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Cuba Libre
Check out The Washington Post's account of how and why George W. Bush decided to impoverish hundreds of Cuban families in an ultimately failed attempt to boost his support among Cuban-Americans in Florida. Perhaps most relevant to wider issues is that it never seems to have occurred to Bush, Powell, or Rice that if they leaving the decision-making here entirely in the hands of foreign-born exiles might not be the best way to get an objective grasp on either the political or the policy issues here. Indeed, there's no sense that anyone at any level really thought about the policy issues at all. How is preventing a Cuban-American from sending deodorant to her relatives in Cuba supposed to bring the Castro regime to its knees? Or is the worry that Castro will intercept the deodorant at the border and use it make weaponizable nuclear fuel? Why are we ruled by these idiots?
August 24, 2004 | Permalink
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Comments
Indeed, there's no sense that anyone at any level really thought about the policy issues at all.
How many times have you had to write something like that about the Bush administration? If I had a political blog, I'd just stick it on the masthead to save typing it each time the administration does anything, anything at all.
Posted by: tcb or tcb3 | Aug 24, 2004 10:33:31 AM
The correct phrasing is "why oh why are we ruled by these ..."
:)
Posted by: niq | Aug 24, 2004 10:34:45 AM
of course, the answer is that the Cuban exiles calling the shots are the former elite who may or may not give a crap about poor Cubans.
Posted by: praktike | Aug 24, 2004 10:48:05 AM
Uh...the rest of the world trades with Cuba and they can't afford deodorant. That's our fault?
What Bush is trying to do is put teeth in the policy. Personally, I'd prefer no embargo to a weak embargo.
--s
Posted by: j.scott barnard | Aug 24, 2004 11:09:15 AM
It's clear that Matt has become an objectively pro-Communist hack! He cares more about improving Castro's body odor than the fates of millions of oppressed Cubans!
Anyway, seriously - Praktike makes a good point. The former elites who make up much of the leadership of the Cuban exile community are total shitheads and thugs straight out of the Batista era, which was just as repressive as Castro if not more so. These people don't care about democracy, they just want revenge for losing their ill-gotten gains. On a moral level, they're no different from the Baathist elites under Saddam.
Posted by: JP | Aug 24, 2004 11:11:01 AM
much of the leadership of the Cuban exile community are total shitheads and thugs straight out of the Batista era
JP, before you slander an entire community, can you provide specific examples of how the leadership of the exile community are former "thugs" of Batista? Please. Otherwise, shut the hell up. --s
Posted by: j.scott barnard | Aug 24, 2004 11:20:29 AM
"leaving the decision-making here entirely in the hands of foreign-born exiles might not be the best way to get an objective grasp on either the political or the policy issues here"
Hmm. Sounds familiar. Senor Chalabo?
Posted by: some guy | Aug 24, 2004 11:31:56 AM
JP writes: On a moral level, they're no different from the Baathist elites under Saddam.
So true. Those mass graves in Miami are really starting to reek.
Posted by: SoCalJustice | Aug 24, 2004 11:36:41 AM
Here's the reality of the situation in Miami--a reality that Rove et al. chose to ignore when they promulgated these new rules: http://www.lawg.org/docs/IgnoredMajority.pdf (Full disclosure: I wrote it).
Posted by: Phil | Aug 24, 2004 12:01:31 PM
"Those mass graves in Miami are really starting to reek."
SoCalJustice--you might want to read a little history before you make an assertion like that. The pre-Castro Batista regime was a long time ago, now--but it most assuredly was an exceptionally bloody, atrocity-prone regime, not to mention being in league with US organized crime. For a more recent example, you might want to do a google search on the name, "Orlando Bosch."
Posted by: rea | Aug 24, 2004 12:24:50 PM
rea,
I didn't say they were angels. Obviously, Castro isn't one either.
But Ba'athists, whether of the Syrian or Iraqi variety, have a history of mass killings (Hama / Halabja, to name two examples) that I've not heard have been matched by the Cuban exile community in Miami.
Posted by: SoCalJustice | Aug 24, 2004 12:36:28 PM
SoCalJustice, if you get to lump Syrian atrocities in with those of Saddam's regime, do I get to count rightist atrocities in Chile, or Argentina, or Guatemala, against the Cuban exiles?
If you can find a moral distinction between Orlando Bosch (pardoned by Bush I) and Osama bin Laden, I'm sure it would be entertaining to hear it.
Posted by: rea | Aug 24, 2004 1:40:33 PM
I love this...the left wants to dig up the Batista bunch but doesn't give a flying fuck about what Castro is doing NOW.
