Cuban exiles and GOPers need to realize that the Cold War ended more than two decades ago

[MrScorpio]

New horizons create new opportunities.

[riversedge]

1. i am glad that Pres Obama

did this now. my feeling is that by nov 2016 the dust will have settled somewhat and the elders will see more benefits. but.......

[Hoyt]

2. I really don't understand why so many are against this, even Dems.

[Mika]

4. Campaign contributions. eom

[Major Nikon]

5. Many of them are being bankrolled by rich Floridians who have property claims with Cuba

Where they claim Cuba "stole" land and property from them during and after the revolution. Their money and political influence stokes anti-Castro hate, which isn't hard to do in South Florida anyway. They have been insisting that any deal with Cuba must include "their" disputed property.

[Mika]

3. Cuba is STILL on the US's travel ban list. Cuba is STILL on the US's terror state list.

I'm pretty sure that Cuba is the only country we are banned by our gov't from freely traveling to.

I get your point, but, until the travel ban is done and FULL normalization occurs ... it's still on.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

6. The Cold War has effectively restarted.

I'm not sure that's relevant to US/Cuban relations, though.

[davidn3600]

7. Yeah? Tell that to Putin

He's sure acting like the cold war is still going on.

[Feral Child]

8. A big percentage of Cuban exiles,

at least the Old guard, were Baptista supporters. Hardline conservatives and class elitists. many of them were extracted by the CIA, fellow travelers.

You can see that with Korea and Vietnamese also. The ones who could escape were helped out by CIA, MACV, Special Forces. People they owed favors too.

Even those that aren't hardliners were driven from their country. Of course they hate Castro.

To them, the Embargo punished Castro, they're too angry to think of those that couldn't get out.

I only know a few of the younger generation. Those that supported the Embargo are Legacy, they hate Castro because their parents or grandparents did. Some are tired of all the old hatred, they want to see their homeland.

CAVEAT: I mean no disrespect to any individual person of Cuban, Korean, or Vietnamese extraction. Many are fine citizens that harbor resentments and tend, therefore, to be conservative.

[Vogon_Glory]

9. Good Advice, But Stoopid Still Sells In The GOP Primaries

Good advice, but Stoopid still sells in the GOP primaries. If Republican voters turned out to vote their personal interests instead of reacting to hot-button issues, people like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee would be political nobodies.

And as much as it bewilders me and infuriates me, "stoopid" sold very well in the last general election. Those voters who knew they were getting (Phillips-headed) by Republicans but who decided they were annoyed at President Obama stayed home instead of voting. So did too many potential voters who fail to notice that things have gotten worse for them since 1995, but still assume they'll be doing as well in late 2015 as they're doing right now.

[4139]

10. Not for those under Castro, BUT I agree, time to try something different.

[Rex]

11. IKR!? What scares me is how much they want to go right back into a Cold War.

McCain dreams about it every night.