Cuba is as much a threat to us today as Vietnam is. The reason we don't normalize relations with Castro is not because he's a repressive totalitarian (he is) but because of the anti-Castro population living in Florida. Like the Palestinians, they haven't forgotten the humiliation of living in exile. No president or candidate wants to seriously take them on, because they are a force to be reckoned with, AND Florida is always a key swing state in presidential elections.

Maybe it's because he's burned through all his “political capital”.

“overlooks the oppressive police state which Castro clamped down on Cuba upon imposing his totalitarian state. With help from the Russians and other Commie regimes.”

You don't think Poland, Hungary, Czechoslavakia and East Germany had repressive police-state regimes? Same goes for several Latin American nations that have become genuine, functioning democracies after overthrowing brutal dictators and oligarchies. You'd do well to go back and read some history.

I did not overlook the fact Fidel Castro operated in typical dictator fashion at home or in adventures abroad. The fact remains, most Cubans accepted and supported him as their leader, faults, follies, bluster and all. They identify with him and to this day have considerable affection for him.

You and I might think Cubans are wrong for feeling that way; Bush certainly does. But the fact remains it's their country and choice to make. And, they have made that choice. The facts speak for themselves. What you're doing is parroting Bush-grade nonsense.

KFC, Starbucks, Wal-Mart all over the place. I'll take those franchises! $$$

50 years of isolation and boycotts have not helped the Cubans – maybe it's time to try something new.

What tripe. We're not crusading against the oppressive regimes of Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, etc. Au contraire, we're huge financiers of these regimes, and have literally handed to communist China the keys to the kingdom. We bankroll Middle East extremism, and tyrants all over the world. Trying to paint the US as a democracy crusader for blockading Cuba is so transparently absurd, I'm surprised anyone here would attempt it.

If Fidel Castro's leadership and their government was thoroughly unacceptable to them, the Cubans would do what American colonists did in the 18th century and what the Hungarians and Poles did in the 20th century. They would try to overthrow the government. In fact, imperfect as their leader and government are, Cubans seem willing to accept what they've got.

overlooks the oppressive police state which Castro clamped down on Cuba upon imposing his totalitarian state. With help from the Russians and other Commie regimes.

The BDS displayed above forgets the thousands of Cubans killed trying to organize an opposition. And the hundreds of thousands who escaped his island police state. Of course US policy has changed Cuban policy by opposing its aggressions in other countries in Africa and Latin America. That's how you treat cancer cells—by opposing and destroying them. Perhaps SW_A is one of those cells himself.

U.S. policy toward Cuba can be summed up as a 49-year-old failure. Bush's policy has been to intensify the policy, thereby intensifying the failure.

Most other countries look on, as they have for decades, and wonder about a country that keeps doing the same thing expecting a different result. They know that's a fool's game.

The proof is in the pudding. If Fidel Castro's leadership and their government was thoroughly unacceptable to them, the Cubans would do what American colonists did in the 18th century and what the Hungarians and Poles did in the 20th century. They would try to overthrow the government. In fact, imperfect as their leader and government are, Cubans seem willing to accept what they've got. That is their decision, and we should respect it, whether we like their government and leader or not.

The proof is also in the pudding regarding U.S. policy. It hasn't caused the slightest change in Cuban policy, in its leadership or in Castro's popularity with his people. If anything, U.S. policy has helped Castro link resisting U.S. bullying of a small and poor country, their homeland, with his leadership and government. Which is to say, U.S. policy has backfired.

Bush neither knows nor cares about the facts. He wants to be seen as someone who is opposed to the dictator Castro, whether its Fidel or Raul. If Bush could get away with it, he would probably like to invade Cuba and bestow on the Cubans the same dubious blessings of Bush administration incompetence he has treated the Iraqis to.

Americans and Cubans alike shouldn't bemoan the lack of support from the international community for Bush's nonsense, they should celebrate it.