It came as no surprise to see the kneejerk Republican response to President Obama’s decision to open relations with Cuba after more than half-a-century of isolation and sanctions. Clearly, 54 years isn’t quite enough time for this ridiculous policy to work, and if you ever wondered how long a series of Republican presidential administrations might have kept our military fighting the war in Iraq without “cutting and running,” let this be a solid indicator of their futile tenacity.
Jeb Bush called it Obama’s “latest foreign policy misstep.” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said, “It’s part of a long record of coddling dictators and tyrants that this administration has established.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) pledged, “I will do all in my power to block the use of funds to open an embassy in Cuba. Normalizing relations with Cuba is bad idea at a bad time.”
The most hilarious GOP reaction came from Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) who tweeted the following:
Relations with the Castro regime should not be revisited, let alone normalized, until the Cuban people enjoy freedom – & not 1 second sooner
— Speaker John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) December 17, 2014
Why is this hilarious? One glance at Boehner’s assets portfolio via Open Secrets reveals that Boehner is making a bundle from corporations that are actively exploiting workers and racking up human rights violations in China, a nation led by communists with a long history of human rights abuses, as well as other countries such as Burma and perhaps even Iran. In other words, it really doesn’t seem as if Boehner is all that concerned about people enjoying freedom.
1) Walmart. Boehner owns somewhere between $15,000 and $50,000 in Walmart stock, despite the fact that it’s arguably one of the worst offenders in terms of sweatshops and labor violations in China. In addition to running shoddy factories, workers were paid less than the 41-cents-per-hour minimum wage. In 2008, The New York Times reported… CONTINUE READING