Viva La Cuba.

"I kill a communist for fun" ~Tony Montana, Scarface~

That was a classic quote from the movie, Scarface. Tony Montana's character was a criminal in Cuba, and he had no love for Fidel Castro or his government.  He called himself a "political prisoner", but as we all remember from the movie, he was nothing more than a drug dealer and a murderer.

Unfortunately too many leaders in our history have had a similar simplistic view of the Fidel Castro government like the fictional character from the Scarface movie.

Personally, I tend to disagree with Tony's assessment of the Cuban leader, and I am glad for the president's historic trip to Cuba today. I have never understood the trade embargo and sanctions against Cuba for all these years when we were trading with the Chinese and Russians for crying out loud.  

I remember as a kid in Jamaica, listening to one of Fidel Castro's speeches, I didn't know a word of Spanish, but even before the interpreter told us what he was saying, I remember cheering my ass off. He was that charismatic.

Maybe it's because the man who I consider one of the greatest leaders in history, Michael Manley, had to turn to Fidel at a time when the American government and the West turned their backs on the Jamaican people, as we tried to cope with the draconian benchmarks for the country's recovery set by the IMF.

It was Castro and the Cuban government that gave Jamaica micro- dams, adult literacy, trained physicians ,quality health care, and innovative teaching methods that merged education and sports.

And, if that wasn't enough, it was the Cuban government and Fidel Castro who helped to end Apartheid in South Africa . It was also Cuban soldiers who fought alongside the Angolan people in their fight for liberation. 

Throw in the fact that the people who were in Cuba ---who didn't have a pot to piss in before the revolution--- look more like I do than Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and you can see where I am coming from. Afro Cubans didn't flee to Miami with their riches, because they had no riches.

Barack Obama and is family going to Havana sends a powerful message to those Cubans living on the island and to the world.

It is a message that is long overdue.

Now if you will excuse me I have a  cigar to smoke.


*Pic from AP.





 

Election night.

   It's election night once again in these divided states of America.

From where I sit it looks like we are heading for a Hillary versus Donald showdown come November.

Donald, the xenophobic bully and head divider, vanquished "little Marco" in his own state. Poor Marco, the man recently touted as the future and "savior" of the GOP on the cover of Time Magazine , is now, like Mitt Romney before him, just another republican also ran.

Hillary bless her e-mailing heart, once again ran through the South like Sherman's army, and poor Bernie is left with a ton of money but not enough delegates to scare the pants suit wearing wonk who is probably- next to Ted Cruz- the most right leaning pol left in the race.

The night is still young, but it looks like Hillary Clinton and Donald trump (too little too late Governor Kasich) will be the big winners tonight.

Thoughts?

*Pic from cnn.com



 

When outrage gets selective.

I have a question for conservatives: Why did it take Mr. Bad Hair making light of John McCain's time as a prisoner of war for you to see just how despicable this charlatan truly is?

Where were you when he was telling anyone who would listen that the president of the United States was not born in this country? Or when he sent investigators down to Hawaii to look into all aspects of the president's background? Or when he bought into crazy conspiracy theories, and publicly declared that president Obama is a plagiarist? 

Now, all of a sudden, he is a "jackass". 

I guess I shouldn't expect anything better from the same folks who were, not long ago, "Swiftboating" another war hero for political gain.

I find it interesting that of all the crazy and outrageous things that this clown has done, this is the thing that is causing the most consternation among republicans and conservatives.

For instance, those outrageous statements about Mexican rapists to kick off his campaign got a response  that reminded me of a certain Simon & Garfunkel song. 

"It's not just absurd, it's offensive. It's ridiculous. And I do think it's a disqualifier as commander-in-chief..." ~ Marco Rubio~

Please!

*Pic from telegraph.co.uk
















 

The Wingnuts Are Coming!!

Congrats to the tan-man; it looks like he will be taking over from Lady Pelosi as the speaker of the house. That sound you hear is country and western music while red state A-merry-ca dances on the O man's metaphoric grave.

We are an impatient lot we A-merry-cans; his O ness wasn't moving fast enough to undo eight years of W, so his party had to pay. And pay they did. As of the field writing this post, the repubs already have a fifty seat pick up in the house, and they are three up in the senate. (Congrats to Tim Scott. Being the first black repub elected from the south since reconstruction is a big deal.) Here in Pistolvania it's still too close to call in all the major races. --It looks like some of you Negroes in Philly actually came out and voted, so it's not a runaway for the R's just yet.

Rand Paul is a projected winner. And so is the hottest thing out of Cuba since cigars; Macro Rubio. -He is the new darling of the wingnut crowd.- They are both already planning to change Washington as we know it. Good luck with that. (Thank god the voting rights act was already renewed) And, as was to be expected, the Wicked Witch of Delaware went down. Apparently she wasn't like enough of us. Former Iggle, John Runyan, might win across the river in Jersey (I swear you people in Jersey need to have your heads examined. John Runyan couldn't memorize Andy Reid's playbook, and you are sending him to Washington to represent your interests?)

Still, flashback two years ago and I bet a scene like this was far removed from the mind of his O ness. He could not have seen this coming. It seems like only yesterday that we were all crying and "kumbayaing" each other while we chanted "yes we can". No more. Politics is all about passion, and the majority of A-merry-cans aren't passionate about their politics. They are too busy trying to keep up with each other to worry about something as insignificant as a political philosophy or ideology. Their vote depends on their pocket books and what they see on commercials. And the guy with the most money controls the message. Hell, the guy with the most money can start a phony grass roots movement and watch it grow.

In the next few weeks you will be hearing a lot about this election. You will hear about A-merry-ca being a center to right country. You will hear that this was a referendum on Obama's policies, and that A-merry-cans got tired of the spending in Washington, blah blah blah. Don't believe a word of it. This was about a party out of power passionately trying to get it back, and succeeding by tricking ordinary A-merry-cans into thinking that they all had the same goals. It was about a few (not all) people in the majority population who suddenly became passionate about politics because of the complexion of the occupants in the people's house. It was about an orchestrated campaign from day one by certain media outlets to drive up ratings with phony and slanted stories, and creating a rabid foam at the mouth opposition to an administration that was led by the perfect boogey man.

So congrats tan-man, I look forward to your reign. But just remember; as long as we are still free to speak our minds in A-merry-ca, I will be here speaking mine. The next two years should be fun.