Ex-Clinton aides advising Honduran coup regime

[Hannah Bell]

Ginger Thompson of the New York Times reported from San Jose, Costa Rica Sunday that in organizing the first sessions of a US-brokered mediation exercise between the ousted President Zelaya and the leader of those who overthrew him, Micheletti, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias instructed both men to appear at his residence with just four advisers.

“On Thursday morning, Mr. Micheletti showed up with six, adding an American public relations specialist who has done work for former President Bill Clinton and the American’s interpreter, and an official close to the talks said the team rarely made a move without consulting him,” Thompson reported.

The PR man was identified as Bennett Ratcliff of San Diego. Thompson quoted an official close to the talks as saying that “Every proposal that Micheletti’s group presented was written or approved by the American .”

Perhaps even more significantly, Lanny Davis has emerged as among Washington’s most prominent defenders and spokesmen for the Honduran coup regime, acting as a lobbyist for the Honduran branch of the extreme right-wing Latin American Business Council.

It is inconceivable that such figures would be playing such a prominent role in advising and defending the coup regime in Honduras without receiving a green light from both Secretary of State Clinton and the Obama White House.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jul2009/hond-j15.shtml

[ColbertWatcher]

1. k+r, n/t

[sam sarrha]

2. they got the green light by default, by no one saying anything about it

[cali]

3. Lanny Davis is playing no gov't role whatsoever despite the

wsw's pathetically lame attempt to make it seem like he is.

typical slimy shit from the worldnutdaliy of the left.

[Hannah Bell]

4. are you a white house confidante? do tell.

"It is inconceivable that such figures would be playing such a prominent role in advising and defending the coup regime in Honduras without receiving a green light from both Secretary of State Clinton and the Obama White House."

[cali]

5. is the idiot author of the piece a white house confidant?

that quote you're using is utterly laughable. Inconceivable? Really? To whom? Just because some propagandist from the worldnutworker says so? LOL! you do love your propaganda. you slurp it up. And do tell what role Davis playing? Is the author actually claiming that Davis wouldn't be a lobbyist for the coup installed gov't without permission from the U.S. gov't? Why yes, he is. And you have to be truly stupid to believe that one.

you are amusing.

[Hannah Bell]

6. you think the admin & clinton don't know lanny davis is formally advising the coupsters?

you think he'd be doing it if they objected?

i see nothing laughable about that assumption at all, & the speculation is borne out by history.

spin & name-call all you like, cali, anyone who's been around politics knows how it works.

[cali]

7. I didn't say they didn't know. I said that the author's claim

that he's doing so at their behest is simply speculation with absolutely no evidence. And why is it there responsibility to prevent him from doing so? That's fucking ridiculous. As for speculation being borne out of history. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. Now do return to your blind supping at the trough of worldnutworker propaganda.

I don't like propaganda or lies no matter what political pov they're issued from.

[HamdenRice]

8. So you've been "around politics" and "know how it works" at the international diplomatic level?

You "know" that this was greenlighted by Clinton and Obama -- how?

By that logic, could I argue that I just "know" that there are little green men living on the far side of the moon? Where's the actual logic and proof?

[cali]

9. the worldnutworker doesn't need no stinkin' evidence or logic

they put out pure propaganda for their mindless little readers. No different then worldnutdaily.

[Hannah Bell]

11. say it all you like; the facts remain the facts.

[Hannah Bell]

10. i have in one instance, yes. in a minor role. & it wasn't so different from local politics except

with more money in play, from what i saw.

but your goal isn't really getting an answer to your question, is it? just more smear.

[flamingdem]

12. Democracy now has something on this today in the last 15 minutes

http://www.democracynow.org/

[starroute]

13. Ratcliff just doesn't seem all that important

I just did some googling on his name and on Ratcliff Strategies, which he founded in 1998. It seems like during the 2000 elections, he was creating advertising campaigns for many top-level candidates and organizations. But since then, not so much.

Most of what comes up on him has to do with something called Groove Mobile, which I guess provides music downloads to cellphones -- and even that all seems to be from 2006.

Either I'm missing something or the guy is kind of washed-up -- in which case I just can't see him as somebody with much influence.

As for Davis, he's a lot better known. But I do find that Bush appointed him to a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board in 2005. He's also apparently been making regular appearances on Fox News. He may or may not still be close to Clinton, but he's clearly a fairly marginal figure when it comes to the Democratic Party as a whole.

At any rate, we'll have to see where Clinton comes down on the issue.

[Hannah Bell]

16. see this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x18819

[starroute]

17. Yeah, I do see stuff about Ratcliff and Vander Ark coming up

Like their website at http://www.varpartners.net/

Or Ratcliff's twitter feed at http://twitter.com/pesky

And I know that San Diego has been a hotbed of charter school activism -- though it's been mostly GOP-based: http://rawstory.com/news/2005/K_Street_pushes_charter_school_plan_0125.html

But even if Ratcliff's partner is pals with Arne Duncan, it still seems like a considerable comedown from where he was in 1999-2000: http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Ratcliff_Bennet_77490780.aspx

For political clients, Mr. Ratcliff has fought and won in some of the most contested political campaigns in the past decade.In 2000, his strategic counsel and communications plan helped the Democratic Governors' Association win 8 of 11 highly contested Governors' races.In 2000, his leading edge TV spots for the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League were the subject of reports in every major daily paper and on every network news and morning show.In the spring of 2000, Mr. Ratcliff completed a documentary series, "Great American Speeches" which aired in primetime on PBS TV nationwide.

In 1999, he was the lead strategist for Governor Paul Patton's re-election in Kentucky.Also in 1999, his Internet ads in California won the prestigious Pollie award from the American Association of Political Consultants.In addition to writing, directing and producing TV, radio, print, and Internet ads, Mr. Ratcliff enjoys working with candidates to prepare them for press conferences, debates, and speeches.

There's something funny about this guy suddenly surfacing as the spokesman for the Honduran coup, and I can't figure it out -- and the suggestion in the OP at the thread you linked to that it's a matter of Bill Gates worrying about Venezuela using Linux doesn't help much.

[Vidar]

14. K&R

[Freddie Stubbs]

15. This simply Obama is just playing chess while his opponents are playing checkers

This is surely part of some secret plan of his.