Can Vultures Buy U.S. Presidency?

Supreme Court Says "Yes"

        For each of the past ten weeks, USA Today has headlined its "Power Rankings" of the ongoing 2016 Republican presidential sweepstakes. As depicted above, in this first week of November...for the very first time in ten weeks...USA Today now ranks Miami's Cuban-American first-term U. S. Senator Marco Rubio #1.

        I find the latest Republican Power Rankings in USA Today very interesting, hilarious actually. That's because many months ago, when Rubio was a distant also-ran with a 4% rating in a USA Today poll, Josefina Vidal, Cuba's almost infallible American expert, predicted that Marco Rubio would "emerge" as the Republican presidential contender in 2016. Considering that Vidal is Cuba's primary defender of the island's sovereignty, she assumes, if she is mistaken on her U. S. judgments, Cuba, at best, will become a U. S. Territory, like another Caribbean island, Puerto Rico. And she assumes, if she is mistaken, that Cuba might be annihilated...especially if a Republican like Rubio becomes Commander-in-Chief on January 20th, 2017. Back in March a Spanish journalist asked Vidal, "Rubio? Are you serious? What would that mean for Cuba?" She replied, "I'm serious. I wouldn't joke about it. It would mean that the Batistianos had captured the U. S. government before they re-captured the Cuban government." Vidal's rationale about Rubio "emerging" as the Republican presidential candidate is based on this logic: She believes {1} the two-party U. S. political system can now be easily purchased at the presidential level by a mere handful of billionaires, and {2} she believes that Rubio, more than any other would-be President, has signaled that his presidency is for-sale to the highest bidders. NOTE: By the time U. S. Today's Power Rankings this week listed Rubio #1, a flock of billionaires, with enough money to purchase the presidency with the blessing of an unfortunate ruling by the U. S. Supreme Court in 2010, had flocked shamelessly to Rubio, as Vidal has predicted all along.  

Photo courtesy: Steve Marcus/Reuters

         Meet Paul Singer, or at least Google him. He graduated from Harvard Law School and now, at age 71, he is a Hedge Fund billionaire in New York City. His Wikipedia biography includes this sentence: "Singer's business practices have been described by detractors as having the characteristics of a vulture fund." Hedge Fund billionaires are routinely described as vultures, but legal ones because they can well afford armies of lobbyists, the real wheelers-and-dealers in Washington. But billionaires like Mr. Singer rose to the top of the pecking order in U. S. politics in 2010 when the U. S. Supreme court legalized unlimited political donations to Super-PACs, the scourge of democracy. 

                On October 30, 2015, the New York Times -- in a major article written by Maggie Haberman and Nicholas Confessore -- revealed why Paul Singer, and political-minded billionaires like him, are dangers to democracy. The article included these exact words:

                                        "Mr. Singer sent a letter to dozens of other big-money donors urging them to support Rubio. The New York Times got a copy of the letter that claimed Rubio is the only candidate 'that can navigate this complex primary process and still be in a position to defeat Hillary Clinton in a general election.'

                                           "Singer last year gave more money to Republican candidates than any donor in the country, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Singer is a passionate pro-Israel supporter. Mr. Rubio has aggressively embraced the cause of wealthy pro-Israel donors like Mr. Sheldon Adelson, whom the Senator is said to call frequently, and Mr. Singer. who both serve on the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition, an umbrella group for Republican Jewish donors and officials." {From The New York Times; October 30, 2015}

         Paul Singer, shown here at the World Economic Forum, is one of a growing number of Jewish billionaires bound and determined to make sure that Marco Rubio is President of the United States beginning in 2017. Thanks to the 2010 Supreme Court ruling, they can now use their billions of dollars to make that happen. {Disclosure: I am a lifelong conservative Republican who is pro-Israel but also very passionately pro-American and pro-democracy}.

        The photos above are courtesy of AP/Jeff Schaid/J. Scott Applewhite and the montage is courtesy of Salon Magazine. That's multi-billionaire Sheldon Adelson on the left and presidential candidate Marco Rubio on the right. Mr. Adelson is worth about $28 billion dollars after a storied career as a controversial hotel-casino magnet in Las Vegas and Macao/China. He is 84-years-old. He is a staunch supporter of Israel where he owns a major newspaper, etc., and where he flies and flatters important politicians...such as Marco Rubio. Mr. Adelson is determined to put Rubio in the White House and, in the present political climate, he certainly has the wherewithal to do just that.

