Obama Moves to Normalize Relations With Cuba and Marco Rubio

[Minimalist]

As someone who's a little young to remember it and hasn't read up much on the subject, what was the justification for the embargo in the first place?

The justification has been that Florida is a swing state and contains a large population of Cuban exiles who hate the Castros.

I pretty much agree with Obama here, the embargo simply hasn't been effective at removing the Castros from power and it is probably time to take a different tact. However I am also thinking that Obama just handed Florida to the Republicans in 2016. 2016 is going to be about Ohio now me thinks.

It's a generational thing with young Cubans supporting and old Cubans opposing. As always, the republicunts throw their hats to the old bastards and ignore modernity.

Obama has just divided the Cuban vote. Smart move.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/17/politics/c...-reaction/

Angry debates erupted in the city's Little Havana neighborhood between groups of younger demonstrators who said they supported Obama's decision to exchange the prisoners and thaw diplomatic relations and older protesters who said they were opposed to the move.

[Thumpalumpacus]

This is long, long overdue.

Normalizing trade would allow us to actually make an improvement in the lives of Cubans, and I would expect over the course of a generation or two work to insert more freedoms into their lives.

I guess the Republicans are just pissed that we're not exporting "democracy" at gunpoint this time around?

“The president’s decision to reward the Castro regime and begin the path toward the normalization of relations with Cuba is inexplicable,” Rubio said in a statement.

It's perfectly explicable, to anyone without bias enough to characterize this as a "reward."

[CapnAwesome]

It takes two to normalize relations. Do the Castros even want normal relations with the U.S? I'm not really up on current Cuban politics, but they certainly didn't for a long time.

[MissR]

I was very surprised about this new relationship with Cuba. I am glad for it too for all of our sakes.

[Mister Agenda]

It takes two to normalize relations. Do the Castros even want normal relations with the U.S? I'm not really up on current Cuban politics, but they certainly didn't for a long time.

Fidel didn't want normal relations. Economic sanctions are useful to totalitarian rule. It gives the ruler someone else to blame for all the country's problems. Raoul seems open to the idea.

[Rev. Rye]

It's about damn time! (Taking steps to normalize relations with Cuba, that is; Rubio lost his mind a long time ago.)

Totally. I remember when the Buena Vista Social Club played Carnegie Hall and the band members, and Ry Cooder, who organised it, were all arrested for letting the concert happen. It would be so nice to have this last relic of the Cold War mentality towards Latin America gone.

[DeistPaladin]

This is long, long overdue.

Normalizing trade would allow us to actually make an improvement in the lives of Cubans, and I would expect over the course of a generation or two work to insert more freedoms into their lives.

Because of America's screwy Electoral College system, this move could have never happened before now. Like so many things in American politics, irrational policies proven not to work are difficult to abandon because of certain interest groups with disproportionate power.

Because of our antiquated Electoral College, Ohio and Florida get the lion's share of the attention. You can't be elected president without winning at least one of these two states. A Democrat who wants to be president can't afford to piss off any voting bloc in Florida, particularly those who might otherwise be inclined to vote Democrat.

This basically means that before our policy could change, the opinions of Cuban Americans in Florida had to change. Now that it has, policy change follows.

By the way, what a break that the swingiest of swing states, Florida, can't seem to figure out how to run an election. See 2000 and 2012.

I love how one of the main arguments for preserving our stupid, outdated relic, the Electoral College, is that many states would simply be ignored as all the attention is paid to metropolitan areas. This argument has many problems but I think the biggest one is "that's what we have now WITH the Electoral College."

Nobody gives a rat's ass about my old Kentucky home. We never get to see any presidential candidate's smiling faces in person unless they have a layover while traveling to someplace important. Kentucky is practically painted in red on the CNN electronic maps and with our EC system, winner takes all the electoral votes so it doesn't matter if you win 51/49 or 99/1.

And thanks to our equally screwy presidential primary system, all the attention goes to Iowa and New Hampshire and maybe South Carolina. Kentucky is almost dead last, having its primary in May. By that time, even the most contested of primaries, like Clinton vs. Obama, is already settled. So we have no effective voice in either the primary or the general election.

Make our elections 1 person, 1 vote, everyone at once and majority rules and ban all paid political advertisement and you'll see a transformation in our democratic system.

[FatAndFaithless]

I've seen a mass of "Obama overreached" or "He didn't even consult anyone, he just did it on his own!" reactions from some of my right-leaning friends and family. Does anyone know what exactly they're referring to, or if their obejctions have any real merit beyond "obama did it, so it's bad"?

[DeistPaladin]

I've seen a mass of "Obama overreached" or "He didn't even consult anyone, he just did it on his own!" reactions from some of my right-leaning friends and family. Does anyone know what exactly they're referring to, or if their obejctions have any real merit beyond "obama did it, so it's bad"?

I'll be happy if any conservative can ever articulate with logical coherence and a basis in actual facts what is the cause of their psychotic hatred of Obama at all, never mind about this one issue.

I asked ATheist three times to do this and he couldn't or wouldn't. He just kept railing that Obama's policies were bad with no specific examples or explanations as to what he means by that.

[FatAndFaithless]

But as far as Obama's actions on this Cuba thing...did he perform in a manner that could be seen as "overreaching" or outside of executive ability or responsibility? What are the right-wingers barking at?