December Surprise: Obama normalizes relations with Cuba
Just as Congress left town, and everyone is focused on Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
Can’t say this was on anyone’s near term radar.
The NY Times reports U.S. and Cuba, in Breakthough, Resume Diplomatic Relations:
The United States will restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba and open an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than a half-century after the release of an American contractor held in prison for five years, American officials said Wednesday.
In a deal negotiated during 18 months of secret talks hosted largely by Canada and encouraged by Pope Francis, who hosted a final meeting at the Vatican, President Obama and President Raúl Castro of Cuba agreed in a telephone call to put aside decades of hostility to find a new relationship between the United States and the island nation just 90 minutes off the American coast.
The contractor, Alan Gross, boarded an American government plane bound for the United States on Wednesday morning, and the United States sent back three Cuban spies who have been in an American prison since 1981. American officials said the Cuban spies were swapped for a United States intelligence agent who has been in a Cuban prison for nearly 20 years and said Mr. Gross was not technically part of the swap but released separately on “humanitarian grounds.”
From the White House release on Cuba news: "We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect a different result" pic.twitter.com/OKWn40tLeh
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) December 17, 2014
Secretary of State John Kerry embraces Alan Gross at Joint Base Andrews. Photo: Jill Zuckman/Gross family spokeswoman pic.twitter.com/IDgPOLqaBe
— Ram Ramgopal (@RamCNN) December 17, 2014
Awesome RT @JeffFlake: Alan Gross. Back on U.S. soil. pic.twitter.com/Tczpnt2hFX
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) December 17, 2014
Reaction has been fast and mostly furious, even from those relieved that hostage Alan Gross was released:
Rep.-elect Carlos Curbelo, Cuban-Am fro SoFla, says exchanging prisoners for Gross is "condemnable and unacceptable" pic.twitter.com/FljEmyu5lL
— Jordan Fabian (@Jordanfabian) December 17, 2014
Moments ago, @marcorubio says President is "the worst negotiator that we've had as president since…Jimmy Carter”
https://t.co/QVA1PhiFyv
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) December 17, 2014
(h/t Twitchy for above video)
Rubio on Cuba: "part of a long record of coddling dictators and tyrants." http://t.co/3qBEFOP59x | AP Photo pic.twitter.com/4jzJCEZezR
— POLITICO (@politico) December 17, 2014
Rubio to @jeffzeleny: "I would love for there to be normal relations w/ Cuba, but for that, Cuba has to be normal."
— Rick Klein (@rickklein) December 17, 2014
I will do all in my power to block the use of funds to open an embassy in Cuba. Normalizing relations with Cuba is bad idea at a bad time.
— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) December 17, 2014
Boehner Calls Cuba Policy a ‘Mindless’ Concession http://t.co/L4pM7UB64C
— NYT First Draft (@nytpolitics) December 17, 2014
This is a good question:
when does jerusalem get its US embassy?
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) December 17, 2014
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Comments
Obama normalizes communism.
Well, Sanddog, time will tell if this diplomatic move is a success or failure.
From The Mainstream Press Stylebook, 2008-2016 edition:
DEFINITIONS:
1) DIPLOMACY: managing international relations.
2) SMART DIPLOMACY SUCCESS: the Obama administrations’ smart managing of international relations.
3) SMART DIPLOMACY FAILURE: local news story.
NEWS OF THE FUTURE: December 24, 2014:
NEWS FLASH: Rig media announced today that Obama is “normalizing” relations with Saint Nick at the North Pole through a delegation of ISIS.
BIG YAWN!
This signifies nothing.
It is an irrelevant act of an irrelevant man,
covered by an irrelevant “media.”
It’s not an “irrelevant act” if Boehner and McConnell let it stand, which they will, eventually, once the furor has died down.
I will be surprised if ANY part of Obamacare is reversed.
“Obama normalizes communism.”