            As of June, 2015, Forbes estimated that Sheldon Adelson, one of Rubio's prime Jewish backers, is worth $28 billion. Mr. Adelson is Chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which also owns the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore as well as the ultra-plush Venetian Macao {shown above} in Macao, China. As he moves along on his presidential bid, Rubio will have to more deeply explain his obvious obsession with Israel and his more subtle fascination with China. He has, for example, often stated that his first flight on Air Force One will be to Israel and it is well known that his top aides took at least one questionable flight to China. Of course, billionaires stuffing Rubio's campaign coffers with cash have nothing at all to do with his political views. ABSOLUTELY NOT!! NOW SHUT UP!!

          Fox News, the Tea Party, and a long line of Jewish and Wall Street/Hedge Fund billionaires believe they can make Marco Rubio the next President of the United States. The Tea Party along with the Bush dynasty and a few Cuban-American billionaires in Miami thrust Rubio into the U. S. Senate in 2011. But he hit the Senate, which he admittedly disdains, breathlessly running for President, which these days mainly involves begging billionaires for money. Beyond doubt, Rubio, more than anyone else, has struck a gold mine with Jewish billionaires. Fox News, the right-wing propaganda machine, was among the first to encourage Rubio's presidential aspirations with proclamations like the one above loudly proclaiming "A POLITICAL STAR IS BORN" long before Rubio had done anything in the Senate except look cute and young while touting his Miami credentials as an anti-Castro zealot. {He made it to the U. S. Senate with his bio claiming his parents escaped the Castro tyranny in Cuba for the freedom of Miami, then it was revealed his parents had escaped the Batista tyranny in Cuba long before Castro took over}.

        Of course, Fox News fumed profusely when presidential rival Donald Trump said, "Sheldon Adelson would have total control over Rubio." A lot of people believe that, including many Cuban-Americans, although only the brash Mr. Trump has the gumption to state it publicly. Trump, the non-politician, like Dr. Ben Carson, riding a wave of voters tired of bought-and-paid-for politicians, is also reminding the pro-Rubio mainstream media to check on Rubio's past "financial misdeeds," such as alleged personal used of campaign funds, questionable real estate deals, etc., ETC. 

         Meanwhile, this photo montage is similar to others that will hamper Rubio as he hedges to the top of the Republican presidential sweepstakes. It shows Rubio eating a money-burger while he is flanked by two of his multi-billionaire supporters -- Mr. Adelson on the left and Mr. Koch on the right. To counter such images, his highly paid publicity staff should, perhaps, make sure he is photographed eating real hamburgers, like regular Americans.

       This photo reveals another problem for Marco Rubio that billions of dollars might not be able to erase. Being Cuban-American in Miami was a prime factor in getting him to the U. S. Senate. But most Cuban-Americans in Miami -- including people like Republican powerhouse Al Cardenas and Rubio's former boss, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (both of whom were born in Havana) -- strongly prefer Jeb Bush over one of their own, Marco Rubio. A further indication that Rubio, in his money-crazed race to the White House, has lost touch with his Miami roots is the blistering editorial in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel last week that accused Rubio of "ripping off" the Cuban-Americans who sent him to the Senate and therefore the powerful Sun-Sentinel suggested that Rubio "resign" so they could get representation in the U. S. Senate. Rubio, of course, is vehemently against anything President Obama and most Cuban-Americans in Miami are trying to do to help Cubans on the island. They are also aware that Rubio appears to have sold-out to Jewish billionaires, suggesting that Cuban-Americans and Americans are lesser priorities to him. That's why he has seen placards and billboards like the one above: "EMBARGO ISRAEL NOT CUBA."

And by the way...........

          ...............................I would like to congratulate this little guy. His name, literally and scientifically, is "Cow Knob." He is a salamander. He is also feisty and voracious in defending his turf. He just won a huge battle against Dominion, a powerful energy company that planned to run a natural-gas pipeline through his territory. Cow Knob only lives in one tiny place on earth -- on a few high ridges along the Virginia-West Virginia border. Some 5.5 miles of the 564-mile pipeline was due to run through Cow Knob's territory, till he and his supporters strongly objected. Dominion backed off and agreed to shift the route of its pipeline totally away from Cow Knob's beloved territory.

