Jesus In Heaven Don't We Have Enough On Our Plates?

Our government was worried that a successful communist nation in our hemisphere would infect the rest of Latin America's oppressive societies. Our solultion was to guarantee the failure of Castro's political system. Our economic embargo eventually did that. No doubt, Castro is a nut case, but who knows what Cuba would be like today had we kept away. Russia would not have had such an entre--through their economic support--if we had been more supportive, or at least not obstructive--i.e., permitting Cuba to trade with other societies to a greater extent.

Brandon9000 wrote:

Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

Ticomaya wrote:

Are you of the opinion that assisting Cuba to transition to a democracy would be a bad thing?

Or do you just want to bitch about Bush?

I'm saying no ones asked for our help and that the presumptious bastard ought to wait until somebody does....

bush reminds me of the idiots who come up to me and tell me how to run sound when they don't know a fader from a volume knob.....a damned annoyance and a lot of balls....

I'm sure that many of the poor, downtrodden Cubans, in their fascist dictatorship, would ask for help if they could.

Learn the difference between fascism and communism before posting this horseshyt, Brandon.

This is a goddam laugh!

1. often Fascism a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government. 2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.

Frank Apisa wrote:

Brandon9000 wrote:

Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

Ticomaya wrote:

Are you of the opinion that assisting Cuba to transition to a democracy would be a bad thing?

Or do you just want to bitch about Bush?

I'm saying no ones asked for our help and that the presumptious bastard ought to wait until somebody does....

bush reminds me of the idiots who come up to me and tell me how to run sound when they don't know a fader from a volume knob.....a damned annoyance and a lot of balls....

I'm sure that many of the poor, downtrodden Cubans, in their fascist dictatorship, would ask for help if they could.

Learn the difference between fascism and communism before posting this horseshyt, Brandon.

This is a goddam laugh!

I believe you're mistaken. Here's how the American Heritage Dictionary defines fascism:

Quote:

1. often Fascism a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government. 2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.

Clearly Cuba fits this definition. Please show me where I'm wrong.

I assume they will evolve, if that is the right word, to a changed economic way of thinking and of self expression.

It's interesting that you have never defended the US when it's referred to as being fascist, yet jump all over Brandon for defining Cuba as such.

Do you believe that America is a fascist or becoming a fascist country Frank?

Ticomaya wrote:

[ We have more than a million political refugees from Castro's Cuba living in the US. Cuba is just a few miles from our shores. The US has a legitimate interest in Cuba being a free and democratic country. If we want to offer assistance to Cuba and Cubans, damn straight it's our business.

Your avatar gives you away, Tico.

You don't give a damn about any of that stuff.

You just want the chance to get a good cigar.

ossobuco wrote:

I assume they will evolve, if that is the right word, to a changed economic way of thinking and of self expression.

Things are already evolving, without outside 'help'. Have been for some years. Education system's beyond decent, medical system's very good, media is not what most Americans (or people whose access is through the U.S.) think. A former roommate of mine moved to Cuba from Canada about 10 years ago, after a number of visits arranged through Gautemalan and El Salvadorean connections. She works in TV and radio there now. She's got an unusual perspective on things, coming from 'the West', and choosing a life and career in Cuba. Not grandly free, but not what Miami Cubans suggest.

It's not the 1950's in Cuba anymore - even if it is in Miami.

Cuba - Annual report 2006

Press freedom worsened in 2005 with a new crackdown on dissidents during the summer that included three journalists, who joined 20 others imprisoned since the wave of arrests in March 2003.

Cuba is still the world's second biggest prison for journalists. Seven were freed in 2004 and two in 2005, but the past year saw the arrest of Oscar Mario González Pérez, of the independent news agency Grupo de Trabajo Decoro, in Havana on 22 July. He was charged under law 88 on protection of "the Cuban economy and national independence" but was not tried. A few days earlier, Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez, who worked for the websites Payolibre and Nueva Prensa Cubana as well as Radio Martí, was jailed for "disturbing the peace."
Albert Santiago Du Bouchet Fernández, of the Havana Press news agency, was sentenced to a year in prison on 9 August for "civil disobedience" and "resisting arrest." The same day, Lamasiel Gutiérrez Romero, of Nueva Prensa Cubana, was given a seven-month suspended jail sentence. He was imprisoned on 11 October when he resumed working.

The mental and physical health of many of the 20 journalists jailed since the March 2003 crackdown seriously declined in 2005. They were being held in poor conditions and most were very demoralised. Poet and journalist Raúl Rivero, freed in November 2004, wrote an article in the Spanish daily El País supporting them. Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona staged a 25-day hunger strike, showing the increasing desperation of the imprisoned journalists.
Independent journalists in Cuba are constantly hounded by the regime, by beatings, eviction from their homes and frequent summonses by the police when for several hours they are insulted and threatened with imprisonment.

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17421

Reporters Without Borders disagrees:

SierraSong wrote:

Reporters Without Borders disagrees:

They may be more right about Cuba than the woman I'm in touch with. They may be more right about the other countries as well.

Brandon9000 wrote:

Frank Apisa wrote:

Brandon9000 wrote:

Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

Ticomaya wrote:

Are you of the opinion that assisting Cuba to transition to a democracy would be a bad thing?

Or do you just want to bitch about Bush?

I'm saying no ones asked for our help and that the presumptious bastard ought to wait until somebody does....

bush reminds me of the idiots who come up to me and tell me how to run sound when they don't know a fader from a volume knob.....a damned annoyance and a lot of balls....

I'm sure that many of the poor, downtrodden Cubans, in their fascist dictatorship, would ask for help if they could.

Learn the difference between fascism and communism before posting this horseshyt, Brandon.

This is a goddam laugh!

I believe you're mistaken. Here's how the American Heritage Dictionary defines fascism:

Quote:

1. often Fascism a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government. 2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.

Clearly Cuba fits this definition. Please show me where I'm wrong.

You really are not an especially bright person, are you, Brandon.

Even some stupid people realize that while both fascism and communism often are present in totalitarian states...they are, by nature, almost polar....

I would like a nice, legal Havana cigar. I think that alone is worth destroying the country and causing devastation in our usual way.

ehBeth wrote:

SierraSong wrote:

Reporters Without Borders disagrees:

They may be more right about Cuba than the woman I'm in touch with. They may be more right about the other countries as well.

Highly likely since she's living in a country with no freedom of the press. Doubtful she'd be able to pick up a newspaper or turn on a radio or TV and learn the truth.

There's only one way for you to prevail in this argument - show me in what way Cuba fails to fit the definition of fascism. If it fits the definition, then my use of the term was correct. If I apply an adjective accurately to a noun, then I am correct. You, in saying that I have applied the term improperly, are incorrect. Defend your statement or forfeit, your bad behavior notwithstanding.