On August 14, 2015 Rush Limbaugh,
famed ultraconservative radio host of
The
Rush Limbaugh Show
had a special segment about the reestablishment of US-
Cuba diplomatic relations. On
The Rush
Limbaugh Show
website, the transcript of
the Cuba segment is titled, “The American
Left Celebrates: Viva Fidel!”
He opened the radio piece explaining, “The
American flag was raised today over the
American embassy in Havana, Cuba. Such
a great day for the Drive-Bys, such a great
day for the American left, and such a great
day for Fidel Castro. Victory for Fidel Castro is considered victory for the American
media.”
During his usual rant-style commentary
Limbaugh mentioned many different issues seemingly off the top of his head: Elite
Americans and their desire to smoke Cuban Cigars for photo-ops. He explained
how, “Traditionally, America has liberated
people from oppression all over the world.”
He also stated, “Dissidents are celebrated
here [in the U.S.]; in Cuba they’re put in
jail." He ended his rant proclaiming that,
“We fought a war to liberate Cuba, which
was under the jackbooted thug Spanish
dictatorship! Have you ever heard of the
Spanish-American War? It was also called
The War for Cuban Independence.” All
these exaggerated comments and lies just to
emphasize his discontent with the reestablishment of US-Cuba diplomatic relations.
Who is Rush Limbaugh?
Rush Limbaugh is one of the most popular voices of the right-wing in the United
States. His show,
The Rush Limbaugh Show,
claims to enjoy 20 million listeners weekly,
although these numbers have been criticized
by many mainstream news publications, including the
Washington Post
and
Business Insider
who believe
Limbaugh’s actual number
of listeners is probably closer to 14 million,
or possibly only 1.4 million a week. However, what we do know is that his opinions
are taken seriously by political pundits and
many right-leaning people across the U.S.
and his show is popular enough to have
stayed on-air for over 25 years, it launched
in 1988.
This of course, does not mean he is universally liked. In fact, his views on many issues
are so unpopular that there are several websites dedicated to boycotting his sponsors,
#StopRush is a popular hashtag on twitter
and there are several online petitions with
various demands against Rush Limbaugh.
Here are some of the gems spouted by Limbaugh on his show that have stirred up controversy:
Example 1, when Limbaugh was discussing
consent versus rape he opined, “No means
yes, if you know how to spot it”.
Example 2, in 2007 Limbaugh repeatedly
played a song, which was written and recorded specifically for the
Rush Limbaugh
Show
called, “Barack the Magic Negro”.
Example 3, in 2011 when the tsunami hit
Japan and thousands were killed or left
homeless, Limbaugh laughed as he said,
“The Japanese have done so much to save
the planet. [...] Even now, refugees are still
recycling their garbage, and yet Gaia levels
them [laughs], just wipes them out. Wipes
out their nuclear plants, all kinds of radiation. What kind of payback is this?”
Example 4, when discussing Michelle
Obama’s weight and programs for healthy
eating Limbaugh said, “if you are going to
tell everyone to eat twigs and berries and
gravel and all this other stuff, you had better
look like an Ethiopian.”
Okay and a final example, about Indigenous
people in the U.S., Limbaugh said, “How
many Native Americans, how many Indians were killed by the arrival of the white
man through disease and war, and how many
people have died since the white man arrived
here due to lung cancer thanks to the Indian-invented custom of smoking tobacco?
Who are the real killers here?”
So for those not familiar with Limbaugh’s
name, now you have a better idea of where
he is coming from.
Limbaugh on Cuban Healthcare
Limbaugh says that the new diplomatic ties
mean, “in due course we’ll have access to
that wonderful, superior Cuban health care
system that has only been available to the
elite and the precious few, such as Michael
Moore and Sean Penn and, well, maybe
some others.”
First, while Limbaugh is trying to be sarcastic in calling Cuba’s healthcare system
“wonderful” and “superior” some people have
made the case that in many ways it is true.
Two of those people are Michael Moore,
who created and directed the film
Sicko
in
2007 where he took a group of ill 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba for health treatment
because many could not afford proper treatment in the United States. Sean Penn is a
left-wing actor well known for supporting
the social gains of the Cuban revolution.
