And it's way past time for President Bush to change Clinton's "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, which is what compels the INS and the Coast Guard to send back these poor people fleeing Castro's dictatorship.
If George W doesn't change this asinine policy, he doesn't deserve to be re-elected
If the administration over turned current policy for Cubans would it have a moral obligation to do the same thing for Haitians? I believe it would myself, but that is only because I've seen the conditions in Haiti and the looks on the faces of those who we returned.
If Haitians were not given the same consideration then the President's many detractors would scream foul and how much more politically costly would it be nationally? If he gave Haitians the same consideration? Then you know this would cause an even greater uproar amongst certain elements who only grudingly vote Republican.
Oddly enough, candidate Clinton did promise to reverse this police and allow Haitians in. Despite Coast Guard warnings, President Clinton didn't and many thousands of Haitians set sail for freedom. Many died when their overloaded boats over turned (we often found wreckage and parts of bodies). The lucky ones were interdicted and taken back to Haiti were many were summarily executed, out of sight of course, by thugs. Of Course President Clinton was never taken to task for this.
This is a very difficult issue...I wish I had the answer.
The issue could prove politically damaging to the president, who relied, in part, on hundreds of thousands of typically loyal Republican Cuban Americans in 2000 to narrowly win Florida and, as a result, the White House.
The president's advisors believe Florida could be pivotal for his reelection next year. Democratic challengers are already angling to exploit the flap, with Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman calling a South Florida news conference earlier this week to declare the repatriation an ''abandonment of American values,'' and then showing up at the Versailles Restaurant in Little Havana to mingle.
But the statements by the president's younger brother -- a Miami resident and fluent Spanish speaker with credibility among exile activists -- could serve to help repair the damage by reminding Cuban Americans of the brothers' close ties to them.
The governor acknowledged in the interview that losing Cuban-American support could be devastating to the GOP, noting that President Bill Clinton's success in wooing even a mere third of their vote helped him win Florida in 1996.
A key critic on Thursday welcomed the potential for changes in policy but attributed the governor's assurances to politics.
''I think they're going to have to do something, because they can't win Florida without the Cuban-American community's overwhelming support,'' said Joe Garcia, executive director of the influential Cuban American National Foundation, whose top leadership has been especially critical of the Bushes in recent days. ``Unfortunately, it took the foundation and others demanding action over things that were promised three years ago.''
In the interview, Gov. Bush called Lieberman's move a ''repugnant'' political play, saying that he registered his disagreement with the White House ``with respect, not rancor.''
Acknowledging a failure by the White House to articulate a ''coherent policy'' on Cuba, the governor added that the president would announce major changes in policy sometime before the 2004 election.***
SOURCE: http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20030801-093837-9954r.htm
Let's see, that's......about 320,000 votes that Bush received from Cuban-Americans in FL in the 2000 Election.
...and Bush won FL by 520 votes!
Is it safe to say that there are more than 520 "pissed-off" Cuban-Americans in Miami?
"...Karl Rove!...Paging Karl Rove!!" - "Anyone home???"
Sounds like some heads should roll over this stupid "everyone asleep-at-wheel" incident.