Before we get to the discussion the respective dictatorships of North Korea and Cuba, we are compelled to first say this with regard to the murder of two New York City police officers yesterday; officers named Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, whose families have this column's condolences.
Why does it have to take such a heinous act to illustrate and convince people that this is not the answer, that revenge for Eric Garner and Michael Brown as the shooter proclaimed, against law enforcement only leads to more tragedy and ruined lives? This is not what the communities in Ferguson and Staten Island (New York City) want as a resolution. And to think otherwise only serves to lower and degrade our American societal morale. There needs to be a coming together of the community and the law enforcement structures (include district attorneys et al.) on a local level and the engagement has to start with the police - they have to make the first overture because they are the organizing principal for the community.
Sadly, the New York City Police Union President Patrick Lynch seems to have no interest in reconciliation. He's advised police officers to turn their backs on Mayor Bill De Blasio and has blamed him for condoning violence under the guise of protests essentially saying the that protesters are responsible for the murders. These statements help no one.
And now to North Korea and Cuba.
There are many points to bring into focus, but first and foremost is that the film should be released and American business and government should in no way buckle to the threats of the North Korean dictatorship of Kim Jung Un. This has progressed way beyond exposing embarrassing e-mails, but as Chris Matthews said, "Americans have to be resilient." The reported threat of attack on movie theaters that show the film is in fact a terrorist act, and because the FBI has determined that the computer hacking came from North Korea, that seems to say that it is state-sponsored.
We wholeheartedly agree with Sarah Fagen, fmr. political director for George W. Bush, that we can not have American businesses being threatened. Howver, it is worth pointing out that Sony is a Japanese company so getting the Chinese to crack down on North Korea for their actions as the various guests discussed is unlikely.
Mr. Todd received varying answers about using the word 'terrorism' in discussing the matter of the release of the Seth Rogen/James Franco comedy, The Interview. Sony's lawyer, David Boies, stayed away from it while fmr. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff clearly stated that this was an act of terror.
The United States will respond there is little doubt because the message that is sent to other countries and Al Qaeda types will be that they can get away with it. The hypothetical of attacking a power grid in the United States could certainly become very real and very dangerous. With the prospect of a response, Mr. Todd posed the question as to whether or not it was ethical for United States to participate in cyber warfare. We would end that debate here by saying that the question is really a matter of the battlefield. If the United States is attacked at sea, would it be ethical to respond with a naval counter attack? Yes. If the United States, including its companies and citizens, are attacked on the cyber battlefield then it is not unethical to respond in kind. In saying that, it does preclude using other means of retaliation as Bill Richardson suggested by squeezing the dictatorship's finances.
Most certainly, fmr. Ambassador to South Korea, Christopher Hill, will be consulted on what type of response, and he used the words 'punitive' and 'punish.' The U.S. needs to send a clear message to the North Korean dictatorship that the United States when it comes to threats isn't playing around; it's not a game.
North Korea is a dictatorship that doesn't understand any other way, while Cuba is really a different story.
This is column is understanding and sympathetic to the families of Cuban-Americans who have suffered at the hands of the Castro regime and to Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaking on their behalf, but it is time to move toward normalizing relations with Cuba.
Senator Rubio stated that his goal is for democracy on the island nation, but we disagree with him on how to achieve that. Like President Obama and Senator Rand Paul, we think that overwhelming that country with the influence of our democracy and captialism will create the result desired that Mr. Rubio seeks. Cuba's size and proximity make this strategy a very reasonable possiblilty for success. The constituency that Mr. Rubio speaks for is increasingly in favor of normalizing relations with Cuba, and his strategy hasn't worked.
And here are a couple of things to think about. 1) Vladimir Putin has made some renewed overtures to Cuba earlier this year in the hopes of establishing a base of operation to spy on the U.S. 2) China has approached Cuba about drilling for oil off its coast. Would the United States want those two countries having such leverage of a country 90 miles from our border?
Not at all, and we understand that Mr. Rubio can't go back to his passionate donor base to explain these things, but that lack of leadership is not why Marco Rubio, in our view, is disqualified as a legitimate leader in this country.
Chuck Todd asked Senator Rubio about comments he made with regard to President Obama and left-wing dictatorships, doubling down and essentially saying that the president is a left-wing dictator himself because in Mr. Rubio's view, the president is helping to build up left-wing dictatorships.
We don't have a problem that Mr. Rubio has a different view on how to approach Cuba (debate it on its merits), but this other line of thinking is way out of line. Mr. Rubio in continuing this kind of left-wing conspiracy rhetoric, trying to once again delegitimizing Mr. Obama's presidency, is presenting politically pandering ideas that are inaccurate, divisive, gutless and just plain stupid. (Harsh, but we're calling it as we see it here.)
He's so NOT presidential material.
Panel: Chris Matthews, MSNBC; Bill Richardson, fmr. Governor of New Mexico and U.S. Ambassador to the UN; Sarah Fagen, ; John Nolte, columnist for the Breitbart News Network -
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