Cuba Libre!
The best news heard in some time is that of street demonstrations in various locations around the island nation of Cuba this weekend protesting a number of things (pandemic response, hunger, housing) but aimed squarely at the governing regime. We have seen freedom movements around the world crushed by authoritarian regimes, so getting one’s hopes up over this one is to be avoided. That said, the Biden Administration would do well to do whatever it can—overt and covert—to provide wind in these sails.
The relationship of the U.S. and Cuba is a ridiculous relic of the Cold War and has produced policy approaches held in bondage to the perceived preferences of a rapidly dying constituency of those who left the island before and during the dictatorship of Fidel Castro. It is high time to build on one of the very few agreeable things the Obama Administration did, and that is to normalize relations with Cuba. The isolation at the heart of the US approach has provided the regime with all it has ever needed to work its collectivist will. It seems obvious that the path to freedom for the Cuban people and a normal adult national relationship between our two nations runs through the U.S. warmly welcoming this nascent movement. Ignoring Cuba was never going to bring them around. Show Cuba what freedom could mean—and do everything we can to “love” Cuba like nobody’s business.
One more thing. Hurry up and sign another long term lease on Guantanamo, close down the prison and re-open it as a proper Naval Station.
Texas Legislators Make a Run For It
In a bid to deny a quorum to the majority GOP in response to its desire to exercise its legislative authority to manage the state’s election laws, a group of Texas House Democrats have alighted to Washington DC (not the best choice). I have mixed feelings on this.
On the one hand, I believe the Texas GOP has the right (as already indicated) to propose and seek majorities to pass—legislation designed to govern when, where, and how voting should be done in the state, consistent with Federal law and guidelines.
On the other hand, I believe the Texas Democrats have the right also to engage in the Democratic process by acting to deny a quorum.
Voting is becoming an issue like abortion, or gun rights, in which neither side will give an inch to the other side’s concerns (election integrity vs. voting rights). Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. Your view of this issue is that the OTHER side is nuts. There ARE no election security concerns, this is just flat out racism and whatnot. There ARE no voting rights issues, people have plenty of ways and means to vote. See how this works?
I am a big fan of our federal system. I like states having power over state elections. But I’m evolving on Presidential elections. I’d like to see a set of national standards that govern Presidential elections, and I’m happy to suggest that this set of standards says “hey states, three out of four elections you get to do as you wish within the law. But every fourth year, you’re going to have to find a way to run your Presidential election along the following lines” and then lay out things like how long before the election mailed ballots must be post-marked, the amount of time that states have to count votes and certify for their own purposes, —fewer rather than more restrictions, but at the end of the day, certain things would be nationalized for the one national office we elect.
Joe Biden’s Ineloquence/Over-eloquence
Joe Biden has long had a reputation for gas-baggery, and this New York Ties piece does a nice job covering that history, as well as that of his Democratic predecessors in office, Messrs Obama and Clinton. What the piece does not do is make any remarks about the impact this habit has had and more importantly, may have on his political fortunes. Perhaps that is what this space is for.
Let’s face it. Joe Biden won a Presidential election (and yes mouth-breathers, he did win) that was tailor-made for him. First of all, there was his utterly dishonest opponent, who had for three years, exhausted the electorate with his chaotic and corrupt governing style. For whatever reason, Joe Biden comes off as an honest guy. Note that the words “Joe Biden is an honest guy” did not just appear, as all one is able to do is assess how he presents himself. It is uncertain whether this honesty would have been enough to propel him to victory, but ultimately, he had another force on his side, and that was a year-long global pandemic that killed some four hundred thousand Americans over the final year of the Trump Presidency, although even Trump’s nightly theater of the absurd and his downright damaging presence in office cannot be positively stated as having been enough to ensure his removal. No, what got Joe Biden elected was that Joe Biden didn’t have to campaign. What got Joe Biden elected was the fact that the pandemic created a perfectly-suited reason for modern American politics’ least-eloquent, most gaffe-prone participant, to sit in his house and “campaign” in incredibly stage-managed video hits that controlled his tendency to verbal excess and limited his opportunity for coloring outside the lines.
Putting aside the undefeated nature of Father Time’s reign over human endeavor, Joe Biden will not have this option available to him in 2024. He’s going to have to campaign, in person, before live audiences, and unless he shows a hell of a lot more discipline and acumen than he did in his previous several runs for the office, the American people are going to be treated to the man who prior to 2020 had never convinced more than 1% of them to vote for him.
But he’s still better than the last clown.