"By asking a state sponsor of terrorism for "evidence" regarding terrorism, the Bush Administration Justice Department demonstrates a shockingly profound ignorance of the nature of terrorism, of its origins, and its state sponsors. The only "evidence" that the terrorist regime in Havana could provide the United States with regard to the twice-acquited in Venezuela Mr. Posada or anyone else, would be fabricated evidence. The evidence that the Bush Administration Justice Department needs to bring forth and stop ignoring is of the murder of U.S. citizens and other crimes committed with impunity by the Castro brothers and their henchmen."
Joint Statement by Representatives Lincoln Díaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Díaz-Balart
After six years of kow-towing to the Bush White House on everything, from the "Wet Foot/Dry Foot" policy to the gutting of the embargo, this docile trio of brownassers finally took a principled stand on something. Hell has frozen over! It is an Age of Wonders! What other miracles may we expect? That our two undistinguished senators from Florida and New Jersey will follow suit?
Joint Statement by Representatives Lincoln Díaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Díaz-Balart
After six years of kow-towing to the Bush White House on everything, from the "Wet Foot/Dry Foot" policy to the gutting of the embargo, this docile trio of brownassers finally took a principled stand on something. Hell has frozen over! It is an Age of Wonders! What other miracles may we expect? That our two undistinguished senators from Florida and New Jersey will follow suit?
I think that thet have finally caved to the pressure of the blogs, Manuel. We need to keep the pressure on and up to see if they finally protest the dry-foot wet-foot regulation with some sort of energy.
ReplyDeleteI doubt it, because the rafters don't vote. All of them were at the Miami Dade Community College the other day with W and no one dared to publicly protest that criminal regulation, which by the way, W could erradicate with a stroke of a pen.
charlie:
ReplyDeleteIt is not surprising that they have never protested the "Wet Foot/Dry Foot" policy, since doing so would only expose the fact that they have little or no influence with the Bush administration, which sees them for the servile opportunists that they are.
Bush could do a lot of things with the stroke of his pen. Resignation would be the best thing that he could do with it except for the fact that it would make Dick Chaney president.
Agree, and in regards to our other distinguished senators, well.... they are not known for doing anything that the absolute minimum required to get pay our crispy tax payer dollars.
ReplyDeleteAt KillCastro we got scorned by some, because we said that Cheney was a liability for the second term, as he totally proved during the first term.
In the meantime, our august cadre of politicians created the anticastro industry, which has permitted them to enjoy a nice and comfy political career just by doing as little as possible and with vacous gestures. Every year that kasstro remains in power is another year they get paid a nice politico salary and another year in which perks literally rain on them. Will they do anything to harm kasstro and spoil their careers? I simply doubt it.
The devotion for Bush that some show is akin as a cult of personality. Some are more partisan that Mr. & Mrs. Bush senior. Oh, that little detail, I forgot the dry foot wet foot, that get's forgotten and forgiven quickly.
On KillCastro -when people said that there were no more space in Miami for poor Cuban rafters, and let's face it, there's seem to be some space for rich Latin Americans- we proposed that all Cubans were accepted in this country and sent to the areas ravaged by Katrina and other natural disasters. I personally spoke with local politicians in New Orleans, during my visit to town, and our proposal was ignored by the politicos.
Our politicos from Jersey and Florida will keep on having their cafe cubano moments, and the symbolic -and restaurant bland- arroz con frijoles will keep on be tasted and left in the dish after two spoonfuls -yes, some of the politicos do eat rice with a spoon!
A free Cuba? that's a bad career move for them!
Not to mention a FREE CUBA, will probably send Miami back to what it was before the Marielitos arrived.
ReplyDeleteRent Scarface and see what South Beach looked like back then , that will be what it will look like 5 years after Cuba is free!
I mean REALLY who will vacation in Miami if by staying in the plane for 15 more minutes you get sun, beach, music, gambling and tourism workers that do not expect a 20% tip!?
Need a HOT music video .. CUBA,
Fashion Show .. CUBA
External shots for a movie with tropical scenery .. CUBA
Cigars ... CUBA
Coffee CUBA
As hard as it has to be for ANYONE who has built any sorta of mom and pop business in Miami , a Free Cuba means the end of the road. As far as those who know Cuba by way of third party accounts or have made a career out of being professional guayaberas a FREE Cuba means the end. Has to be a BITCH to be clamoring for the freedom of a country which you know will bury your economy if indeed it becomes free!
