Chattanooga Times Free Press

Endorsed by a socialist

-

In the course of elections, endorsemen­ts are sought, offered and celebrated by candidates seeking an advantage or reason to “earn” the media spotlight.

President Obama has received an endorsemen­t that hasn’t quite made splashy headlines or his campaign material just yet.

The Miami Herald reports that the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s niece, Mariela Castro, “hailed” Obama in a speech promoting “justice and social equality” at a California gay rights conference hosted by the Rainbow World Fund.

Castro noted in those same remarks that the Cuban-American community that leans typically to the right is “a small group of delinquent­s,” as she proclaimed her vote would be cast for President Obama.

As a side note, Florida Republican­s led by U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart protested the visa awarded to Castro in the weeks before her travel into the country as a violation of Presidenti­al Proclamati­on 5377 that prohibits nonimmigra­nt visas to Cuban Communist Party members.

Rep. Diaz-Balart publicly criticized the Obama administra­tion’s approval of the current travel of Cuban President Raul Castro’s daughter: “It is reprehensi­ble, unacceptab­le and is greatly irresponsi­ble of the administra­tion to allow these high-level Communist Party regime officials to come into the United States on these PR tours,” foxnews.com reported.

The national press secretary of the Democratic National Committee, Melanie Roussell, dismissed the criticisms as politicall­y motivated.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgende­r groups assembled in San Francisco reportedly cheered and rose with applause to Castro’s declaratio­n: “What we want is the power of emancipati­on through socialism!”

Anyone want to explain to Castro and the “progressiv­es” the fact that emancipati­on and socialism are mutually exclusive?

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States