By Editorial Board
2014 December 17
Washington Post
IN RECENT months, the outlook for the Castro regime in Cuba was growing steadily darker. The modest reforms it adopted in recent years to improve abysmal economic conditions had stalled, due to the regime’s refusal to allow Cubans greater freedoms. Worse, the accelerating economic collapse of Venezuela meant that the huge subsidies that have kept the Castros afloat for the past decade were in peril. A growing number of Cubans were demanding basic human rights, such as freedom of speech and assembly.
On Wednesday, the Castros suddenly obtained a comprehensive bailout — from the Obama administration. President Obama granted the regime everything on its wish list that was within his power to grant; a full lifting of the trade embargo requires congressional action. Full diplomatic relations will be established, Cuba’s place on the list of terrorism sponsors reviewed and restrictions lifted on U.S. investment and most travel to Cuba. That liberalization will provide Havana with a fresh source of desperately needed hard currency and eliminate U.S. leverage for political reforms.
As part of the bargain, Havana released Alan Gross, a U.S. Agency for International Development contractor who was unjustly imprisoned five years ago for trying to help Cuban Jews. Also freed was an unidentified U.S. intelligence agent in Cuba — as were three Cuban spies who had been convicted of operations in Florida that led to Cuba’s 1996 shootdown of a plane carrying anti-Castro activists. While Mr. Obama sought to portray Mr. Gross’s release as unrelated to the spy swap, there can be no question that Cuba’s hard-line intelligence apparatus obtained exactly what it sought when it made Mr. Gross a de facto hostage.
No wonder Yoani Sánchez, Cuba’s leading dissident blogger, concluded Wednesday that “Castroism has won” and predicted that for weeks Cubans will have to endure proclamations by the government that it is the “winner of its ultimate battle.”
During his announcement on Wednesday, President Obama said a transformation of relations with Cuba would bring opportunities for both countries.
Mr. Obama argued that his sweeping change of policy was overdue because the strategy of isolating the Communist regime “has had little effect.” In fact, Cuba has been marginalized in the Americas for decades, and the regime has been deprived of financial resources it could have used to spread its malignant influence in the region, as Venezuela has done. That the embargo has not succeeded in destroying communism does not explain why all sanctions should be lifted without any meaningful political concessions by Cuba.
U.S. officials said the regime agreed to release 53 political prisoners and allow more access to the Internet. But Raúl Castro promised four years ago to release all political prisoners, so the White House has purchased the same horse already sold to the Vatican and Spain.
The administration says its move will transform relations with Latin America, but that is naive. Countries that previously demanded an end to U.S. sanctions on Cuba will not now look to Havana for reforms; instead, they will press the Obama administration not to sanction Venezuela. Mr. Obama says normalizing relations will allow the United States to be more effective in promoting political change in Cuba. That is contrary to U.S. experience with Communist regimes such as Vietnam, where normalization has led to no improvements on human rights in two decades. Moreover, nothing in Mr. Obama’s record of lukewarm and inconstant support for democratic change across the globe can give Ms. Sánchez and her fellow freedom fighters confidence in this promise.
The Vietnam outcome is what the Castros are counting on: a flood of U.S. tourists and business investment that will allow the regime to maintain its totalitarian system indefinitely. Mr. Obama may claim that he has dismantled a 50-year-old failed policy; what he has really done is give a 50-year-old failed regime a new lease on life.
2014-12-18
Marco Rubio Slams Cuba Agreement — Says Obama Is ‘Willfully Ignorant’
By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times - Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Calling President Obama “willfully ignorant” and “the worst negotiator” the U.S. has had in decades, Sen. Marco Rubio on Wednesday slammed the administration’s agreement with Cuba to open normal diplomatic relations for the first time in more than 50 years,vowing that the incoming Republican majority in the Senate will try to undo the deal with whatever tools they have at their disposal.
Speaking just minutes after Mr. Obama hailed the deal — predicated on the release of political prisoners by both nations — Mr. Rubio, a Cuban-American, said the president has let the people of Cuba down by finalizing a “disgraceful” deal that is a major setback for human rights and freedom for the Cuban people.
Moving forward, the Florida Republican said congressional Republicans may block the nomination of a U.S. ambassador to Cuba and could stand in the way of funding for diplomatic facilities on the island.
“I’m committed to doing everything I can to unravel as many of these changes as I can,” he said. “I intend to use every tool at our disposal in the majority [in the Senate] to unravel as many of these changes as possible.”
