From Budapest to Bangkok

Within the space of 24 hours there have been two attempts to remove corrupt governments. Neither has turned out as it should have.

The Hungarian people have tried unsuccessfully to remove the the incompetent, lying government of Ferenc Gyurcsany. The whole country wants the government to resign but Gyurcsany will not give in and has threatened to crack down on any further protests against his government.

It is quite astonishing that a "democratic" government should act in this manner. It is even more astonishing that the "international community", particularly other members of the EU, should remain silent as Gyurcsany steers Hungary back to the dark days of authoritarian rule.

In Thailand the army has staged a coup against the democratically elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra. The excuse used by supporters of the coup was that Thaksin was corrupt.

Thaksin has been corrupt most of his life. He didn't become a billionaire by being honest. He has been in power for five years and yet the army only moves against him now, shortly after he sacked the head of the army. This coup isn't about Thaksin's integrity - this coup is a result of the personal feud between Thaksin and the head of the army.

Once again the "international community" remains silent as Thailand returns to military dictatorship.

The "international community's" hypocrisy is quite unbelievable.

They were quite happy to support the popular revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine but remained silent as popular uprisings in Uzbekistan, Kyrgistan and now Hungary are brutally crushed.

They condemn authoritarian regimes in North Korea, Iran and Syria etc but are quite happy to support authoritarian military dictatorships in Pakistan, Libya and now Thailand.