Important to add to this is that Michael
Moore did not take the “elite” to Cuba, he
took people that he considered American
heroes who could not afford healthcare in
their own country. While making fun of Michael Moore, Limbaugh completely ignored
the very real health crisis facing these American workers. According to the
New York
Post
article from August 9, 2015, “The rising
toll of Ground Zero responders and others
afflicted with 9/11-linked cancers has hit
3,700.” According to another article, “9/11
death toll rises as cancer cases soar among
emergency workers” from the
UK Telegraph
from July 2014, “The compensation bill for
treating those who became ill after helping
in the long-running recovery operation at
Ground Zero has already run into millions
of dollars.” These workers are having to apply
for compensation from
The September 11
Victims Compensation Fund and the
WTC
Health Program – because the healthcare
system in the United States is exactly what
Limbaugh accuses Cuba of being “available
to the elite and the precious few."
At the same time, when we compare
U.N.I.C.E.F. health statistics we can also
see the gains of
Cuba’s healthcare system
under the Cuban revolution.
For example,
in the U.S. infant mortality
means that 6
babies will die
before their
first birthday
for every 1,000
babies born.
In Cuba the
infant mortality is lower
with only 4
deaths/1,000
live births, in fact Cuba’s is the
lowest infant mortality rate in the
Americas. In 2012, life expectancy at birth
for a baby was 78.8 years in the United States,
in the same year in Cuba babies were born
with a life expectancy of 79.1 years. These
are important factors showing that it is not
only “elite” Cubans who benefit from their
healthcare system, but the general population. Not only that, but on some important
indicators, such as life expectancy and infant
mortality, Cubans are actually healthier and
better off than Americans.
Limbaugh on Cuban “dissidents”
Rush Limbaugh’s
greatest criticism of
the reestablishment
of US-Cuba relations,
has to do with the so-
called “dissidents,” the
Cubans who are calling
for the overthrow of
the Cuban government
and socialist system.
Limbaugh’s perspective
is, “any dissidents in
Havana, any dissidents
in Cuba who seek to
speak out against the
regime are put in jail,
and now the American
flag is essentially flying proudly over that real-life circumstance.
People that want to show up at Castro’s --
doesn’t give speeches anymore, but -- public
events in Cuba and protest or just be dissidents for freedom? Dissidents are celebrated here; in Cuba they’re put in jail. And
we are proud as we can be to be normalizing
relations with such a forward, revolutionary
thinking as Fidel Castro. Damn right. This
is the kind of ally we’ve always needed. This
is the kind of support we’ve needed internationally, and it’s about time we got it, right?”
First we have to ask, who are the “dissidents”
in Cuba? In a fairly straightforward explanation of the situation in Cuba,
Business Insider
published an article on July 23, 2015
titled, “US politicians are now ignoring the
Cuban dissidents they once courted.” They
write, “Cuban officials are highly sensitive
to the issue of domestic dissidents, whom
they call mercenaries and tools of a U.S.-
backed policy aimed at overturning the
half-century-old socialist revolution. Many
dissidents receive support from anti-Castro
Cuban-Americans in Florida. They have
been unable to generate widespread support
on the island because of intense government
pressure aimed at stifling popular organizing
and because many ordinary Cubans believe
dissidents only want to earn money, renown
and visas to live in the U.S. Advocates for
the Obama administration’s policy say recent
congressional visits have aimed to take the
pulse of a broader swath of society: small-
time entrepreneurs who have set up shop
under the economic reforms of recent years;
foreign diplomats and businesspeople operating in Havana; and regular Cubans who
have complaints about Internet access and
other issues without calling outright for a
180-degree change of the political system.”
What can Limbaugh learn from this article?
To begin with, there is no automatic ‘go to
jail’ card for Cuban dissidents. But yes, if
they are being paid by a foreign government
to attempt to over-throw the government
in Cuba they can be put on trial and found
guilty – it is called acting as an agent of a foreign government or treason. It is also a crime
in the US and Canada! It is also true that
“regular” Cubans want to see changes and
improvements in their society, but that sentiment exists in every country in the world! As
Business Insider
explains these are, “regular
Cubans who have complaints about Internet
access and other issues without calling out
right for a 180-degree change of the political
system.” Furthermore, it is not just Cubans
and their government that believe these dissidents are motivated by personal gain and
not altruistic desires to “be dissidents for
freedom” as Limbaugh put it. The USAID
openly admits on its website to helping dissidents in Cuba. They explain, “USAID supports independent civic, social, and development activities by providing technical and
material assistance to organize, train, and
energize small groups of people within their
communities.” The website also explains that
USAID programs have received several million dollars a year to operate in Cuba from
the Congress of the United States.