On the action itself, Mr. Rubio said normalizing relations with Cuba will only allow Cuban President Raul Castro to shore up his power base and continue oppressing his own people, adding that the president’s belief that the move will help the Cuban people is naive.
“This entire policy shift announced today is based on an illusion, on a lie — the lie and illusion that more commerce, more access to money and goods will translate to political for the Cuban people,” Mr. Rubio, Florida Republican and a potential 2016 presidential candidate, told reporters. “All this is going to do is give the Castro regime, which controls every aspect of Cuban life, the opportunity to manipulate these changes to perpetuate itself in power.”
The deal announced Wednesday comes as the Cuban government released American aid worker Alan Gross, who had been held for five years. In a separate deal, the U.S. and Cuba released political prisoners, including a U.S. intelligence asset who had been held for two decades, officials said.
Mr. Rubio praised the release of Mr. Gross and said he is grateful to have him home.
But the broader agreement, the senator said, is a mistake of huge proportions.
“It is just another concession to a tyranny by the Obama administration rather than a defense of every universal and unalienable right that our country stands for … It will significantly set back the hopes of freedom and democracy for the Cuban people,” he said. “It is disgraceful for a president who claims to treasure human rights and human freedom. This president is the single worst negotiator we have had in the White House in my lifetime.”
Calling President Obama “willfully ignorant” and “the worst negotiator” the U.S. has had in decades, Sen. Marco Rubio on Wednesday slammed the administration’s agreement with Cuba to open normal diplomatic relations for the first time in more than 50 years,vowing that the incoming Republican majority in the Senate will try to undo the deal with whatever tools they have at their disposal.
Speaking just minutes after Mr. Obama hailed the deal — predicated on the release of political prisoners by both nations — Mr. Rubio, a Cuban-American, said the president has let the people of Cuba down by finalizing a “disgraceful” deal that is a major setback for human rights and freedom for the Cuban people.
Moving forward, the Florida Republican said congressional Republicans may block the nomination of a U.S. ambassador to Cuba and could stand in the way of funding for diplomatic facilities on the island.
“I’m committed to doing everything I can to unravel as many of these changes as I can,” he said. “I intend to use every tool at our disposal in the majority [in the Senate] to unravel as many of these changes as possible.”
On the action itself, Mr. Rubio said normalizing relations with Cuba will only allow Cuban President Raul Castro to shore up his power base and continue oppressing his own people, adding that the president’s belief that the move will help the Cuban people is naive.
“This entire policy shift announced today is based on an illusion, on a lie — the lie and illusion that more commerce, more access to money and goods will translate to political for the Cuban people,” Mr. Rubio, Florida Republican and a potential 2016 presidential candidate, told reporters. “All this is going to do is give the Castro regime, which controls every aspect of Cuban life, the opportunity to manipulate these changes to perpetuate itself in power.”
The deal announced Wednesday comes as the Cuban government released American aid worker Alan Gross, who had been held for five years. In a separate deal, the U.S. and Cuba released political prisoners, including a U.S. intelligence asset who had been held for two decades, officials said.
Mr. Rubio praised the release of Mr. Gross and said he is grateful to have him home.
But the broader agreement, the senator said, is a mistake of huge proportions.
“It is just another concession to a tyranny by the Obama administration rather than a defense of every universal and unalienable right that our country stands for … It will significantly set back the hopes of freedom and democracy for the Cuban people,” he said. “It is disgraceful for a president who claims to treasure human rights and human freedom. This president is the single worst negotiator we have had in the White House in my lifetime.”
Cuba's Castro Brothers Get Big Present From Santa Obama
Foreign Policy: Just as its patron Venezuela hit the rocks, Cuba got a last-minute rescue from none other than President Obama, who announced a Santa Claus-like package of wish-list goodies for the Castro brothers. Why?
In many ways, President Obama's announced plan to normalize relations with Cuba, lift the embargo, extend trade credits and remove Cuba from the state sponsors of terror list is about on par with the rest of his foreign policy.
It was done by executive order without consulting Congress, just like last month's decision to temporarily legalize 5 million illegal immigrants.
It was justified by a claim the U.S. embargo was "not working," comparable to Obama's claim the U.S. immigration system is "broken." In reality, the problem in both cases is that of a halfhearted willingness to enforce the law, rendering it full of holes.
As for the hostage swap in the bargain, that of U.S. Agency for International Development subcontractor Alan Gross and another U.S. agent for three professional Cuban intelligence officers linked to the murder of U.S. citizens in the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown, it was a deal that gave far more than it got, just like the hostage swap with the Taliban of U.S. army deserter Bowe Bergdahl for five terrorists.
