FLORIDA Senator Annette Taddeo's response to Sanders' Cuba comments:

[George II]

Taddeo's twitter profile:

Senator proudly representing District 40 in Miami, Florida. @LanguageSpeak CEO, Progressive Miami Latina Jew, Proud Mom to Sofia & my Doggies

Link to tweet

[Watchfoxheadexplodes]

1. Bernie just keeps giving

Smh

[emmaverybo]

2. Lack of judgement. Lack of awareness. Maybe lack of history shown by immature praise of

failed and brutal socialist and communist regimes.

[NurseJackie]

4. Definitely a lack of something, that's for sure.

After this... and his month-of-silence after learning Russia was helping him... he's simply unqualified... or disqualified. It's beyond the pale. He should withdraw now.

[oasis]

3. Ooops

[NurseJackie]

5. And then some.

[jmg257]

6. Hey what's a few thousand nazi-like executions compared to a massive literary program!

Control the propaganda AND make sure your subjects can read it.

Whats not to like?

[Gothmog]

7. Florida Democratic Party disavows Sanders.

Link to tweet

[NurseJackie]

9. Wow! That's gonna leave a mark on the BS campaign!

What in the world was Sanders thinking? It's yet another failed leadership test. He just doesn't have the "chops" when it comes to things like this. He simply does not have the demeanor and diplomatic gravitas that's needed to be the Leader of the Free World. Thankfully I'm not the only one who's seeing it.

All I'm saying is: we can do better and we (as Democrats and as a nation) deserve better.

[Blue_true]

10. I will be voting for anyone but Bernie or Tulsi when Florida starts

voting on March 8 (first day of early voting, need to check). The primary day in Match 17 for Florida.

[NurseJackie]

11. I haven't made up my mind EXCEPT that it won't be Bernie.

Even if it came down to Tulsi and Bernie... I'd vote for her... and I don't even like her.

[boston bean]

14. He is one who has a really hard time believing that he is ever wrong.

Have you ever heard him say it?

[NurseJackie]

15. I'm still waiting for an apology for all the horrible lies that have been told about the Democrats...

Where's the apology and retraction?

It's NOT TRUE that Democrats are "ideologically bankrupt". It's NOT TRUE that the Democrats are "intellectually bankrupt". It's NOT TRUE that Democrats are "feeble". It's NOT TRUE that Democrats are "corrupt". It's NOT TRUE that the Democratic party is an "absolute failure". It's NOT TRUE that the Democratic party is "the party of the one-percent". It's NOT TRUE that the Democratic party is the "party of the elite". It's NOT TRUE that there's "no difference between Democrats and Republicans." It's NOT TRUE that the Democrats "are the same as the GOP". It's NOT TRUE that Democrats are "do-nothings". It's NOT TRUE that the Democratic party "doesn't care about climate change." It's NOT TRUE that the Democrats "focus too much" on diversity. It's also NOT TRUE that people who the refuse to vote for an African-American because of his skin color "aren't racists". It's also NOT TRUE that the Democrats who "are very big into diversity" aren't "particularly sympathetic" to the working class.

This is the type of negativity that DOES divide the party. I creates anger, distrust, resentment, suspicion... and that weakens us. A divided party is a weak party. What good purpose does it serve to attack Democrats and the Democratic party?

All I'm trying to say is that this is the cause of so much negativity. Negativity generates apathy. Apathy discourages voter turnout. Low voter turnout gives Republicans a chance to steal the elections.

[Blue_true]

17. That resembles someone that we all know (unfortunately). nt

[Jake Stern]

27. Did they really just refer to Bautista's Cuba and Samoza's Nicaragua as "democracies"??

Are these people for real?

[redqueen]

32. Really hits the message home, doesn't it?

Really shows the true colors of a lot of the people in this party.

[Cha]

31. Thank you, Goth!

[Gothmog]

8. Biden campaign response to sanders praising Fidel Castro

Link to tweet

[NurseJackie]

12. That's BRUTAL!! (And oh so true. So very true!)

It's a well-deserved smack-down. Sanders embarrasses me. I can't believe he said that... and I can't believe he double-downed and defended it.

[OliverQ]

13. Obama made the same comments.

Annette is just being intentionally dishonest. The US literally backed a Cuban dictator.

[George II]

18. When? Where?

[totodeinhere]

16. Of course Bernie is right about Cuba.

Castro has a complicated legacy, but to say he was all bad is not correct. The Cuban people have access to a better health care system than we do.

[IluvPitties]

23. Cubans struggle to get food and even basic products like toothpaste.

What is the benefit of having "free" health care if I struggle to get the basics to survive?

