The Definition of Insanity

In the history of US foreign policy, no position has perhaps been a greater flop than America’s longtime stance on Cuba.

Dating back to Eisenhower, America’s failed effort to squeeze out Fidel Castro’s communist regime via restrictions on travel and commerce has done nothing to ease the lives of ordinary Cubans, as their “dear leader” has comfortably remained in power throughout ten US presidencies.

And to those who insist this moldy policy must stay in place to repel Castro’s red menace from America’s shores, may I remind such wailers how deeply our economy is tied to the largest communist power on earth (e.g. China), whose own record on religious and political freedoms is far from laudable?

So what’s the difference here?

Anyhow, today Barack Obama announced a long, long overdue shift in US policy on travel to Cuba, allowing nationals to both visit and wire money to relatives.

And while not an overly dramatic move by Obama, any move to overhaul US-Cuban relations is better than Washington clinging to the same old failed methods for a half-century to encourage political change under Castro while expecting different results.