Castro calls Bush 'deranged'

[Mika]

Castro calls Bush 'deranged,'
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/world/10790634.htm

In comments aired live on state-run television, Castro told thousands of teachers attending an international pedagogy conference in Havana that he closely watched Bush's inauguration speech Jan. 20 and saw "the face of a deranged person."
"If only it were just the face," he said, to roars of applause.

-

Castro, 78, stood up for much of his hours-long speech. After he broke his right arm and shattered his left kneecap in an accidental fall in October, the Cuban leader was in a wheelchair before he started standing up and walking again in December.
In his speech, Castro also flowered praise on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, defending the character and ambitions of his close friend and ally. Castro said he laughs every day when he hears "the idiocies" said about Chavez.

The Cuban leader also underlined Cuba's successes in education, where the government has focused many of its resources since the 1959 revolution thrust Castro into power.
"Cuba is doing more for education than UNESCO," he said, referring to the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

[alittlelark]

2. I guess Castro is a good judge of mental state.

[Mika]

4. In this case, yes.

:)

Dr. Jose Delgado - MKULTRA experimenter - Director of Neuropsychiatry, Yale University Medical School. - "We need a program of psychosurgery and political control of our society. The purpose is physical control of the mind. Everyone who deviates from the given norm can be surgically mutilated. "The individual may think that the most important reality is his own existence, but this is only his personal point of view. This lacks historical perspective. "Man does not have the right to develop his own mind. This kind of liberal orientation has great appeal. We must electrically control the brain. Some day armies and generals will be controlled by electrical stimulation of the brain." - Congressional Record No. 26, Vol. 118, February 24, 1974

[Warpy]

14. He's too kind, really.

[devinsgram]

74. Have you ever heard the old saying,

"It takes one to know one", well he's right on the money.

[clydefrand]

3. Score one for Castro.

He just went up a notch in my estimation.

[goddess40]

18. I'm with you, Castro is right about this one

[VegasWolf]

5. Really can't disagree here. n/t

[Minstrel Boy]

6. Cuba & Venezuela to contribute to eliminating illiteracy in Latin America

Cuba and Venezuela to contribute to eliminating illiteracy in Latin America

February 1, 2005

VENEZUELA and Cuba are to work together and in coordination with other Latin American countries to eliminate illiteracy on the continent utilizing Cuban methods of proven rapid effectiveness already functioning in the former country, according to Luis Ignacio Gómez, minister of education. He gave this information during the inauguration in the Karl Marx Theater of the 9th Pedagogy 2005 Congress and the first edition of the World Literacy Congress.

Speaking before more than 5,000 delegates from 46 nations attending the event, in his special address "Cuba: a revolution in education," the minister added that as an example of that cooperation, the island is offering 2,000 scholarships per year to young Venezuelans to undertake advanced studies in any subject of interest to their country, including scientific research, as well as contributing to the training of more than 20,000 doctors to attend to the population’s health needs.

During his address the minister referred to the problems being confronted by a world where more than 860 million adults are submerged in ignorance, and 120 million children do not attend elementary school. UNICEF has warned that it will take to 2100 to achieve education for all boys and girls.

In contrast to that, Cuba eradicated illiteracy 43 years ago, and now the education network extends to everyone, sparing no effort or resources. "The education budget is number one of the list of the Cuban state for 2005," he affirmed.

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2005/febrero/mar1/06analf.html

[cadmus]

141. eliminating illiteracy in Latin America

Of course if you read or write the wrong books you land in
jail. What would happen to a Cuban Michael Moore?

[imenja]

7. He got that one right

Bush is possessed.

[BrklynLiberal]

8. I wonder how many world leaders will have to say that before all America

realizes it is true? You know, like the Emperor's new clothes..

[Minstrel Boy]

10. The more the world says it, the more Bush's base

will be convinced "We must be doin' somethin' right - all the furrners are ag'in it!"

[i miss america]

9. Fidel doesn't have oil...he can speak the truth without worrying about it

[Minstrel Boy]

12. What Cuba does have is a contrary example 90 miles offshore.

And it's been a thorn in the side of the kleptocrats for nearly 50 years.

[w4rma]

17. Actually. He does. Cuba recently struck oil. (nt)

[Matilda]

11. He can laugh,

but I hope he and Chavez are covering each other's backs.

[Pam-Moby]

13. Well folks

you know it must be getting bad when a communist dictator says that the leader of the free world is a deranged person. We are in big trouble.

[vpigrad]

23. Nice sarcasm, but...

Castro has shown time and again that he is a very smart and shrewd person. Trust what he says.

[Mystified]

34. He's a little late to the party, don't you think?

What world has Castro been watching for the last 4 years?

[Mika]

39. No. Mr Castro has been calling w* crazy for 4+ years.

Where have you been?

[Mystified]

43. Well

It's in Latest Breaking News, so if he's been saying it for 4+ years then why doesn't the headline say "Castro Again Says Bush Is Deranged"?

By the way, the post was an attempt at sarcastic humor. A poor attempt, apparently lol

[Renew Deal]

48. I thought it was a good attempt.

We need a poll. ;)

[Mystified]

49. Thank you for your support!

:)

[Up2Late]

55. Fidel Castro: "Bush couldn't debate a Cuban ninth-grader"

02/17/2004 11:02

Shortly after US president George W. Bush praised a plan to realize a "transition to democracy" in Cuba, Fidel Castro challenged Washington to be "clear" about such plans, and criticized American capitalism.

"The US economy hangs by a thread", told the 77-year old revolutionary leader, in a 4 + hours speech addressed to economists from all around the world, in Havana.
In his speech, Castro also wondered whether those plans involve a plot to kill him. Since he took power in Cuba in 1959, the CIA has plotted to assassinate him 600 times, all unsuccessful, of course.

Castro, also made a defense of his revolution stating that Cuba, after four decades under Washington's economic blockade, "continues to offer free health care and has an infant mortality rate lower than that in the United States". "The great difference" between Cuba and the United States is that Cuba "has learned to do a lot with very little," Castro said at the Sixth International Meeting of Economists on Globalization and Development Problems.

(more at link)
<http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/368/12072_Castro.html>

[tom_paine]

102. Imperial Amerika doesn't even BELONG to the Free World anymore

much less lead it.

And it is pretty bad here in the Empire.

And Castro is right about this, whatever his own personal evils.

I'm not sure there even IS a "Leader of the Free World", the Free World having been reduced in size lately. Just a bunch of nations trying to keep BushPutinism out of their lands.

Europe, Canada, Japan, maybe a few countries on the other continents, the embryonic democracies of Latin America, who will probably have a tough time now that Imperial Amerika is going towards BushPutinist Tyranny.

[shanti]

15. awwww, fidel

you're just TOO nice!! :evilgrin:

[paineinthearse]

16. Bush v Castro has quite a history, here are a few links

http://www.cpa.org.au/garchve04/1195castro.html

The Guardian August 11, 2004
Castro slams Bush on sex, lies, drinking
Terrie Albano

During his annual July 26 speech, Cuban President Fidel Castro
slammed George W Bush's unfounded charge that Cuba promotes "sex
tourism". At the national celebration commemorating the 51st anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Garrison, Castro said a recent campaign speech by Bush in Tampa, Florida, was full of deceitful "accusations and insults" that were "clearly aimed at slandering Cuba and justifying the threats of aggression and the brutal measures that they had just taken against our people".

Bush charged that Castro promotes "sex tourism". Bush then quoted
Castro as saying, "Cuba has the cleanest and most educated
prostitutes in the world". When the White House was asked for the quote's source, it provided a link to a research paper written in 2001 by a Dartmouth undergraduate student named Charles Trumbull. Trumbull, who is now in law school, said the quote Bush used was distorted and taken out of context. "It shows that they didn't read much of the article", Trumbull said in a telephone interview with the Los Angeles Times.