Next we need to look at Limbaugh’s claim
that, “Dissidents are celebrated here; in Cuba
they’re put in jail.” I am pretty sure Edward
Snowden and Chelsea Manning, two whistleblowers who have exposed U.S. crimes
would whole-heartedly disagree. Snowden
had to flee to Russia and seek asylum there
because the U.S. government wants to put
him in jail for exposing that it was spying
on its own citizens and people around the
world through the National Security Agency
(N.S.A.) and Manning is currently serving
a 35 year sentence in an American military
prison for leaking documents and videos
showing U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. We can also name many other
political prisoners in the U.S. who have been
framed with trumped up charges based on
their status as independent journalists, social
justice activists and dissidents: Mumia Abu-
Jamal, Leonard Peltier, Oscar Lopez Rivera
and hundreds of others. Maybe the right-
wing dissenters that Limbaugh supports are
better treated? But saying that these people
are celebrated in the U.S. media or by the
government as dissidents is ludicrous.
Finally, we need to ask why Limbaugh is
so unhappy about having Cuba as an international ally for the United States. Cuba is
widely respected internationally. Cuba has
diplomatic or consular relations with 187
countries and States. It is also a member of
many important international organizations:
the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of
Our America (ALBA), the Community
of Latin American and Caribbean States
(CELAC), the Caribbean Community Secretariat (CARICOM), the Non-Aligned
Movement (NAM) and many United Nations agencies such as UNICEF and UNESCO. We can also compare the fact that Cuba
is sending doctors and educators around the
world to provide free healthcare and literacy
to rural and remote communities. While the
United States is basically known internationally for corporate pollution and exploitation, spying and monitoring, setting up
military bases on foreign soil, extra-judicial
killings by drone strikes and war.
Limbaugh on Cuban democracy
Rush Limbaugh then tries to explain his understanding of Cuban parliament, “Hardly
anybody knows this because nobody cares,
but the fact is that more than 60% of the
Cuban population is descended from slaves.
Not that you would ever know it, particularly
if you looked at photos of the Cuban parliament. Do you know the Cuban parliament,
for whatever purpose it serves... I mean, it’s
a rubber stamp. But do you know that it’s
practically lily white? And when’s the last
time you saw a lily white Cuban citizen? But
nobody says it."
First, we have to ask, is the Cuban Parliament
really “a rubber stamp”? The last election for
the Cuban parliament was held in 2013. According to
Juventud Rebelde
, over 7.8 million
Cubans voted in the election, which means
their election boasted 90.8% voter turnout.
Of the ballots cast, 94% were valid, 1% were
spoiled ballots and 5% were blank, this is an
amazing voter participation rate, especially
because Canada is fighting to get over 60%
turnout and the U.S. voter turnout was about
58% for the 2012 presidential election. Why
would Cubans be so interested in participating and voting in these elections if they felt
the parliament was just “a rubber stamp”?
Second, we have to investigate this “lily
white” status of Cuban parliament members.
Of the delegates elected in 2013, 67% were
re-elected to their seat, the average age of
delegates is 48. Most important to respond
to Rush Limbaugh’s “lily white” accusation, is that 37% of the over 612 delegates
are black or “mestizo” (multiracial). Despit
what Limbaugh believes, according
to the C.I.A.’s own
WorldFactBook,
Cuba’s general population is 64.1%
white, 26.6% mestizo and 9.3%
black, which means people of colour
are well represented in the Cuban
parliament.
On the other hand, we have the
U.S. Congress, which is definitely
“lily white” when compared to the
American population. Despite the
title of the
PewResearch Center
’s January 2015 article, “114th Congress
is most diverse ever”. They explain,
“Overall, non-whites make up 17%
of the new Congress, but that is below these groups’ 38% share of the
nation’s population. This difference
also exists among the newly elected
members of Congress, as minorities
account for 11 of 71 new members
of the House and Senate.” So even
though the current congress is the
most diverse in American history –
it is still nowhere near representative
of the American populace.
