Oh sure, the Fake News Media (in Castro’s pocket since 1957) went berserk with gratification and joy, hailing the December 17th 2014 diplomatic disgrace with Stalinist Cuba as an “opening!” a “landmark!” a diplomatic milestone!” a “legacy-builder!” blah…blah…blah…
In fact, that infamous date marks a whimpering U.S. surrender to a terrorist regime that had kidnapped a U.S. hostage named Alan Gross. The snickering Cuban terrorists then dangled their hostage in front of the whimpering Obama, offering to exchange him upon the freeing and return to Stalinist Cuba of multi-convicted Castroite spy/terrorist/murderer (of American citizens) Gerardo Hernandez and his accomplices.
This blackmail by the mass-murdering Communists on our doorstep gave Obama just the excuse he needed to finally –and officially--buddy-up with them, a Democrat craving for decades.
In brief: Obama’s “Cuba legacy” (for the folks who actually bother to study this issue) is simply one of shame, disgrace and humiliation for the USA….And oh! Almost forgot—increased poverty and repression for the Cuban people, for whom Obama (and his lap-dog media) claimed he was acting as benefactor.
In brief, everything your humble servant predicted on Fox News three years ago came to pass. Not that the prediction required special clairvoyance or education. Practically all of those media-loathed “deplorable right-wing Cuban exiles!” (i.e. people with actual experience under Castroism) were predicting the same thing.
Accurate predictions regarding Cuba policy is not rocket science, amigos. It’s simply a matter of rejecting practically EVERYTHING the Fake News Media has “reported” about the Castros since 1957.
You see, amigos: Back on December 3rd 2009, Alan Gross, a U.S. citizen distributing cell phones and computer equipment to Cuba’s Jewish community on contract for the U.S. Agency for International Development, prepared to board a plane homeward at Havana’s International Airport. Hovering nearby, but unnoticed by Mr. Gross, were plainclothes officers of Castro’s KGB-trained secret-police.
As the boarding order loomed, these officers rushed up and grabbed Mr. Gross, who then languished in Castro’s dungeons until he was ransomed by Obama on Dec. 17th 2014, under the guise of a “diplomatic opening.”
This ransoming involved treachery on the part of the State Dept. that rivaled their treachery in the Benghazi scandal/tragedy. Recently your humble servant detailed this treachery right here at Townhall.
The U.S. ransom was almost unprecedentedly shameful in the annals of U.S. diplomacy. I say “almost” because it closely mimicked the whimpering Obama’s ransom to the snickering Taliban for Bowe Berghal. You’ll recall the Taliban got five of their terrorists back from Gitmo as the ransom.
But Castro came out of his blackmailing of Obama smelling even rosier than the Taliban. In fact, well before the Stalinist dictator got his spy/murderer back, Castro was already reaping enormous benefits from the Obama Team.
You see, amigos: Promptly upon entering office in 2009 Obama began frantically issuing executive orders to circumvent the (so-called) embargo of Cuba and open a financial lifeline from the U.S. (often on the taxpayers’ dime) to the Castro Family-Crime-Syndicate (grotesquely mislabeled as “Cuba” by the Fake News Media.)
“Here I come to save the day!” was a good motto for Obama and his team of whimpering Cuba policy Pajama Boys (Ben Rhodes, particularly)--because that U.S. economic lifeline came just as Venezuela’s was drying up.
This vital economic lifeline consisted mostly of remittances by (so-called) Cuban refugees back to Cuba and of travel expenses by “family visitors” and “people-to-people” travelers from the U.S. to Cuba. The windfall turned into a huge racket for the Castro-Family-and-Military-Crony-Crime-Syndicate, who own most of Cuba’s tourism industry, Cuba’s banking system and so started reaping a windfall estimated at $4-5.2 billion annually from the U.S. That’s about what the Soviets would send annually at the height of their Cuba-sponsorship in the 1980s!
You see, amigos: Many recent Cuban “refugees” were hopping off the planes or boats and scampering straight to the State and Federal welfare offices to start filling out forms for their “refugee” benefits, which totaled about $1200 a month. Believe it or not, under Obama, the process of choosing these "refugee" U.S. visa applicants was outsourced to the Castro regime!
This means that Castro's snickering apparatchiks issue most of these visas to Cubans who don't qualify as political refugees by any stretch. Instead they qualify as Cubans who got to the U.S., sprinted off the planes to the nearest welfare office, promptly applied for their benefits (for which the regime even offered classes and tutoring!)--and promptly start sending remittances to their families back in Cuba!
Despite Deep State (especially Deep State Dept.) foot-dragging and outright sabotage, the Trump Team is aware of this racket and slowly working to fix it. The squeals of pain and outrage from Castro’s (unregistered) U.S. agents provide the best proof.
“What’s good for General Motors is good for the U.S.” went the old (misquote) of GM CEO Charles Wilson. Well, whatever’s BAD in the eyes of the New York Times is GREAT for the U.S. And the New York Times detests Trump’s Cuba policy.
Interestingly, similar to Patty Hearst with her kidnappers, Castro’s kidnap victim Alan Gross seemed to develop (a type of) crush on his kidnappers–though on a different level than Hearst’s.
Once free upon Obama’s surrender to his kidnappers, Alan Gross quickly joined the ranks of Castro’s (unregistered) U.S. agents in calling for an end to the (so-called) Cuban embargo.
Oh, I know…I know the liberal/libertarian mantra has it that “the embargo is the Castro regime’s best friend because it gives them an excuse…blah…blah…blah.” Despite this Ana Belen Montes, Carlos and Elsa Alvarez and Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers (all convicted Castroite spies in federal prison today) worked tirelessly to influence U.S. policy AGAINST the “embargo”– while working as secret agents. Interesting no?…If that doesn’t close the case against the KGB/Castro-crafted and liberal/libertarian-parroted anti-embargo meme I don’t know what does.
Alan Gross started chanting the Castro/KGB-crafted and liberal/libertarian-parroted critique of the (so-called) embargo perfectly on cue, almost upon his release.
More recently he has taken to bashing Trump’s Cuba policy and even comparing Trump to Fidel Castro! Well, kidnap and Stockholm-syndrome victim Alan Gross was always an Obama backer. But here’s a question:
Would a snickering Castro have tried his little kidnapping of a U.S. hostage stunt with Trump in the White House? Puh-LEEZE!