Trumbull, who won an award from the Association for the Study of
the Cuban Economy for his paper, said it would be inaccurate to
say the Cuban Government promotes prostitution. Prostitution was widespread during the reign of Batista and American-run casinos. It was outlawed after the Cuban Revolution in 1959. Cuban officials have discouraged prostitution, but have acknowledged that it hasn't yet been eradicated. "Many people in the world who know very little about the Cuban Revolution might fall victim to the lies and tricks the US Government spreads through the huge media available to it",
Castro said. "But there are many others, especially in poor countries, who are aware of what the Cuban Revolution is about", Castro told the July 26 Santa Clara crowd in nationally televised remarks. From the very beginning, the Cuban Revolution sought to provide education and health care services to all its children and the whole population, Castro said.

more.....

===============================================
My favorite

http://counterpunch.org/castro07302004.html

Speech made by Fidel Castro, President of the Republic of Cuba, at the ceremony for the 51st anniversary of the attack on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes fortresses. Ernesto Che Guevara Square, Santa Clara, July 26, 2004.

The Pathology of George Bush
By FIDEL CASTRO

On this 51st anniversary of the attack on the Moncada fortress on July 26, 1953 I shall address a sinister character that keeps threatening, insulting and slandering us. This is not a whim or an agreeable option; it is a necessity and a duty. On June 21, at the Anti-imperialist Forum I read Epistle Number Two to the president of the United States, responding to an infamous State Department report on trafficking in human beings, one of those reports the government of that country usually issues, as if it were the supreme moral judge of the world. In that document Cuba is accused of being one of the countries that promotes sexual tourism and child pornography.

<snip>

This obliges me to give a most serious and honest explanation of the causes, which in my view, give rise to these inconceivable, irresponsible statements by the President of the most powerful nation on the planet, the same who is threatening to wipe the Cuban revolution from the face of the Earth. I shall do this as objectively as possible, making no arbitrary statements or shamelessly misconstruing other people's words, sentences and concepts. I shall avoid any petty sentiment of vengeance or personal dislike. A theme that has been widely documented in several books by outstanding American scientific authors and other personalities is the current US President's alcoholism which lasted two decades when he was between 20 and 40 years old. This feature has been rigorously and impressively dealt with, from a psychiatric point of view and using scientific criteria, by Dr. Justin A. Frank in a now famous book called "Bush on the Couch".

Dr. Frank begins by saying that it is important to scientifically define whether Bush was an alcoholic, or if he still is one. He has literally said: "... the more pressing question involves the influence his years of heavy drinking and subsequent abstinence still have on him and those around him". (p.39) He goes on to explain and I quote verbatim: "Alcoholism is a potentially fatal, lifelong disease that is notoriously difficult to arrest permanently" (p. 40)
Later, referring to the man who is now President of the United States, he says: "Bush has said publicly that he quit drinking without the help of AA (an organization dedicated to helping alcoholics) or any substance abuse programme, claiming that he stopped forever with the assistance of such spiritual tools as bible study and conversations with the evangelist Billy Graham". On page 40 of the book he recounts that, according to ex-presidential speech writer David Frum, when Bush took over the Oval office he summoned a group of religious leaders, asked for their prayers and told them:
"There is only one reason that I am in the Oval Office and not a bar... I found faith, I found God. I am here because of the power of prayer".

Dr. Frank thinks that this statement might be true and goes on to say the following: "...surely all Americans would like to believe that the president no longer drinks, even if we have no way of knowing for certain. If so, he fits the profile of a former drinker whose alcoholism has been arrested but not treated". He then adds:
" Former drinkers who abstain without the benefit of the AA program are often referred to as "dry drunks", a label that has been bandied about on the Internet and elsewhere in reference to Bush. "Dry drunk" isn't a medical term, and not one I use in a clinical setting. But even without labelling Bush as such, it's hard to ignore the many troubling elements of his character among the traits that the recovery literature associates with the condition, including grandiosity, judgmentalism, intolerance, detachment, denial of responsibility, a tendency toward over-reaction and an aversion to introspection." (p. 41)

....much more......

Long live the truth!

Long live human dignity!

[htuttle]

52. The animosity goes back even farther than that

Poppy Bush allegedly procured some of the boats that transported the ill-fated mercenaries to the Bay of Pigs in 1961 while he was running Zapata Offshore, an oil company. In fact, there are indications he was running more than that -- perhaps much of the operation.

[Zhade]

124. And the ships' names? Barbara and Houston.

NT!

[aquart]

19. Well, who doesn't?

This observation is on the same level as "The sky is blue." "The sun is hot."

[merwin]

20. Gorbachev, Castro, who else is going to come out and say

that Bush doesn't have a clue?

[Renew Deal]

47. Why do you care what all those old fucking commies think?

}(

[0007]

77. How about most countries on this planet that feel the same way.?

[theresistance]

21. Give that man a cigar

On edit, didn't he give up smoking?

[Judi Lynn]

44. That's what he says. I think it's true, too.

From an article in Cigar Afficionado:

I can't remember exactly. It was '84 or '85. No. It was on Aug. 26, 1985. It was when there was a general health issue in Cuba against smoking. At first, I thought that I would simply try not to smoke in public for this campaign against smoking, and I did not make a commitment to it. I used to be with a cigar in my mouth all the time. I always had a cigar. When I was with a foreigner in a meeting like this, I would be smoking my cigars. Pictures would show me smoking cigars, or in an interview on television I was smoking cigars. And then the interview would be shown on television here, and you can imagine what people would think watching me smoke my cigars. Then I came to a decision that to really launch a campaign against smoking, I had to set the example and quit smoking. That was why I quit smoking. As I had a very strong motive, it was easier for me. I not only had a strong commitment; I had a strong motive. So, it was not so hard for me to stop smoking.

People used to ask me if I still smoked when I was alone because it seemed impossible to them that I could quit smoking cigars after all those years. I must be smoking at home.

Shanken: I question that, too. It's hard to believe that you've stopped completely.

Castro: I said, look, in order to smoke, you need some accomplices. You need somebody to buy the cigars for you. You need somebody to hide the ashes that are left around. You need at least three, four, five accomplices who know that you are smoking cigars. They would know that you are doing something like that. They would know that you are smoking behind closed doors, and I wouldn't want three, four or five people knowing that I was deceiving others. So I chose not to do that.
(snip/...)

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,4,00.html

[gordianot]

22. Bush probably appreciates these comments.

Bush is deranged, however, with Castro saying it allows Republicans to spin this in terms of axis of evil.

Bush and Castro are a good analogy as Saddam is to Osama. The enemy of your enemy is not a friend. I am certain that * illness and instability is well known and accepted in most of the Capitals of the world. Too bad they do not acknowledge this as well as Castro. Maybe it takes a scoundrel to recognize a scoundrel.

[American Tragedy]

62. Like you, I have no use for binary thinkers.

Sometimes, the enemy of my enemy may just be my enemy as well.

[Zhade]

125. And sometimes, they may not be quite the enemy your enemy said they were.

Food for thought.

[KissMeKate]

24. I wonder what will happen in cuba when he dies?

I hope it doesnt become a failed state, like Haiti.

[driver8]

33. Bush will invade it...

Make it part of Florida and he and Jeb will invest in beachfront properties.

[Straight Shooter]

25. If Fidel speaks a Truth once in his life, that's more than bush ever will

Score a point for Castro. I have to admit, it made me laugh :D

[enki23]

58. he's spoken the truth a whole lot in his life.

he's eloquent, distinguished, and right a lot more than he's wrong. his actions, however, may not always have matched the justice of his speech.

[Straight Shooter]

69. Yes, I know

But I didn't want to get off-topic ;)

[WildClarySage]

26. So it's the pot callng the kettle black. Sometimes even the pot

gets it right.