This Virginia map depicts in red Cow Knob's territory.

The little guy beat the billion-dollar energy company.

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Cuban Friends In High Places

Including The White House

         The pro-USA Voice of America Website used this Reuters photo to illustrate a pro-Cuban article this week entitled "U. S. Might Further Ease Embargo." The image, as well as Voice of America itself, reflects the very significant presence of both the U. S. government and U. S. businesses at Cuba's International Trade Fair this week.

     Using an extraordinary amount of courage and skill, America's two-term President, Barack Obama, has done far more than the previous ten U. S. presidents to normalize relations with Cuba. He has bravely and astutely defied a right-wing Republican Congress to chisel away at a nefarious embargo, in effect since 1962, that only Congress can totally remove. Congress won't do that because it has no shame, not even when -- each October -- the nations of the world at the United Nations scream loudly for the end of an embargo that even America's best friends consider to be cruel and in multiple violations of international laws. On behalf of the majority of Cubans and Americans, and in defense of democracy, Obama has brought about the opening of embassies in Havana and Washington for the first time since 1961. He has also eased anti-democratic travel restrictions, authorized telecommunications companies to operate in Cuba, and promoted trade and amity with Cuba's growing private sector, among many other friendly measures. 

           David Thorne is the top senior adviser to U. S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Both men strongly believe that an economically viable Cuba will have "beneficial pluses for the United States." In an interview with Reuters, as referenced by Voice of America, Thorne said that President Obama "could further relax the U. S. trade embargo against Cuba. We are making progress. We are making regulatory changes. We'll make more. But the pace is really going to be set by the Cubans and we are satisfied with how they want to do this."

         David Thorne, representing the U. S. State Department, has spent three very productive days and nights in Cuba this week. He is advising Cuban officials and Cuba's fledgling entrepreneurial community on how to deal with foreign investors, including many important U. S. business leaders attending the Cuban International Trade Fair on the outskirts of Havana. Mr. Thorne's trip to Cuba is a key element in the State Department's "Shared Prosperity Agenda," quite a contrast to the still-viable myriad regime change schemes lavishly funded by the U. S. Congress. David Thorne's father, Landon Thorne, was appointed by President Eisenhower in 1953 to administer the Marshall Plan in Italy that restored democracy to an important nation that had been a major ally of Hitler's in World War II. David Thorne grew up in Rome, speaks fluent Italian, and is a former U. S. Ambassador to Italy. He got his BA from Yale and his Masters from Columbia. He would like to replicate in Cuba something akin to what his father achieved in Italy.

            Marcelo Claure is a 44-year-old Bolivian-American and he would like to see Cuba prosper. He is the CEO of Sprint, the telecommunication giant headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. This week Mr. Claure engineered a major deal with the Cuban government. Sprint became the first U. S. carrier to partner with ETECSA, Cuba's telecommunications company. Americans visiting Cuba will now be able to use their cellphones and Smart Phones like they do in other "modern places." Mr. Claure told U. S. Today, "At the beginning, we thought, 'Oh, my God, it's the Cuban government, negotiations are going to be slow.' But I was blown away...and we signed an agreement in record time." He said Sprint customers who had traveled to Cuba informed the company that they had no service on the island. Now they do, thanks to Mr. Claure.

         This photo, courtesy of Alan Gomez/USA Today, shows Sprint CEO Marcelo Clasure signing that major telecommunications deal with the Cuban government in Havana. One thing American CEOs doing business with Cuba will discover is this: Many of the top officials in the Cuban government are women, and that's a revolutionary tradition. Sitting just to the right of Mr. Clasure, and signing for Cuba, is Vivian Iglesias. She is the Director of International Services for ETECSA, Cuba's telecommunication company. She told USA Today that payment for the Sprint charges will have to go through third parties because of the United States embargo against the island. But she said Cuba is pleased that American tourists can now "make and receive calls, send and receive text messages, and use data throughout Cuba's telecommunication network."

