Calling out Rahm Emanuel

By now everyone knows that attempts to weaken the embargo against Cuba in the House of Representatives were defeated yesterday. One particular thing caught my attention, though. It was a quote from Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) in the Washington Post:

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat, noted that the Bush administration, in pushing for approval of a free-trade agreement with six Central American countries, has argued that trade is the best way to foster democracy and reform in the hemisphere.

"Yet the Cuba embargo, they also say, is a way to support freedom and democracy and economic reform to develop in Cuba," Emanuel said, adding, "The consistency in their trade policy would bring a smile to George Orwell's face."

Well Mr. Emanuel, you have some explaining to do. Because you voted against CAFTA in the House Ways and Means committee. So you are against free trade with our democratic neighbors, that we are in a position to help, yet you want to normalize trade with the oldest dictatorship in the hemisphere? No Mr. Emanuel, the irony (or hypocrisy) is all yours. The reason why the administration believes CAFTA "is the best way to foster democracy" in the hemisphere is because it will bolster the economies of these countries that are ALREADY democracies. The entire purpose of the embargo is to keep from rewarding Cuba for its dismal record on human rights, among other things. Of course it's effectiveness is the subject of great debate, but the administration's policies are not at all inconsistent in this matter, yours are. You're proving yourself to be quite the friend of tyranny and the enemy of progress and economic growth among our peaceful, democratic neighbors.