[burn the bush]

27. wow, did ya ever think you would find yourself agreeing with Fidel?

[Mika]

38. I guess you haven't read much of what he says

Mr Castro is a brilliant man. But, how many Americans have bothered to read anything that he has written or said? I guess that's why its so easy for so many Americans to criticize him whithout a second thought (let alone a first thought).


From - History Will Absolve Me - By Fidel Castro Ruz

Yes, we set out to fight for Cuba's freedom and we are not ashamed of having done so, they declared, one by one, on the witness stand. Then, addressing the Court with impressive courage, they denounced the hideous crimes committed upon the bodies of our brothers.



www.freethefive.org

[American Tragedy]

60. Well, some of us are a little unhappy with the fact that

Castro urged Nikita Khrushchev to launch strategic nuclear missiles against the United States at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Fortunately, saner minds prevailed.

[Make7]

72. Wonder if....

Castro was still miffed about that whole US trying to overthrow his government thing. Didn't he realize it was just a joke? He didn't really need to defend himself.

All those US troop movements and US Navy maneuvers, at the time of the missile crisis, were just exercises. I'm sure someone must have let him in on the secret - they weren't really considering an invasion then either.

Well, I guess what's important is that we're all friends now, and we can poke fun at each other (i.e. embargoes, lawsuits, travel restrictions) without anyone's feelings getting hurt. Good times.

:) Make7

[American Tragedy]

101. Sure, all parties involved had contributed to the burgeoning crisis

But he was poised to start nuclear war, knowing that millions would perish and his nation would face total destruction, which crosses into irrationality. Even Nikita Khrushchev was fuckin horrified.

[Make7]

122. What good is a nuclear deterrent if everyone knows...

that you'll never use it?

Mutually Assured Destruction.

I thought that was the whole point - don't mess with someone who is just crazy enough to launch the missiles.
__________

The two main causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis were:

1) the repeated and ongoing threats and attempts to remove Castro from power. (i.e. Bay of Pigs, assassination attempts on his life)
2) the US trying to dictate what Castro could and could not do, on Cuban soil, to defend himself from the attacks outlined above.

The US had no right to try to overthrow Castro. They had no right to say that Castro could not have nuclear weapons in Cuba. But they did say it, and they put up an illegal Naval blockade to enforce that decision. They put US troops on heightened alert and moved large numbers of them to the south eastern United States. The US military personnel advising Kennedy were advocating a military strike on Cuba, possibly to be followed up by an invasion.

And by defending his country, Castro is the one who is irrational? How is a small Caribbean nation supposed to defend itself from the most powerful nation in the world? What option did he have other than the threat of nuclear war?

You know what the truly funny thing is: IT WORKED! As part of the agreement to remove the missiles from Cuba, the US Government promised not to invade. (And they still seem rather displeased with that part of the bargain.)

-Make7

[Zhade]

126. Great post!

NT!

[chascarrillo]

115. True, but I have read a lot about what he does

I mean, even the US doesn't jail political prisoners.

[Zensea]

116. Leonard Peltier

is a political prisoner

[Mika]

119. Sure

"I mean, even the US doesn't jail political prisoners."



Sure.

Nor has the US ever rounded up a particular ethnic goup, nor murdered them, nor put them in "relocation camps".

The US has never busted up labor unions nor hung union leaders.

Nor does the US ever torture or sodomize prisoners, nor 'suicide' them.

Nope, never happenes here.



USA = Good
Cuba = Bad

[Lizardking]

140. DREAM ON

WHAT COUNTRY DO YOU LIVE IN
THE HEAD TORTURER WAS JUST PUT IN CHARGE AS HEAD LAWYER AG

[user]

152. we're better now

but we're on new meds now and we don't do that any more YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

[ckramer]

28. Good call!

[AuntiBush]

29. Ouch!

I'm impressed! Huh!

[leesa]

30. Hear! Hear! Bush is a psychopath.

[ckramer]

31. Bush's corrupt, capitalist "hell." - LOL

[driver8]

32. Hey -- that's what I call him...deranged!! n/t

[struggle4progress]

35. Castro says only U.S. nuclear attack can defeat him

By Anthony Boadle

HAVANA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Cuban President Fidel Castro said on Tuesday the only way the United States could overthrow his communist government was by the nuclear destruction of Cuba.

Castro, whose one-party state was recently labeled an "outpost of tyranny" by U.S President George W. Bush's administration, said Cuba would resist an American invasion like Vietnam.

Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Castro has repeatedly accused the Bush administration of wanting to invade Cuba to oust him. U.S. officials say the charge is rubbish.

"I hope I'm wrong ... but if they make the mistake of attacking and invading this country, I recommend Mr. Bush had better launch 50 nuclear weapons and exterminate us all," Castro said in a speech. <snip>

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N01535787.htm

[Up2Late]

54. What's Spanish for "Bring it On?"

Come on Bush, I Dare Ya:evilgrin:

[genieroze]

36. I'm no defender of * and I agree with Castro but, pot meet kettle. eom

[Lizzie Borden]

37. Viva Fidel!!!

}(

[Skeptic2]

40. Why is this news, exactly?

After all, that the communist dictator Castro hates Bush--or for that matter the US in general--is hardly news. What did you expect? Praise of Bush's ideas?

[Mika]

41. Bush has no ideas.

He mimes other humans, monkeys, and cretins.

[Bridget Burke]

78. The biggest communist dictators are Bush fans....

But who knows what the Chinese leaders say about him in private? And where did Castro say he hates the US in general?

[TahitiNut]

88. Everybody knows that the only people who hate Bush* are godless Commies ..

Right? Real Amurikans know that Bush* deserves praise, right? :eyes:

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[LynnTheDem]

143. And do you?

Praise bush's ideas, that is?

[Erika]

42. Elian & his dad wanted to return to Cuba

The right wingers have never gotten over that. Elian's dad said they had many things in Cuba that we don't have here such as equality and medical care for all who needed it.

Bush won't even allow us to visit Cuba. Cuba is getting a lot of vacationers in worldwide. Bush could go a long ways by meeting with Castro. But that's not how W does things.

[MHalblaub]

70. I'll be there this summer!

:-) Cuba libre :-)

[tblue37]

111. He wouldn't want to alienate all the rightwing Cuban voters in Maimi. eom

[RockStar]

45. Deranged is not the word I would describe bush..I would use Idiot, moron

[ckramer]

46. "I saw the face of a crazed man," LOL

[barb162]

50. you have to like the guy, at least he calls a spade a spade

[Up2Late]

51. But did you hear what he said last year?

At his equivalent "State of Cuba" speech? After being falsely accused of making Cuba a haven for Child sex tourism, Castro talks about the"...US President's alcoholism..."
Sorry that this is so long, but it was a HOUR long speech. I marked the BEST parts with similes

"...Given the fact that it was shown that the US President had launched an extremely grave accusation based on a sentence found in a paper written by:hi: an American student :hi:, who himself refuted the deliberate way Bush misconstrued it, it's hard to imagine a more bizarre response than that given by a Whitehouse spokesperson when told about this refutation.

According to the news agency report, the spokesperson simply, "defended the inclusion arguing that it expressed an essential truth about Cuba", in other words, for the White House "the essential truth about Cuba" is anything that the president conjures up in his mind whether it has anything to do with reality or not.

"...in several books by outstanding American scientific authors and other personalities is the current US President"s alcoholism, which lasted two decades when he was between 20 and 40 years old. This feature has been rigorously and impressively dealt with, from a psychiatric point of view and using scientific criteria, by Dr. Justin A. Frank in a now famous book called "Bush on the Couch".

Dr. Frank begins by saying that it is important to scientifically define whether Bush was an alcoholic, or if he still is one. He has literally said:
"the more pressing question involves the influence his years of heavy drinking and subsequent abstinence still have on him and those around him". (p.39)...

