Slaying Sacred Cows, Cuba & Sugar edition.

Props to Barack Obama for going into the lion's den and telling the CANF that our current policy towards Cuba isn't doing anything. Quite obviously, our "If we pretend Cuba doesn't exist maybe the Castro regime will collapse and we can restore property to exiles who owned it fifty years ago ... and a pony!" policy hasn't accomplished much. Meanwhile, say what you want about China, but constructive engagement there has helped lead to an increase in living standards, and a China with a restricted Internet has more political freedom than a China with no Internet.

The bigger question is whether or not Obama is doing the right thing politically. It's not to had to imagine that the answer is yes. Democrats are never going to win all of the Cuban vote, but given a choice between a Republican hardliner and a Democratic hardliner, voters will go with the Republican ten times out of ten. But peeling off the fraction of that demographic that oppose the Bush travel restrictions, especially since the hardliners are getting on in years, seems doable. In addition, there have to be a certain number of non-Cuban voters who are happy to see a candidate do something other than pander.

In addition, I note that the Fanjul sugar dynasty hasn't given any money to Obama. Maybe he should promise America that he will bring tastier, better-for-your-teeth, sugar-based Coca-Cola. That's change you can believe in.

Comments

[Stephen]

If we pretend Cuba doesn't exist maybe the Castro regime will collapse and we can restore property to exiles who owned it fifty years ago. . . .

. . . .and whose brutal exploitation of the Cuban people was the reason for the popular uprising that sent them packing in the first place. Castro may not have been the greatest guy in the world, but he was hardly worse leading Cuba than the thugs who were in power before him. Seriously, when are those lowlifes finally going to die?

[Corvus9]

What Stephen said. I have zero sympathy for the right-wing Cuban exiles. They deserved to lose their property, as far as I am concerned, because it wasn't theirs to begin with. Whatever Obama says to them will unavoidably not be going far enough.

[Crissa]

Yeah, I liked how in the last bill congress passed the feds only required that property valued at over some ridiculous amount should be returned.

And yet, what do they talk about? Corner cafes of ex-pats. Yeah, right.