         Sprint, the American telecommunications giant, this week has forged ties with Cuba that bring the two neighboring countries a little closer together. The flags of both Cuba and the U. S. are red, white, and blue.

         The Cuban flag has one star. the American flag has 50 stars. It is not coincidental that both flags feature the same colors -- red, white, and blue. For the first time since 1961, this year, 2015, the flags have resumed flying at embassies in Havana and Washington. Separated by a mere 90 miles, the two nations have a lot in common. The Cuban people and the American people like each other. The biggest impediment to friendly and prosperous relations between Cuba and the United States right now is a U. S. Congress that caters to a handful of people who continue to benefit -- revengefully, economically, and politically -- from unfriendly relations. It's been that way since 1959. But now, more than ever, a lot of good people, including the ones mentioned above, are trying to move forward beyond the Cold War animus that has hurt so many people, especially Cubans on the island, for so long. Animosity may benefit a few but it hurts others. 

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rubio, Rubio, and RUBIO!!!

Repeat Ten Times

Then Donate!!

         Walt Handelsman is a world-class Editorial Cartoonist for The New Orleans Advocate. Among his awards, he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1997 and again in 2007.

       To honer Daylight Saving Time and Marco Rubio, this is the latest gem by Mr. Handelsman. It was featured in USA Today and hundreds of other U. S. newspapers. It shows Rubio, the first-term U. S. Senator from Miami, leapfrogging over his mentor Jeb following Rubio's betrayal of Bush in the last Republican presidential debate.

       Rubio's brutal knockout of Jeb Bush in 2015 reminded me of Rocky Marciano's brutal knockout of Joe Louis in 1951, as depicted above by this classic David Jukic photo. Marciano, at age 28, was in his prime as a heavyweight boxer; Louis, at age 37, was over-the-hill. Yes, Rubio's KO of Bush was reminiscent of Marciano's KO of Louis.

          From black-and-white to color, from 1951 to 2015, this photo captured young Marco Rubio's knockout of over-the-hill Jeb Bush. Rubio's scripted, memorized retort was brutal and fatal.

The KO of Bush clears the way for Marco Rubio's path to the White House.

         The KO of Jeb Bush starkly refurbished Marco Rubio's substantial and pivotal support from Fox News, the mainstream media, the Tea Party, and five extremely wealthy Jewish billionaires. More than any other presidential candidate, Rubio has signaled that he is the one that can be bought-and-paid-for by special interests. It has turned out to be a pivotal, but undemocratic, ploy.

      Voters are supposed to dismiss this photo. At age 26 when the now 44-year-old Marco Rubio entered the political arena in Florida, his first donation was a check from Jeb Bush. Rubio's trek from Miami-Tallahassee to the U. S. Senate was paved by Jeb Bush and from the beginning in 2011 Rubio has merely used his Senate platform to run for President, as pointed out by his hometown newspaper, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, which suggested that he "resign" because he was "ripping off" his South Florida constituents. Letters-to-the-Editors in three South Florida newspapers, including The Miami Herald, have excoriated Rubio for betraying them by selling out to Jewish billionaires. Rubio's contemptuous response was to state repeatedly on the campaign trail that his first flight on Air Force One will be to Israel, not Miami. Regardless, Rubio's KO of Jeb Bush separates him from the Bush dynasty that greased his seat to the Senate, but Rubio firmly believes that he has garnered enough money-crazed right-wing acolytes to no longer need the Bush machine. But before this long, long presidential campaign is over, Rubio may regret throwing the still-viable Bush dynasty and some key supporters in Miami under the bus, proverbially and politically speaking. They gave Marco Rubio his very first political toy -- a leap-frogging trampoline. 

         All of which is a vivid reminder of the prescience and astuteness of Josefina Vidal, Cuba's Minister of North American Affairs. Vidal knows more about U.S.-Cuban relations and politics than all the pundits combined that nightly pollute U. S. cable news programs. Those pundits, mostly promoting themselves or their favorite politicians, can say anything regardless of how biased or absurd, and they'll still be back on the airways night-after-night. {Talking-head pundits save the networks from having to spend money to go out and actually cover the news}. Vidal comes from a far different perspective: Her job is to keep Cuba a sovereign nation. If she makes a major mistake in judging U.S.-Cuban relations, Revolutionary Cuba would probably become another Puerto Rico -- that is, a U. S. Territory. As I have documented earlier via reliable Spanish sources, Vidal many, many months ago predicted Rubio would be the next U. S. President.

       Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Cuba's Josefina Vidal already preparing for a Rubio presidency is her opinion of what it would mean for her tenacious but vulnerable island. She discussed her thoughts about Rubio with a surprised friend, a trusted journalist, visiting from Spain. The friend asked, "Then what would a Rubio presidency mean for Cuba?" Vidal instantly replied, "It would mean the Batistianos had captured the United States government before re-capturing the Cuban government." Americans are invited to ponder that quotation and that scenario, just as they would be wise to Google data and then decide if Josefina Vidal indeed knows more about U. S. politics than all the American political pundits combined!!

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A BIG Day for Cuba

Biggest In Half A Century!!

      The graphic above heralds the fact that today -- Monday, November 2nd, 2015 -- might be the biggest day in over half a century for the island of Cuba. Today starts the 33rd International Trade Fair on the outskirts of Havana. It is the first event since the thawing of Cold War animus in U.S.-Cuban relations, highlighted by the re-opening of embassies in Havana and Washington for the first time since 1961. More than 120 nations, including the U. S., are major participants in this year's Cuban Trade Fair.

       This photograph explains why today is a seminal day in the annals of Cuba. This is a brand-new Oggun Tractor. It was made at a Cleber LLC factory in Alabama. It is shown above after arriving at a port in Cuba and it will be one of the U. S. highlights at today's opening of the Cuban Trade Fair. Moreover, with the thawing of U.S.-Cuban relations, Cleber LLC plans to build a factory in Cuba to make such tractors using Cuban workers and Cuban materials. A major article in USA Today today points out that this tractor is "an unusual sight" in Cuba because "for decades Cuba was barred from importing most U. S. goods" such as "an American-owned, American-made tractor ready for sale." This tractor is already breaking fallow Cuban ground.

         Contrast the photo of the brand-new tractor with this photo. This image still coats the minds of Americans, like me, who have visited Cuba and witnessed hard-working Cuban farmers using Oxen to plow their fields. This photo was taken in the ultra-beautiful and fertile Vinales Valley. It helps explain why Cuba has to purchase about 80% of its food. It also explains one of the corollary, even genocidal, offshoots of the U. S. embargo against Cuba, which has shamed America as much as it has hurt Cuba since 1962. America's unmatched economic and military power influences all nation's of the world, including punishment of other nations that do business with Cuba. The embargo also prohibits modern farming equipment and spare parts that Cuban farmers sorely need. That's why, thanks to a brave President Obama, Americans should comprehend the difference between the photo of the new tractor and the photo of the Cuban farmer plowing his field using a pair of oxen.

Jodi Hanson Bond is Vice President of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce.

         Jodi Bond has visited Cuba many times in her untiring and courageous effort to help American businesses and the Cuban people in defiance of a U. S. embargo dictated by a handful of vicious Cuban-Americans and their easily acquired, self-serving sycophants in the U. S. Congress. In today's U. S. Today {November 2nd, 2015} Jodi Bond, a key participant in Cuba's International Trade Fair, said, "Who does the best entrepreneurial work in the world? U. S. businesses. So we have significant expertise in showing how entrepreneurs can grow a business and grow the island of Cuba to a place of prosperity." But she also told U. S. Today that obstacles remain, not only the embargo but also such Cuban impediments as its out-moded and confusing dual currency.

        The monumental detente/rapprochement/cordiality forged in 2015 by Presidents Castro and Obama is still strongly and shamefully opposed by a rich and powerful minority of second generation of Cuban-Americans who have massively benefited since 1959 by the lucrative Castro Industry in the United States, still going strong as Fidel, battling severe health issues, ages to 89.

         This Ramon Espinosa photo shows Josefina Vidal, Cuba's top Minister on all matters concerning the United States, hosting New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in Cuba back in April. Mr. Cuomo is being joined by a long, long list of American leaders who desire friendly business relations with Cuba as boons to their states' economy. Such a relationship would not only benefit most Cubans and most Americans but also strongly improve the image of the United States and democracy in the eyes of the entire world, as an emphatic statement in the UN stressed last week.

       Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Mario Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Robert Menendez and their easily acquired, self-serving sycophants in the U. S. Congress maintain that this Cuban farmer should be forced to continue using oxen -- instead of new tractors from Alabama -- to till his land. After over a half-century of sheer cowardice and unfathomable ignorance that has enabled such anti-democratic and inhumane dictations to exist, perhaps it is time for Americans to stand up for this innocent farmer...and for democracy...and challenge a policy that the civilized world abhors.

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Cubans Appreciate Obama

And Take Advantage of His Courage

            Online and in print London's great newspaper The Guardian does the best job of letting the world know what is happening in Cuba. This past weekend it used this Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images photo to illustrate an article written by Tyler Wetherall. He wrote: "Tour operators around the world are reporting such high demand for travel to Cuba that hotel rooms in Havana are selling out months in advance, with some agencies unable to offer availability until April of 2016. With an estimated 10 million Americans a year expected to visit Cuba when the 54-year-old U. S. trade embargo is lifted, other nations are already heading there in droves. But is the country ready for the influx?" The answer is: Not quite. Cuba has upped its hotel prices while the government is spending money upgrading and increasing its hotel rooms. So are individual Cubans who rent out rooms in their homes, a process known as Casa Particulars {Particular homes}. A handful of visceral Cuban-Americans in the U. S. Congress can block the lifting of the embargo but in doing so they will increasingly draw the wrath of everyday Americans, who desire and deserve the freedom to travel to Cuba, and American businesses who are anxious to make money in Cuba.

        Thanks to caring Americans, especially President Barack Obama, and caring leaders around the world, especially Pope Francis, this is now a very common sight throughout the island of Cuba. {Photo above courtesy: Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images}. The caption read: "A few years ago, this would have been regarded as an act of treason in Cuba," meaning a U. S. flag flying beside a Cuban flag at a Cuban home.

         This photo is courtesy of Alamy and was used in the aforementioned article in The Guardian. It shows Nivia Melendez in her home in Santiago de Cuba preparing an excellent Cuban meal for her paying customers, tourists who covet and pay for such home-cooked meals. Restaurants in private Cuban homes are called Paladars. For many years experienced foreign visitors, including me, have frequented Paladars. There are now many more of them thanks to the Cuban government reacting to a thawing of U. S. relations by allowing for more-and-more entrepreneurs...like Nivia Melendez. Visceral Cuban-Americans in the U. S. Congress -- Rubio, Cruz, Ros-Lehtinen, Diaz-Balart, etc. -- want the embargo and other antagonisms against Cuba to continue for another 54 years. They assume the American people are stupid enough or coerced enough to believe that such cruel sanctions hurt the now 89-year-old Fidel Castro. Sane Americans, of course, agree with all the other countries around the world concerning the embargo: It hurts decent, innocent Cubans like Nivia Melendez who are trying to make decent, honest livings for their families. Restrictions from the Cuban government are not Nivia's biggest enemy but the cruel U. S. sanctions are. 

           The Cuban people still deeply appreciate this summer's visit of Pope Francis on the heels of his monumental influence in persuading Presidents Obama and Castro to become friendly neighbors.

 Mr. Obama is doing all he can do to help the Cuban people.

        The entire world, except for Israel, each year at the United Nations voices strong opposition to the continuation of the U. S. embargo against Cuba, a Cold War relic that shames the U. S. and democracy.

        Last week -- on October 27th, 2015 -- this was the final tally of the UN vote that vehemently opposed the U. S. embargo of Cuba -- 191-to-2 with no abstentions. The United States is unable to persuade even its best friends around the world to support its Cuban policy; the U. S. provides vast amounts of economic and military aid to a plethora of nations but only nuclear-powerful Israel, by far the biggest recipient of U. S. money and arms, can be enticed to support the U. S. embargo of Cuba. And...sane democracy-loving Americans should understand that a 191-to-2 majority opinion should be respected in a democracy.

