A Little To The Right, A Lot Less Than Freedom

Judging by the media coverage of the proposed release of 50 political prisoners in Cuba, it would seem that the entire island has been liberated. Even Foxnews is running a banner indicating that with the promised release- more aptly described as the forced expulsion- of the 50, there remain only 100 political prisoners in Cuba. So while Spain, the Church, and the MSM celebrate the benificence of the regime, they forget about all of those incarcerated on other grounds but for political reasons, on charges like those of buying black market paint, etc… Darsi Ferrer, anyone? Extending the idea, the hoopla obscures the fact that exclusive of party apparatchiks, true believers, foreign government functionaries, western enablers, oh, tourists, expatriates, Eurotrash, anyone living in Cuba is in essence a political prisoner.

What this media ploy demonstrates is the only genius of the ruling military junta in Havana. They have murdered and pillaged, oppressed a people and mismanaged an economy, dragged a nation backwards into the third world, into the Stalinist era. They are surrounded by the desolation they have created, but, hey, they have a diabolical knack for propaganda. For decades it is they who have framed the discussion. This ostensibly humanitarian gesture has seemingly blinded the world community to the continued repression of half a century. And Cuban Americans, as usual, are left looking like… like, well, hardliners.

Let me explain my perspective: suppose a mugger is kneeling on the chest of his victim, applying just enough pressure, not enough to completely kill the unfortunate, but enough to make it near impossible to breathe. In comes Spain and the Church ( Picture it like a morality play) who after much cajoling and pleading succeed in convincing the aforementioned mugger to shift a little to the right allowing the victim just a bit more oxygen. Am I supposed to celebrate?

True, I am gladdened that the victim is afforded a bit more freedom. In this sense, I wholeheartedly rejoice that the beaten and tortured will no longer be beaten and tortured, just forced into permanent exile from their mother country for the crime of having an opinion. But I will not bang cymbals and jump up and down in ecstasy until the criminal is gone and victim is at last freed.

Quel Dommage

The Sarasota Herald Tribune today carried the news that the Sarasota-Havana Regatta being planned by the Sarasota Yacht Club has been postponed due to lack of permit.  After being clued in by Ziva, I had limited myself to posting about it in my blog, but to read the stupidity being spouted by the same entity, today of all days, was too much.  So after penning a Letter to the Editor, I thought the yacht club could benefit from a bit of consciousness raising. I can only conclude that they are either ignorant or insensible.  Neither option is flattering to the would be mariners

Yacht club site here.

Holy Irony

Today, reports are that the  Pontiff has come out to let us know that Cuba is loosening the strictures against religion, and all is right with the world, so now there should be reconciliation with the United States.  His Holiness further expressed sympathy for the suffering of the Cuban people due to the economic downturn, natural disasters and, oh, yes, the economic embargo.  The Holy Father did not express sympathy for the human rights protestors being beaten, essentially even as he made his remarks. 

Are Cubans less than human?  What is that quote?  Do they not bleed?  Are they not entitled to the same rights and freedoms enjoyed by those who continue to enable the regime in the misguided quest for rapprochment.  There is no reconciliation with evil.  You would think, he of all men would know that.

Story here.

Via Aerea

Did you know that the Smithsonian Postal Museum,  in conjunction with the San Carlos Institute in Key West, maintains an interesting website about Cuban stamps/aviation/history?  I didn’t.  

The actual philatelic (always wanted to use that word)  exhibit, the Pichs Collection, seems to be in Key West.  See Cigar Mike’s earlier post for info about and a beautiful picture of the institute.

I Remember Keith Roma

The Keith Roma who called his father from Fire Patrol 2 in Greenwich Village on 9/11 was not the one I once knew.  He was not a high school boy with a sheepish grin and an impish glint in his eye, a bright student always up for a bit of fun.  The Keith Roma who picked up that phone on the last morning of his life to tell his Dad that the unthinkable had happened was a 27 year old man in the prime of life.