Communism was normalized decades ago, by every American consumer and corporation and business that buys imported goods from China. Communist China subsidizes the US economy; why therefore should communist Cuba be shunned?
Look at the bright side. Communist Cuba will stocking Major League Baseball rosters for the next decade or two. And Cuban cigars will come down in price. And in the blink of an eye, McDonalds will be selling El Grande Macs with side orders of plantains in Havana, and not just at the US Navel Base at Guantánamo Bay.
Wow!
Is this serious?
Are you sure it’s not some sort of hoax?
That must be what all the Hispanic Democrats are asking themselves Exiliado.
Why does Obama hate the Hispanic Democrat voters so much.
He seems committed on driving all Hispanic Democrats out of the party.
If there is one thing they hate above all else it is Communist Cuba and Fidel. That goes for much of the Latin American population in Central and South America as well. They hate Fidel and Communism.
You forgot the [sarc] [/sarc] tags.
The Latin American lefty idiots don’t really love Castro or his communism.
They just hate the United States, and they go with the “enemy of my enemy…” line of thinking.
There was a best-selling book on that very subject:
The Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot
What’s next? A presidential memoranda forcing MLB to put Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame? Just because warm fuzzies might ensue?
If Pete Rose was black you could bet on it.
Another big FLUCK YOU, America.
He’s just trolling us now.
I think he is getting worried about his legacy.
So far he has f…ed up big time in everything he has done.
His baby obamacare turned out to be a stinking mountain of dung.
His international policies have failed miserably.
The economy sucks, in spite of all the lies in the media.
We can expect bold and bolder (dumb and dumber) moves as the sand in his clock runs out. Make no mistake, Havana is going to screw him(US) big time.
I don’t think he’s worried about his legacy. This is his legacy…the next two years are going to be a very bumpy ride. He has nothing to stop him now.
Of course nothing will stop him. He’s got more flexibility now.
This, of course, has been transmitted to Vladimir….
“..his Legacy..” ROTF-ingFLMF-ingAO..!!!!!
Abandonment of Vast the Victory bequeathed to him(Iraq); Flaunting of Weakness in a Hugely Dangerous Time; Undercutting and Sabotaging our Warriors; Lying compulsively to America; Endlessly attending Fund Raisers and nearly never attending to presidential business; ETC, ETC, ETC, ETC.
Legacy my white azz.
Exactly.
That’s why I said “So far he has f…ed up big time in everything he has done.”
In his delirious mind he thinks changing the stance towards Cuba is going to earn him positive points.
He’s in a hole and he keeps a-digging.
Yeah, Exiliado.
Next week Obama plans on “normalizing” relations with Saint Nick and the North Pole by sending a delegation of ISIS.
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/12/17/obama-overturns-ban-preventing-criminal-ecuadorean-democratic-donor-from-entering-u-s/
Well-hell-hell… THAT could provide a hint. The Castro brothers are worth several billion in potential Deemocrat mordida.
Except he forgets “We Don’t Care.”
So it is a big Double Sandra Fluke Back on You Little Zero.
Next up: A massive foreign aid package, with a lump sum bonus to make up for the period from the break in relations to date. The appropriations bill will be sponsored by John Boehner.
I am beginning to think Henry was right.
Everything is already funded in Cromnibus. Just another way to show the Republican Leadership up for the fools that they are.
There are all kinds of things that can be paid for with a budget that size, including things that nobody thought of, when it was passed.
The unprecedented invasion of undocumented Democrats on Florida’s southern shores has just commenced.
What exactly does the US get out of this deal besides the release of Alan Gross (an innocent tourist) and not having to pay the upkeep of convicted criminal murderers in US prisons?
what a farce!
When did Obama care about the U.S. getting something out of any deal?
Imagine: this is a priority to our freak president.