And lets not even mention , Mexico, The Bahamas , Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Santo domingo and even Vegas. As we had said at KillCastro a FREE Cuba will be the death of the economy for most of the contries (or states) in the caribbean basin .
It's all about aconomics !
And the infamous Guyabera politicos... back to McDonalds for ya all ya buncha pricks!
Back to the topic at hand.
ReplyDeleteThese "bozos" have always stood by Luis Posada Carriles. They even helped Posada Carriles get pardoned in Panama by directly petitioning Mireya Moscoso. They have even voiced their proud support for Posada Carriles and his actions publicly on Radio Mambi many times.
The only difference now is that they held a press conference. Otherwise, they have always stood by Luis Posada Carriles in all respects.
Your criticism about them finally taking a "principled stand", based on ONE press conference, is kinda exaggerated I think.
And unfair.
ReplyDeleteWatcher:
ReplyDeleteI did not criticize their position on Posada, which has been consistent and unerring. In this case, at least, there were no nuances to confound them (innocent is innocent), and they were able to gage the sentiments of the community and act accordingly. It is easier to ask justice for one man than for an entire class of people. In fact, supporting due process for Posada may just be enough to satisfy the community and spare the trio the disapproval of the party bosses who couldn't care less about this peripheral case, but who see a potential Mariel in every hapless Cuban refugee who sets out for these shores.
For six years, and with all the clout that the community's decisive support of Bush in both 2000 and 2004 should have earned them, Miami's Cuban congressmen have refused to confront the president on his embrace of Clinton's "Wet Foot/Dry Foot" policy, which Bush has upheld longer than did Clinton. Nor have they forcefully denounced the U.S. Coast Guard systematic abuse of the refugees on the high seas and even after they have made land. Some of these predations have been captured on video; a great deal has been intimated by deaths incurred during "rescue operations" involving water cannons, the ramming of boats and even gunfire, not to mention the rufugees which the Coast Guard allowed to drown before their eyes because it deemed that rescuing them was too "dangerous" (imagine if soldiers retreated on the battlefield with that excuse); but the worst abuses, of course, have been committed outside the range of the cameras and mirror the indiscriminate massacres of refugees practiced by Vietnamese pirates 20 years ago on their own fleeing countrymen. The U.S. Coast Guard's own piratical conduct towards Cubans, abetted and encouraged by a capricious policy that denies them the rights accorded to them by U.S. law, is a worse dishonor to this country than the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and just as bad as the forcible repatriation of millions of White Russians to Stalin's gulags at the conclusion of the war.
Yet "our" congressmen have been unwilling to stake their precious political capital on the fate of the Cuban rafters, who, as Charlie rightly pointed out, can't vote or contribute to their campaigns, and may actually trigger (and do) the xenophobic impulses of other Republicans.
The failure to hold the president to account on Clinton's (and now Bush's) "Wet Foot/Dry Foot" policy is a historic wrong which they have abetted with their silence.
killcastro:
ReplyDeleteIt is undoubtedly true that a great many countries have profitted and continue to profit by the misery of the Cuban people, and that it is in their vested interest to allow that suffering to continue as long as possible. In addition to all the mercenary reasons for them to desire the worst for Cuba, there is also their fear of the economic clout of Cuban-Americans, whom they know would make easy work of restoring to Cuba to its position of preëminence in the Caribbean region. Yes, if Cuba were a viable tourist destination, it would outstrip in popularity all the rest; for Cuba is not just a dot in the ocean, but a civilization as rich and complex as any in Europe and can boast what the Europeans can't — the sun's unremitting caress.
Charlie:
ReplyDeleteAn excellent observation that "a free Cuba would be a bad career move" for Cuban-American politicians. Although I do not believe that they would be cynical enough to desire Castro's perpetuation in power merely to advance their careers (which I believe have advanced as far as they are ever going to go), they must be at least aware of the fact that they will be delegated to insignificance if their one issue should suddenly disappear. Unconsciously, at least, they must dread that day, and their conscious actions may be driven by this unconscious realization.
"Night At the Opera" Manny? Excellent choice.
ReplyDelete"The table's set for 4!"
"That proves nothing. My alarm clock's set for 8!"
Steve:
ReplyDeleteI considered using a picture of the Three Stooges (far better known and more popular among Cubans than the toxically-named Marx Brothers); but I couldn't pass up the delicious comparison of Ros Lehtinen to Margaret Dumont, the fifth "Marx Brother" [well, actually, the sixth (let's not forget Gummo)].