Rationality Pauses For Campaign Season

   The 2012 campaign season has begun.  Not that campaign seasons ever truly end in the U.S., but now there are actually faces to be on TV that declare themselves as candidates.  Along comes the customary promises that almost never will be fulfilled and soon will follow the bombardment of political ads that make television more unbearable than it already is.  And let's not forget the likelihood of over a billion dollars hiding under the irrational farce of being considered free speech.

   Politicians, almost all, from the aspiring representative all the way up to the sitting president are carving out positions on issues that they consider to be safe so as not to run the risk of losing ground in the polls.  So much is needed to be done yet for the next year it is unlikely that any politician is willing to do more than talk about what they will do instead of actually doing it.

   For fifty years the government in Washington has spun itself into a web of lunacy in international relations.  The Cold War, post-Soviet Union, the War on Terror, whatever the situation, Washington finds itself creating relationships and avoiding others becoming more hypocritical and inconsistent by the year.  In spite of all of the nice proclamations that are meant to appeal to the hearts of people, the policies of forceful domination remains a constant.  And when domination isn't possible, Washington becomes even more irrational. 

   The 18th congressional district is represented in Washington by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.  Her claim to fame is her infamous irrationality in influencing U.S. policy towards Cuba.  The U.S. has been unable to join the rest of the world in realizing that Cuba is not willing to submit to the demands of others, as no country should, and forsake its own people's interests for the greed and dominance that Washington would like to impose on the world.  Washington can't say with a straight face that Cuba is a threat or a sponsor of terrorism.  Washington can't claim that it is truly concerned with human rights as it has such a rich history of supporting repression if its interests are served.  So why is the U.S. so stubborn when it comes to Cuba?  Cuba has achieved great feats in comparison with many other nations when it comes to health, education, and international cooperation.  All this means nothing to Washington as it continues to ignore anything positive on the island, choosing instead to invent things that can be used to justify its stance.

    There are two issues that have gained a lot of news coverage recently in regards to Cuba-U.S. relations.  One being the imprisonment of Alan Gross which can only be resolved by rational respectful actions on the part of the United States.  Alan Gross was in Cuba, breaking Cuban law, and doing so as part of a U.S. government program meant to destabilize the country.  Cuba is well within its rights to allow Mr. Gross to remain in Cuba for the full 15 years.  If Cuba decides to release him, it can do so too, but why would it at this point given the refusal of Washington to even attempt to negotiate something?

   The other issue is the oil drilling that will begin soon of the coast of Cuba.  Years back, Cuba stated that U.S. oil companies would be welcome to participate in the venture.  Because of the embargo, U.S. companies are forbidden from doing business there.  Do we think that the oil companies don't want a piece of the action?!  Of course they do.  But I'm not here to cry about the U.S. oil industry not being able to make more money than they already have.  But I do wonder what the people of Ileana Ros-Lehtenin's district must be thinking as she leads the charge in preventing any cooperation in the event of an oil spill that could destroy the livelihood of much of her district.  Instead of acting responsibly, she attacks and threatens the companies that will be working with Cuba.  A bi-partisan letter, by a group of congressmen that depends on donations from the old guard extremists in Miami, was sent  to the Spanish company that will be drilling in the attempt to scare them from violating pending legislation.  Pending legislation!  Since when was pending legislation law?  As quickly as the letter was received it was dismissed.  The Spanish company has surely done its homework and will be careful not to violate the hopelessly spiteful embargo.

   Surely Ros-Lehtenin is worried.  Surely she screams louder since she is aware that the majority of Americans , including Cubans living in the U.S., are tired of this situation that has lasted for over five decades.  She has nothing to offer but disgruntled proclamations against Cuba.  She is doing nothing except try to prevent any logical cooperation in the event of an oil spill.  This nonsense is enough though for her.  She will continue to be funded by the dinosaurs in Miami whose wish of controlling Cuba never dies.  She need not sound or act rational, for if she did she would be betraying the only issue she is infamous for.  Besides, it's campaign season, and the president is unlikely to do anything to change the status quo of the embargo.  He too is jockeying for money and support from some of the same people, although he does so at the risk of alienating those who thought that he was smarter than that.