And it was all about leading from behind.
Once again, Obama made nice with Latin America's leftwing leaders, whose interests don't align with ours, and used Pope Francis as a fig leaf for his action.
They are rooted in little more than Obama's desire to be popular with such leaders at the upcoming Summit of the Americas in April. It is little different from his actions in Libya during the so-called Arab Spring.
But two details are disturbing.
One is the strange timing of the announcement, coming just as Venezuela and other nations ruled by petrotyrants are on the verge of collapse.
Venezuela has played sugar daddy to Cuba for years, shipping 100,000 barrels of free oil to the communist state. It can no longer afford to. Rather than use that as leverage, Obama rescued Cuba despite its repressive human rights record. That's one odd bailout.
And the bailout won't be free for U.S. taxpayers.
Obama administration officials have said they are moving swiftly to extend trade credits to Cuba so the $483 million in American goods Cuba now pays for in cash can expand further, thanks to taxpayer-supported U.S. ExImBank trade credits.
In effect, we've handed the odious Castro brothers Uncle Sam's credit card. Given that the Castroites have defaulted on all of their trading partners since 1961, to the tune of at least $70 billion, it's assumed the Castros, having no sustainable economic model, will eventually default on us too.
How big could that be? Humberto Fontova, author of "The Longest Romance: The Mainstream Media And Fidel Castro," says Cuba now imports 400 tons of rice from Vietnam and China. If the U.S. now takes that market, at a global price of about $419 a ton, that comes out to about $1.68 billion. That's for rice alone.
Some Christmas present for the atheist Castro brothers. For Cuba's long-suffering democrats and the American taxpayer, maybe not so much.
2014-12-08
Obama is a Racist in a Liberal's Clothing
On the 2014 December 6 “Justice,” Judge Jeanine Pirro blasted President Obama for taking sides based on color, not facts, and stoking the flames "racial hatred, resentment and divisiveness."
"Every young American who loses his life should be the concern of the man in the White House. But why is it that we only hear from him when death involves a person of color?" Judge Jeanine asked.
She pointed out that Obama wasn't elected by just one group, but all Americans, Republican and Democrat, black and white.
"Why don't you act like you're the president of all of us?" Judge Jeanine expands:
Tonight, Americans, once hopeful that after electing the first African American president, the issue of race would be a thing of the past, are left with Barack Obama, who stokes the flames of racial hatred, resentment and divisiveness.
A man who instead of healing our nation, instead of overcoming any racial divide prefers to take sides, based not on facts but on color, to prejudge situations based not on sworn testimony and evidence but on conjecture and a one size fits all resentment, to peddle the narrative of a national problem between law enforcement and young people of color.
Every young American who loses his life should be the concern of the man in the White House. But why is it that we only hear from him when death involves a person of color?
But James Foley, an American who never committed a crime and was beheaded, is nothing more than a blip in the president's golf game.
Mr. President, why do you send White House officials to Brown's funeral but no one to James Foley’s memorial service?
I don't remember you injecting yourself in the death of a young white American or sending in the attorney general on a local crime before the justice system can act - as you did with Eric Holder, sending him to Ferguson?
Why not speak about young African Americans killed by other African Americans? Black-on-black crime? The kind of crime for which your home town of Chicago is so infamous?
Instead, you see racism everywhere.
Mr. President, you say we need trust between police and the African American community, police need to be sensitive to minority concerns.
How about you teach respect for those who put their lives on the line every day, for those who protect us, for those who are the one line of defense against an otherwise barbaric and chaotic society?
How about you teach that when a police officer says "move along" or "put your hands behind your back,” you do it!
And teach that you don't call cops derogatory names or reach into a police cruiser to grab a cop's gun.
But then again, you're the one who thinks cops are stupid.
Mr. President, you demand respect. Why not demand respect for police. When they issue an order, it's not a suggestion, an invitation, a mediation or a request.
As anarchy reigned and protesters looted stores and burned buildings of hard-working Americans - many African American - where were you?
Or do you believe that those crimes are justification for a perceived injustice? Simple collateral damage - like Occupy Wall Street. That tax paying Americans need to just suffer through and then pay for?
But no, you fan the flames of resentment, trumpeting your own investigation that you could have completed by now, only prolonging the anger. Suggesting, yes, folks, this is yet another white injustice, and I’m going to reverse it with a federal civil rights investigation, when you know there isn't a smidgeon - your word - of evidence to support the claim.
