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Trump's threat to end Cuba detente may rouse GOP opposition

45 Comments
By RICHARD LARDNER

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Why did we have sanctions on Cuba for so long but didn't on China...heck, we even recognized the People's Republic of China rather than the Republic of China (Taiwan) back in the 70s. Clearly, it wasn't because China became an upstanding global citizen of human rights.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

"Trump's threat to end Cuba detente may rouse GOP opposition"

I wouldn't count on the GOP for help mitigating the horrors of a Trump presidency. It's already amply demonstrated this election cycle that they are little most than an impotent pack of boot-licking hyaena. Integrity in the GOP has been replaced by ineptitude. Courage has been supplanted by cowardice. The GOP is effectively dead and will be roused to help no one.

Unless, of course, it might keep them out of the crosshairs of Trump and the alt-right.

Bunch of mewling pussies, the lot of them.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

Can we get a Congressional resolution passed prohibiting Trump from announcing major changes in American foreign policy by Twitter?

10 ( +11 / -1 )

This is the opening position for the deal-meister. Eventually he'll back down and settle for a couple of hotel, golf course resorts that his 'family' will develop in partnership with Sheldon Adelson (casino tycoon), bringing Cuba back to the 1950's when gambling and the mob ran the country.

Leave Cuba alone, Don! The US has already done too much damage there.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Any increase in tensions will come from the war mongering rightists in the US. As soon as Trump pays off his campaign debt to the Cuban exiles and their offspring, the master developer will pickup right where Hyman Roth and the Corleone Family left off in 1960, to turn the island 90 miles from the US into a Trump Brand Casino, Entertainment Mecca, Golf Resort and Retirement Community. President-elect Tweet who will do anything to get his way, including screwing over anybody, any country.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

It doesn't make any sense on any level other than emotional.

Metaphor for Trump presidency.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Saw a great meme: So you elected a billionaire who is hiring other billionaires to "fix" the system that made them billionaires?

Good luck with that.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

I just don't understand why you'd want to roll things back with Cuba. It doesn't make any sense on any level other than emotional.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Makes no sense for the US to continue with strained relations with Cuba. Old commies are not the enemy anymore.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Do not see how that accomplishes anything.

As opposed to sitting on a high horse?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Wouldn't it be better to open up much more now that the figurehead Castro is gone? His brother is still there but he doesn't command the same hardline stance and respect, and he is also ageing. Also I doubt there are many hardcore Stalinists left in Cuba today

5 ( +5 / -0 )

If Trump severs ties with Cuba because of human rights issues I hope he also does the same with China. Let's have some consistency in policies. Or is it just a case of the US bullying Cuba but being too scared to take on China?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Trump needs boogie men to keep the fear alive and his base energized.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Tokyo-Engr,

you really need to stoop so low to name calling like that? Do not see how that accomplishes anything.

Oh, the irony of being PC-policed by you.

Here, let me make things clear for you.

"Bunch of mewling pussies, the lot of them" = the Republican Party laughed at Trump's candidacy in the beginning because they believed, and rightly so, that the electorate couldn't possibly support the candidacy of someone so fundamentally broken, morally, ethically, and legally. Yet Trump trounced them with populist drivel steeped in racist hate. Then the GOP shuddered when Trump was on the verge of winning the nomination, believing, rightly so, that someone so fundamentally dishonest and manipulative was not good for the nation. Then the GOP fought amongst itself, with one side believing, rightly so, that the Trump nomination was a horrific blemish on the Party and the other worrying about their own political futures for daring to oppose populist, racism-fueled "white rage." And in the end, opposition to Trump withered away as the GOP gave up moral high ground and acquiesced to Trump threats of political retribution for ever daring to question his right to be a racist, a misogynist, and an ignorant demagogue with a flagrant penchant for lying publicly and often. Now there is virtually no GOP opposition to Trump and his vulgar existence. Even Ted Cruz, with all of his bluster and righteous indignation, sees fit to align with Trump for his own political survival. The GOP collapsed as a voice for conservative America and opted instead to align itself with rampant xenophobia, racism, and sexism.

So, in other words, a bunch of mewling pussies, the lot of them.

I was simply dispensing with redundancy for something the American public either already knows, or very soon will come to understand, as Trump runs roughshod over every standard of statesmanship ever known in modern democracies while the GOP issues nary a peep.