...He then adds:
" Former drinkers who abstain without the benefit of the AA program are often referred to as "dry drunks", a label that has been bandied about on the Internet and elsewhere in reference to Bush..."

:hi:"...it"s hard to ignore the many troubling elements of his character among the traits that the recovery literature associates with the condition, including grandiosity, judgmentalism, intolerance, detachment, denial of responsibility, a tendency toward over-reaction and an aversion to introspection.":hi: (p. 41)

Dr. Frank insists that he personally has treated alcoholics who held their addiction in check without proper treatment but that they are generally not very successful in learning to control the anxiety that they once tried to suppress by drinking and he explains that:
"Their rigid attempts to manage anxiety make any psychological insight hard-won. Some can"t even face the anxiety of admitting their alcoholism".

Dr. Frank then goes on to say:
"Without that admission, I have found, even former drinkers cannot truly change, or learn from their own experience".:hurts:

And then referring to Bush specifically he argues the following:
"The pattern of blame and denial, which recovering alcoholics work so hard to break, seems to be ingrained in the alcoholic personality; it"s rarely limited to his or her drinking. The habit of placing blame and denying responsibility is so prevalent in George W. Bush"s personal history that it is apparently triggered by even the mildest threat"

"The rigidity of Bush"s behaviour is perhaps most readily apparent in his well-documented reliance on his daily routines -the famously short meetings, sacrosanct exercise schedule, daily Bible readings, and limited office hours. :evilgrin:A healthy person is able to alter his routine; a rigid one cannot". (p.43)

"Of course" -the eminent US doctor goes on, and I quote- "we all need rest and relaxation, time to regroup, but Bush appears to need it more than most. And this is hardly a surprise -among other reasons, because the anxiety of being president might pose a real risk of leading him back to drinking." (p. 43)

"Along with rigid routines go rigid thought processes -another hallmark of the Bush presidency. :hippie:We see it in the stubborn, almost obsessive way in which he holds on to ideas and plans after they have been discredited, from his image of himself as a "uniter, not a divider" to his conviction that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction (or, in absence of such weapons, that somehow "America did the right thing in Iraq" nevertheless).:hippie: Such rigidity of thought is not motivated by simple stubbornness; the untreated alcoholic, consumed with the task of managing the anxieties that might make him reach for a drink, simply can"t tolerate any threat to his status quo".

And Dr. Frank adds that such intolerance generally leads to responses that are out of proportion to the magnitude of the actual threat.
"This may help to explain the dramatic contrast between George W"s response to Saddam Hussein and that of his father, who carefully built a coalition, took action only after Kuwait had been invaded, and then proceeded with prudence and caution once the fighting was underway - the behaviour of a seasoned leader who knew he was responsible for countless others" lives, not an alcoholic accustomed to taking dramatic measures to protect his own."

Continuing his analysis, Dr. Frank indicates:
"Two questions that the press seems particularly determined to ignore have hung silently in the air since before Bush took office: Is he still drinking? And if not, is he impaired by all the years he did spend drinking? Both questions need to be addressed in any serious assessment of his psychological state". (p.48)

With regard to the first question, he points out the possibility that Bush is managing his anxiety with medication to keep him off alcohol and he makes special reference to his strange behaviour at press conferences. On this point he says:
"In writing about Bush"s halting appearance in a press conference just before the start of the Iraq War, Washington Post media critic Tom Shales speculated that "the president may have been ever so slightly medicated".

:think:"More troubling though, are the appearances that arouse suspicion not because of how he talks but what he says. He has repeatedly engaged in confabulation, filling in gaps in his memory with what he believes are facts -most notably on July 14, 2003, when he stood next to Kofi Annan and made up the idea that America had given Saddam "a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn"t let them in". :crazy:(As the Washington Post noted, "Hussein had, in fact, admitted the inspectors and Bush had opposed extending their work because he did not believe them effective". Confabulation is a common phenomenon among drinkers, as is perseveration, which is evident in Bush"s tendency to repeat key words and phrases, as if the repetition helps him remain calm and stay on track." (p. 49)

And Dr. Frank concludes his analysis of these two questions with the following words:

"Even if we assume, moreover, that George W. Bush"s drinking days are behind him, the question remains how much lasting damage may have been done before he stopped -beyond the considerable impact on his personality that we can trace to his untreated abstinence.

<http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/368/13573_Castro.html>

[No Exit]

53. Ohhhhh, what does HE know??

He's only managed to keep his position as leader of his country through something like 10 U.S. presidents, protect his country from takeover by larger, continuously hostile forces... how dare he criticize our sensible and wise preznit... I mean, president.

[Tsiyu]

57. Oh, and you know * is jealous

"It would be so much easier if this wuzz a dictatorship." GWB

[No Exit]

81. Castro parades around in military duds;Bush parades around in

military duds (as in his "Mission Accomplished" stage show.) There are many similarities, to be sure!

[Mika]

82. Except that Castro actually served his country, on the front lines

W* absconded with millions of dollars worth of flight training, then chickened out, fled, and lied.

[No Exit]

87. True! Ours is only a dimestore dictator! n/t

[Mika]

89. Yes. To Cubans in Cuba, Castro is a national hero

Mr Castro drives his own jeep around Havana and his hometown (Santiago De Cuba) when not on official biz. He stops at some of the open farmers markets to buy fruits and veggies without any armed guards, and is greeted like the revered hero that he is.

Even when on official biz, Castro does not wear a kevlar vest nor does he use an armored limo nor does he speak behind bullet proof glass enclosures nor does he use an earpiece or teleprompter.

Can imagine such a thing from _Bush ?

[No Exit]

92. Are you kidding?

Bush can't even go to a banquet with the actual heads of the country of Chile, unless said leaders and their spouses submit to at least one scanning by a metal detector. Bush's fear is absolutely palpable.

[guajira]

121. Bingo!! No Exit

I have long suspected B* has "Castro envy", and have seen many examples of it - including the military uniforms, wanting to be a dictator, etc.

I wish I had made a list along the way, sometimes Castro starts a new educational program or something similar, and within weeks the idiot* comes up with the same general idea!! It even seemed to me the Iraqi elections were modeled after Cuban elections.

[Skeptic2]

59. Well...

...keeping his position as leader of Cuba through 10 US presidents might have something to do with the fact that he is absolute dictator and all political opponents are killed or imprisoned.

Refresh my memory: when is Castro up for re-elections again? Who is running against him?

[No Exit]

80. LOL. Let's get out of that little "box"

you think in, first.

You are engaging in the knee-jerk thinking that "democracy/elections---ALWAYS good; any other form of government--ALWAYS bad."

I don't buy it. Democracy (with elections) is a means to an end; it is not in itself something to worship.

Some populations do better under a different form of government. There have been countless governments in history; certainly not all of the good ones have been democracies.

Why must Americans like you assume that our form of government is the only show in town? Why must people like you assume that what we think is good for us is good for all the people on the planet?

The Cubans know how to revolt. I haven't seen them revolt against Castro. What Castro did to the Cubans who are now ex-patriates was unfair... but when there is regime change, it's liable to be messy. Just look at how messy Iraq is.

Plus, Bush is no more elected than is Castro. And if you really don't care for dictatorship, you may want to join the fight to impeach Bush, who is a rotting boil on the face of America. Because he is trying his damnedest to turn the U.S. into a dictatorship, and thanks to people who won't think outside a little box, he has had some success.

[truth2power]

104. Excellent, Exit! I agree. eom

[Skeptic2]

109. I see.

"Some populations are better off under a different form of government than democracy.... The Cubans know how to revolt. I haven't seen them revolt against Castro."

Oh.

So, what exactly is your problem with Bush the "dictator" who will "destroy democracy"?

Surely, some populations--like the US population--are simply better off under a different form of government than democracy, e.g., better off under what you surely consider to be neo-conservative fascism. Otherwise, why don't they revolt?