   Ileana can sleep well for the moment, but she will soon be quite distraught when after the election season the oil industry and others will be able to pressure Washington just enough to start the crumbling of the house of cards that the embargo is held up by.  The issue of Mr. Gross will have a chance of being  genuinely attended to and other aspects of the embargo will loosen as well.  The United States is capable of doing the right thing, it just unfortunately takes a while for it to do so.  We will get a chance to witness Ileana screaming and kicking while the world ignores her nonsensical rhetoric and she looses the only issue that has kept her career in the spotlight.  When that time comes, she will see how quickly her relevance vanishes and the Cuban and American people can be friends and respect each other, learning from each other and sharing in this thing we all share, life.

Ileana's Misguided Representation

   The fact that Cuba in partnership with foreign oil companies will soon be drilling in its territorial waters is one that the United States cannot prevent.  The historical coincidence that it will be done in an area closest to the district of Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is somewhat ironical.  Many Florida politicians have fought hard against drilling for oil off the coast of their state and to a certain extent it makes sense.  Florida depends on its beaches as popular tourist destinations and are enjoyed also by the people living there.  Any chance of an oil spill that can ruin these beaches would be a terrible blow to the state and its ecosystem.  But Florida politicians do not represent Cuba.  They have determined policies for decades that deal with the relations between Cuba and the U.S. but as much as they have tried to subvert Cuba they have only accomplished restricting the rights of Americans and caused unnecessary pain to the people on the island. 
   Many voices have been reasonable as they have expressed the intelligent position of working with Cuba and the companies that will be drilling there.  Common sense would lead people to the conclusion that cooperation in planning for an emergency in the event of an oil spill would be the right course of action.  Alot is said to cause fear that an accident in Cuban waters could cause oil to harm the coastline of Florida.  This is true.  But instead of Rep. Ros-Lehtinen taking a position that would be proactive in helping to preserve the beaches of the Florida Keys, she instead finds herself allowing her extremist anti-Castro views preventing her from helping to protect her constituents.  She chooses irrationally to instead attempt to punish all those involved in doing business there.  She chooses to stand in the way of people trying to do there best to provide support for protecting the environment that happens to be her own district.  She has shown that the only people she chooses to represent are the group of people in South Florida whose agendas are nothing more than trying to cause harm to Cuba.  In doing this she alienates the people of the Keys who would only benefit from the U.S. cooperating with Cuba on this issue.  She chooses to instead smile and pose for pictures with people who have violent pasts and some are even terrorists or calling people to create spectacles in congress to try to further her cause of slandering Cuba.  A cause that is tiring the American people whose right are restricted by the policies she supports.  Americans are quite cynical and understand the hypocrisy of the policies towards Cuba and are ready for this chapter to be closed.  She is doing a terrible job of protecting the interests of Americans and in this case, the people of her own district.  Perhaps sooner than later she will lose her relevance as she has already her credibility and will retire from her job as misguided representative to go join her partners and reactivate one of the many violent groups working to hurt the Cuban people.  That is where this hateful person fits best.  There she can try to enrich herself with the American tax dollars allocated for "democracy programs" as part of a pseudo industry created by the extremists in Miami for themselves.

