El Loser O

clipped from ibdeditorials.com Americas: The U.S. hit Honduras with harsh new sanctions last Thursday, slashing $30 million in aid. Nothing new, but the timing's strange, given that the rest of the world is starting to normalize ties with the tiny state. The June 28 ouster of Honduran President Mel Zelaya is rapidly shaping up as a never-ending crisis for the Obama administration. The more it tries to punish Honduras for getting rid of its would-be dictator, the more the freedom-loving Hondurans dig in to keep their democracy. Now it's pulled $30 million in aid and threatens to extend this crisis to forever by not recognizing Honduras' November elections. The U.S. says the aid cutbacks are meant to prod the Hondurans back to the bargaining table. But so far, the mediation of Costa Rica's respected president, Oscar Arias, has consisted of an intolerable proposal to bring back Zelaya.