Executive Order on Cuba a SOP Distraction From DOJ's Horrible Series of Anti-Constitutional Moves
While the Obama administration's Department of Justice seems to be protecting the criminal Bush regime and following the former presidency's anti-constitutionalism in citing "state secrets" to continue torture cover-up, or "sovereign immunity," even worse than the Bush regime state secrets lie, invoking an anti-democratic excuse to cover-up illegal invasion of privacy through warrantless spying of Americans, the current administration occasionally hits the right note.
The problem is one of deliberate diversion: some members of Obama's team seem to be throwing candy to distract from Bush-like or worse trampling of the Constitution, the rule of law, and human rights.
That may be an underlying reason for the following as reported by Jim Lobe at IPS News:
"Fulfilling a key campaign promise, U.S. President Barack Obama Monday lifted all restrictions on Cuban-Americans to visit their homeland and send money to family members there.
"In an executive order, Obama also authorised U.S. telecommunications companies to apply for licenses to do business in Cuba in what the White House described as an effort to increase the flow of information to the Cuban people.
"In addition, current limits on the kinds and quantity of humanitarian-related goods that can be sent to Cuba from the U.S. will also be eased, according to the order which marked the first substantive changes in Washington's policy toward the Caribbean island since Obama became president nearly three months ago.
"The moves, coming on the eve of the Fifth Summit of the Americas to be held in Trinidad and Tobago later this week, were welcomed by organisations and activists who have long called for concrete steps to lift the nearly 50-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba., some of whom, however, expressed disappointment that Obama did not go further.
" 'These are welcome steps, but the right course is to allow all Americans to travel to Cuba, to open up commerce, and to directly engage the Cuban government in diplomacy and solving problems in both countries' interests,' said Sarah Stephens, director of the Centre for Democracy in the Americas (CDA).
" 'The president has a historic opportunity, not to be the last president of the Cold War, but the first president to turn the page in U.S.-Cuba relations. I think he will do more, and that this will be the first of many steps toward better relations with Cuba,' she added.
"At the same time, hard-line anti-Castro Cuban Americans deplored Obama's decision. 'President Obama has committed a serious mistake by unilaterally increasing Cuban-American travel and remittance dollars for the Cuban dictatorship,' said Florida Republican Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart.
"Still, some normalisation advocates said it was inappropriate for Obama to limit travel and other rights to Cuban Americans, with Stephen Clemons, director of the American Strategy Programme of the New American Foundation (NAF), calling it "cynical and insufficient."
" 'That our first African-American president would issue an executive order that created openings for a specific class of ethnic Americans - in this case, Cuban Americans - and not for all is not what this democracy is about,' he said. 'This is not how we approached Vietnam; we didn't tell Vietnamese Americans to lead the way.' "
The problem is one of deliberate diversion: some members of Obama's team seem to be throwing candy to distract from Bush-like or worse trampling of the Constitution, the rule of law, and human rights.
That may be an underlying reason for the following as reported by Jim Lobe at IPS News:
"Fulfilling a key campaign promise, U.S. President Barack Obama Monday lifted all restrictions on Cuban-Americans to visit their homeland and send money to family members there.
"In an executive order, Obama also authorised U.S. telecommunications companies to apply for licenses to do business in Cuba in what the White House described as an effort to increase the flow of information to the Cuban people.
"In addition, current limits on the kinds and quantity of humanitarian-related goods that can be sent to Cuba from the U.S. will also be eased, according to the order which marked the first substantive changes in Washington's policy toward the Caribbean island since Obama became president nearly three months ago.
"The moves, coming on the eve of the Fifth Summit of the Americas to be held in Trinidad and Tobago later this week, were welcomed by organisations and activists who have long called for concrete steps to lift the nearly 50-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba., some of whom, however, expressed disappointment that Obama did not go further.
" 'These are welcome steps, but the right course is to allow all Americans to travel to Cuba, to open up commerce, and to directly engage the Cuban government in diplomacy and solving problems in both countries' interests,' said Sarah Stephens, director of the Centre for Democracy in the Americas (CDA).
" 'The president has a historic opportunity, not to be the last president of the Cold War, but the first president to turn the page in U.S.-Cuba relations. I think he will do more, and that this will be the first of many steps toward better relations with Cuba,' she added.
"At the same time, hard-line anti-Castro Cuban Americans deplored Obama's decision. 'President Obama has committed a serious mistake by unilaterally increasing Cuban-American travel and remittance dollars for the Cuban dictatorship,' said Florida Republican Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart.
"Still, some normalisation advocates said it was inappropriate for Obama to limit travel and other rights to Cuban Americans, with Stephen Clemons, director of the American Strategy Programme of the New American Foundation (NAF), calling it "cynical and insufficient."
" 'That our first African-American president would issue an executive order that created openings for a specific class of ethnic Americans - in this case, Cuban Americans - and not for all is not what this democracy is about,' he said. 'This is not how we approached Vietnam; we didn't tell Vietnamese Americans to lead the way.' "
Comments