Let's just cancel the next elections and save the money.

[LynnTheDem]

144. Hmmmm

Things that make you say HMmmmmmmm.

[Mika]

84. Castro is up for reelection in 2008

He was elected to his seat in parliament in 2003. There are 5 yr terms in the Cuban parliament.

http://www.poptel.org.uk/cuba-solidarity/democracy.htm

This system in Cuba is based upon universal adult suffrage for all those aged 16 and over. Nobody is excluded from voting, except convicted criminals or those who have left the country. Voter turnouts have usually been in the region of 95% of those eligible .

There are direct elections to municipal, provincial and national assemblies, the latter represent Cuba's parliament.

Electoral candidates are not chosen by small committees of political parties. No political party, including the Communist Party, is permitted to nominate or campaign for any given candidates.

The Cuban government was reorganized (approved by popular vote) into a variant parliamentary system in 1976.

You can read a short version of the Cuban system here,
http://members.allstream.net/~dchris/CubaFAQDemocracy.html

Or a long and detailed version here,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0968508405/qid=1053879619/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-8821757-1670550?v=glance&s=books

[meow2u3]

56. Right message, wrong messenger

It would carry more weight if the Pope or the Dalai Lama were to call Bush deranged.

Even though it's true that's Bush is a psycho, because Castro said it, no one will pay attention or worse, dismiss it as "Commie bullshit." It's not what's said; it's who says it.

[Up2Late]

63. I doubt this will get much play on FUAX "news"

Probably only the Freepers will hear about it:evilgrin:

[flaminbats]

65. it takes one to know one..

ehh? :smoke:

[bvar22]

106. The Pope very specifically spoke out...

...against the bush* War on the Iraqi People.

The Pope said,"If you (bush*) go into Iraq, you go without God!"

Didn't do much good here.
Not much airplay from tne CorpoMedia.
How many American Christians know that the Pope condemned the War on Iraqi People?

[American Tragedy]

61. Castro would certainly be one to recognize derangement

He's right about the face, too.

[mahina]

64. Never was a fan of the man but he's got that right.

Not that it takes a discerning intellect to catch that fact.

Funny, you would think they would hit it off, if they got together dictator-to-dictator.

[DerekG]

66. I liken Castro to the Road Runner

Seriously, the CIA has employed every goddamn ACME contraption in the world to off this guy (exploding sea shells, anyone?) and Castro just "Meep Meeps" away. I love that Cuban...

[aikido15]

67. LOL...

Good analogy...

[American Tragedy]

71. Yeah, kind of like Hitler.

[Bridget Burke]

79. No, Hitler didn't last as long as Castro.

Castro has also not started a World War.

[Schema Thing]

95. Nor committed any genocide

I don't think a comparison to Hitler stands up on virtually any level.

[flaminbats]

90. no, Hitler and Bush are more like the Coyote..

n/t

[Swamp Rat]

68. ¡Por supuesto!

Estoy de acuerdo con el señor.

[Up2Late]

147. Unfair! Most here don't speak Spanish

This is what the SDL International translator said it means:

"¡Por supuesto!" = Of course!

"Estoy de acuerdo con el señor." = I am according to the mister.

Is that right? :hippie:

[llmart]

73. Many people around the world.......

have this figured out, but the uneducated people here in the US who voted for him can't figure it out.

However, here at DU, we had it figured out a long time ago - Bush IS deranged along with many other adjectives and I believe we've used them all on DU.

[Massachusetts]

75. Little George says: " Am not"

Fidel says: "Are so"

Little George Says: "Am not"

Fidel says: "Are so"

Little George Says: "Am not"

And Meanwhile the EU continues to have cookies and milk (diplomatic discourse) with Fidel in his kitchen.

Fidel says: "Are so"

[LynnTheDem]

145. Noooo no no no no you misquoted bush!

Fidel says: "Are so"

Little George Says: "are isn't"

Fidel says: "Are so"

Little George Says: "are isn't"

And Meanwhile the EU continues to have cookies and milk (diplomatic discourse) with Fidel in his kitchen.

Fidel says: "Are so"

[0007]

76. Castro got that right!

[indepat]

83. Is Castro asking to be on the receiving-end of some whip-ass?

[gordianot]

85. He's been doing it for 50+ years......

and has got by with it.

[AzDar]

86. .....and the child in the crowd pointed and said" He hasn't any clothes!!"

eom

[Rebel_blogger]

91. Looking for the Cuban version of DU ...

Does anyone have a link to some blogs in Cuba I can log into so I can get their perspective on their government?

[Mika]

93. Gotta be in Cuba to get that

Cuba has so little internet bandwidth that access to the www is limited (mainly due to US Helms-Burton law interference). Cuba reserves its internet use, but has a well developed infranet. Priority is given to health care and education use.

Been there. Seen it.

[Rebel_blogger]

94. So you're saying that the US won't let Cuba access the internet?

How can the US government stop them? Most of the other islands down there have plenty of bandwidth. I helped design a WAN for the government of Puerto Rico ...

[shrike]

96. Castro is right

Boy, we live in strange times.

[davidinalameda]

97. Castro calls Bush 'deranged

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/a/2005/02/02/international1043EST0558.DTL

Cuban leader Fidel Castro said President Bush appeared "deranged" during his inauguration speech, and he expressed little enthusiasm for renewed diplomatic ties with the European Union.

In comments aired on state-run television late Tuesday, Castro told thousands of teachers attending an international pedagogy conference in Havana that he closely watched Bush's inauguration speech Jan. 20 and saw "the face of a deranged person."

"If only it were just the face," he said, to roars of applause.


amen Fidel

[EVDebs]

But when Cuba runs out of toilet paper to wipe his commie ass with

who's he gonna call ?

[EVDebs]

100. That was satire folks. His 'socialist' experiment due to his personality

traits and willingness to sacrifice his own country's interest to engourge his own ego ... why birds of a feather ol Castro and Bush, just opposite ideologies that's all.

[napi21]

1. Sad to say, but maybe he recognizes it because he is too.

I don't know Fidel first hand, but I've heard he is a very nasty man. Many times, people like that recognize their own traits in others. Hmmmm?

[Up2Late]

148. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy! How OLD is this thread?

It says you posted December 31, 1969. Are you some sort of "Time Traveler" or something?

I think we've been Invaded by "Space People":silly:

[n2mark]

98. No comment

I'll have the FBI at my door if I do.

[aden_nak]

99. When Fidel Castro is scoring points off the President, we have a problem.

[katinmn]

105. I agree. And we do have a problem.

[bvar22]

107. When the German people are calling the US Leaders...

..NAZIS, we have a problem.

[Judi Lynn]

103. Great article today from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Written by a former U.S. head of the Interests Section in Havana:

Our Cuba policy will get U.S. nada

By WAYNE S. SMITH
Published on: 02/02/05
The outcome of the election in Iraq is encouraging, to be sure. Elections for a national assembly, however, are only a beginning. And if the United States is to point Iraq and various other societies toward democracy, it must go back to the adage that "one leads best by setting an example."

We have not been doing that. Not with the images coming out Abu Ghraib and other U.S. military prisons in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. And now we have reports that the interim Iraqi government appointed by the United States had also been torturing prisoners while U.S. officials looked the other way. Following our example? This is not the way to build a democracy.
And how ironic it is that Cuba, described by Condoleezza Rice in her confirmation hearings for secretary of state as "an outpost of tyranny," on Jan. 19 presented a formal protest to the U.S. government over the torture of prisoners at the Guantanamo Naval Base, which is in Cuba. And the reports of torture on which the Cubans base their protest come not from the so-called liberal press, but from FBI agents who were on the base, and from the International Red Cross.