Posted by: j.scott barnard | Aug 24, 2004 1:58:42 PM
rea,
For goodness sake*, JP was the one who compared the Cuban exiles to the Ba'athists. Even if you don't include Hama and other Syrian atrocities, and only go with Halabja, the Marsh Arabs, and other various and sundry "enemies of the regime," etc..., the comparison still doesn't wash, IMO.
You can lump whatever the hell in to whatever else the hell you want. I don't care.
*me trying not to swear
Posted by: SoCalJustice | Aug 24, 2004 2:30:10 PM
I love this...the left wants to dig up the Batista bunch but doesn't give a flying fuck about what Castro is doing NOW.
What exactly is he doing NOW? Jailing a few dozen dissidents? Oh, yeah - and he reinstated the death penalty. And what about that concentration camp on his island at Gitmo where people are being tortured and kept for years without being charged. Terrible stuff.
Posted by: abb1 | Aug 24, 2004 2:47:32 PM
Matt, this entry doesnt have anything to do with the BogAd up top now does it?
It's easy to discount the Cuban exile community from the periphery as you and most of your commenters here have. Truth of the matter is you can read alot of news articles and books and watch movies and documentaries, but until you actually live the Cuban diaspora, you really have no idea what the hell you are talking about.
Posted by: Val Prieto | Aug 24, 2004 4:54:52 PM
Oh and this:
...how and why George W. Bush decided to impoverish hundreds of Cuban families...
is pathetic. There's only one person (and a world of naive minions) responsible for the poverty in Cuba, and everyone, including himself (and the naive minions), knows who.
Posted by: Val Prieto | Aug 24, 2004 5:01:50 PM
"until you actually live the Cuban diaspora, you really have no idea what the hell you are talking about"
Val, possibly you should look into Matt's background a bit before you say this . . .
Posted by: rea | Aug 24, 2004 5:23:50 PM
rea,
Now that is a very good point.
I wish MY would blog about Cuba more, but I realize he's got Cheez Whiz on the mind - at least until November.
Posted by: SoCalJustice | Aug 24, 2004 5:27:57 PM
MY has the best Cuban-Jewish-Harvard site (or cite) on the whole web.
Posted by: Levi | Aug 24, 2004 5:33:21 PM
Crap, I forgot all about this thread.
Scott, I specifically avoided "slandering the entire exile community," as any literate person should have been able to tell. You are evidently incapable of arguing against anyone without misrepresenting their positions.
SoCal, if the Baathists had been allowed to take all their riches and flee the country for Miami (which they certainly would have been allowed to do if they had only been a brutal pro-American dictatorship instead of a brutal anti-American dictatorship), I'm sure they wouldn't have continued killing political opponents after they arrived either. I mean, come on, you know that's not a fair response to my point.
The appropriate comparison is between the Baathists and what the Batista regime did while they were in power in Cuba. Maybe the Baathists were worse, but if so, it's only a difference in degree, not a difference in kind. And it's simply a fact that historically, many (didja catch that, Scott?) of the Cuban exile community's leaders were the cronies and beneficiaries of the Batista regime, and that their opposition to Castro is not motivated by a concern for democratic values.
Posted by: JP | Aug 24, 2004 5:45:29 PM
"And it's simply a fact that historically * * * their opposition to Castro is not motivated by a concern for democratic values."
And in some instances, their values were more along the lines of putting bombs on board Cuban civilian passanger jets, or firing rockets at Polish freighters in Florida harbors . . .
Posted by: rea | Aug 24, 2004 5:53:58 PM
JP,
The appropriate comparison is between the Baathists and what the Batista regime did while they were in power in Cuba.
Well, I'm certainly open to the idea that there are mass graves in Cuba dating back to the Batista regime, but I haven't read anything about them.
And I'm not saying the Batista regime, and its supporters, are good people.
But we do have several generations of Cuban exiles that have now grown up in America and perhaps I'm being naively optimistic in thinking that some of American culture (the good parts, that is, like rule of law) have rubbed off on the Cuban exile community.
Posted by: SoCalJustice | Aug 24, 2004 5:56:42 PM
For what it's worth I have read that 2nd generation members of the exile community are much more moderate than their parents.
Posted by: Levi | Aug 24, 2004 6:00:14 PM
JP & rea,
Actually, I see that you're talking about just a portion (perhaps a majority - I don't know) of the leadership of the Cuban exile community, and I admit I do not know enough to challenge that specific statement.
In my mind I was picturing the community as a whole.
So I retract my objections and will use your comments to begin my education (admittedly, not a top priority for me) on a percentage of the leadership of the Cuban exile community.
Would love to hear MY's thoughts on the matter, if he can free up some time from his Cheez Whiz-a-thon.
Posted by: SoCalJustice | Aug 24, 2004 6:05:27 PM
