Volume 2 Issue 59
April 24, 2003
Calling Fidel's Bluff?
Has Castro trumped the US yet again, Bush's obsession with tax cuts, and John Edwards gets his very own Justice Department investigation!
Has Fidel done it again?
The man who has been a pest to every American president since Eisenhower (that's 10, for those of you counting, or almost 1/4 of all US Presidents) has flared up again 90 miles off the Florida coast. Castro recently conducted a major crackdown on dissidents in the country, especially those involved with the Valera Project, the goal of which was to try reforming Castro's communist government from the inside. In all 75 dissents were sentenced to up to 30 years in prison. To top things off, after 3 Cubans hijacked a ferry and tried to take it to the US, Castro arrested them and executed them within a week.
In the US, these moves, while mostly ignored during the war in Iraq, were widely condemned. In recent years, there has been more and more public support for lifting the trade embargo with Cuba, and that support vanished almost overnight. Many who had pushed for more contact with Cuba were even attacked for supporting the despotic regime, while at the same time the US was attacking Iraq. Now, not even Richard Perle is suggesting we attack Cuba (in fact, we in theory are still bound not to by the 1962 agreement that ended the Cuban Missle Crisis), but for now the movement to ease or lift the embargo has died, and been replaced by discussion on what new restrictions to place on Cuba, including possibly ending cultural exchanges and educational travel.
While these may seem to be rational actions to Castro's crackdown, there is another possibility people seem to not be considering: that this was Castro's intention all along. The directors of the now disbanded anti-embargo Cuban Policy Foundation said in a statement that Castro "could not have failed to know that its actions would have a chilling effect on efforts here to ease US sanctions." So if he knew what would happen, why did he do it? Because perhaps Castro realizes that the biggest threat to his government is not the United States, but rather the American economy.
Cuba now is a very poor nation, and American investment in the island would only help Cuba's citizens. While European investment has come into the island in recent years, the distance from those nations holds down their influence. But with the US close by, it would be probable that Cuba could once again become a popular destination for American tourists, and a golden ground for US businesses.
Except for Castro, that would be a bad thing, because it would mean the Cuban people would be exposed on a more regular basis to people who have wealth beyond their imagination. (And I'm talking about the middle class here, to say nothing of the George W. Bush set...) In addition, seeing the freedom that we have would also open their eyes more than the embargo does now. Does anyone really believe that these embargoes work? Does anyone think that cutting off North Korea's oil is more of a threat to Kim Jong Il then putting a Starbucks on every corner? People in dictatorial regimes like Castro's are often not allowed to leave the country, and when they do, many end up defecting (in fact, the only people that have been able to leave Cuba in sizable numbers in recent years are Baseball players, most of whom have ended up defecting and playing in the US). They are prevented from seeing the freedom that others enjoy, and are told that their poor lives are a result of US aggression or hegemony. Is it any wonder that they are believed? China, whose human rights abuses surely are equal or greater to those of Cuba, has enjoyed US investment for years, with the end result being more freedom for Chinese citizens, and a growing sense of responsibility to the Chinese people in their government.
Now Iraq was a wealthy country before due to oil revenue, so this model may not exactly have applied there, but looking to Iran, one could make the same argument. As Joe Klein recently noted in Time, would it really strengthen the Iranian mullahs to have lines of people stretching for blocks outside a US embassy applying for work permits? Castro is a smart man, and he likely saw that soon the US would increase trade with Cuba, and he would be faced by the fact that his people would be exposed to something totally different in freedom, as well as the fact that the US could no longer be blamed for everything that has gone wrong.
Don't get me wrong here, though the Castro government has done some good things for Cuba, it is still a government that is despotic and terrorizes its citizens. But perhaps by acting shocked at the crackdown and figuring out how we can punish the Castro government, we should stop to think if we are not playing into Castro's hands once again.
Castro & Cuba: An anti-embargo group has closed up after Castro's recent crackdown -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2971945.stm
Whoops...again: Did the Administration miss signs that there would be a move in Iraq for an Iranian style government?