Mario Tries to Flex His Muscle

   Today the House Appropriations Committee passed an ammendment that is intended to erase the tiny progress that Persident Obama has made allowing more travel and money to be sent to Cuba.  The less relevant extremists in Miami is trying to flex their muscles which are strong only due to the steroids they have beeen pumped with thanks to years of money and support by Washington.  But others' muscles will prove stronger.  When Bush tightened restrictions during his presidency, he upset a lot of people who want to see their families in Cuba and also support them in their tough circumstances by sending remittances.  Mario hates his family back in Cuba, since ironically his family tree has Fidel in it.  The blood connection from way back isn't as strong for him as it is for the majority of Cubans living abroad.  They love their families and don't support his endeavors.  His big brother Lincoln had to appear on TV to threaten the Cuban community living in Miami who were outraged at Bush's policy and became quite outspoken at the time.  Since so many people who enjoy the benefit of political refugee status granted to almost any Cuban as a political tool, a status that is much less given to people from other countries, he threatened to have immigration double check their claims of politcal refugee.  Obviously there are almost no true political refugees coming from Cuba, the majority have come simply for economic reasons conveniently using the "refugee" excuse to stay. 
   Undoubtebly, if his ammendment were to become part of the law, the same outrage would occur, as would quite likely the threats from the extremists.  The idea of separating families is one of the most disgusting pleasures of the Diaz-Balart brothers.  These individuals are incapable of caring about those who they purport to represent.  These guys are at a weak point, and their fears are what they are fighting against.  The changes in Cuba have along with an increase in remittances have made it possible for some on the island to begin their own businesses.  Mario certainly fears the prospect of people's economic situations getting better.  If less and less people choose to leave the island for economic reasons then where will all of the "political refugees" be?  There might be less photos in the propagandic press centered in Miami of people trying to "escape" Cuba.  There will be less and less applicants for "political Asylum."  There will be less and less excuses for this absurd policy.  The extremists are running in circles confused and scared.  Now they are even faced with the dilema of trying to fend off Big Oil, as it is extremely excited about the prospects of doing business with Cuba. 
   Now the question is whose muscles are bigger.  Are the withering muscles of the extremists down in Miami?  Or are the muscles of the American people who have had enough of their own rights restricted by these extremists?  I think that though it is unfortunate that the ammendment passed, we will see it eventually, somewhere along the process of creating a budget, get brushed aside with ease as there are now much stronger musles that the Miami crowd must contend with.  There time is passing, and soon they will all have to find a place in the Bay of Pigs museum down there in Miami.

Fidel's "coup de grace"?

   "Coup de grace" is a term used figuratively to describe the last in a series of events which brings about the end of something.  Is that what Cuba's invitation to U.S. oil companies amounts to?
   The embargo that the U.S. has maintained against Cuba for a half century has become recognized around the world as a policy that is misguided and wrong.  For years the international community has voted overwhelmingly to condemn the U.S. policy in the world's forum, the United Nations.  The U.S. has remained publicly defiant in the face of reason.  It has decided that backing down from this position would seem to suggest weakness, and weakness is the last thing a nation wants to project.  At the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, an opportunity was squandered and instead of reproachment, the United States decided that by further tightening the embargo that surely tiny Cuba would crumble without its large partner.  Although Cuba went through what was called the "special period" and shortages caused lots of pain and suffering, but the tiny nation edured.  Now, after two more decades have passed, only a tiny few yet powerful people, claim that the embargo is necessary and has a chance to work.  It has gone from a policy intended to squash the revolution in its early years to one of punishment and spite, on the part of those people whose personal privileges were adversely affected by the end of the previous regime.
   Wikileaks exposed the fact that the U.S. government has no illusions, and understands well that much of the opposition inside of Cuba is basically representing different interests within the exile community and are never going to be capable of real support within Cuba and therefore will never be able accomplish Washington's goal of bringing down the Cuban regime.  Time is not waiting for Washington and neither is Cuba.
   Cuba's energy needs have long been a problem for its economy.  Venezuela's position of working with countries in need of development has helped, but hasn't completely fixed the problem.  Then came the discovery of oil in Cuban territorial waters.  Since this is not the type of project that Cuba could take on itself, it made offers to foreign companies to become partners in the endeavor.  This is the point where Fidel Castro extended the offer to American oil companies. Coup de grace?
   There aren't many people who defend oil companies as caring entities whose thirst for oil isn't larger than their desire for profits.  They are so powerful in Washington, that we have been unable to muster up the political will to invest meaningfully in alternative sources of energy.  It is profound the understanding of our political system that this move made by the Cuban government  shows on their part.  They seem much more inclined to recognize how things work in Washington than Washington is towards Havana.
   In reality, the business community in the United States is ready and willing to do business with Cuba.  Florida politics have been the major obstacle in eliminating the embargo.  Politicians in Washington have yet found a way around the overly powerful Florida politicians.  Big Oil is no ordinary interest group.  It happens to have one of the most powerful and pervasive lobbies in Washington.  Couple that with the fears that the American people have of a catastrophic oil spill, especially ofter what happened last year in the Gulf of Mexico with the Deep Water Horizon and there may be an opening for the politicians to change course and save face.  There is tremendous clamor in the media about the coming exploration and drilling off the coast of Cuba.  We hear on an almost daily basis reports from the oil industry and its supporters that it is time to recognize the failure of the embargo to produce the intended results and it is in our interest to be there drilling as a partner with Cuba. There are arguments that try to minimize their obvious greed as they tout how they are the best ones to be there to help avoid an environmental catastrophe.  Whatever their argument may be, it is sure that they are pressuring more than one politician or official in the United States right now, explaining the benefits of eliminating this policy because it adversely affects American competitiveness.  It is unlikely that anything will change before the next presidential election, but equally likely is that whatever is promised on the campain trail by any candidate won't matter because we all are aware that promises can be broken after elections.  This window of opportunity for the U.S. to change course with a good reason is probably one that can't be passed up on.  And that may have been Fidel's "coup de grace".  

