The Democrats are fortunate in Florida; they can choose between two candidates (and an also-ran) and have it count for nothing in the end. The Republicans are only half as lucky, though they have made that half indivisible, which means that they will anoint one and only one candidate with their halved votes.
In the Republican primary, some are bad and some are worse, but none is good. For the cause of a free Cuba, which is the only cause that concerns us, the best that could be hoped for regardless of who wins is to maintain the (still unacceptable) status quo. I don't think that any of the Republican candidates will do even that. Their unanimous refusal to say anything concrete about their future Cuba policy, limiting themselves, instead, to the same rhetorical commonplaces that are no longer just stale but putrid, indicates that their real agenda is immediate and complete appeasement.
My advice to Cuban-Americans in Florida is to boycott this election which offers us no choice but to become complicit in assuring the survival of Castroism in a post-Castro Cuba.
The best choice when there is no choice is no choice.
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I've been saying that we need to do the same we ask our cousins from Cuba to do.... Get that ballot scratched silly. Write your feelings on it. Viva Cuba Libre, Down with the Dry Foot Wet Foot, Apply the Cuban Adjustment Act, and whatever else we want to write on the ballot. Do not leave the ballot blank or your vote would be stolen. Doesn't Ted Kennedy want to bring us back to the Sixties? I am on Ted. I have always been anti-establishment, and he's always been part of the establishment. So let's give them their own medicine. Al que no quiere caldo se le dan tres tazas.
Y mucha caldosa para los cubanos en la Florida que no piensen en Cuba primero. What is presented today calls for total abstention in Florida.
More than abstentions Mamey, I really advocate for the nullification of the ballots, so the votes are cast, but for what we want, and not for any of the candidates.... that way they will not be able steal the vote and the message will get out.
Yes Charlie, nullifications are in order.
Hay que escribir en la papeleta la palabra
CAMBIO
I think Romney would sell us out to the "business interests" a lot faster than McCain. Also, even if what happens in the U.S. is secondary to your concerns about Cuba, it is nevertheless important, so if I was a Florida resident, I would go out and vote for McCain. I have to admit though, that I'd do it without much conviction and only because it's not baseball season and there is no game on.
So I voted today in my Cuban neighborhood precinct where almost everybody is a republican.
I pull in amidst Cubans waving Mitt Romney signs. Interestingly, not a single Giuliani sign, even though this is exactly one mile from Calle Ocho and 27th Ocho, the heart of Little Havana where Giuliani signs are plastered everywhere.
Nobody was waving anything supporting a democrat.
Because this is the primary, we get handed color coded cards according to our party.
Naturally, I was practically the only one standing there with the beige democrat card. I wish they would make them blue.
And as the old Cubanos lined up for democracy like they always do, clutching their brown republican cards, I just couldn't help but wonder who the hell they're going to vote for.
In past elections, it's usually obvious. I remember in the 2004 election, one Cuban lady walked down the line with a list, informing all the other viejitas whom to vote for. Bush, of course.
And I wondered if she was going to even try to say anything to me because I would have loudly proclaimed that Bush is the worst president in the history of the United States. In Spanish, of course.
But she looked me up and down, then bypassed me for the Cuban lady behind me, who eagerly absorbed her advice.
Today, no such thing happened. But as I left, after having cast my vote for John Edwards, I noticed a group of young Cuban Americans standing in line preparing to vote.
And they were clutching the beige card, not even hiding the fact that they are democrats.
And I just couldn't help but wonder who the hell they're going to vote for.
Voting is a privilege not a duty in this country and I take that privilege very seriously. I would not throw it away. We may not always get the candidates we want, but we get the candidates we have. I cannot afford to live in a bubble where my sole concern is Cuba.
Carlos:
You actually stood in line to vote in an election where your vote did not count? Sounds familiar. Did they give you a bar of soap to compensate you for your time and trouble?
The Democratic Party, in a disposition which is distinctly undemocratic, decided not to seat any delegates from Florida at its presidential convention because state leaders moved up the Florida primary without regard to the wishes of the party bosses. The Republicans, more democratic than the Democrats but still 50 percent as culpable, decided to seat only half of Florida's elected delegates.
No matter: in the end, it will be Florida, again, which elects the next president of the United States.