Does that raise the level of discourse enough for you?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Trump would have to do a lot of damage to catch up to Obama's disastrous record.

Americans got richer under Obama.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Are we talking about the Democrats again? Had no idea they party was still relevant.

Ha! - made me laugh. Aside from Clinton's popular vote victory, Bass, you might have noticed that Dems in California (your home state, right? Are you paying attention?) now have a supermajority in the statehouse (something the GOP is very far from in Congress), along with a young, charismatic new senator, Kamala Harris.

Trump (with his baggage and razor-thin congressional majority and deeply fractured GOP) against California - this will be fun to watch.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Ending detente would be a huge step backwards. The world is much different than it was during the Cold War. Very unlikely Cuban missile crisis and Bay of Pigs will re-occur.

I going full steam ahead the other direction (now that Castro has passed) would be a better move. Open up as much as possible and the Cuban people will allow things to follow suit.

@LFRA - you really need to stoop so low to name calling like that? Do not see how that accomplishes anything.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a frequent critic of Trump during the presidential campaign, cautioned in a statement against returning to a “get tough” policy that isolates Havana and restricts travel and business activities. Such an approach, Flake wrote over the weekend, will hurt the Cuban people and make the U.S. government “a convenient scapegoat for failed socialist policies.”

Flake is one of the few voices of reason in the GOP Congress. I hope he and more like him can lead the Republican Party out of the mess it's in.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

China and Japan are already planning too increase trade between Cuba.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Bunch of mewling pussies, the lot of them

Yeah. The list is endless. There's this now - here is Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, insisting he'd be tough on the next president when it came to personal financial entanglements:

If you're going to run and try to become the president of the United States, you're going to have to open up your kimono and show everything, your tax returns, your medical records. You are just gonna have to do that. It's too important.

Ooh - open your kimono! Sexy. How 'bout Trump? Elijah Cummings (Md.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, has sent Chaffetz TWO letters seeking an inquiry into exactly what Chaffetz was mewling about back when it appeared Clinton would be elected and has yet to be graced with even a simple response. Pussy.

Bunch of mewling pussies, the lot of them.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

The 1%

Now you are complaining like a Democrat. Only Democrats want to spread the wealth.

You guys can have that state, please.

Home of world innovation.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

As long as a Democrat is not in office, I could care less.

You want every single politician in the USA to be a Republican?

Is Mississippi more important than California?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Good point, Serrano. When Trump says "better deal" is he talking about his finances or the American public as a whole?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

bass: Good, I want a president to be tough, mean and feared especially to our enemies, Kudos

As the cheers of Trump's win spreads all through Russia.

The only ones who are afraid are our allies. They are concerned that Trump doesn't have the tempermament or knowledge to lead, and they are worried that China and Russia will expand their influence grealty.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Human rights destroying Communist Chinese cashola is all that matters.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Trump needs boogie men to keep the fear alive and his base energized.

Some might say a couple of the world's economies depend on them.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@Scrote....In theory I agree with you actually and again feel that Trump is wrong on this issue. Relative to China it probably has to do with the $1.2 Trillion in U.S. debt they are holding. Our politicians have sold us (nearly literally) down the river.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

America needs its enemies, eh?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Saw a great meme: So you elected a billionaire who is hiring other billionaires to "fix" the system that made them billionaires?

Pretty much what I've been saying all along.

If Trump doesn't 'drain the swamp', and while I'm skeptical, I'm still willing to give him a chance, I wonder if the people who voted for him will reach a point where they'll start to criticize him, or whether they'll just keep supporting him as their man indefinitely.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Bass,

Trump is president and will remain so for the next 4 or 8 years, get used to it. You just might grow to love the guy.

The guy mocks the disabled, makes blatantly racist statements, and treats women like trash. No, it is very unlikely that anyone opposed to him will come to "love" him. The fact that you've so willingly ignored what a vulgar human being Trump actually is probably why you can't fathom the continued opposition to his presidency. He's an offensive man on every level. He will not be "loved" by Laguna or anyone else with even a medicum of human decency.

___.

Tokyo-Engr,

Yes you make some good points. You should have said that in the first place.

