Obama is, quite simply, not up to the task of heading up American foreign policy. In statement after statement, Obama has shown that he’s unaware of the realities of world politics as well as America’s position in the world – and John McCain is calling him on it:
ARLINGTON, VA — U.S. Senator John McCain today issued the following statement on Senator Obama’s remarks on Cuba during last night’s Democratic debate:
“Not so long ago Senator Obama favored complete normalization of relations with Fidel Castro’s Cuba. Last night, he said that as president he’d meet with the imprisoned island’s new leader ‘without preconditions.’ So Raul Castro gets an audience with an American president, and all the prestige such a meeting confers, without having to release political prisoners, allow free media, political parties, and labor unions, or schedule internationally monitored free elections.
“Instead, Senator Obama says he would meet Cuba’s dictator without any such steps in the hope that talk will make things better for Cuba’s oppressed people. Meet, talk, and hope may be a sound approach in a state legislature, but it is dangerously naive in international diplomacy where the oppressed look to America for hope and adversaries wish us ill.”
This is Obama hoping for change – he hopes that if he meets Raul Castro, there will be change. This is an amazingly ignorant view of the true state of affairs in Cuba, where Raul Castro has played the heavy for older brother Fidel for nearly a half a century. Legitimize Raul, and all you’ll do is tighten the shackles on the people of Cuba. It is time, Senator Obama, for Cuba to be free – which means you should agree to meet with Raul only after he’s opened up his nation to the light of liberty.
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Obama is just trying to represent his supporters in Hollywood, MoveOn, and his Texas campaign offices who idolize Che, Fidel and Hugo.
yes – thats right Mark. Having discussions with Cuba’s leader is obviously naive. what we need to do is bomb them, invade, kill their leaders, put a democracy in place (by force – only supported by the US), and kill all those damn commies.
Naive – are you seriously saying it is naive to have discussions without preconditions.
In contrast – what is naive is the idea that you can invade a country, force it to be democratic and christian, all while being greated as liberators. HUH who did that ducko
hermie, you left off Soros and the NYT.
Mark,
Why are you (and Bush) so against having talks with the leader of another nation without them making consessions? Perhaps having high level talks with Raul will actually bring about change in Cuba. I’d say there is about as much chance of that as there is if you just ignore the entire country.
You don’t want to talk to your enemies unless they kneel in front of you and kiss your ring.
You people bring up the most crazy things to try and blast Obama over.
Hey, if he is a Communist like you say he is, then maybe he will have a better chance to get something done from talking to the leader of a Communist nation.
“It is time, Senator Obama, for Cuba to be free”
uh-oh…… does that mean you want to invade Cuba and force….er… “spread” Democracy around the globe?
Mark-
What we have been doing for the past 50 years hasn’t worked and will continue not to work in the future. Maybe a different approach is in order?
Nothing usual about a Democrat snuggling up to a murderous dictator……..happens all the time.
Castro is a hero. Taking the revolution to the people to free them of the bougoisie, purge all dissent, live elitist while the common folk starve, set up a socialized medicine program and receive the best of care while the common folk get the equivalent of a third world nation, have conplete control over a nation and his servents etc. etc………
I can see why the left is envious.
OT/
Muslims Burn Danish Flags from Pakistan to the Palestinian Territory to Protest the Reprinting of the Muhammad Cartoons!
Snapped Shot has the pictures…many, many pictures…
1)
2) Pix Caption: “Why are the world governments silent on the terrorism by Danish papers?”. REUTERS/Athar Hussain (PAKISTAN)
3) Pix Caption: “Is Blaspheny & Disgrace of Religion & Prophets Freedom of Thought???” (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)
4) PIX Caption: “Demonstrators hold a picture of Shi’ite cleric Moaqtada al-Sadr as they chant slogans during a protest in Baghdad’s Kadhymiya district after Friday prayers February 22, 2008. Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Kadhymiya district after Friday prayers to protest against Danish newspapers reprinting cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad. The text on the banner reads “Muslims condemn the atrocious work that was supported by the Zionists in Denmark“. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ)
5) PIX Caption: “A Palestinian boy burns a painting of the flag of Denmark with a slogan written on it during a protest against Danish newspapers reprinting cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in the southern Gaza Strip February 22, 2008. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA)
Joe, for Mark diplomatic relations with countries we have issues with is only ok if done by the Bush administration. Otherwise, diplomacy is for little girly boys and the blame America first crowd.
For some balance, here are Obama’s statements, in context:
Frankly, he’s correct. 45 years of isolation has not changed the political reality in Cuba.
Everybody knows that when Obama meets Castro for the first time, the piercing light of goodness that is Obamas stare will inspire a maasive change in Castros heart.
Castro will feel a burning desire to mandate a federally funded health care system and create a paradise for the poor and downtrodden by redistributing the wealth of his country to the workers!
Wait a minute …
How can we be sure that Obama and Castro havent met already?
I think this argument about Cuba, Iraq, Diplomacy, etc. is what the McCain Obama campaign will be all about. McCain is the candidate of yesterday and Obama is the candidate for tomorrow.
the argument is about that sleepy. But it is also clearly about Mark and Matt being very very desperate. They are desperate because the only choice they have is McCain. They are desperate because they know if he goes against Obama they have not chance. They know that they will lose. And they are scared (expletive deleted). And it is GREAT
Can I ask, for fairness sake, why the original posting on this blog ONLY contained content from one candidate’s website followed by commentary by the poster?
Surely if this entry had set out to show which was the better of the two candidates arguments, it would have quoted from both, and not just said “here’s my favorite, this is what he says, and that makes his opponent wrong.”
