Nothing weakens a political position worse than obvious special interest hypocrisy. It is with real embarrassment, no with real shame, that I hear notable Conservatives try to somehow make the re-opening of our Embassy in Cuba be a further illustration of President Obama letting down in the face of tyranny, oppressive governments, and evil.
Rush Limbaugh said today that we are re-opening our Cuban Embassy at a time when the Cuban people are unable to publicly protest their government without being put in jail. He implies we should continue our embargo, sanctions, and isolation policies of Cuba until their government (the Castro Bros.) stops oppressing freedom and openness of their people, and allows for real democratic change. This has been our policy for the past 40 some years and it has not worked well for the Cuban people( except for those who were successful in fleeing the island and making it safely to America where they were given a path to citizenship).
His charged comment goes beyond the smell test for veracity. It was made for a select audience, as well as used as an opportunity to further deride President Obama. Mr. Limbaugh I am pretty sure you know we have Embassies, and no sanctions, in a lot of really oppressive countries….like some of these……China, Philippines, Russia, TURKEY, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, numerous countries on the African continent, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, El Salvador, Colombia….. I could go on but will not. Suffice it to say freedom for the citizens in these countries is not exactly “ringing out”, yet we maintain diplomatic ties.
You know well what happens to the citizens in these countries when they openly protest their government? They are not just imprisoned but more often are”disappeared” by the secret police. There are so many nations far worse than Cuba where we have Embassies that to raise this argument makes you sound really stupid, or like you think your listeners are really stupid.
It is time to stop beating up on our neighbor to the south just because he used to be a bully and a threat. That was then, this is now. Obama is doing the right thing here. I am not a defender, or supporter, of President Obama, however in this case he “got it right”! Lets stop the pathetic, insincere, misleading and negative rhetoric on this most positive historical event.
The fact is Cuba is ready for the reopening of our Embassy and positive relations to occur. We should have done this much sooner but better late than never. Cuba will become democratic in the future and this opening up of the doors for commerce and travel will only hasten that to occur.
Mk
