# Obama needs history lesson on Cuba. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 24, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906 "2008-02-24T02:03:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dgrdfd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dgrdfd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dgrdfd)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/21 "2008-02-24T03:48:35Z")
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**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/22 "2008-02-24T03:52:15Z")
[QUOTE=Muffin] Yet another foolish pitting from a confirmed [fool](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9444208&postcount=29). [/QUOTE] Especially as, last time I saw his location, he lives in B.C. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/23 "2008-02-24T04:33:08Z")
[QUOTE=Muffin] Yet another foolish pitting from a confirmed [fool](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9444208&postcount=29). [/QUOTE] Ah, yes. I reported an assertion regarding eligibility to hold raffles made on the front page of my local paper which I cited. I also googled for the cost to the old ladies for having a legitimate raffle using the terms “British Columbia” and “raffles” and somehow was directed to an Australian cite which obviously appeared official but the Australian origin was not readily apparent. I originally put more stock in my local paper than in you, an out of province lawyer. Upon review of your cite I admitted my error and relayed your cite to our local paper for correction which hasn’t appeared to date. I’d say I just made an honest mistake which I owned up to. I can’t stop you from gratuitously maligning my character. I just don’t understand why a person of your accomplishments needs to beat this drum. I used to look forward to your posts. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/24 "2008-02-24T04:40:18Z")
[QUOTE=The Flying Dutchman] I also googled for the cost to the old ladies for having a legitimate raffle using the terms “British Columbia” and “raffles” and somehow was directed to an Australian cite which obviously appeared official but the Australian origin was not readily apparent [/QUOTE] The .au in the url didn’t tip you off at all? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/25 "2008-02-24T04:48:20Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] The .au in the url didn’t tip you off at all? [/QUOTE] Didn’t look there. I’m not in the habit of reading urls. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/26 "2008-02-24T05:17:27Z")
**The Flying Dutchman** needs a reading lesson on urls. 😛 I watched the debate with a second-generation Cuban. When Obama made that remark, she said something like, “He’s right, if you count Batista.” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/27 "2008-02-24T05:48:00Z")
[QUOTE=The Flying Dutchman] Ah, yes. I reported an assertion regarding eligibility to hold raffles made on the front page of my local paper which I cited. I also googled for the cost to the old ladies for having a legitimate raffle using the terms “British Columbia” and “raffles” and somehow was directed to an Australian cite which obviously appeared official but the Australian origin was not readily apparent. I originally put more stock in my local paper than in you, an out of province lawyer. Upon review of your cite I admitted my error and relayed your cite to our local paper for correction which hasn’t appeared to date. I’d say I just made an honest mistake which I owned up to. I can’t stop you from gratuitously maligning my character. I just don’t understand why a person of your accomplishments needs to beat this drum. I used to look forward to your posts. [/QUOTE] It sounds like an honest mistake to me and I don’t see any reason to harp on it. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/28 "2008-02-24T06:15:21Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] It sounds like an honest mistake to me and I don’t see any reason to harp on it. [/QUOTE] Which leads to a fantastic question. Which is the bigger offense: a historical/mathematical error by a presidential candidate in an unscripted forum, or a factual error offered as a cite on a message board? Discuss. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/29 "2008-02-24T06:16:12Z")
Really, once you’re in your 40s or 50s, “my entire life” can be reasonably expected to mean “my entire adult life.” My dad says he’s been working on jets his entire life, but I have it on good authority that he didn’t touch one until he was 17. Is he lying or does he just need a history lesson? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/30 "2008-02-24T07:39:33Z")
[QUOTE=The Flying Dutchman] I wouldn’t quibble on that hairsplitting. Even Obama couldn’t speak at that age. [/QUOTE] Sure, he could. Just not as spellbindingly. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/31 "2008-02-24T10:19:03Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Sure, he could. Just not as spellbindingly. [/QUOTE] “Mother, it’s not about what I would wish to eat… it’s about what we need me to eat, what this country needs me to eat. Cookies? Cookies are a sometimes food! Broccoli, now… broccoli , I can eat. Yes, I can. Yes! I! Can!” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/32 "2008-02-24T13:20:45Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] I don’t know what you said but I think I agree with you. The Cubans in Florida are shitheads. [/QUOTE] Let’s not forget how they acted during the whole “Elian Gonzalez” episode. Those people scare the shit out of me. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/33 "2008-02-24T15:08:58Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] I don’t know what you said but I think I agree with you. The Cubans in Florida are shitheads. [/QUOTE] Is this the pit? Yes! In that case fuck you and your generalizing ass, you asshole. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/34 "2008-02-24T15:11:29Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Let’s not forget how they acted during the whole “Elian Gonzalez” episode. Those people scare the shit out of me. [/QUOTE] “Those people”? Which ones? The ones that put up Elian while he was in the US? The ones who provided free legal help for boh Elian and his father? The ones who lobbied the US government to send Elian back? There were plenty of Cubans on both side. And since we’re in the pit and I am already pissed off at another asshole, fuck you too. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/35 "2008-02-24T15:18:03Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] Fat chance. If (when! - eventually) Cuba changes its government, it won’t be the people lurking in Florida for the last 45 years who control the new government, it will be the people living in Cuba who are fighting for change. If our government insists that restoring relations is dependent on returning the pillage of robber barons to their heirs, I shall be sorely disappointed. [/QUOTE] You’re more wrong than you know, but for reasons you probably don’t suspect. Fidel Castro was one Cuba’s elite before the revolution. Consequently many of his family were and continue to be influential in both the US and Cuba. Just as an examble, Fidel Castro’s oldest son is Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart. If you do a quick check of congressmen from Florida you will find not one, but two Diaz-Balart. That’s right, they are Fidel Castro’s nephews. While he Diaz-Balart brothers are outspoken in their hatred of Fidel Castro, it is not much of a stretch to imagine that once the old man is dead, and some kind of opening with Cuba takes place, to see them using their political influence to secure positions of power in Cuba. And the reverse is almost certainly true too, the future government of Cuba will likely look to the Diaz-Balart brothers to secure influence in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/36 "2008-02-24T15:20:00Z")
[QUOTE=lalenin] “Those people”? Which ones? The ones that put up Elian while he was in the US? The ones who provided free legal help for boh Elian and his father? The ones who lobbied the US government to send Elian back? There were plenty of Cubans on both side. And since we’re in the pit and I am already pissed off at another asshole, fuck you too. [/QUOTE] The ones who crowded around outside the house supporting the kidnappers and trying to interfere with with federal agents doing their jobs were pretty fucked up. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/37 "2008-02-24T15:28:07Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] The ones who crowded around outside the house supporting the kidnappers and trying to interfere with with federal agents doing their jobs were pretty fucked up. [/QUOTE] Thanks for the clarification, did Guinastasia send you that? Or is that your own take? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/38 "2008-02-24T15:32:55Z")
[QUOTE=lalenin] Thanks for the clarification, did Guinastasia send you that? Or is that your own take? [/QUOTE] That’s my own take. I don’t need **Guinastasia** to tell me what to think. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/39 "2008-02-24T16:00:21Z")
I can verify that. The current Commissar for Cogntive Correctness for the Popular Revolutionary Front SDMB (Trotskyist) is\*\* Elvish\*\*. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnieEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@JohnnieEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnieEnigma)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906/40 "2008-02-24T16:07:14Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Let’s not forget how they acted during the whole “Elian Gonzalez” episode. Those people scare the shit out of me. [/QUOTE] I’ve often wondered what Castro and Clinton traded for Elian’s freedom… cuban cigars possibly? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-needs-history-lesson-on-cuba/438906.md?page=3)