December 12-18, 2016:
"Alongside our outstanding military work, we have to draw upon the strength of our diplomacy. Terrorists would love to see us walk away from the type of work that builds international coalitions, and ends conflicts, and stops the spread of deadly weapons. It would make life easier for them; it would be a tragic mistake for us. " - President Obama, December 6, 2016
“You know, I'm, like, a smart person. I don't have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. Could be eight years — but eight years. I don't need that. But I do say, ‘If something should change, let us know.’” - President-Elect Donald Trump, in dismissing daily intelligence briefings
"[The African American community] came through, big league. Big league. And frankly if they had any doubt, they didn’t vote, and that was almost as good because a lot of people didn’t show up, because they felt good about me.” - President-Elect Donald Trump in Michigan, December 9, 2016
President Obama in an interview late Monday stressed the importance of daily intelligence briefings after President-elect Donald Trump pushed back against criticism that he receives the briefings only once a week.
"It doesn't matter how smart you are. You have to have the best information possible to make the best decisions possible. [The Intelligence community is] not perfect. But they are full of extraordinarily hardworking, patriotic and knowledgeable experts. And if you're not getting their perspective, their detailed perspective, then you are flying blind." - President Obama, December 12, 2016
It seems that we greatly need not only a “re-think” of our Cuban policies but a long-term “re-set” which has at its core an active “engagement” with both the Cuban regime and the Cuban people. While I think we should act now in this direction it probably will await until after the election — but we can get the public and ourselves to start thinking what forms this might take including a Nixon/Kissinger “China” like summit meeting after much back-door dialogue and lots of public exchanges between the two countries which can start now. We have seen just a bit of this recently and the hope must be for it to grow by bits as did the opening to China decades ago. We have been talking for a long time under Republicans and Democrats with regimes much worse than Cuba’s! As Wayne has pointed out many times our present policies of “isolation and enbargos” are not working.