[totodeinhere]

25. That's mostly due to our trade embargo.

President Obama tried to change that but then when Trump got in he brought it back.

[Gothmog]

28. No, Bernie Sanders' Discussion of Cuba's Castro is Nothing Like Obama's

Link to tweet

Eric Levitz in New York Magazine on Monday makes the case that Bernie Sanders’ 1985 interview admiring some aspects of Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba was roughly the same as Barack Obama’s 2016 discussion of Castro. This is in large part just an amplification of ideas flying around Twitter this week, as in the tweet pictured above. A quick look at Sanders’ and Obama’s statements shows why this analysis is entirely incorrect.

In 2016, Obama was addressing hundreds of young business and social entrepreneurs from across Latin America in Buenos Aires, Argentina. If you read the transcript of his talk, you see immediately that Obama, in his signature style, was reinforcing the message of pragmatism and evidence-based decision making — as he puts it “be[ing] practical and just choos[ing] from what works.” He was in fact arguing against ideology, at a time when he must have been watching the destabilizing effects the surge in ideological politics was causing not just in the United States but in other countries long considered staid and practical.

In discussing Cuba, Obama relayed direct conversations he had with the Castros, insight into the diplomacy of highlighting policy areas where there might be more agreement in order to create common ground with space to push for change in other areas. I doubt many would think it rational to approach a nascent foreign relationship with a guns blazing, take no prisoners attitude, especially when any agreement depended on the other country’s support. Obama was relaying one relatively high stakes conversation with foreign leaders to another unaligned audience in a foreign venue. I expect it does not take an expert in international relations to see the U.S. interest in pitching this information a certain way for both of these audiences.

In contrast, Bernie Sanders’ 1985 interview was not conducted for foreign consumption or to support U.S. national interests, and it did not come at a time of opening up in the U.S.-Cuba relationship. Instead, it was given for a local public access TV show. It was effectively a vanity project giving Sanders a platform to expound his views of politics and the world. Because of this, the messaging here is all Sanders. Further contrasting Obama, it was rooted in ideology, with Sanders opening, “As a socialist, the word socialism doesn’t frighten me,” before launching into his discussion of self-described socialist regimes. While you could argue the interview might not be a perfect snapshot of today’s presidential candidate’s innermost thoughts, it was a clear statement of what Sanders believed at the time and unfiltered by the degree of drafting and review Obama’s messaging on this topic would have undergone....

From this brief look, we can see that Obama’s talk involved a little flattery, a little spin, and a good deal of appealing to an audience that he saw as future leaders. In contrast, Sanders’ words were simply praise without an intentional objective towards a defined audience. Conflating these two discussions is flimsy, misleading, and indicative of the pro-regime propaganda captured in Sanders’ own sentiment.

[Gothmog]

29. This talking point being used by sanders supporters is simply false

Link to tweet

[totodeinhere]

36. How so?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-announces-new-measures-against-cuba/2019/04/17/cfc2bc96-6132-11e9-9ff2-abc984dc9eec_story.html

[David__77]

19. TLDR

...

[George II]

21. One sentence is "TLDR"?

[Gothmog]

30. you can always count on @JoeBiden to defend @BarackObama 's record and legacy.

Link to tweet

[George II]

34. As well he should. Not many others, including some Democrats, don't do so enough.

[NCProgressive]

20. Thank you Sen. Taddeo

[IluvPitties]

22. Excellent!

[mcar]

24. I sure hope this is covered in tomorrow's debate

Time for Sanders to get some real debate vetting.

I, and thousands of other Democrats here in Florida, are busting our butts to get Democrats elected/re-elected. We really do not need this shite.

[Kurt V.]

26. the problem is once you drill down below leadership these arguments fall apart.

[Awsi Dooger]

33. Taddeo upset the jackass Jose Felix Diaz three years ago

Very high profile race here in Miami. She knows darn well that if Sanders is the nominee then all of those local races will flip back to the GOP, including House races like FL-26 which we narrowly yanked away in 2018

[Cha]

35. Good to know

[Gothmog]

37. Havana gives front-page coverage to Bernie Sanders for praising Fidel Castro

Link to tweet

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders views on the Cuban revolution have earned him a storm of criticism in the U.S. But there’s one place where his comments have received glowing, front-page reviews: Cuba.

Granma, the Communist Party newspaper, prominently displayed a report about Sanders and his praise of “some of the social programs implemented by the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro.”

“U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, today one of the strongest candidates for the nomination of the Democratic Party to the November presidential elections, recognized Cuba’s role in sending doctors worldwide,” Granma said.

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article240626672.html#storylink=cpy

[Cha]

38. KICK

[Gothmog]

39. Two things happened today including Cuba endorsing sanders

Link to tweet