Posted on 06/20/2002 4:29:16 PM PDT by CreekerFreeper
It seems just a short time ago that the 1980 election ended the economic and political nightmare that was the Carter Presidency. Lest we forget: the four years of the Carter Presidency made everyday usage of rare words in the English language-malaise, stagflation, misery index, we'll stop there. I'm reminded of the years in which the United States economy devolved into a caldron of misery and foreign policy witnessed defeat after defeat.
Carter has continued the long journey to rehabilitation after suffering one of the worst political defeats in American history and witnessed the total refutation of his failed policies by the economic revival and military/foreign policy restructuring at the hands of Ronald Reagan and a rejection of the twin-fisted pillars of leftwing thought: appeasement and capitulation to our enemies and micromanaging the U.S. economic to its near death. Thankfully his journey has failed, time and again.
Recently, I witnessed the media hand-in-hand with Carter, trying as they might, to assist in his political revival, while contravening the stated policies of the United States in regards to Castro's Cuba . On top of that, never mind the fact that he is openly violating federal law by traveling to Cuba and working to undermine the Bush Administration-which has charged that Castro not only is a harbor to terrorists, but also has chemical and biological capabilities to attack the United States. In short, Carter ignores the fact that Castro is a part of the 'axis of evil' that must be eradicated. No surprise: Carter has long ignored and/or apologized to our true enemies and sermonized our allies and friends about their short-comings.
As a quick refresher course, I did a little research amidst the clamoring by the media and misguided members of Congress to open normal relations with Cuba and the arguments that, if we'd trade with Cuba the way our allies do, then we'd see definitive economic benefits.
Truth: The avoidance of normal financial relationships with Cuba has saved U.S. taxpayers money. In fact, Cuba has stopped payments on all its foreign commercial and bi-lateral debt with non-socialist countries as far back as 1986. Because of a consistent U.S. policy toward Cuba , we were able to avoid exposure to this debt capitulation. Source: U.S. International Trade Commission Report, 2001.
Truth: Cuba 's debt continues to escalate. It stands at $12 billion (where it was in 1986), but excludes their debt to Russia , China , Vietnam and the Czech Republic . Source: Financial Times, 2001
Truth: Cuba has not made any significant economic reforms and maintains a static, uncompromising centralized (Communist) government . Its ECONOMIC FREEDOM RANKING is 152nd-only Iraq , Libya and North Korea is lower. Source: Index of Economic Freedom, 2001.
While Castro continues to maintain a one-party Communist dictatorship with no substantial opposition parties allowed, with reprisals against his political 'enemies' continuing at a healthy clip, Carter demonstrates naïve political skills-skills that produced one of the worst Presidential Administrations in this Nation's history. From the Cuban boat people to the surrender of the Panama Canal to the blind-eyed appeasement and sometimes open assistance he showed communist insurgents throughout Central and South America during his Administration, Carter continues to meddle and offer a half-baked, failed vision that will only further hinder real progress in Cuba-progress that will only succeed with the ouster of Castro from leadership and the institution of honest and open parliamentary reforms.
As the new millennium and century get underway, Carter should be reminded of his failure as a President and be directly told to not meddle in American foreign policy unless specifically asked to participate. Malaise and appeasement were mistakes that were made by sermonizing American Presidents twice during 20th Century. Let's not make the mistake of listening to The Sirens' song of a Utopian foreign policy. Send Jimmy Carter a clear message: Snake oil is not for sale in the 21st Century.
Oh yeah, and "Billy Beer."
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