Ros-Lehtenin "floats" a bill that will float away

   Today the chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtenin, floated a bill in the committee that aims to deter the planned oil drilling off the coast of Cuba.  It has seven co-sponsors, five of which are from Florida and one from New Jersey.  If it were to become law, it prevents anyone investing at least 1 million dollars in Cuba's offshore drilling from being able to obtain a U.S. visa and it makes it illegal for Americans from helping in any way the oil exploration there.  She said that "It is in our national security interests to deter others from participating in these reckless schemes."  To this I must imagine that to the extremists in Miami, Cuba attempting to show that under their system it is possible to be more productive and offers a friendly environment for foreign investors is their idea of a threat.  That would leave these hard-headed extremists who like to argue that Cuba's system is backwards and can't be productive, with having to live with the fact that their arguments have become even more irrational than they have been, and even farther from reality.  She went on to say that "We cannot allow the Castro regime to become the oil tycoons of the Caribbean. I will continue to work with my Congressional colleagues to prevent oil drilling by the Cuban regime, which poses a national security and environmental threat to the United States.”  Quite simply this is more of the useless propaganda.  First of all, she certainly isn't opposed to there being tycoons in this world.  Secondly, the suggestion that the Castro's would be the beneficiaries of this is ridiculous.  They have shown none of the characteristics of the tycoons who are on quite good terms with the U.S.  They don't have fancy palaces like our friends in the Middle East, nor do they have suits embroidered with their names like our former friend who was thrown out of power in Egypt recently.  The truth of the matter is that this group of people are personally disgruntled by the fact that the Cuban Revolution threw Batista out of power, and along with him, their entire ruling class that exploited the people of Cuba as they enjoyed the life of luxury (like co-sponsor Mario Diaz Balart's family).  They don't mind trying to make the people of Cuba suffer since that was what they were accustomed to doing when they were in charge of the island.  What threat to our national security is she referring to?  The threat of an oil spill?  How many of those co-sponsors are opposed to drilling for oil?  Pure rhetorical garbage is what she offered as an explanation for this bill.  Is it any wonder that the delegates from Florida and the one from New Jersey, which are two of the states with the largest populations of extremists(and some terrorists!) are supporting this bill?  And to think that there are some people who say that Florida's politicians and politics don't get in the way of a rational, respectable relationship between the two countries. 
   The reason I believe that this bill, as I said in the title, will float away is that the oil lobby carries alot more weight in the "Halls of our Democracy" than the dwindiling, splintered, and fading group of loud mouth extremists from South Florida.  Along with that, the American people are ready and willing to move forward, not backwards, on the issue of Cuba. The high interest in travel and cultural exchanges that are going on right now is proof of this. 
   Reckless schemes are the ones being dreamed up in Miami as they are still some circles hell bent on violent provocations against the Cuban people.  That is probably one of the reasons that Washington bureaucrats, although sympathetic to the idea of ending the Cuban Revolution, are looking for different "representatives" to instigate situations on the island.   No longer are the Posada Carriles types the darlings in the American government's efforts to subvert the Cuban state.  They are busy attempting to create new international star "dissidents" in a futile effort to garner international support for pressuring Cuba.  If these efforts mattered to the rest of the world, these types of bills wouldn't need to be "floated" in the first place.  Instead Rep. Ros-Lehtenin feels the need to further restrict the rights of Americans and blackmale international investors by witholding U.S. visas.  She is on the losing side of a long and unfortunate battle that the Batista crowd has insisted on waging for way too long.  Her frustration is obvious.