GibbsFactor Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 John McCain is a bad ass. Imagine our diplomacy with this gem running things. By Jason SzepINDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Republican presidential front-runner John McCain suggested on Friday that he hoped retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro would die soon and said Castro's brother will be a worse leader. "I hope he has the opportunity to meet Karl Marx very soon," McCain told a town-hall style meeting of about 150 people, referring to communist theoretician Marx who died on March 14, 1883. Castro, 81, announced on Tuesday he was stepping down as president and commander-in-chief of Cuba's armed forces after 49 years in power. His brother Raul Castro is expected to be named Cuba's new head of state on Sunday. "Apparently he is trying to groom his brother Raul," McCain said. "Raul is worse in many respects than Fidel was." Castro has not appeared in public since undergoing stomach surgery and handing power temporarily to Raul in July 2006. McCain, a four-term Arizona senator, has an almost insurmountable lead over his last major Republican rival, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. McCain's approach to Cuba has generally echoed that of U.S. President George W. Bush, who has tightened a decades-long trade embargo and has rejected easing sanctions without a transition to democracy. McCain, who is popular among conservative Cuban-Americans, also has said that if he wins the November 4 U.S. presidential election he would keep up pressure for political change in Cuba's one-party state. That includes a travel ban and trade and financial sanctions enforced a few years after Castro's 1959 revolution on the Caribbean island. McCain, 71, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, has accused Cubans of participating in the torture of some of his fellow prisoners in Hanoi during the Vietnam War. http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2257627420080222?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMK9973 Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Vietnam isnt in our backyard is it? You let a Marxist regime 90 miles off your shore get a breath and start living again and youre looking at Venezuela having a partner to spread their crap further into SA and the rest of the region. Add to the fact that Venezuela is already drilling for oil for Cuba off their own shores. We need less of these regimes, not more. And yes the plan is working. No one ever said that this was going to be quick and reform is near impossible with the government oppression as it is. Again, all that new money on the island will do is boost the government, their cronies, the drug dealers and the military. It's working?!?! In the 50 years it has been in place, countries have come and gone, 10 presidents have come and gone, the USSR has colleped, Eastern Eurpose crashed, the Balkans have broken up, and all this time there was a Marxist Regime 90 miles off our shore that has had about 0 effect and has had 1 ruler. Not sure what you definition of "Working" is, but this aint it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Vietnam isnt in our backyard is it? You let a Marxist regime 90 miles off your shore get a breath and start living again and youre looking at Venezuela having a partner to spread their crap further into SA and the rest of the region. Add to the fact that Venezuela is already drilling for oil for Cuba off their own shores. We need less of these regimes, not more. And yes the plan is working. No one ever said that this was going to be quick and reform is near impossible with the government oppression as it is. Again, all that new money on the island will do is boost the government, their cronies, the drug dealers and the military. Venezuela is already partnered with Cuba, the embargo has done nothing at all to prevent that. Also Venezuela doesn't exactly lack partners, Chavez has found friends already: Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and Evo Morales of Bolvia have already become close friends with Chavez. Part of a new spread of marxism in latin American aided greatly by a weakened image of the US. The embargo has done nothing but strengthen the hold the regime in Cuba. It must come down now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 perhaps this will signal something symbolic to Cubans there and abroad.But, hasn't his Brother been running things for awhile? Yeah,but Little brother is in charge now...look for sweeping changes Hooking Left: Cuba Tees Up Golf's Revival http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120372084292586793.html?mod=googlenews_wsj In 1962, Mr. Castro lost a round of golf to Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who had been a caddy in his Argentine hometown before he became a guerrilla icon. Mr. Castro's defeat may have had disastrous consequences for the sport. He had one Havana golf course turned into a military school, another into an art school. A journalist who wrote about the defeat of Cuba's Maximum Leader, who was a notoriously bad loser, was fired the next day. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 Well considering the fact that Castro's dictatorial regime has lasted over the term of ten US Presidents (four were Democrats) and that he is dying of bad health instead of economic implosion, somehow I doubt it. Mikhail Gorbachev is still alive. I don't see the comparison. :whoknows: Lasting = existing....not much of a accomplishment.imo http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_8328843 Cuba features a universal health care system, a minuscule 1.9 percent unemployment rate, near-total literacy, complete political "unity" — and hundreds of thousands of people ready to risk their lives to get the hell out. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d0ublestr0ker0ll Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 Somebody has this nimrod in the Death Pool. Good pick, looks promising. Let's hope you're right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinfan31 Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 Does this mean I can buy Cuban cigars in the US now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 Does this mean I can buy Cuban cigars in the US now? Not yet...but it's getting closer. I'm enjoying one right now,it's good to have a son that loves you. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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