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/04/24/MN272193.DTL
Preventing another Vietnam: No, not the war quagmire, but rather the failure to properly create a democratic state, which was likely the bigger failure in Vietnam...and a mistake we may be making again in Iraq -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2081899/
Speaking of setting up governments, the US would kindly like the self-appointed governor of Baghdad to go away -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/24/international/worldspecial /24IRAQ.html
Missing Man: American troops appear to have uncovered good circumstantial evidence that Michael Scott Speicher, shot down in the First Gulf War and assumed dead, did survive, and was held prisoner. There is still no word on if he is still alive and where he may be now -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/04/23/sprj.irq.speicher.search/in dex.html
Home Videos: US troops have found home videos Saddam Hussein from the 1980's, including a birthday party and a family vacation -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/24/sprj.irq.videos/in dex.html
So who did the looting? A lot of these looted goods are showing up in the bags of American journalists and soldiers -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31386-2003Apr24.html
And some stuff has found its way back to the museum -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27412-2003Apr23.html
Headline of the Day: From the Turkish paper Zaman..."Turkish Embassy Defenders Sacrifice Sheep, Host Journalists" -
http://www.zaman.com/default.php?kn=1822
That Other Country: North Korea has begun talks with the US, but also has noted that war could begin at any time -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/04/24/nkorea.us/i ndex.html
Outbreak: Beijing has closed a major hospital and quarantined thousands in an attempt to stop SARS -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/24/international/asia/24CND-SARS.html
People continue to try and flee the Chinese capital -
http://www.msnbc.com/news/904421.asp?0cv=CA00&cp1=1"
City leaders in Toronto are pissed at the WHO warning -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/04/24/sars.toronto/in dex.html
Is the panic justified?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2972927.stm
Dumb Republican Senators: Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum continues to be criticized for his recent anti-gay comments -
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/5701498.htm
The leader of a polygamist Mormon sect in Utah criticized Santorum for his comments on polygamy. And no, this is not a joke -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31353-2003Apr24.html
Bill Saletan has trouble defeating Santorum's legal argument though. Like I said yesterday, I think the "bad" phrase on its own is not that bad, but when you actually read the context, it becomes clear that Santorum was wrong -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2081904/
Richard Cohen tears it apart though, and satirically to boot!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27626-2003Apr23.html
Finally, the Philadelphia Daily News had its own rendering of Santorum today -
George wants to give money away: Bush goes to Ohio today to try and drum up support for his tax cut, while Ohio Republican Senator George Voinovich tries to kill it -
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/04/24/loc_voino24.html
Bush is so obsessed with the tax cuts that if his current proposal goes down, he hopes to introduce a new one in September, and he may even do an address to a joint session of Congress to drum up support -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27002-2003Apr23.html
It can be done without government subsidies: See? Airlines can make money if they're smartly run, without continuous bailout aid from the government!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30878-2003Apr24.html
Bank Run!: In what is probably a freak throwback to the 30's, but can't be good for consumer confidence, a bank has been dealing with runs at its branches in New York and Philadelphia -
Day 1 -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/23/nyregion/23BANK.html
Day 2 -
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--chinatownbankrush0423apr23,0,6376809.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/5701500.htm
Aged Leaders? If Alan Greenspan can run the economy into his 80's, why do many companies make CEO's retire at 65?
http://slate.msn.com/id/2081900/
Look Who's Running for President: A GOP pollster says not to be surprised if Bush is running behind the Dems in a few months -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26174-2003Apr23.html
Look Who's Running for President 2: In a move that once again makes him relevant, Dick Gephardt yesterday unveiled his plan for near-universal health care -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27256-2003Apr23.html
Some say the plan is inefficient and too costly -
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gephardt24apr24,1,3193158.story
But um, news flash...unversial care would be costly -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/24/national/24CARE.html
Look Who's Running for President 3: It's official! John Edwards is the first presidential candidate to have his own Justice Department investigation! This makes the current Swamp contest even more timely, and more All the President's Men like! So, swampers...who should play John Edwards in the official movie of the finance scandal? I've gotten a few good responses so far, tomorrow or Friday I'll give you the best ones!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26093-2003Apr23.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/24/politics/campaigns/24DONA. html
Look Who's Coming to Town: A Libertarian group, recognizing that they will likely never come to national prominence, is trying to get all libertarians to move to one small state so they can take it over. Of course, the states aren't to happy about this, and the group is having trouble deciding where to go...
http://www.adn.com/24hour/politics/story/865245p-6044861c.html
Only in Berkley: The liberal California town's new mayor fulfilled a campaign promise and spent a night with the homeless, even being awakened by a cop at 2am for sleeping in a park -
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/04/24/BA291997.DTL
Swamp Commencement Speakers of the Day:
Champlain College, Burlington, Vermont, May 10, 2003 -
James H. Crook Jr., president and chief executive officer of IDX Systems Corporation
Finally, a corporate executive who will admit his true colors
Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado, May 3, 2003 -
Jane M. O'Brien, president of Saint Mary's College of Maryland
Sorry, our own college president wasn't available, so we're bringing in another one.