Responding to the World Trade Center after the first plane hit, Keith, who according to coworkers already had a reputation for being there when things got rough, was captured in a photograph as he helped evacuees to safety.  According to Sgt. John Sheehan, his superior, Keith undertook another three trips into Tower 1.  At one point, he is reported to have carried a woman with no shoes down glass-strewn stairs. The last time he was seen, he was with a group evacuating an overweight woman. Reports indicate that when his remains were found that Christmas, it was with those of another eight or nine people, leading to the supposition that he was assisting in yet another evacuation. 

Initially, his name did not appear on the Fire Department tally of those lost because Keith worked for the Fire Patrol, an entity encharged with salvage at commercial fires.  But in 2006, the New York Fire Department paid official tribute to his memory in a bronze plaque.  Firefighters across the country have honored him as one of their own.  Not all tributes have been that formal.  His hometown paper reports that the week after the tragedy, his family was approached at the station house by a young woman bearing flowers.  She explained that one afternoon, Keith had spotted her crying and learning that she was grieving the loss of her mother had ducked into a store only to reappear with a bouquet.  It was a kindness she did not forget and which she sought to return. A former coworker at a second job also attests to his compassion.  All remember his ready smile and enthusiasm, particularly for sports.

There is a picture at a memorial website of Keith holding his daughter as an infant.  There is the same expression I remember, that trademark grin.  There is no indication in the photo that it is the face of a young man who would race into a burning building to rescue others, who would perish in the line of duty.  In short, that it is the face of heroism.  Vaya con Dios, Keith, you have not been forgotten.

Huffy in Havana

The AFP  informs that Thursday’s State Department easing of remittance and family travel restrictions  didn’t go far enough for the Cuban dictatorship.   The tone of the denunciation decrying the move as a “cosmetic coat of paint,” something they know a thing or two about, would seem to strike a harsh note. 

Of course, it is not unusual for an American President to have his outstretched hand slapped away.  Still, some clues to the frenetic tone of the response can be found here.  It’s the embargo they want lifted, d’ya think?

Different Country, Same Old Song

Not surprisingly, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, taking a page from cronies Chavez, Morales, et al, is seeking a referendum to change the Nicaraguan Constitution so he can run for re-election.  The people, he declares, should be able to choose their own leaders.  One can only hope that “the people” take instruction from their northern neighbor and stop the beast.  Wonder if the results are ready yet?  Read it here.

Stalinist State, Good: Cuban American, Bad

It would seem a shame that someone championing a seminar entitled “Rapprochement With Cuba: Good for Tampa Bay, Good For Florida, Good For America” hosted  by an entity which calls  itself  the “Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy” would not exercise a bit of that same spirit of rapprochement toward his fellow American citizens, or even a bit of responsibility. 

 Joe O’Neill’s diatribe in a local paper seemingly directed at the public officials who opted not to attend is rife with slurs and inaccuracies directed at Cuban Americans.  The now conventional use of hardliners to describe people who want nothing more than the same freedoms for their fellow man that people like Mr. O’Neill enjoy is supplemented here with repeated quotes from the president of said organization, one Al Fox, who in a supreme example of irony accuses a handful of “Bastitianos” of limiting American freedoms.  As a side note, it is interesting to see that Mr. Fox avails himself of the castrian lexicon.  I would say that given the repeated election of those South Florida politicians Mr. O’Neill decries, the ones who hold Wasserman-Schultz and Meeks in their “pockets,” there would seem to be more than a handful of these same.

 In what passes for reasoning here, Fox asks whether Taiwan can tell the US not to have relations with mainland China, implicit of course is the notion that Cuban Americans are foreigners dictating American foreign policy and not citizens exercising their right to vote.  Mr. O’Neill- not to be left behind- creates his own parallel with Iran.  Americans can travel to Iran, he informs us.  But, aah, how many mojitos are there in downtown Tehran?  You can bet that if Americans tourists were enriching Iranian coffers, there would be a hue and cry to end travel there.  Speaking of which, how many organizations for “Responsible Iran Policy” have you seen?

