Gingich: The History Professor

   As I've explained before, the anti-Cuba rhetoric during Florida campaigns is the same as it always has been.  Newt Gingrich is attempting to set the bar of ignorance even higher than it usually is.  He suggested that he, as president, would bomb Cuba if he thought the situation called for it.  He was supposed to be a history professor at one point in his career.  One would think that a history professor would have some sort of grasp of history, but in the case of Gingrich, apparently not.

   Not only is he imagining some sort of right of the United States to intervene in Cuba, but he doesn't even have a grasp of current bombing campaigns by the U.S. and the outcomes of those campaigns.  He is one of those ignorant people who actually believes in the idea that bombs and war create peaceful situations.  This is not 1960, a time when the governments of Latin America were easily pressured by Washington to go along with trying to isolate Cuba.  The year is 2012, and he should be aware of the strong bonds that Cuba has with the rest of the world, especially Latin America.  Surely, Mr. Gingrich would try to claim that after bombing the proud people of Cuba, they would greet us with flowers!

   By making such stupid remarks, it becomes obvious that he is simply pandering to the twisted right wing crowd in South Florida who can't for a single moment realize that Cuba does not belong to them.  It isn't a U.S. territory, it isn't a colony, and it certainly isn't a client state of the U.S.  It is a sovereign nation, which by international law, allows it to determine it's own affairs.  The power brokers in Washington may hold on to a belief in the Monroe Doctrine, but they should be aware enough to realize that it is an imperialist doctrine rejected by the countries in the hemisphere.  Imagining that it should or could be imposed is a grave error which only makes relationships with our neighbors more difficult.

   In a few days, the Republicans will have their primary election in Florida and they will rush off to the next pandering battleground state.  Their arrogance, ignorance, and flamboyant stupidity is on display for all to see.  With almost every action and word they speak, they affirm Fidel Castro's description of them:  "The selection of a Republican candidate for the presidency of this globalized and expansive empire is - and I mean this seriously - the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance that has ever been."

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/25/2607315/castro-lambasts-us-republican.html#storylink=cpy