Cuba is a case in point in other ways as well. The Bush administration urges it to release political prisoners, provide fair trials and to respect other civil liberties. Fine. But then we see that the Bush administration itself has decided to construct a special facility at Guantanamo in which some 200 so-called "illegal enemy combatants" will be held indefinitely, with no resort whatever to anything resembling due process. The government simply considers them dangerous, on the basis of evidence it never intends to reveal. A tale right out of Franz Kafka. What kind of example are we setting?

Most Americans want to see political prisoners released in Cuba and to see Cuba move toward a more open society. But that will not be brought about by U.S. threats and efforts to isolate. And now the Bush administration says its objective is to bring down the Cuban government.

Inevitably, the Cuban government has reacted to that by tightening its defenses and demanding even greater internal discipline. That is hardly surprising. It is what one would have expected. But it is the exact opposite of what we should want to see. In other words, the Bush administration's approach is counterproductive.
(snip/...)

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/0205/02cuba.html
(Free registration is required)

[donheld]

108. Cheap shot

Monkeys know * is Deranged.

[Megahurtz]

110. Well he's got that right

:thumbsup:

[manly]

112. hail fidel!

old fidel has bush's number. history will undoubtedly judge fidel as a brilliant benevolent dictator, and bush as a crazed moron.
if fidel's speech had been published on the op-ed page of the nyt under an american-sounding pseudonym, it would have been hailed as a brilliant expose and refutation of the dementia of george bush.

[Mika]

113. Kinda wonder what Castro will think of the SOTU speech.

:shrug:

[dolstein]

114. I wonder whether GOP trolls are responsible for these pro-Castro posts

Seriously, why the hell should anyone around here care what Fidel Castro thinks? I'm sure there are plenty of people here at home who have critical things to say about Bush. Is it really necessary to zero in on one of the few remaining Communist dictators? What better way to convince people that DU is nothing but a deranged group of warmed over Marxists than to keep fawning over Castro. Sheesh.

[Mika]

118. I wonder that about you too

:boring:



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[Judi Lynn]

128. Very cool marquee effect, Mika!

Just like the lunatics who spew that bile, it just keeps going, and going, and going!

Very cheery colors.

[Zhade]

127. Yeah, yeah. Go peddle some more "Jeomentum saved the Dem Party!" crap.

NT!

[American Tragedy]

131. Try thinking outside of the typical linear political spectrum, Zhade.

So, if one isn't a fan of Fidel Castro, they must be a right-winger or a DINO, huh?

I can't speak for the person to whom you responded, but believe it or not, some of us see both of those as being merely two sides of the authoritarian coin.

[Zhade]

136. "if one isn't a fan of Fidel Castro, they must be a right-winger"

No, of course not, and I'd never argue as such. I just find criticism from a poster who says the DLC saved the Democratic party to be, well, laughable. It's not as if someone who is rabidly pro-capitalism (and the DLC allows capitalism to include corporatism) is going to be unbiased about a communist country and its leader.

I know Castro's no saint, but he has done some saintly things, if that can be followed without head explosion. :D

[American Tragedy]

138. LOL, ok, fair enough.

I wasn't aware that your response was taking into account the ideological context of the poster. That clarifies things for me.

[Zhade]

150. Glad we came to an understanding. I enjoy your posts.

:hi:

[Judi Lynn]

139. It just clicked tonight, long after I had read your post the first time.

Standing outside barbequing, I finally got a flash of insight concerning why there is a Democrat who seems to have a burning rage against Cuba threads:

A longtime ally, Lieberman seeks Cuban-American support in Florida
By Pat Neal/CNN

October 24, 2000
Web posted at: 6:26 p.m. EDT (2226 GMT)

MIAMI (CNN) -- In the battleground state of Florida, many Democrats feared they have to write off this year's Cuban-American vote, a traditional Republican bloc angered by the Clinton administration's handling of the Elian Gonzalez case.

Sen. Joe Lieberman: "I will not rest until we all do what we can to achieve for the people of that great island the freedom that we treasure in the United States of America."

But Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman is trying to change that dynamic by touting his record and longtime friendship with the powerful Cuban American National Foundation (CANF). During a recent campaign swing through southern Florida, Lieberman joined Cuban-American community leaders at a CANF-sponsored meeting.
(snip)

But Lieberman has had a long friendship with the foundation and has the strongest record of supporting exile causes of any national candidate. The Connecticut senator consistently voted to tighten the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, and to prevent food and medicine sales to the island. Cuban-American Democrats want his record known.
(snip/)

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/10/24/lieberman.cuba/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE CUBA OBSESSION

by Jane Franklin



......CANF's influence in Congress is not confined to the Florida delegation. In 1988, for example, CANF helped right-wing Democrat Joseph Lieberman unseat then-Republican Senator Lowell Weicker of Connecticut. Weicker wanted to improve relations with Cuba. Lieberman, on the other hand, has joined Graham, Mack and Fascell on CANF's Blue Ribbon Commission for the Economic Reconstruction of Cuba, of which Malcolm Forbes Jr. is honorary chair.
(snip)

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JBFranklins/canf.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even as he has thrived on contributions from the Cuban American National Foundation, and spent endless days and night trying to harvest more contributions and support in Miami-Dade, they joined these GOP protestors outside the vote count at Miami Dade, wearing their own "Sore-Loserman" signs. Smooth.

[Zhade]

151. CANF. That fucker. He hooked up with a crew of thugs and terrorists...

...the same people cheering for the failure of his party's candidates - himself included.

Man, Lieberman is collecting bad karma like there's no tomorrow. He's going to pay a heavy price for his betrayals. I wonder how much silver he got for his principles?

To think THIS guy marched with Dr. King...

[American Tragedy]

153. I thought much the same thing after the SOTU, when I saw THE KISS...

x(

[Zhade]

155. Indeed.

NT!

[LynnTheDem]

146. Canada & Canadians have been on very good terms w Castro & Cuba

for decades. In fact, Cuba is a top holiday destination for Canadians. Are you implying Canada and Canadians are a "deranged group of warmed over Marxists"?

Maybe you should wonder who told you to think the way you do, as I bet you've never been to Cuba in your life.

[NurseLefty]

154. Just because one keeps AN OPEN MIND does not make one Marxist.

Sheesh right back at ya.
At this point I don't give A RAT'S ASS what freepers think. Trying to appease them is an exercise in futility. That's been proven w/ each successive election, as Dems have LOST every time they've kissed freeper butt.
For everyone else - I'll share w/ ya a post that I'm sure ol' El Jefe has read. I sent it to a Cuban Government website (YES, they do have bandwidth) and it ended up here.
http://www.jrebelde.cubaweb.cu/2004/octubre-diciembre/oct-31/mensajes.html
My letter* is the 5th one down, below letters from some heads of state!! Also, look farther down the page for Jesse Jackson's name! I am sure I'm on some gov't watch list. I guess I'll know the next time I try to fly. Ted Kennedy & I will be in great company together, to be sure.
Castro is no Saint, but give credit where it's due. BTW, Cuba now has a lower infant mortality rate than Super-Duper-Number-One-USA!! How's that for giving credit where it's due?!

*Post if you want a translation, or for a rough translation, paste it into Babel Fish (http://world.altavista.com/).

[RoeBear]

117. Let's all get on the pro-Castro bandwagon!

That will surely get us more Dem votes in 2008.:eyes:

[Mika]

120. Lets all be like repugs & ignore 13mil Cubans in Cuba but demonize Castro

Quick! Heads in sand.

Onward!! Back to the cold war! We got Condi too!

:eyes:

[Judi Lynn]

123. How they keep their minds completely uncluttered by actual knowledge

about U.S./Cuba relations is amazing. We get proof frequently here that right-wingers have such a short attention span it's almost impossible for them to get informed. So much easier to rehash the idiotic ravings only the dimmest Americans ever treated seriously, and feel damned well proud of themselves.

