I remember so well how great it seemed to learn there was a Democratic Rep. in South Florida, until I learned more about her.

Sad, sad, creepy. She has sold her soul to keep the Cuban "exile" faction friendly with her. It may be something as simple as being aware of how much vicious trouble they make for people they don't like which drove her to take such a hateful posture.

Its all about the tit for tat ... Cuba and Israel.

She is pure poison.

Sounds like a deadly agreement. They've got Debbie as long as she's in politics.

how irrational and cruel most American politicians are when it comes to Cuba. It's almost as if it is some sort of fucked religion.

created a terrific image when he compared them to werewolves, concerning Cuba:

Dr. Smith began by pointing out that exactly 50 years ago, in January 1961, the United States broke relations with Cuba. Sixteen years later, in 1977, the two countries opened Interests Sections in each other’s capitals and began to talk. While the world and Cuba have changed in the last half-century, the United States is the only country that does not have normalized relations with Cuba, despite our diplomatic ties to many countries with unsavory policies. President Obama has done little to mend the relationship, and these new regulations were long in coming. “Cuba seems to have the same effect on U.S. administrations as the full moon once had on werewolves,” said Dr. Smith.

The effects of U.S. intransigence toward Cuba extend to our hemispheric relations, undercutting U.S. credentials for leadership, as Brazil’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva explicitly warned in 2009.

A full moon only happens once every 29.5 days. The US's Cuba policy is full time. But I like his point nonetheless.

Powerful lobbies do tend to push government in irrational directions. Take the Israel Lobby, the weapons lobby, the old tobacco lobby, and the ethanol lobby amongst others.

It just seems a bit outsized given the size of the Cuba lobby, but perhaps it is still large enough given that it is primarily concentrated in Florida and 50,000 votes there can swing a presidential election.

to curry favor, and contributions from the "exile" rulers, seeking both financing for campaigns, and control of Florida's slate of electors.

It was made painfully conspicuous during the Gore/Bush Presidential campaign in 2000, when, after the election, and the struggle to count the votes was ongoing, and the Florida Republican Party, of course in control of their Congress, decided that if the final numbers of the recount came out contrary to their interests, they would simply cancel their current slate of electors, and appoint new ones who would all promise to cast their votes for _{George W. Bush.}

At that time, the brother was the governor of Florida, and the father had spent all the years since well before the Bay of Pigs, involved with Cuban Batistianos, many of whom were allowed into the C.I.A. and served right-wing interests there for decades to come, even being involved with the plumbers who burgled the Democratic Headquarters in the Whitewater Hotel.