The lei, the poncho, the hardhat . . . it’s Hawaii meets Nicaragua . . . Village People meets Ugly Betty.

You’re one crazy mess.

CPJ: Nicaragua Special Report: Daniel Ortega’s Media War
By Carlos Lauría and Joel Simon Posted July 1, 2009

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – …President Daniel Ortega was embarking on an overseas trip.

The only journalists to accompany the president were representatives of what Nicaraguans call the “official” media

Ortega unexpectedly returned to Nicaragua without explaining … trip.

wife, Rosario Murillo,… Nicaragua’s communications czar.

Nicaraguan leader and his wife have defined private news media as direct political challengers

Critical journalists, on the other hand, face legal harassment and attacks on their character… smear campaigns intended to discredit independent reporters…

And the Ortega administration has manipulated government advertising and access to official sources

Latin American leaders across the political spectrum, from Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez to Colombia’s Alvaro Uribe, have pursued similar media strategies.

In 1998, Ortega’s adopted stepdaughter, Zoilamérica Narváez, publicly accused him of molestation and sexual harassment that began when she was 13 and lasted for years. The scandal sparked a vicious debate that analysts say deepened Ortega’s tendencies toward secrecy.

But it was the November 2008 municipal elections…that triggered a significant deterioration in press freedom conditions.

As FSLN militants confronted angry demonstrators, they also turned on journalists covering the protests….On November 19, 2008, …….. assailants armed with guns, sticks, and stones stormed the studios,…radio stations,…national television stations Canal 2 and Canal 8,

Confidencial reported that the government spent 80 percent of its US$3.5 million advertising in 2007-08 for spots on Channel 4, which is run by Ortega’s sons (and, according to some reports, owned by the presidential family).

These efforts are supported by e-mail news services—

Ortega’s crackdown on the media and other critics was intended to weaken civil institutions in time for the November 2008 municipal elections

They worry that Ortega may seek to retain power by amending the Constitution to allow an additional term in office.

“Ortega always plays to exacerbate crisis so he can negotiate at the edge of the abyss,” said Sergio Ramírez

http://cpj.org/reports/2009/07.....ia-war.php (entire long article)

While o-blah-blah (et al) likely lllllllllloves this little trick, somehow I’m not thinking that it would happen that easily here. The o-blah-blah gang may try; but I don’t think that it would result in their desired result.

God Bless America .. God Bless Her Troops!

Obama has already expressed his distaste for our Constitution and the limitations it places on the President. How many SCOTUS justices may retire during the first (and hopefully only) term?

Change, change, change. The tag line for people who want to consolidate power. We must all change to allow one person to stay in power in perpetuity. It will make things more efficient by removing oppositional political forces – no balance of power to question, to slow down change.

One wonders if such a thing could occur here. The Clintons tried to replay their eight years in the white house by running Hillary on the presidential ticket. These days simple stooges will suffice.