a military coup against the old clerical establishment.

BLITZER: Let's bring in Fareed Zakaria to join us now. Fareed, what do you think? You are an authority on this subject?

ZAKARIA: I think that Bob Baer is on to something. I'm not sure I would use the word coup, you know, that strongly, but there is no question what we're witnessing in Iran is the displacement of the old clerical establishment and the rise to power of some new clerics, but mostly a group of people who have much closer ties to the military, to the intelligence organizations, to the police, and to the Basij. So what you're seeing is a kind of consolidation of a pure military dictatorship, losing the trappings of the Islam and the ideology as much.

And by the way, this is very much part of Ahmadinejad's strategy when he is now attacking America. It is an attempt to consolidate power and to move beyond the debate about what's going on in Iran.

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