If they'd been reading much they would have realized people have been talking about putting the Cold War behind us with Cuba a long time, in a BIPARTISAN way. The only politicians who keep it going have been getting financial support from the hard-line Cuban "exiles" in Miami: people like Jesse Helms, Dan Burton (who gets most of his money from outside Indiana) and Robert Torricelli, who eventually got in trouble for his weakness for big contributors. At one time in his career, Torricelli favored normalizing relations with Cuba, then he magically flipped and started fighting it, after getting on the Cuban-American National Foundation gravy train.

The last years have produced great majority votes in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to drop the travel ban to Cuba, etc., but these steps forward have been sabotaged and destroyed in committee, saving _Bush the pains and public scrutiny of vetoing the bills in which the amendments appear.

[countryjake]

129. Good idea! Maybe that'll raise the literacy rate here...

and get us healthcare, too!

[Skypilot 18]

130. Saw a special on Castro and Cuba in the wee hours

this last morning on PBS. It covered the whole history of Castro's movement from the early days till he came into absolute power. It was a threat to us then that he was chums with the USSR. He let them put nuclear missiles on Cuba a mere 90 miles from the US shores. At the time this was certainly a serious threat. But when KIruschoft(sorry about the spelling) took the missiles out, Fidel was very mad. It took another 2 years to settle their differences and Cuba straited trading sugar for Russian oil.

Castro promised democracy when he came to power but that quickly took a back seat to just maintaining his own power.

Now with Russia out of the picture as a threat, their government no longer poses a threat to anyone. Castro is old and reported not to be in the best of health. Why make the Cubans suffer from American sanctions when they're of no threat and would really like our tourist dollars.

I have some friends from Canada that went there a few months back and said it was one of the most beautiful places they've ever seen.


Bush has got to get his head out of his ass.(like that's ever going to happen)

Cuba is a beautiful place and they make the best cigars in the world...

I say let's be friends with Cuba instead of treating them like this is Prezit's Bunnypants wild west TV shows that I know he still watches every day.

skypilot 18

[American Tragedy]

132. I agree, the sanctions are totally pointless.

Unfortunately, they will definitely not be removed until after Castro dies. I suspect that has been part of the bargain, since Kennedy died.

[Judi Lynn]

133. Speech given by Senator Christopher Dodd.......

on creating a bipartisan commission to study a new approach to Cuba, on June 20, 2000. At that time there were a lot of people in the House and Senate interested in getting on with things. This project got decimated for the time being, but there is still a bipartisan House Working Group and a Senate committee working on this issue, regardless.

We continue to see amendments at least twice a year on the subject, and each year the number of votes in the majority grows. (So far, _Bush has been able to have the amendments to drop the travel ban, ect. dismantled in committee.)

Chris Dodd's speech:

Senator Christopher J. Dodd
STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF ESTABLISHING A BIPARTISAN COMMISSION ON CUBA
June 20, 2000

"Mr. President, I send to the desk an amendment and ask for its immediate consideration.

Last Friday I talked at some length about why I believe that the amendment originally proposed by Senator Warner and myself to establish a bipartisan commission to review United States policy toward Cuba is in our national interest.

The amendment I have just offer, like the Warner amendment, would provide for the appointment bipartisan commission to review U.S. policy with respect to Cuba and to make recommendations on how we can bring that policy into the 21st century.

I regret that because Senator Warner is the manager of the underlying bill he has had to withdraw his support for this amendment. I believe that he still thinks that this is a good idea even if he must disagree with the vehicle to which it has been attached.

This commission would be composed of twelve members chosen as follows: six by the President, six by the Congress (four by House and Senate Republican leaders and two by the Democratic leaders.) Senator Warner and I originally crafted this legislation to ensure that the commission would have a balanced and diverse membership. Commissioners are to be selected from various fields of expertise – including human rights, religious, public health, military, business, agricultural, and the Cuban-American community.

The commissioners will have 225 days from the date of enactment to undertake their review and report their findings. (the originally Warner amendment provided 180 days). What better time for the commission to do its work than during the transition from one administration to the next?

The idea of establishing a commission isn't a new or radical idea. It was first proposed by Senator Warner in 1998 in a letter to President Clinton. Who supported the Warner commission at that time?

Senator Warner was encouraged to propose such an idea in 1998 by a distinguished group of foreign policy experts. Let me list some of the individuals who urged that such a commission be created.

Former Secretaries of State Lawrence Eagleburger, George Shultz, and Henry Kissinger, Former Majority Leader Howard Baker, Former Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci, Former Secretaries of Agriculture John Block and Clayton Yeutter, Former Ambassadors Timothy Towell and J. William Middendorf, Former Under Secretary of State William Rogers, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America and Distinguished Career Ambassador Harry Shalaudeman, another former colleague of ours Malcolm Wallop. The United States Catholic Conference has also gone on record in support of the establishment of the Committee. (You can insert some of the letters from these individuals for the record if you choose to do so.)

In addition to Senator Warner and myself, the following members of the Senate joined on letters to the President in support of the creation of a commission: Senators Grams, Bond, Jeffords, Hagel, Lugar, Enzi, John Chafee, Specter, Gordon Smith, Thomas, Boxer, Bob Kerrey, Bumpers, Jack Reed, Santorum, Moynihan, Kempthorne, Roberts, Leahy, Cochran, Domenici, and Murray. Nearly one-quarter of the entire Senate.

Highly respected human rights advocates who have remained in Cuba to promote political change have called upon the United States to rethink our policy. Elizardo Sanchez, the President of the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation sent a letter in April of this year urging the United States to change its policies.

He wrote, "It is unfortunate that the government of Cuba still clings to an outdated and inefficient model that I believe is the fundamental cause of the great difficulties that the Cuban people suffer, but it is obvious that the current Cold War climate between our governments and unilateral sanctions will continue to fuel the fire of totalitarianism in my country."

There is a double standard when it comes to Cuba. A number of other countries are far more of a threat to U.S. national security and antithetical to U.S. foreign policy interests. Yet our sanctions against Cuba are among the harshest.

We have concerns about nuclear proliferation with respect to India, Pakistan, Iran, China and North Korea. Yet Americans may travel freely to these countries. In fact Americans are free to travel to many countries that I would not consider to be bastions of democracy -- Iran, the Sudan, Burma, the former Yugoslavia, Vietnam, Cambodia -- to mention but a few.

We have just entered a new millennium and the United States has moved in most areas to bring United States policy into line with the new realities of the 21st century.

On the Korean peninsula, North Korean and South Korean leaders met last week in an historic summit that hopefully will pave the way to reconciliation and reunification for two countries that fought a bloody and costly war in the last century. To encourage that effort, the Clinton Administration announced the lifting of sanctions against one of our oldest adversaries.

With respect to China, the United States has a number of serious disagreements with that government, including workers rights, respect for human rights, nuclear proliferation, economic policies, hostility toward Taiwan, etc. Yet the United States has full diplomatic relations with Beijing. Moreover, I predict that the Senate will soon follow the House and support Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China thereby clearly the way for its entry into the World Trade Organization.

Let's talk about Vietnam. The Vietnam conflict left an indelible mark on the American psyche -- 53,000 American servicemen and women lost their lives in a decade of armed hostilities. Yet today, Vietnam veteran and former Congressman Pete Peterson represents United States interests in Vietnam as the United States Ambassador. American citizens are free to travel and do business there.

Around the globe old adversaries are attempting to reconcile their differences -- in the Middle East, in Northern Ireland, on the Korean Peninsula. The United States has actively been promoting such efforts because it is in our national interest to do so.

Isn't it time that we at least took an honest and dispassionate look at our relations with a country that is in our own hemisphere, some ninety miles from our shores? What is Cuba's crime. Opponents of this measure point to the fact that Cuba remains of the terrorist list. Why? Because according to the 1999 State Department Report on Global Terrorism, Cuba "continued to provide safe haven to several terrorists and U.S. fugitives . . . and it maintained ties to other state sponsors of terrorism and Latin American insurgents."

