Guest Author
It’s never a good idea to take on an issue after Jon Stewart has had his way with it, but you know what they say about fools. The subject, in case you missed it, was the Obama-Castro handshake at the Nelson Mandela funeral celebration.
Fox and CNN went gaga with speculation and condemnation over the 10-second exchange between President Barack Obama and Raúl Castro. Dig up Stewart’s Tuesday night show for the full story, a vintage brew of humor and rage as only Stewart can dish it up.
That TV news is often excessive and downright dumb is no surprise. Waste an hour or two watching Fox or CNN for proof. What they did with the handshake is exhibit A. They gave us breathless speculation about the political implications of the handshake and passed entirely on exploring the more fundamental issue — U.S. policy regarding Cuba.
The handshake opened the door to a serious discussion about a foreign policy issue that has had little or none for 50 years. The embargo that has been a heel on the throat of the Cuban economy for generations seems to have done little to change the status quo. On the contrary, during the Soviet era all the embargo did was to drive Fidel Castro deeper into the arms of a feared U.S. foe.
Since the Soviet Union’s fall, the embargo has made the hardscrabble lives of ordinary Cubans harder still. What’s more, the Castro brothers have the same grip on power they have enjoyed since the 1959 revolution. If a foreign policy strategy is supposed to achieve a desired goal, this one has proven year after year to be an utter failure.
Just what is the U.S. goal in Cuba?
–To unseat Castro? Failure number one.
–To end communism on the island? Failure number two.
–To stanch the flow of Cuban migrants to the United States? Failure number three.
–To foment a second revolution, a democratic one? Failure number four.
–To stimulate free speech and the growth of democratic institutions? Failure number five.
By any measure, U.S. policy toward Cuba doesn’t just stink of failure, it defines it. That is, or should be, evident to everyone in government and out. But none dare speak the word. Discussion of a meaningful change in Cuba policy is forbidden.
If a business were to pursue the same failed strategy for a year or two without even a discussion of a modification, the CEO would be looking for work. If that same policy were pursued for 50 years …not possible because the business would have disappeared 48 years ago.
In a way the U.S. policy is a metaphor for what ails our political system. Our failure to come to grips with Cuba is a failure of political courage. And that lack of courage poisons our system.
If our leaders can’t summon the strength to deal with a problem so clearly in need of a new solution, how can we expect them to deal with the tougher ones?
Of course, our political leaders are not alone. Voters haven’t exactly clamored for change, though most polls show no more than tepid support for our Cuba policy. And the news media share a good deal of the blame on Cuba.
Instead of dealing with substance, the media choose to focus on periphery — the handshake, not the deep conversation that should have followed it.
Or the countless, long-overdue conversations that should have preceded it.