 Of course, the purported benefits of easing restrictions are grossly exaggerated.  Trade by definition would seem to require payment, something  the Cuban government seems particularly adept at evading.  Then there is the notion, put forth by Tampa Port Authority member Carl Lindell, that Cuba is not a terrorist state.  No, Mr. Lindell, it no longer has nuclear warheads pointed at our cities as it once did, now the ruling military junta uses its anti-American propaganda, advisors, and willing stooges like Chavez to spread its totalitarian ideology.  If Cuba no longer sends armies, it’s because it can’t afford to.   It is no less an enemy.   

A little article in a local paper about a small gathering in an American city, but a marvelous exemplar of  people who would cut out the offending member if they were ever to utter the “n” word but who have absolutely no difficulty defaming and trivializing Cuban Americans.

You Gotta Wonder

Yes, you have to wonder what fuels someone like  Brendan McCaffrey.  I ignored this when it first appeared in the Miami Herald.  Could be I was still smarting from their latest editorial, which I also chose to ignore.  But then I stumbled on the same advice on a PR news wire.  To what end?  Publicity?  It is certainly not altruism.  Just take a gander at his specific  proposals which read like a castrovian wish list seasoned with a dash of bigotry:

—  Remove Cuba from the State Department list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.

   —  Repeal enforcement of the outmoded Helms-Burton legislation.

  —  End the economic embargo.

     —  End U.S. restrictions on travel by American citizens.

  —  Close the detention facility at Guantanamo and return the base to Cuban sovereignty. The place has become an international  embarrassment to us.

 —  End the ‘Wet Foot/Dry Foot immigration policy’ and treat illegal immigrants from Cuba as we do those from Mexico or any other country.

   —  Formalize coordination on anti-drug trafficking matters.

   —  Provide significantly increased funds to the U.S. Agency for International Development.

  —  End U.S. opposition to Cuban participation in Western Hemisphere multilateral agreements.

Let’s see, we give them legitimacy, money, even Guantanamo,  in return for which we get the same power to influence events as, say, Spain presently has.   And he’s teaching international affairs at West Point?

Huh?

Had to share this with you all.  Here’s some opinion from Pravda.ru.  Yup, Pravda.  I’m not sure what to make of it, but I found it interesting.  I’ll leave you with the author’s parting shot:

The proud American will go down into his slavery with out a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world, how free he really is. The world will only snicker.

Greed Fuels Clamor for Lifting Restrictions on Cuba

I fantasize that one day, I’ll open the paper and read that headline.  It is, after all, essentially the case. Aside from idealogues, the greatest chearleaders for ending the embargo and attendant travel restrictions, are almost invariably ranchers, farmers, wouldbe investors.  The latest entity- doubtless fueled by the desire to democratize Cuba one tourist at a time- to enter the lists is none other than  Orbitz.  Yup, of Orbitz.com fame.  Seems they wanted to throw their weight behind a social cause and apparently decided that bailing out a totalitarian dictatorship while lining their pockets fit the bill better than, say, ending world hunger.  

It would seem that some sort of campaign of our own might be called for.  Suggestions?  Read the Seattle Times article about their orchestrated campaign here, complete with link to online petition.   Sign up and they’ll give you a one hundred dollar coupon toward travel in Cuba.  Bajate del asiento, Ñiquito.

Tomorrow’s Installment

in the continuing saga of those who, based on a combination of ignorance and wishful thinking, would prop up the ruling military junta in Havana.  Tomorrow retired Gen Barry McCaffrey will testify on US/Cuba relations before a House committee.  Details here in a Press Release.

I might find the General more impressive were he not one of the signatories to this letter which boasts such claims as this one:

Though economically weak, the Castro government has kept the broad support of its people by responding to economic shocks and providing universal access to health care and education. There will be no counter-revolution any time soon.

So you see, folks, it’s not the machinery of oppression, or the Stalinist tactics, it’s the universal healthcare, stupid!  This is but one example.  Talk about your informed policy. Sheesh.