All About God Bless America

Ever since sending Jorge Ponce, Director of the Policy and Evaluation Division at the Office of Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Commerce, some CAMBIO bracelets some time last year, he has proudly sent me photos and links to articles where Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutiérrez is wearing the bracelet or mentioning the bracelet and the idea of CAMBIO. Since then he has been kind of enough to send me other information pertaining to Cuba, the latest of which I share with you now.

This is an excerpt of an online discussion with Eugene Robinson, columnist for the Washington Post. You may have read Robinson's article, "Hard-Line Lunacy on Cuba" a few weeks ago in the WaPo in which he called the US embargo on Cuba "incredibly stupid."   If you have not read it, please do enjoy it  HERE.

An excerpt from the article:

"It could also be called childish and counterproductive -- and, since the demise of the Soviet Union, even insane. Absent the threat of communist expansionism, the refusal by successive American presidents to engage with Cuba has not even a fig leaf's worth of rationale to cover its naked illogic. Other than providing Fidel Castro with a convenient antagonist to help whip up nationalist fervor on the island -- and prolong his rule -- the U.S. trade embargo and other sanctions have accomplished nothing."

Below is an excerpt that Jorge sent me from the online discussion this past Tuesday which he follows up with his own observations.
 

The partial transcript follows.

"Germantown, Md.: You've been getting some ribbing on your Cuba Policy as of late. Have you thought any differently since your column? I tend to agree with you on the whole -- that we need to open up more toward that government, as painful as it may be. But I also hear the points from the other side...
washingtonpost.com: Hard-Line Lunacy on Cuba (Post, May 31)

Eugene Robinson: No regrets or reconsideration on this one. If a policy doesn't work for 50 years, you really need to try something else. In the case of Cuba -- and I've been there many times -- I'm convinced that U.S. policy has strengthened Fidel Castro's hand.

Jorge's Observation: Again, Eugene claims that just because he's visited Cuba ten times, he is an expert on this matter.  As Dan Rather found out, Cuban officials manipulate what they want American tourists and reporters to see and report on.  He refuses to consider the facts that I and Secretary of Commerce Gutierrez addressed in our published letters. 

What does this show? He's not interested in the truth, or like Jack Nicholson said in the movie "A Few Good Men," "he can't handle the truth."

Instead, he's an advocate of anything and anyone who is or pretends to be anti-Yankee.  Ergo, his longstanding honeymoon with the Castros. 

It's interesting how individuals like Eugene pretend to be so worried about the Cuban people. Oh, my God!! I can't handle so much concern!! 

His true motives become obvious when his solution to rid them of their suffering is to lift the U.S. embargo. But, as I've indicated previously, the U.S. embargo is not multilateral.  Cuba has traded with many European and Asian countries since the the Castro's came to power in 1959.  Yet, the living conditions of Cubans have not improved. 

Lifting the embargo would bring more revenue to the Cuban authorities, which they will use to increase terrorist activities against the U.S.

Forget about loving and caring so deeply about the Cuban people. How about showing some care for Americans? I don't know about Eugene, but I'm all about God Bless America."

You can also read Jorge's and Secretary Gutierrez's rebuttals to May 31st article by Robins HERE.

Cross-posted on Babalublog.com