Too bad we can't get Senator Christopher Dodd to face off with Luis Gonzalez!
Here is my "two cents."
[Excerpt] "In our efforts to isolate the Castro regime, we've built walls that are hampering our goal of bringing democracy to the Cuban people," said Dodd, who has just assumed the Chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs, the Subcommittee with jurisdiction over Cuba legislation in the Senate. "As a measure that tears down those walls and replaces them with bridges, this legislation is a good starting point for a serious debate about how we can change U.S. policy in order to foster a peaceful transition to democracy on the island of Cuba while alleviating the hardship that our current policy has caused for the 11 million people who reside there. I hope to hold hearings in the near future and will be discussing with the committee leadership dates for the markup of this important legislation."
"While we cannot ignore the unfortunate political situation in Cuba, the United States should not enact laws that exacerbate the suffering of the Cuban people," Chafee said. "We must recognize that the thirty-seven year embargo against Cuba has failed to acheive its aims, while inadvertantly increasing the hardships endured by average Cubans. I believe that it is time to formulate a new approach to Cuba in which the United States reaches out directly to the Cuban people, while being careful not to reward the Cuban govenment for policies with which we strongly disagree."
"Cuba is no longer a national security threat to the United States," Roberts said. "Continuing our current policy only benefits our trade competitors at the expense of the American farmer and businessman. I believe that trade, travel, and cultural exchange between Cuba and the United States will benefit both Americans and Cubans. I am hopeful that this legislation can move forward to bring positive engagement between our two countries." [End Excerpt]
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Senator Dodd is not astute, he isn't a statesman, he isn't even right. His position is asinine.
The U.S. hasn't built walls, Castro has and he's built torture chambers too.
I wouldn't call Castro's bloody communism regime an "unfortunate political situation," it is a living hell.
And as for Cuba (Castro) "no longer being a national security threat to the U.S.," I guess that would depend on who you want to prevail.
In this case, I say Senator Dodd's calls for the appeasement of Castro and his "unfortunate form of government,"
and the misery of the Cuban people so acerbated and put upon by the mean old wall-building U.S.,
shows Dodd's stripes and they aren't red, white and blue. And BTW, I'd like to know how propping up a communist country
with subsidized trade helps us or how cultural exchanges with communists helps Americans. (I know U.S. educators like Casto's politics.)
A majority of Latin American leaders don't like Castro or his regime and the European Union doesn't like Castro.
They've all been burned by their associations with him. Why in the world would we throw Castro a lifeline?
The only people who like communists are the LIBERAL media, progressives and other communists, but then I repeat myself.