Now that communism has been ‘normalized’ (it didn’t fly back in 2008 with communist Van Jones and Maoist Anita Dunn were discovered in Obama’s administration) imagine what else this lunatic and Valerie Jarrett have planned over the next two years. (And with Boehner as GOP Squeaker and McTurtle heading the GOP senate, and with Pee Wee Prebus likely to be re-elected as GOP Chairgirl.)
We are going to witness things in the coming 730+ days that will rival – if not dwarf – the events in Germany in the 1920s and 30s. Can only wonder which ones of us will be alive or not imprisoned by January 2016.
While I actually agree with what you say, there is one not so tiny exception: your concern about who’ll be imprisoned by January, 2016, is misplaced, in a sense.
The point of time whereby we’ll need to be concerned about that is just after Obama signs a nonaggression pact with Putin, which is not beyond the possibility of happening with Obama in office.
Larry Grathwohl has some background on this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWMIwziGrAQ
Thanks for providing this link. The reference to Bill Ayers, et al, mentioning needing to kill off 25-million Americans has been stated many times; This video link is chilling and provides much validity to the statement about killing off Americans.
I’m hoping that we will get a democratically elected change of government in 2016 yet do not trust Obama, our current el Jefe, our el Supremo, at least in his mind. Obama’s more and more showing his true being and we can only hope that the Republican leaders in the next Congress will stand up to him; yet they are a weak reed for all that.
I don’t think it is mentioned in the video, but I read his commentary on a meeting with 100s of these people where the discussion was along the same lines. He mentions his surprise at the number of well educated people PhDs. I have often wondered just where these people are now. We know where Ayers was, he became an education professor who taught the educators to teach.
This could not come at a better time to prop up the communist government. Cuba currently gets its oil free from Venezuela, while Venezuela currently sells gasoline at about $0.25 per gallon in its own country. With the collapse in oil prices, Venezuela will no longer be able to do this. Normalizing relations with the US now allows Cuba to be a vacation paradise for the jet set, just like it was in the 50’s before Castro. This now gives a boost to making that a reality.
As a consequence, the people of Venezuela (who sadly chose their fate by electing Chavez) will continue to suffer as well as Cuban dissidents.
Obama gave them a lifeline just when they were on the brink of collapse. If Obama was President in 1989 when the Berlin Wall collapsed, he would have pressured Europe to build it back up to keep stability.
The Mafia is very happy today. They’re already writing out more checks to the Democrat Party and Obama.
Snark Snark.
Really, Fidel’s entire life work has been undone and he’s turned into a laughing stock – by Corporate-owned Obama. (Don’t forget it was the insurance companies that wrote Obamacare in their favor too.)
Is Russia still putting a spy base there?
It took an avowed anti-communist in Richard Nixon to bring credibility to talks with the Communist Chinese to begin valid negotiations. It took an avowed anti-communist in Ronald Reagan to bring credibility to negotiations with the Soviets in Iceland. Then we have Carter frozen with Iran and throwing away bargaining chips such as the B-1 prior to negotiations on arms limitations with the Russians. The very public history of this president’s (and the Left’s) empathy if not love of communism and Islam lend nothing to negotiations with the enemies of freedom and liberty in the world. These gains by Obama are cheap but bought at significant cost. A few cigars and bottled of rum are now the 30 pieces of silver.
Obama set a precedent when he engaged in normal relations with the Taliban.
Is this legal? Doesn’t it have to go through the congress or senate?
Ending the embargo does. None of the rest needs anyone’s approval. Setting the USA’s foreign policy is entirely up to the president.
You can bet a whole bunch of automobile aficionados as well as cigar huffers will be quickly making their way to Cuba.
I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. Everybody’s going off half-cocked. China is communist and nearly our entire national debt is owed to them. Most of our imports are from China. Perhaps this will be a new start for Cuba.
This could be the single thing where I agree with Obama.
I’ve thought for years it would be a swell idea to load up a light freighter in Mia-ma with good, used cars, take them to Cu-ber, and trade for classics.