Horse puckey. Don't sit there and don the mantle of reason and magnanimous politeness , as if none of the points I made weren't made before. The were made frequently and vocally throughout the election, and were roundly ignored in favor of elevating an utterly contemptible man to the presidency.

And with nary a peep of dissent from the GOP. The so-called moral authority of the GOP withered to ashes in the face of an angry, populist, but ultimately misguided mob. Sad and pathetic for this United States.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Trump should think twice about arbitrarily dismantling previous government policies without any discussion or compromise as it will come off as spite and petty revenge. Once that becomes standard expect the retribution to increase as administrations change

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Mr. Townsend

I am not particularly perched on a high horse on my end. I am not a Republican (nor a Democrat) and actually regarding the specific issue at hand I disagree with Mr. Trump. As stated ending detente would be a huge step back and I think we should go full force the other direction.

Rather than engaging in name calling why not call out the obvious error in Trump's ways and use that as rationale for questioning his fitness for duty? It seems that would go further than calling a group of people names and would also have a better chance of succeeding in bringing people around to the way of thinking that isolating Cuba further is a bad idea.

I would be willing to bet most people, of both political affiliation would agree that isolating Cuba further at this point really is futile.

I think if we (the governed) call each other names it further divides people and is of no benefit to the general population but is of great benefit to those in power.

Anyway that is my 2 cents on the issue

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Sure LFRAgain....remove the name calling and makes sense. Not sure what is ironic....am I missing something here?

Nothing "PC" about this. Go back 15 years or so and people could disagree with each other without calling the other party/side names and actually converse about these things without fighting. It seems Americans have lost this ability in recent years. The country grows more and more divided; day by day; and it seems no one really cares or is willing to solve that issue. Neither candidate in this election was someone capable of uniting the country. Trump with his vitriol and Clinton with her name calling (deplorables, etc.). It is no wonder people riot when the election outcome is not in their favor.

Yes you make some good points. You should have said that in the first place. In one regard you are right...the Republican party had no idea someone like Trump could be elected. Now he is the President elect and they need to deal with it. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I have a feeling Trump will not be able to get alot done, especially related to this specific topic, which is Cuba. I would think even the very conservative Cuban exiles in South Florida would see this as an opportunity actually.

I think Trump is going to have to walk back alot of what he campaigned on and people are going to see a different President than what he campaigned as or what they expect. Is he fit for this office? I do no think so.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Hillary called half of the country "deplorable."

No she didn't.

Still making stuff up are you.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Actually Ms. Clinton's quote was, "“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?”

Trump had around 63 million popular votes, multiply that by 0.5 and the result is 31.5 million Americans.......

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@LFRA...funny conversation as we agree on several of the issues. Obviously the election results have you pissed.

Trump was elected. This cannot be changed. Now it is a matter to see what he does and then react accordingly.

I do not think he will get much done and I will be surprised if he makes it through his first term.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

“If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate deal.”

No worries,Cuba will be willing to make a better deal, and by the end of his second term, Trump will probably have built the tallest building in Cuba.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Laguna: Trump (with his baggage and razor-thin congressional majority and deeply fractured GOP) against California - this will be fun to watch.

Reduced to "Ha! Now it's Trump vs California! You best watch out now!!!". Like the Black Knight on Monty Python: "It's only a flesh wound!"

Pelosi's minority leader challenger Tim Ryan has been on both NBC and Fox recently, saying the Democratic Party 'isn't a national party, it's a coastal party'.

Dems in a death spiral, time to bring back the Whigs.

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/11/27/dem-rep-tim-ryan-democrats-have-become-a-coastal-party/

Oh, and recounts?

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/dems-fear-recounts-help-trump/article/2608348

Dems fear recounts help Trump, hurt rebuilding plans - 11/29/16 ...

... They worry that the possibility of elevating Trump's image through pointless recounts, and giving him in effect another win, is not a good first step. ...

The recounts would have to flip the count in Hillary's favor in at least three states. One of the states, Pennsylvania, will require Stein to get around 30K affidavits from voters, 3 for every county, to challenge the vote. Apparently she's missed the deadline for that but still has another avenue, filing a lawsuit. She'd have to overcome a 70K difference in PA the Hillary vs Trump vote with the recount, though.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/real-time/Despite-successful-fundraising-effort-recount-of-Pennsylvania-remains-difficult.html

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

The guy mocks the disabled,

Hillary called half of the country "deplorable."

makes blatantly racist statements, and treats women like trash.