        A handful of Cuban-American anti-Castro zealots in Miami -- such as Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart -- are able to dictate to the U. S. Congress a Cuban policy that most Americans, most Cuban-Americans, and the entire world opposes. The Diaz-Balart brothers have both been elected to the U. S. Congress from Miami as vicious anti-Castro zealots. Their father was a key Minister in the Batista dictatorship that was overthrown by the Cuban Revolution way back in 1959. Miami then became the new center for two generations of Cuban exiles, most of whom are now democracy-loving Americans but they, as well as America's Cuban policy, are dictated to by only a few very rich and very powerful anti-Castro zealots.

        This photo shows Fidel Castro welcoming Pope Francis to his modest home in Havana earlier this year. The photo was taken by Alex Castro, Fidel's son. Fidel is now 89-years-old -- unwell but also unbowed, except physically. Still keen of mind, he remains a voracious reader and avid newshound. But he is now only the eternal symbol of the Cuban Revolution and Revolutionary Cuba that replaced, back in 1959, the U.S.-backed Batista-Mafia dictatorship. That event shocked the world. But the longevity of Revolutionary Cuba, against imposing odds, has shocked the world even more. The two monumental events have thrust the island of Cuba onto the international stage far out of proportion to its size, population or wealth. As proven by last week's 191-to-2 vote in the UN, the rest of the world admires major aspects of Revolutionary Cuba, such as its resilience and tenacity. Fidel himself is now merely a spectator of the U.S.-Cuban relations that good people, like the Pope and President Obama, are trying to mend. But the vast and lucrative Fidel Castro Industry in the United States still benefits a handful of rich and powerful people, allowing a few extremists, through two generations now, to dictate a nefarious Cuban policy that {1} shames America's best friends around the world and {2}, as those friends pointed out during their vote in the UN last week, the U. S. Cuban policy is a violation of international laws that they, if not the U. S., respect. In 1976 Americans were successfully told to accept the terrorist bombing of a child-laden civilian Cuban airplane as "the biggest blow yet against Castro." In 2015 Americans are being told to disregard that 191-to-2 vote in the United Nations. Like in 1976, and all the years since 1959, this generation of Americans will passively and timidly accept the propaganda concerning the 2015 UN vote. Earlier this year, on his airplane flight from Cuba to the U. S., Pope Francis was asked what he told Fidel Castro. The Pope's face reportedly exuded emotion as he pondered the question. He cupped his hands together and looked downward as he tapped his knuckles against his chin for about a half minute. When he looked back up he said, "I told him I'm truly sorry, and that history will be much kinder to him than his enemies have been."

 President Obama treats President Raul Castro decently and cordially.

          The 89-year-old Fidel Castro has never met President Obama. Mr. Obama has never been to Cuba. However, he plans to visit the island in 2016, the last year of his 8-year, two-term presidency. If so, he will be warmly welcomed by Cubans who deeply appreciate what he has done on their behalf. In 2016 Fidel will turn 90. If he is still alive when President Obama visits Cuba, Fidel would welcome him into his home.

        As I said, Fidel is still keen of mind and a voracious reader. This photo shows him reading a biography of Barack Obama. Fidel has been told {by Josefina Vidal} that President Obama may not ask to see him in 2016 on his planned presidential visit to the island, but that Obama as a private citizen in 2017 would "most surely, if possible" like to meet Cuba's "greatest legend." Fidel's reply to Vidal was, "Then I'll try to make it a point to still be alive in 2017 because I think Cuba owes him a debt. He is brave and good."

           Back in 1973 Fidel Castro uttered the words quoted above. The U. S., remarkably, now has a black President, Mr. Obama, and Pope Francis, a native of Argentina, is, remarkably, the first Latin American Pope. In 2015 both the U. S., as represented by President Obama, and Pope Francis, the first Latin American Pope, have "come to talk to us." Only one human being on the planet, Fidel Castro, predicted those three things. Of course, many of America's best historians have concluded that, in Cuba's David vs. Goliath struggles against the United States since 1953, "Fidel Castro has out-smarted eleven consecutive U. S. presidents." Only the historians in Miami would disagree with that, and they may be a bit biased.

"The U. S. will come to talk to us...

when they have a black president....

and the world has a Latin American Pope."

{Fidel Castro, 1973}

Wow!!!!!!!!
No wonder the Batistianos are still in Miami, not Havana!!

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