I would also like to take the opportunity to
discuss the role of women in Cuban parliament. On June 9, 2015 the
New York Times
published, “The Cuban woman: A rising
power” an article that stated, “Cuba consistently ranks high in international surveys
regarding women’s status, standing at 18
among 142 nations in women’s political empowerment and at number two for percentage of women in parliament, according to
the 2014 World Economic Forum’s Global
Gender Gap report. By contrast, the United
States is ranked at 54 in women’s political
empowerment and 83 for women in parliament (U.S. Senate and U.S. House).”
Continuing, the article explains, “Today,
women make up nearly half of [Cuba]’s
work force and more than half of university faculties, and hold top portfolios in the
ministries. Among the best educated in the
West, they make up the majority of high
school and college graduates, the majority
in technical and administrative jobs, 33.6
percent of directors and executives, and a
remarkable 48.9 percent of the Cuban parliament, the National Assembly.” Maybe this is one of the
reasons Rush Limbaugh is so
afraid of Cuban socialism, he
has often referred to feminists
and those fighting for gender
equality as ‘feminazis’ in his
rants.
Limbaugh on Guantanamo
Limbaugh also makes it very
clear that he is concerned
about the future of the U.S.
naval base and prison in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. You
might think, oh finally he
is making some sense, but
he is not concerned in the
way that most of humanity
is troubled by Guantanamo.
He said, “So then the next question, ladies
and gentlemen: How long will it be...? Seriously, how long will it be before Barack Hussein Obama gives Guantanamo Bay back to
Cuba? For all the talk about here the American flag today being raised today over Cuba,
the American flag has been flying proudly at
Guantanamo Bay.”
According to Limbaugh, an American
flag has been proudly
flying over Guantanamo. What exactly is
proud about that flag?
In 2011, Amnesty International published
a 64 page report with
the title, “Guantánamo:
A Decade of Damage
to Human Rights”. The
report concludes with
the following paragraph, “A month before
the 10
th anniversary of
the Guantánamo detentions, two retired US
Marine generals characterized the detention
facility as a “morally
and financially expensive symbol of detainee
abuse”. It is not just a
symbol of past abuse,
however, but of a continuing assault by the
USA on human rights
principles. Two and a
half years ago, President
Obama said that the
Guantánamo detentions were a “misguided
experiment”, but his
administration has kept
the laboratory operating. Also in 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder said
that he and President Obama were in agreement that “Guantánamo has come to represent a time and an approach that we want to
put behind us”. How much longer does the
world have to wait until the USA steps into
a future without the Guantánamo detention
facility, and adopts an approach to countering terrorism that incorporates full respect
for its international human rights obligations?” Guantanamo has become synonymous around the world with torture, illegal
detentions, violations of human rights, hunger strikes, torturous force feeding, lack of
access to due legal process and the hypocrisy
of the U.S. war on terror. What is Limbaugh
so proud of?
It is also unclear why Limbaugh is so worried about Obama giving up Guantanamo
bay. Clearly that territory is not part of the
United States, clearly it is attached to the
rest of the sovereign island of Cuba- why
shouldn’t the U.S. government give it back
to its rightful owners? Why shouldn’t the
U.S. government stop using Guantanamo as
an international torture facility and give up
their military base? Would the U.S. allow the
Cuban government to have a Cuban military
base in California, Florida or somewhere
else in the United States?
Limbaugh on US foreign policy & freedom
While not directly discussing Cuba Limbaugh makes many great claims on behalf of
America. He said things like, “Traditionally,
America has liberated people from oppression all over the world and seen to it that
freedom and economic advancement has
been the story of the day." Adding to that
he explains, ““What is it that enabled people
to elevate themselves and escape the bonds
of poverty?” It wasn’t social safety net programs. It wasn’t big federal government. It
was freedom, liberty, and capitalism which
allowed this economic march.” Well Limbaugh, the world begs to differ with your
track record.