Wasn’t it that great Republican Nixon who went to China while the Vietnam war was raging? He visted with Mao when Mao’ armed forces were providing war support to North Vietnam.
Wasn’t China “imprisoned” then? Aren’t they “imprisoned” now?
How is what Obama is proposing now worse than what Nixon did in China?
Nixon’s trip to China is considered one of his few achievments.
I am sure the same policy that quickly removed Fidel will work just as quickly to remove his brother. It is so obvious.
‘Everybody knows that when Obama meets Castro for the first time, the piercing light of goodness that is Obamas stare will inspire a maasive change in Castros heart.’ It will be just like when Bushie looked into Putins soul.
The bleating of communist sympathizers always follows any mention of their hero Fidel.
“How is what Obama is proposing now worse than what Nixon did in China?” Darva
Darva how old are you? Still in high school, haven’t studied contemporary history?
You apparently do not undertand why only Nixon could go to China. See if you can figure out why, then apply that knowledge to Cuba.
As stated earlier,
1. The USA (after Canada) normalized relations with commie China.
2. The USA after a bitter struggle in Vietnam, has relations with that country.
3. Canada and a host of other countries have relations with Cuba.
And guess what, you bushbot nitwits, after all that, worlds did not collide.
What is the problem? Why does Cuba stick in your craw so much? Come on, almost a half century of a diplomatic deadend. Does it not occur to you how silly you look? What Obama said makes perfect sense. But of course, I would not expect you jackasses to see that nor understand.
Neocon Diplomacy; After we level Iraq and bomb Iran we’re coming for you, you commie bastards. 1/20/09
Castro’s original ambition was to bring democracy to Cuba. The failure of Fidel Castro’s Cuban revolution to provide a democratic socialist alternative was sealed by the decision of John F. Kennedy to invade Cuba. The U.S. had backed the brutal dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, and the Kennedy administration even enlisted U.S. Mafia thugs, who had the run of Havana under Batista, in a failed attempt to assassinate Castro.
IF JFK had succeeded, Batista would still be in power with tens of thousands of deaths to his credit with American consent. Instead, the people of Cuba are very intelligent due to their free college education and very healthy due to their free health care. The medical schools in Cuba some of the best in the world.
There is oppression, yes. But if JFK had not tried to overthrow Cuba, Casto would not have had to keep his grip on his country so tight; and some form of socialist democracy [like in the UK] would be thriving today.
We have normalized relations with the much more oppressive China, but our neighbor to the south is getting no slack.
Christian,
Do you really think Fidel wanted to bring democracy to Cuba? Che and Fidel started their public executions of civilians and former government members well before the bay of pigs. They were brutal, oppressive murderers from the beginning. Executing civilians in show trials where Che’s only evidence was his opinion is not the way to start a democracy. That is how you start a dictatorship.
Mark is ominously quite after having the full context of Obama’s statement presented. He really is stretching on this one but his “Obama is a communist” rant was far worse. By the way the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Our foreign policy overall, but specifically of that towards Cuba, is insane. Change is necessary at this point in time and I am affraid to say that McCain is not going to bring that change. He is Bush incarnate where it counts.
Che & Fidel were idealists. Their goal was to free the people of Cuba from capitalist tyranny.
The only people they executed were those convicted of capital crimes; no different than Bush did when he was governor of TX.
I would ask if Bush executed mentally impaired, juveniles, and people that DNA evidence later exonerated. As President, he has used cluster bombs, WP, and depleted uranium on civilian populations. Compared to Bush, Castro is a humanitarian.
Phnx:
How old am I? What are you getting at? You asking me out for drink?
I understand enough of “contemporary history” to understand that big tough, anti-Commie Nixon went to China and recognized Mao’s One-China policy and cut back the number of U.S. military installations on Taiwan.
Is that what a big tough, anti-Commie president does? Throw an island of free people (well, not so free I suppose, but at least not under Mao) under the bus?
But I guess it all worked out in the end. The Chi-Coms now loan us money so we can buy Saudi oil.
15. phnx | February 22nd, 2008 at 7:56 pm
“How is what Obama is proposing now worse than what Nixon did in China?” Darva
Darva how old are you? Still in high school, haven’t studied contemporary history?
You apparently do not undertand why only Nixon could go to China. See if you can figure out why, then apply that knowledge to Cuba.
Who’s the only one who can go to Cuba then? Or should we guess? McCain,right? Or do you figure Huckabee?
Or hell,why not send John Bolton! There’s a bastion of intellectual compromise if I ever saw one!
C Wrong:
“The only people they executed were those convicted of capital crimes; no different than Bush did when he was governor of TX”
Oh yeah….dissent in Cuba is a capital crime! MORON.
“Free the people from capitalist tyranny?”
Bwahahahahahahaha! Are you that gullible!?! Wow, the Cuban people are more free now than before 1959. That’s why people with AIDS are free to travel about the country. They can come and go as they please. They have the same living standard as Fidel himself.
“I would ask if Bush executed mentally impaired, juveniles, and people that DNA evidence later exonerated. As President, he has used cluster bombs, WP, and depleted uranium on civilian populations. Compared to Bush, Castro is a humanitarian.”
There we go. It was only a matter of time before the liberal lies came out with the usual “Bush did……………….”.
“Che & Fidel were idealists.”
C Wrong, why do you even try to sound intelligent? Your posts prove your ignorance and stupidity and they also show you are nothing but a USEFUL IDIOT for the left wing propaganda machine.