Good for you Carlos. I'm glad to hear the little viejita has given up and the Cuban-American vote is not a gimme anymore or at least not as much as it used to be.
Some of us are not going back to Cuba even when freedom comes, some of us will be on the first airplane back and some of us will split time between here and there. In the meantime, we live here and enjoy the privileges, so we should discharge our obligations as well.
Fantomas, that CAMBIO comment cracked me up.
Manuel,
There were other issues, state issues, that I needed to vote on.
Such as a constitutional amendment to control property taxes as well as vote to allow Vegas-style slot machines in casinos. Both which passed, by the way.
No matter: in the end, it will be Florida, again, which elects the next president of the United States.
Hopefully, it won't be Florida that fucks up the presidency again.
Rudy won't be closing down strip joints anymore.
I am not a fan of either political party currently ruining this country. However, the Cuban Americans in Miami need to realize something: No one outside Miami gives a flying donut about Cuba. The politicos come down here, don a guayabera, yell about a free Cuba and that is the extent of their involvement with the actual process of freeing the country. Cuba and its problems are irrelevant to the farmer in Idaho who is worrying about losing his farm or the single mom in Colorado struggling to feed herself and her kids.
I have a question about the comment of los cubanos en la Florida que no piensen en Cuba primero. Are you speaking of Cubans that CAME from Cuba or the generations that were born here? I was born here; my votes go for who will make my country (this one) better. Should I worry first about the island (which I haven't even visited) before the U.S.? I'm sorry, but I can't. I have total empathy for the struggles of the island, but what affects me most is obviously what happens here.
That is not to say that I don't care; on the contrary, I totally believe wet foot/dry foot should be terminated and that the U.N. should do something about Cuba other than issuing their toothless reprimands and condemnations.
The U.S. will not do anything about Cuba (much less invade) simply because our reputation around the world is damaged enough. Cuba will be free starting from the inside, from the brave dissidents who are fighting for the freedom everyday. It will NOT be freed by the hundreds over there that sit and wait for their care packages from Miami while they themselves do nothing but complain about how horrible the island is. As usual, the many will benefit from the actions of a brave few.
Yes I am referring to Cubans only, Mr. or Ms. a thought said. I do not exclude Cubans born outside the island, but they can exclude themselves if they wish to of course--their priorities may or may not be the same as ours. Again, I was referring to Cubans only.
A.T.:
Actually, it would seem that Cuba is of great interest to the "farmer in Idaho who is worrying about losing his farm" and to his representatives in Congress as well. They have fooled themselves or been conned into believing that trading with a bankrupt Cuba is the solution to their own financial problems and want the trade embargo and all sanctions scrapped. No group in Congress at this time, not even the New York delegation, is more vocal on behalf of the Castro regime or dismissive of human rights violations there than these Republican congressmen from the Heartland. Some "heart!" Well, at least we know why the region is not called the "Mindland."
Hi, mamey! It's Ms. A Thought.
I don't think my comment was understood about the Idaho thing. I meant that outside of Miami, very few Americans care about Cuba. It is our issue here. I was stating that most politicians come down here, pander to the community and then leave. You can almost see the thought bubble over their heads like in cartoons, "Wait...you thought we were actually going to DO something???"
We won't do a thing here until Castro finally dies (or the news is finally released; I still think the SOB died a while ago). I really do not know what is going to happen. That is the $64,000.00 question.
Oh, and I meant to ask...I left the Cuban Connection blog when it was overrun with those sickos that were espousing pedophilia hijacked it. What happened to it? And did it have anything to do with Oscar's "indiscretions"?
A.T.:
Miami's Cuban Connection was long dead before Oscar's little indiscretion. For a moment it seemed like it would come back to life after his arrest but Oscar then did what he had never done before: he deleted all comments that alluded adversely (how else?) to his behavior and instituted moderation for the last time on MCC. He has not posted or approved a comment on his blog since August of last year though it is still up.
Since his return to The Herald after a long self-imposed sabbatical, the erstwhile ace reporter has been taken off the Cuba beat and now writes on miscellaneous subjects. On the personal front, he is attenting "john school" (no pun intended) to avoid a trial on charges of solicitation.
What a shame; we used to have a lot of fun on that blog before it went belly up. All good things must end, I suppose...
"john school"....never heard that one before, lol!!
A.T.:
So that better things may start.
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