Fidel Castro has a great quote, he once said,
“They talk about the failure of socialism, but
where is the success of capitalism in Africa,
Asia and Latin America?” While the U.S.
and its imperialist allies have prospered
with capitalism, we have to ask how? It is
not because they work harder or are inherently smarter. It is because they have stolen
the wealth of other people. Whether we are
talking about natural resources in Africa,
sweat shops in Asia or cutting down the
rainforests of Latin America to grow food
to cheaply feed people in the so-called first
world. But even that division, between the
so-called north and south, rich and poor, is
fake, because within the imperialist countries themselves there is a growing divide
between rich and poor. Limbaugh is advocating what he sees as the successes of this
system. While the rest of the world is looking around at the environmental impact,
the social impact and the growing divisions
between human beings and saying this has
to stop!
Did you know that last week according
to
Yahoo! News
a young American father,
Brian Randolph, held up a bank in Michigan? He was later arrested and admitted
that “his motive was to pay for his child’s
chemotherapy since his insurance company
was no longer paying for the pricey treatments. The child suffers from an eye cancer
called retinoblastoma. The 23-year-old has
been charged with armed robbery and bank
robbery, which could land him a maximum
sentence of life in prison.”
This news story was really infuriating. This
is one small example of why many refuse to
believe Mr. Limbaugh and his co-thinkers,
we refuse to believe that capitalism is the
only way forward for humanity. Shouldn’t
jobs, healthcare, education, and homes be
considered basic human rights guaranteed
to every human being at birth?
Of course there are many further claims
that Limbaugh makes during his segment
about the U.S. government being known as
“a beacon for freedom”, that the U.S. has
“liberated people to freedom” and that the
U.S. “eliminated tyranny where we could”.
These are important points that need to be
confronted, but there is no space for exposing all of his hyperbolic nonsense in this
article.
Why is Limbaugh so afraid of Cuba?
Limbaugh’s ideas about Cuba represent
the old guard of the American ruling class.
These are people who have generally been
in favour of the U.S. policy of blockade
and sabotage against the Cuban revolution since 1959. This group does not feel
that the last 50 years of hostility between
the U.S. and Cuba have been a waste. They
want to isolate Cuba and its socialist example and pretend it does not exist.
Today with the reestablishment of US-
Cuba relations we see a different side of
the US ruling class, a side that is hated by
Mr. Limbaugh and his co-thinkers. Despite
what Limbaugh claims, the Obama administration still hopes to see regime change in
Cuba. Obama also hopes to defeat the gains
of Cuba’s socialist revolution. However,
Obama believes that the policy of the last
50 years has been a failure at reaching these
goals, so he plans use his favourite ‘smart
power’ strategy with Cuba.
The term “smart power” is defined by the
Center for Strategic and International Studies as “an approach that underscores the necessity of a strong military, but also invests
heavily in alliances, partnerships, and institutions of all levels to expand American influence and establish legitimacy of American
action.” This means that at this time Obama
plans to re-establish US-Cuba relations
while keeping the U.S. blockade against
Cuba and holding on to the U.S. naval base
at Guantanamo. This is a part of the devious
balancing act. Make no mistake, Limbaugh
claims that Obama is a friend to the Cuban
revolution and Fidel Castro, this is not true.
Obama’s plan is basically the carrot and the
stick, rather than Limbaugh who would prefer to just use a stick.
Cuba is well aware that the United States
government, whether Republican or Democrat, is no friend of the Cuban people or
their great socialist revolution. However, the
Cuban government has weighted its options
and believes that going with the Obama administration on this path is the best at this
time. However, Cuba continues to push for
an end to the U.S. blockade, for the U.S. to
fully return Guantanamo (Obama just wants
to close the torture prison, not abandon the
military base) and that the U.S. stop funding
their so-called ‘democracy building projects’
in Cuba, such as those of USAID.
Despite what Limbaugh claims, the Obama
administration is not at all interested in listening to those aspects of Cuba’s legitimate
demands. So it is up to the peace-loving people of the world, those who believe in justice
and Cuba’s right to self-determination and
sovereignty, to raise our voices along with
the people of Cuba and keep the pressure on
the U.S. government.
End the U.S. Blockade on Cuba Now!
U.S. Out of Guantanamo Now!
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