The Island Will Survive
The U. S. Democracy Might Not
The Republican presidential field, now whittled from 17 down to 4, was on display in Miami last night in what seems like the 50th "debate" that, like the other 49 or so, was primarily designed to bring in ratings and revenue for the hosting networks, all in the guise of covering the "news" while actually being mere propaganda machines. The comical quartet consisted of two anti-Cuban extremist Cuban-Americans, a listless Governor of Ohio, and a billionaire businessman. Actually, the fearsome foursome being depicted as comical is very sad because the U. S. democracy is dependent on a two-party political system in which both parties are owned by the highest bidders, which basically comes down to a handful of greedy billionaires. That's why last night's jocular extravaganza in Miami merely reemphasized two already well-known basic facts: {1} The money-crazed U. S. political arena as well as the money-crazed, pundit-driven, incompetent U. S. media probably constitute the two greatest threats to the U. S. democracy; and {2} Americans hopefully are not as stupid and ill-informed as the politicians and the media believe they are.
Last night for the first time, as illustrated by the above graphic, the topic of Cuba was highlighted in the Republican "debate" in Miami. That in itself is a joke. Two of the four presidential wannabees are bought-and-paid-for anti-Cuban Cuban-American zealots who believe that using the power of the U. S. government to punish 11 million Cubans on the nearby island will help them finish transforming the U. S. democracy into a Banana Republic resembling the Batista-Mafia fiasco of the 1950s. But the controversial billionaire businessman and the homespun Ohio governor, as captors of the lucrative Castro Cottage Industry in the U. S., are no better. Therefore, the gutless, self-serving, CNN-goaded thuggery that assailed Cuba and hailed a gutless U. S. Cuban policy on that Miami stage last night was far more detrimental to the assaulted American democracy than it will be to the equally vulnerable but seemingly more pugnacious island of Cuba. The four comics on stage in Miami last night would have made the revengeful, thieving Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano laugh but, I believe, they should make democracy-lovers weep.
And speaking of Cuba:
Meet Yoan Moncada. He was born 20 years ago in Abreus, Cuba. He's come a long way since then, all the way to the United States. Yoan is shown above a few months ago signing a $31.5 million contract with the Boston Red Sox. He is now rated Boston's best prospect but every penny of the $31.5 million is guaranteed and then, if he makes some base hits for the Red Sox, he will get some really serious money.
In spring training with the Red Sox, Yoan takes turns driving either his Lamborghini Huracan or his BMW i8 to the ball park. The Lamborghini Huracan didn't dent his bank account too much but the sticker price was $399,500.00. Yoan can still be jealous of the five luxury cars that Yoenis Cespedes, the veteran Cuban outfielder with the New York Mets, has been photographed driving during spring training. Alex Vega, who owns Auto Firm in Miami, is getting rich selling expensive cars to Cuban baseball stars. Just one of the 30 U. S. Major League teams, the LA Dodgers, alone have recently guaranteed $250 million to nine young Cubans. U. S. teams are seemingly signing every Cuban baseball player who defects, including a string of 16-year-olds, which also makes a lot of human traffickers, agents, car dealers, real estate moguls, hangers-on, etc., very rich. Yoan, a muscular and speedy switch-hitter, is considered a better prospect than Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton who recently got a $310 million extension to his already lucrative contract, and Moncada's Boston team is far richer than the poor Miami Marlins. Baseball players in the little Cuban town of Abreus are probably salivating over Yoan's Lamborghini Huracan, don't you think?
In a few days, on March 22nd, a U. S. Major League team -- the Tampa Bay Rays -- will play a Cuban team in Havana. The President of the United States, Barack Obama, will be in attendance at the game. Cuba per capita is the baseball mecca. In the recent past it dominated international competition -- the Pan-Am Games, the World Baseball Classic, the Olympics, etc. But no longer. Like with its ballet superstars and its medical doctors, the Castro Cottage Industry in the U. S. siphons off Cuban talent as a means, for one thing, "to hurt Castro," which happened to be the exact reason the terrorists in Miami gave for bombing the civilian Cuban Flight 455 out of the sky in 1976. So, on the 22nd of this month it is hoped that the Tampa Bay Rays will take pity and not beat the depleted Cuban team too badly. If so, that would surely be one of the few instances Americans and Cuban-Americans have sympathized with innocent, harassed Cubans.
No comments:
Post a Comment