The Democratic Party lost its chance this week to prove a claim it’s been making for at least six decades — that they’re the party of the underdog.
Instead, they confirmed what everyone has known all along — that they’re all about scoring political points.
The No.1 international story of the week has been the massive Cuban demonstrations calling for something Americans take for granted — “libertad,” or freedom. The protests erupted Sunday in about a dozen cities.
“They do not want the world to see what is happening in Cuba,” said a Havana resident who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of reprisals from the regime.
An exiled rights group called Cubalex reported that the demonstrations resulted in more than 100 people being detained by Cuban authorities.
The arrest of independent journalist Dina Stars was the most public. She was whisked away by the state security force in the middle of a live interview with Spanish TV.
A second tweet in the thread depicted her being led into a police vehicle.
An English translation of one comment read: "This video must be broadcast on television, so that people can see live how people are kidnapped during the Cuban dictatorship."
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, expressed hope for the Cuban people during his appearance on Newsmax this week.
"I'm always optimistic when people take to the streets and decide that they're not going to stand for it any longer," Diaz-Balart told Monday's "Rob Schmitt Tonight."
"It's a big risk they [take]. The Cuban people know the risk that they're taking. This is a regime that will crack down and murder and disappear people.
But it wasn’t just words for him.
Diaz-Balart introduced a House resolution "expressing solidarity with the Cuban people in their demands for freedom and respect for basic human rights."
Among other things, the resolution called upon other countries and organizations to join the United States in demanding that the regime release all political prisoners, and assert that violence against the unarmed Cubans will not be tolerated.
Fellow House members lined up to come onboard as co-sponsors. They included:
- Liz Cheney of Wyoming
- Dan Crenshaw of Texas
- Byron Donalds of Florida
- Matt Gaetz of Florida
- Carlos Gimenez of Florida
- Nicole Malliotakis of New York
- Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida
- Steve Scalise of Louisiana
- Elise Stefanik of New York
- Greg Steube of Florida
Each of these House members had one thing in common — they’re all Republicans. Not a single Democrat wanted their name attached to it, according to The Daily Wire.
And the administration’s response was ugly.
It announced that it would deny entry to any refugee from either Cuba or Haiti (during the aftermath of the presidential assassination there).
"DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Haitian and Cuban migrants and asylum-seekers who try to come to the U.S. by boat will not be allowed to enter the country," reported Camilo Montoya-Galvez for CBS News.
Mayorkas said in a statement that "If individuals make, establish a well-founded fear of persecution or torture, they are referred to third countries for resettlement. They will not enter the United States."
So while hundreds of thousands of people from around the world are flooding into the country and then transported by commercial flight to all corners of the United States, we’re ignoring true refugees from an island nation a mere 100 miles south of Key West.
Cubans are trying to escape a cruel communist dictatorship; those crossing the southern border are fleeing "climate change," according to the administration.
And instead of offering solutions, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., cast blame for the uprising on the trade embargo levied against Cuba by the Trump administration.
"It's also long past time to end the unilateral U.S. embargo on Cuba, which has only hurt, not helped, the Cuban people," Sanders' tweet read.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who never stopped complaining about the "cruelty" of alleged "children in cages" during the four years of the Trump administration, is now uncharacteristically silent over the plight of the Cuban people.
On the other hand, Malliotakis, one of the co-sponsors of the House resolution and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee — encouraged the ten Cuban-American members of Congress to "work with the Biden Administration to push for democracy, human rights, freedom of speech and rid the island nation of the dual currency and economic systems that have inhumanely suppressed the Cuban people, leading to poverty, starvation, and poor living conditions."
But that was before the Biden administration posted its “no vacancy” signs directed at Cuban refugees.
The administration has been tragically wrong on every single issue that i’s been confronted with, and every single decision it’s made.
Biden is the Democratic Party on steroids.
Democrats are about slogans; Republicans are about substance.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to BizPac Review and Liberty Unyielding. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter, who can often be found honing his skills at the range. Read Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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