My Thoughts and Worries about Obama's Presidency

It has been a week now since Barack Obama assumed presidency in this country and thus far I have been pleasantly surprised with his judgment during these first seven days as President, particularly of his decision to close Guantanamo immediately and for appealing the abortion aid rule. If he continues this trend, 2009 will be a very progressive year. (Enough with those comments that Obama supporters are expecting "ponies" and rainbows"--being a leftist does not mean being a delusional dreamer.)

Although I have pretty much been an Obama supporter (but NOT an "Obamamaniac") since day one at the beginning of the campaign--remember, it began ridiculously early this time--(although I'll admit to considering Kucinich and Edwards at various stages early in the game) I am not without my doubts. A few of the things that he has said throughout his campaign and afterwards have me more than a little worried. Here I will discuss two separate issues that I am concerned about: the blockade imposed on Cuba and the unhindering support of the state of Israel even when it engages in its brutal incursions against the Palestinians while strengthening the blockade on Gaza. Since this is a blog that deals primarily with Palestinian issues, I will address the latter first.

In July, during his visit to Israel Obama said: "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep every night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. I would expect Israelis to do the same thing." In other words, he was effectively giving the OK for Israelis to massacre Gazans indiscriminately under the pretext of "fighting militants" and "combatting terrorism" as they did in this latest December 2008-January 2009 catastrophe and as they have done numerous times in the past. He also was silent throughout Israel's latest incursion, although to be fair he was not yet President while the war was going on. But how do we know that he won't be silent if Israel does something like this again (which it is very likely to do, considering many Israeli citizens have been upset by the ceasefire and would like to continue the war) during his presidency? Will Obama continue to fund and defend Israel's position even though it is morally terribly wrong and unjust? Will Obama really make an effort to stop another event like this from happening again and will he send aid to Gaza and the UNWRA to rebuild the schools and homes that Israel destroyed and will he put pressure on Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza? Will he even attempt to do any of these things or will he just be like all of the other presidents the U.S. has had recently, making lovely promises but offering little results? We can only speculate, but judging from that one comment I quoted, nothing looks very promising at this point.

The second issue I will mention is another brutal blockade that suppresses the people it is imposed on and that is the U.S. blockade on Cuba. I will say it, I am a Marxist and an admirer of Fidel Castro and a supporter of the Cuban Revolution. But you can be as viruntly anti-Communist and anti-Castro as a Cuban-American is and still admit that the blockade is wrong, because it does not punish the Castros or the Communist Party (although still believing that "Communism" is a dirty word is so Joe McCarthy) but rather the Cuban people. Also, why can't people decide for themselves whether they want to buy Cuban sugar or cigars or visit the island for a holiday? The U.S. has no such embargo on much more repressive regimes and is even friendy with some of them (see Israel) and also with dictatorships (See many Middle Eastern countries). The answer is, of course, the Miami Cuban-Americans and their descendants who are still pissed because their casinos and whorehouses were closed following the Cuban Revolution and who put pressure on the U.S. government. (Although it seems to me that their power is diminishing.) It is absolutely laughable that we say all we want is an end to dictatorship and an implementation to "democracy" when we complain about somebody we dislike. Do I need not mention the CIA's role in overthrowing the democratically elected and progressive Presidents Jacobo Arbenz, Mohammad Mossaddeq, and Salvador Allende (of Guatamala, Iran, and Chile, respectively) while remaining best of friends with subsequent brutal dictators? And we hate Fidel Castro, a man whose most brutal acts against his people have been free health care and education, improved literacy, land redistribution, and subsidized food? Supposedly, the regime was anti-gay (although that was not really Fidel's fault, rather it was Cuban machismo) in the past but if it was anti-gay now it's LGTB heaven now with many rights (although admittedly not marriage) given, even a free sex change to those who request it.

The reason for the U.S.'s favorable position towards Israel and unfavorable position towards Cuba has a lot to do with the presence of Jewish-Americans and Cuban-Americans (otherwise known as the gusanos) due to their great political power that comes with them being among the more prosporous of Americans. This is why, even while Jewish-Americans compromise of only 2.5% of the population and Cuban-Americans a mere 0.5% they play such important roles in swaying American politics, particularly in the issues that concern them the most like Israel in the case of Jewish-Americans and Cuban-Americans in the case of Cuba. I should point out, though, that the latter group is on the whole more passionate about the Cuban issue than most Jewish-Americans are although the minority that do care often have much political power. Since they have more wealth, they typically have more influence that other sectors of the population do (such as the 0.6% of Muslims in the U.S. who were mostly against the Israeli attacks) including the 15% of Americans that live below the poverty line whose voices are scarcely ever heard. But Obama does not really need the support of Jewish or Cuban-Americans and should not value their support more than the lives and well-beings of Palestinians or Cubans. As some point, Obama will have to put his morals ahead of his political aspirations, especially now that he is President, and pursue a more just policy towards the Palestinians and the Cubans. Maybe reverse the present policy and put the blockade on ISRAEL and give aid to CUBA? Just a thought!