Were it possible for me to have had a conversation with President John F. Kennedy, whose record of leadership in the White House was only slightly tinged by the tainted and ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion fiasco, here’s what I may have proffered up to the President, as my take on the matter, were he still with us today.
Photo: courtesy of chronosthing.blogspot.com
By Alan Gray
If we can travel to Cuba or anywhere else in our imagination, then why not indeed in a physical manifestation?
It's an absurd notion to maintain in 2008 the ideas and ideals that led our government leaders to this monumental micro-management morass decades ago, during the so-called Cold War period. With that era now gone with the proverbial wind - and receding fast from the memories of those of us still around and able to recall the days of the "duck and cover" drills at school, never mind the total absence of any knowledge or remembrance from the majority of the younger generation of Americans alive today - I for one think it's high time we replace the dispirited Cold War past with some Hot Fare (i.e., cheap vacation travel excursions to Cuba's hospitable tropics) repast.
Now having said all that, there are admittedly some very touchy political and economic issues on the table, and these most certainly do need to be discussed, debated, aired out to dry, and otherwise resolved and ironed out by all involved parties - and this most certainly needs to be done in a logical, orderly and diplomatically civil way prior to any mad dash on anyone's part to get the first available seat on a bucket flight to Havana. These innumerable economic and political issues need not be the focus of this brief article, which in its own humble way will not be pretentious enough to delve into the morass of what all agree has grown into the diplomatic equivalent of huge, hideously ugly and growing slag heap beside a gargantuan coal mine.
My sensibilities are shaken when I ponder the question posed as this article's headline, juxtaposed with images of Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, former President Jimmy Carter, and so many others who've been busily about the business of interposing themselves all over God's green acre, wherever and whenever they please - and puh-LEASE ... spare me the line about it all being in the name of world peace or some-such lofty global goal. We're not idiots. Really, already. Who among us wouldn't give our eye teeth to travel to Syria, in the midst of a Middle East war at that, to enjoy the palatial luxuries of high living on an all-expenses-paid junket? Come on ... remember the commercial from the American Beef Council from years ago that asked, "Where's the beef?" To my mind, it's appropriate to ask at this juncture, "Where's the peace?"
Rather than belabor this into some declension of dull triviality, which is not what an issue so important as this one warrants, let me just say again: if you can imagine yourself enjoying the sun, surf, sand and siesta-time snooze of a cozy Cuban beach in your mind's eye, why on earth should there be any physical restriction from your pursuing the greatest American freedom of all: the freedom our Constitution gives you to pursue life, liberty and happiness - even if that individual "manifest destiny" takes you into account on a manifest of snowbirds flocking to Havana?
This may be an oversimplification of a very complex and certainly emotive issue, but I for one believe it's high time our political leaders take up the mantle, drop the shibboleths about "Communist Cuba", and move us - as we did in our recent diplomatic gestures with Vietnam and Cambodia - into the 21st century already!
About the blogger:
Alan Gray is CEO & Senior Consulting Partner with Total Image Worx, a boutique PR, communications and marketing services consulting practice with offices in Fairfax, VA and Panama City, Panama. See his professional profile at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangray
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