That's one side of the story, I heard from many women and seen many interviews of women that say different.

No, it is very unlikely that anyone opposed to him will come to "love" him.

I get it, many felt the same about Obama, you could see it in the election results that many 2 time Obama voters went to Trump. But it doesn't matter, I had to deal with Obama for 8 years, you guys can now deal with Trump for the next 4 possibly 8 years.

The fact that you've so willingly ignored what a vulgar human being Trump actually is probably why you can't fathom the continued opposition to his presidency.

I thought Hillary was vulgar and manipulative manipulative to think that anyone that doesn't vote for her is irredeemable. Also, Democrats want conservatives to respect the laws and rules of our constitution and our political system and not challenge it, that's what Hillary said on Oct. 19th at the debate. Now that she lost, her and the Dems want a recount? They want to challenge the political system they so dearly wanted conservatives to respect? Look, Democrats are nothing but whiny hypocrites and as long as things go their way, they will never oppose anything, but if it falls on the conservatives lap, Democrats lose their minds and want o usurp the entire system.

He's an offensive man on every level. He will not be "loved" by Laguna or anyone else with even a medicum of human decency.

Good, I want a president to be tough, mean and feared especially to our enemies, Kudos!

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

As the cheers of Trump's win spreads all through Russia.

Might be a good thing for both of our countries to establish real dialogue.

The only ones who are afraid are our allies.

May not be a bad thing, keeps them on their toes.

They are concerned that Trump doesn't have the tempermament or knowledge to lead, and they are worried that China and Russia will expand their influence grealty.

Obama was a constitutional law professor with zero world experiences except for that time in Indonesia as a child going to a Madrassa. But Trump is no idiot and not weak, so I think China and Russia are a lot more apprehensive about starting anything that could plunge the countries into some me military conflict.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Bunch of mewling pussies, the lot of them.

Are we talking about the Democrats again? Had no idea they party was still relevant.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Now you are complaining like a Democrat. Only Democrats want to spread the wealth.

As long as a Democrat is not in office, I could care less.

Home of world innovation.

Great, keep it.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

The 1% so far yes, but the Trump admin. Is getting started, so we will see if he can bring up the middle class.

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

Ha! - made me laugh. Aside from Clinton's popular vote victory, Bass, you might have noticed that Dems in California (your home state, right? Are you paying attention?)

Actually, I am. Do me a favor and make a petition that all liberals and Dems relocate to the independent Republic of California and leave the US and I do hope and pray they make Hillary their Queen or Dear Leader and leave the rest of us all alone.

now have a supermajority in the statehouse (something the GOP is very far from in Congress), along with a young, charismatic new senator, Kamala Harris.

You guys can have that state, please.

Trump (with his baggage and razor-thin congressional majority and deeply fractured GOP) against California - this will be fun to watch.

Laguna, Trump is president and will remain so for the next 4 or 8 years, get used to it. You just might grow to love the guy.

-9 ( +0 / -9 )

I wouldn't count on the GOP for help mitigating the horrors of a Trump presidency.

If it ever should become one, hasn't even started yet, but Trump would have to do a lot of damage to catch up to Obama's disastrous record.

It's already amply demonstrated this election cycle that they are little most than an impotent pack of boot-licking hyaena. Integrity in the GOP has been replaced by ineptitude.

I think what it really boils down to is that Democrats and liberals still can't believe they got the shellacking of their political lives and need to vent, I get it, I really do and I try to be sympathetic to my liberal brethren. The next 4 years is going to be stressful to them and we all should be a bit more compassionate.

Courage has been supplanted by cowardice. The GOP is effectively dead and will be roused to help no one.

Liberals are the absolute last people to call the GOP dead, there own party has left the decaying process state and is about to be cremated and they would be lucky if they could ever rise from the dead again. Unless, of course, it might keep them out of the crosshairs of Trump and the alt-right.

Bunch of mewling pussies, the lot of them.

With new leadership and maybe trying to care about the people, the Democratic Party may yet, see some light at the end of the tunnel.

-12 ( +1 / -13 )

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