Weren't you going to reverse the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case with a federal investigation? What happened? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!
Have you no respect for the law? For our system of justice? If you don't like the law, change it. Hell, you do it all the time without Congress!
And you bring in the greatest charlatan of them all, a man who makes a living inciting racial hatred, a tax cheat and a liar, who claimed an African American girl was raped by a white man - stirring the pot of racial hatred that resulted in a defamation judgment against him - to sit with you at the citadel of power in the White House to discuss how law enforcement should be more sensitive.
Now, there are times when injustices occur, but the system also works.
I know. According to that same Al Sharpton , as DA, I convicted the first white cop of shooting an African American in the history of New York.
That jury, not affected by centuries of racism - but the facts, pure and simple.
Mr. President, if you're so concerned about racism, why don't you do something about it?
It is no secret black crime is disproportionately high. Why not focus on poverty, on lack of education, on drugs, on guns, on broken families
Bill Clinton moved Americans from welfare to "workfare." You turn back the hands of time.
With you as president, things aren't so great for African Americans. The poverty rate among African Americans has gone up since you took office. Fewer African Americans own homes. The number of African Americans on food stamps rose from 6 million to almost 11 million since you took office.
Mr. President, you seem to forget, you weren't just elected by one group. You were elected by all of us: Republicans and Democrats, blacks and whites.
Why don't you act like you're the president of all of us?
WELL SAID!
2014-12-02
Can The U.S. Congress Black Caucus Possibly Be More Benighted?
Congressional Black Caucus denounces Ferguson grand jury
By KENDALL BREITMAN 11/24/14 10:22 PM EST
“The Ferguson grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown is a miscarriage of justice,” CBC Chair Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) said in a statement released after the decision was announced late Monday evening in Missouri. “It is a slap in the face to Americans nationwide who continue to hope and believe that justice will prevail.”
“This is a frightening narrative for every parent and guardian of Black and brown children, and another setback for race relations in America.”
After months of deliberation, St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Robert McCulloch announced that a grand jury had reached a decision not to indict Wilson on criminal charges. Wilson shot and killed the unarmed teenager Aug. 9 in a confrontation on the streets of Ferguson.
The American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement on Monday night saying that it will “continue to fight for racial justice.”
“We must end the prevailing policing paradigm where police departments are more like occupying forces, imposing their will to control communities,” the statement read. Once the decision not to indict was announced, Ferguson again became engulfed in unrest. The Associated Press reports dozens of businesses were set ablaze and authorities said they heard hundreds of gunshots. Dozens of people were arrested. Rep. John Lewis, known for his role in the civil rights movement, took to Twitter shortly after McCulloch finished his statement.
“I know this [is] hard. I know this is difficult. Do not succumb to the temptations of violence. There is a more powerful way,” the Georgia Democrat tweeted.
Another of his tweets read, “Only love can overcome hate. Only nonviolence can overcome violence.”
Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) also likened the events in Ferguson to the civil rights movement, urging protesters in a statement to march peacefully “just as we did” during the ’50s and ’60s.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) was quick to put out a statement and said he is “disappointed” in the decision, but that he is looking to the Department of Justice to continue to investigate the case.
“While I understand the emotions that have brought protestors into the streets, our goal now should be preventing cases like this one from ever happening again by encouraging dialogue with the police forces sworn to protect our communities and transforming the practices and culture that led to the shooting,” Cummings said in a statement.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) echoed Cummings’ disappointment, tweeting she is also “disappointed in the lack of #Justice4MikeBrown. We must demand change & work to end racial & structural bias in a peaceful manner.”
Prominent political figures in Missouri also weighed in.
Gov. Jay Nixon said: “I urge all those voicing their opinions regarding the grand jury’s decision to do so peacefully. I also urge everyone to continue working to make positive changes that will yield long-term social, economic and spiritual benefits for all our communities.”
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said in a statement that she expects people to be disappointed, but that she hopes the DOJ will “continue working together for solutions to systematic issues highlighted by this tragedy.”
Over a series of 11 tweets sent after the decision was announced, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) told protesters, “We hear you.”
“We have not merely witnessed the effects of a warped sense of law & order, enforced with unbridled & unpredictable power. We wear the scars,” one tweet read.
EDITOR'S NOTE: With the above-level of thought, reflection, and reason in the U.S. Congress, is there any question today why we have the current, bad-faith, bad-blood race relations in this county today? This portion of the U.S. Congress is clearly a major part of the problem and has no notion of the solution. None. Sad.
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