I’m not at all sanguine that would work, still. The Castros are…capricious. You could lose everything, including the freighter.
As to cigars, I can buy Cubans. I’ve smoked some good ones, but in terms of value, they are vastly over-priced. And a lot of cigars are made by Cuban ex-pat families who buy bails of tobacco in Panama or elsewhere that are FROM Cuba.
Cuba will remain a broken country until it shrugs off its Collectivist oppression. I’d love to see that for the Cuban people.
Yeah, you can buy authentic Cuban made cigars all over Florida.
He has a lot of ‘splainin to do.
Ha ha ha. Obama Red just like Lucy!!! Ho ho ho.
Maybe Obama likes Cuban cigars and his stash ran dry?
There’s a story told about Kennedy buying thousands of Cuban cigars before officially closing the door on them.
As with anything else related to Obama’s legacy, look at how this helps buy Democratic votes at the expense of hard-working conservative Americans. There you will find the real reason for the action.
its all about gitmo.
it has nothing to do with prisoners/embargo/etc its all about closing gitmo.
its an end run, next up will be claims about how we violated the lease because cuba has refused the payments.
the desired result is closing gitmo and getting the prisoners here under civilian court control.
time to build a facility at deigo garcia.
Not at Diego Garcia. Use eminent domain to seize Obama’s Chicago home, and put them in there.
Can’t do it at Diego Garcia; it’s officially owned by the Bri’ish.
So is the wet foot/dry foot policy suspended? Or do you automatically become a citizen when the plane lands
I remember when we had a Pope who risked his life to stand up against the Communists.
The only thing that surprises me is that he did not jointly announce sanctions on Israel.
This is like Reagan sending in the SeaBees to reinforce the Berlin Wall in exchange for some hostages and East German strudel.
Heckuva job, Barracula…
For a variety of reasons, I missed this entire news story. So I have to ask—did the U.S. get any concessions from Cuba for this latest Obama deal?
Making concessions is Obama’s job.
Especially to the enemies of U.S.A.
Yeah, Obama is #1 in bending over.
Bow. Bow. Bow.
we exchanged three convicted government spies for some elderly loon who was (allegedly) smuggling electronics into cuba or something. another obama success !!
While O’ was giving his speech here, raul castro was giving one in Cuba. It ended like this:
Somewhat literal English translation:
What it really means:
(As per more than 40 years decoding communist rhetoric)
Obama caved in.
I hope he bought enough lube.
Aww, he’s pulling another Nixon.
Inscrutable Chinese bureaucrat:
“The Nixon you sent us in 1972 was not the one we sent back.”
After announcing the re-establishment of relations with Cuba, White House staff noticed that he sat in the oval office all night long looking forlorn.
He though he would get a call from the Kremlin, offering him his long sought seat in the Politburo. But nothing. Not even a fruit basket.
Poor Barry.
Marco Rubio:
And this is the question I would like to see answered:
If those spies were found guilty by a jury, and they have not finished their sentences, what authority does the President have to just release them and send them to Cuba?
Maybe the presidential pardon power?
OK.
I did some reading.
I didn’t know the Presidential Pardon had such a broad scope. I am disappointed. Some discretion is good, but the President should not have so much power.
What sort of scope did you think it had?
One lesson that I keep forgetting is not to describe Obama’s actions using superlatives. I must leave room for increasing contempt, outrage, and disbelief. It’s hard to imagine a more sickening move, but he’s got two more years. What’s next? Official diplomatic recognition of ISIS?
He will never recognize ISIS. No, it is not that he opposes them in any way. If they are recognized by us as a sovereign nation; then when their inevitable terrorist attacks strike here it will be an act of war that there will be pressure to respond to. Absent recognition, the terrorist acts become “workplace violence” or “lone wolf” attacks that he can ignore other than to explain that Islam is the religion of peace and anyone who complains about the attacks is a bigot.