Bernie Praised Fidel Castro's Education System. So Did Obama.

[peoli]

Bernie Sanders has a 100 percent rating from the American Civil Liberties Union. His support for individual political rights is so unwavering he has called for the enfranchisement of all of America’s incarcerated citizens. His belief in freedom of expression is so unyielding he has scolded progressive college students for shutting down the speeches of far-right speakers. “To me, it’s a sign of intellectual weakness,” the Vermont senator said in 2017. “If you can’t ask Ann Coulter, in a polite way, questions which expose the weakness of her arguments, if all you can do is boo or shut her down or prevent her from coming, what does that tell the world?”

And yet — days after the sitting Republican president asserted an “absolute right” to order criminal investigations into anyone he chooses and began purging the executive branch of civil servants who won’t pledge personal fealty to him — 60 Minutes wants you to know that Sanders may be too authoritarian to be trusted with the presidency.

On last night’s edition of the CBS program, Anderson Cooper made sure to give his viewers “both sides” of the debate over whether Sanders is a crypto-totalitarian. The anchor noted that, while “Sanders says the change he envisions most closely resembles Scandinavian and European countries with democratic governments,” both Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg have called his proposals communist. Cooper then offered some evidence for the Trump-Bloomberg position and asked Sanders to respond:


https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/bernie-sanders-fidel-castro-60-minutes-interview-cooper.html

[George II]

1. But Sanders did so while Castro was still rounding up and jailing journalists and dissidents....

...and conducting mass executions. He also did so as a Mayor of a tiny city in Vermont. Sanders also made those comments at a time that Cuba was a satellite of the Soviet Union.

Obama did so as the President of the United States. Presidents are expected to maintain a certain level of civility and demeanor when referring to leaders of other countries with which we're not at war. He didn't do so at a time that mass executions were taking place. And Cuba was no longer under the thumb of the Soviet Union.

Absolutely no comparison between the two considering the circumstances of each set of comments and their relative positions at the time.

This isn't a "yeahbut" situation.

[HarlanPepper]

2. Bizarre indeed.

It looks like the talking points have been distributed.

[robbedvoter]

3. Obama talked to another Castro. In Cuba. And still said this

Link to tweet

?s=21

[George II]

4. Interesting how an ENTIRE set of comments totally changes the meaning of what some want it to be.

[uponit7771]

5. Bullshit false equivalency, Obama: Look around Cuba and see economy isn't work / Sanders Castro

... everything wasn't bad.

Not the point Obama was making about .. CASTRO .. Obama focused on Cuba the country and the examples of some things that were correct and not sounds like he was defending the dictators actions without the premise of baby and bath water behind it.

At best Sanders was sloppy

[David__77]

6. There was a thing called "mutually assured destruction."

I wonder how it might pertain to this primary race.

[myohmy2]

7. President Obama, 3-22-2016

" Remarks by President Obama to the People of Cuba "
.................

" Cuba has an extraordinary resource -- a system of education which values every boy and every girl. (Applause.) And in recent years, the Cuban government has begun to open up to the world, and to open up more space for that talent to thrive. In just a few years, we've seen how cuentapropistas can succeed while sustaining a distinctly Cuban spirit. Being self-employed is not about becoming more like America, it’s about being yourself. "
.................

" I’ve made it clear that the United States has neither the capacity, nor the intention to impose change on Cuba. What changes come will depend upon the Cuban people. We will not impose our political or economic system on you. We recognize that every country, every people, must chart its own course and shape its own model. But having removed the shadow of history from our relationship, I must speak honestly about the things that I believe -- the things that we, as Americans, believe. As Marti said, “Liberty is the right of every man to be honest, to think and to speak without hypocrisy.” "

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/22/remarks-president-obama-people-cuba
.................................................

...if Castro as dictator is the government, then any good the Cuban government has done for the Cuban people over the years was from Castro...

...in his speech, President Obama seemed to have recognized the good and bad aspect of our relationship with Cuba...President Obama also seemed to realize that what we were doing as a country was going nowhere and that a new way had to be found...

...has any of this made President Obama sympathetic to Communism or Castro?...of course not...

...but when faced with facts and reality, it's best to be honest and observe them...

[Gothmog]

8. Florida Democratic Party disavows Sanders.

Link to tweet