Castro's biggest crime last year, according to this report, appears to be that he hosted a series of meetings between Colombian Government officials and the ELN -- a Colombian guerrilla organization. Rather curious in light of the fact that the United States publicly supports President Pastrana's efforts to undertake a political dialogue with the FARC and ELN as a means of ending the civil conflict in Colombia.

That same report found that Islamist extremists from around the world continue to use Afghanistan as a training ground and base of operation for their world-wide terrorist activities in 1999. Usama Bin Ladin -- the Saudi terrorist indicted for the 1998 bombing of two US Embassies in Africa continues to be given sanctuary by that country. Yet Afghanistan is not on the terrorist list. There are no prohibitions on the sale of food or medicine. Americans can travel freely to that country.

Last week, the Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing to review the findings of the National Commission on Terrorism. During the course of that hearing, Paul Bremer, the Chairman of that Commission admitted that Cuba's behavior with respect to terrorist matters had improved over past years.

Isn't it time that we started to measure our Cuba policy against the same yardstick that we measure our relations with the rest of the nations of the world?

Isn't it time that we followed a policy that was truly in our national interest -- one that promotes positive relations with the eleven million people who live on the Island of Cuba and one that promotes peaceful change and self-determination for a proud people who have been done a disservice by Fidel Castro and the United States.

Many of my colleagues have told me privately that they believe that Senator Warner and I are on the right course. Let me say to my colleagues that I appreciate those kind words, but I also hope that the time has finally come for them to stand up and be counted with respect to this issue.

I urge my colleagues to oppose any effort to table this amendment when it comes to a vote this afternoon."
(snip/...)

http://dodd.senate.gov/press/Speeches/106_00/0620.htm

[Judi Lynn]

134. Bush's disinformation campaign has played fast and loose with the facts

just like typical propagandists who think no one will ever know the difference. From an article some DU'ers might find worth scanning:

BRANDING CUBA A “TERRORIST STATE” -- BUSH’S DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN. In an effort to brand Cuba a “terrorist state,” the State Department issued an “Overview of State-Sponsored Terrorism” on May 21, 2002. The Bush administration hyped up Castro’s trip to Iran in 2001, claiming he said “Iran and Cuba, in cooperation with each another, can bring America to its knees.” (Los Angeles Times, June 16, 2002)

To the contrary, after analyzing Castro’s remarks in Teheran, it turned out that he never made those comments. In fact, Castro consistently denounced terrorism since September 11, calling for its “total eradication.” He immediately condemned the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and he expressed solidarity with the American people and offered to cooperate with all governments in the defeat of terrorism.

Cuba also signed all 12 United Nations counter-terrorism conventions and in early 2002 offered to sign a bilateral agreement with the United States providing for joint efforts against terrorism.

The United States abruptly declined Havana’s gesture to cooperate in the war against terrorism. And furthermore, the State Department refused the offer but simultaneously complained that Cuba would not cooperate.
(snip/...)

http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/jphuck/Book16Ch.19.html

[Judi Lynn]

135. Just found a site with photos from a bicycle tour of Cuba

Unfortunately the photos are somewhat small, and don't click to larger sizes, yet the comments are very interesting and might contain some new info. for someone who's interested.



There seems to be a powerful sense of community in Cuba, a sense of the nation as a family. When this photo was taken at the town square in Bayamo, several pigs were being roasted nearby. Chairs and tables were soon set out on the sidewalks. After dark, the square filled with people -- children playing with balloons at 10:00 p.m., little carts pulled by goats circling round the square, taking the children for rides -- and always, loud music from every direction. It seemed that everyone in town was there, and it was a regular Saturday night event.

Here's something Mika has pointed out, which he noted in his trips:

Billboards featuring Che appear all over the country. This one quotes him saying, "Cuba, a real, tangible example for Latin America, and for other people as well." Though there are many memorials to Che and a few other heroes of the 1950's revolution, we saw no billboards or street names celebrating Castro or other current leaders.

You can only shake your head and wonder about a place like Miami, where the city commissioners actually NAMED A DAY for Cuban "exile" bomber/murderer, Orlando Bosch, one of the men responsible for blowing up the Cubana airliner October 6, 1976, killing all 73 people on board, including the entire Cuban fencing team, and some teenaged students from Guyana.

Someone also has said there is an "Orlando Bosch" street in Miami, as well. Figures.




Cuban cigars are still rolled by hand, and it is skilled work. We were interested to see that Cuban cigar factories still employ "readers." At the front of the room, someone reads aloud from newspapers, short stories, even novels, to help workers pass the time and further their education as well.




To us, education seemed to the be the most impressive success of the revolution. This is one of the small, rural schools that are everywhere in the country. Whatever the revolutionary government's failings may be, we do not question its commitment to education.

A true story: in 1960, less than a year after their victory, Castro's government decided to wipe out illiteracy. They recruited 120,000 volunteer teachers, most of them young high school students. Armed only with books and Coleman-style gas lanterns, the volunteers entered the most remote areas, teaching peasants of all ages to read. The grim part of the story was that there were still counterrevolutionaries in the hills -- and they received support from the CIA. They knew the literacy brigades were helping solidify Castro's support among the peasantry, so the young volunteers were terrorized and at least one was murdered. But the campaign succeeded anyway. Practically overnight, Cuba's literacy rate rose to 97%, and it's now a little higher than that. By the way, the average Cuban's knowledge of the U.S. and of world events is astonishing.

http://www.bicyclingcuba.com/bikecuba/overview.htm

[ckramer]

137. It's beautiful. Thank you for posting that.

[LynnTheDem]

142. Kim Jong II is much better at insulting bush.

Jong really gets on a roll when he starts.

[Up2Late]

149. O.K. For anyone still reading this thread, I'm gonna break it down...

...for ya re: Cuba and the "Bad Old Fidel Castro" (and if you don't hear from me for a long time, the * secret Police may have come for me) but here it is.

This whole "Cuba and Fidel are very bad" is one 45+ year LIE!!!!!

By who? the CIA and the U.S. Government. Why? "Because they took our Sugar Plantations and Casino's, Man!":wow:

How Dare that Fidel, take away our Casino's, kill or expel all the Rich Capitalists who are here exploiting and contributing to the continued poverty of the Cuban people. :eyes:

Those ungrateful Cubans, we "Liberate" your country from the Spanish Oppressors (Spanish/American War, 1898)

June 12, 1901, Cuban constitutional Convention votes 16 to 11 to become a U.S. Protectorate. Translation - Cuba becomes an Island resort and vacation spot for American to goto to Gamble and Launder Money.

1959
"The agrarian reform laws promulgated in its first years mainly affected U.S. sugar interests; the operation of plantations by companies controlled by non-Cuban stockholders was prohibited, and the Castro regime initially de-emphasized sugar production in favor of food crops.

Break with the United States
When the Castro government expropriated an estimated $1 billion in U.S.-owned properties in 1960, Washington responded by imposing a trade embargo. A complete break in diplomatic relations occurred in January 1961, and on April 17 of that year U.S.-supported and -trained anti-Castro exiles landed an invasion force in the Bay of Pigs in southern Cuba. Ninety of the invaders were killed, and some 1200 were captured (see Bay of Pigs Invasion). The captives were ransomed, with the tacit aid of the U.S. government, in 1962, at a cost of about $53 million in food and medicines.
From Microsoft Encarta97 Encyclopedia

This, and the "Cuban Missile Crisis, was the start of the 45+ years of "Dis-Information."

Why? 2 words -- Money and Pride

And as you may have figured out, Socialism and Capitalism (or as it was call before it was re-named "Corporatism") don't get along very well.

[countryjake]

156. The tail end of this thread is too good to be buried...

Thanks for posting that speech & those pics & captions, Judi!