Of course everyone wants to nourish oases of civil society in the deserts of despotism. So why bother with all these vacuous “Yay for freedom” acts? Aren’t they kinda like resolving, “We love our Moms”? Shouldn’t it go without saying that every member of Congress favors democrats over dictators?
Yes, it should. But then there’s Cuba. To endorse the sociopolitical spadework of Cuban democrats is, of course, to rebuke Fidel Castro. And that, apparently, is too much for a handful of House Democrats—and one Republican—to stomach.
On Tuesday, the House passed a measure first introduced by Miami-area congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, a Cuban-American Republican. HR 193 expressed support for the Assembly to Promote the Civil Society in Cuba, an umbrella structure of over 360 dissident and civil society groups led by economist Marta Beatriz Roque. […]
The legislation passed with 392 supporters—and 22 opponents.
Those voting “nay” included the following Democrats: Reps.
- John Conyers (Mich.)
- Sam Farr (Calif.)
- Maurice Hinchey (N.Y.)
- Stephanie Tubbs Jones (Ohio)
- Carolyn Kilpatrick (Mich.)
- Dennis Kucinich (Ohio)
- Barbara Lee (Calif.)
- Jim McDermott (Wash.)
- Cynthia McKinney (Ga.)
- Gregory Meeks (N.Y.)
- George Miller (Calif.)
- John Olver (Mass.)
- Donald Payne (N.J.)
- Charlie Rangel (N.Y.)
- José Serrano (N.Y.),
- Pete Stark (Calif.)
- Edolphus Towns (N.Y.)
- Tom Udall (N.M.)
- Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.)
- Maxine Waters (Calif.)
- Lynn Woolsey (Calif.).
Kind of the who’s who of Congressional idiots. But I’m not surprised — of the names I recognize here, none support liberty in the USA, so why would they support it in a foreign country?