No offense, Rev, because it's not a bad list, but not all of these constitute "lies." I know the list is from Breitbart, and not you personally, so I hope you don't mind me replying. Keep in mind, I am no fan of Barack Obama or of liberal politics in general.
1. No mention of the Cuban missile crisis.
Not really a lie, per se. Merely an omission. Something most Presidents are good at. Imagine if Ronald Reagan had moved to open an embassy in Hiroshima. Would you expect him to bring up the nuclear bombing in whatever speech he delivered? Brietbart hits the nail on the head in their article by bringing up Obama's seemingly incessant need to project his own accomplishments or life events as turning points in human history. He even claimed his election as President was when the world would be healed and the oceans would begin to recede.
2. Suggesting that the president can establish a U.S. embassy on his own.
His own words do not indicate that he is personally creating an embassy. This is a bit of a stretch.
3. No mention of Cuba’s role in repressing democracy abroad.
The President is attempting to re-establish diplomatic relations with our closest non-border sharing neighbor. If you were trying to make friends with the guy two houses over from you, would you go up to him and start listing off the bad stuff he's done? This is a purely political speech, and we have to remember that. Why certain outlets within the media expect honesty from politicians is mind-boggling to me.
4. Suggesting that Cuba does not support terrorism.
See the answer to #3. I'm sure the nastier details will be discussed behind closed doors. Or are these same media outlets now clamoring for every political speech to be nothing more than an airing of dirty laundry?
5. False claim that the U.S. is to blame for lack of information in Cuba.
Again, see the answer to #3. There is not doubt that the vast majority of the blame falls squarely on the Cuban government. But to act like the US is a perfect angel in foreign relations is extremely short-sighted. In fact, it's nothing more than willful ignorance.
6. False promise to consult Congress on Cuba, when his administration broke that promise.
And how many times has the Administration said they would consult Congress and then didn't? This is Obama's
modus operandi. Why are we surprised?
7. False claim that Cuba agreed to release political prisoners as part of a deal with the U.S.
This is also part of Obama's MO. He loves to take credit for the great and wonderful while shrugging responsibility for the bad. It's never his fault.
8. False commitment to principle of changing policies that do not work.
Obama is on record saying that he wants to take government programs that don't work and "pare back a little." Note that he doesn't want to eliminate these "nonworking" programs. He only wants to pare them back a bit. In other words, maintain the government programs regardless of efficiency. John McCain hit the nail squarely on the head in the 2008 debates when he called Obama "Senator Government." The same can be said for his apporach of government policy.
9. Conflating the collapse of the Castro regime with the collapse of Cuba.
This is a pretty standard belief among liberals that I've had the joy of talking to. They seem to think that if the government collapsed the entire nation would follow suit. But history reveals a different story. History shows that nations can survive and even be strengthened by forcing their governments to either collapse of be overthrown, and establish new governments.
10. Falsely identifying the U.S. as a colonial power.
By the time the United States gained the strength to be a global superpower, the age of empires was drawing to a close. Britain was relinquishing their grip on India and other colonies. France has already drawn back. Japan's desire for empire had been quashed by the collective forces of the Allies in WWII. The US, now finally strong enough to be an empire, was not allowed to. So they became an empire in the only way that remained open to them: military bases. The US Armed Forces have bases all over the globe. We've served as the world's police force. We have the equivalent of floating bases known as aircraft carriers. It's how we became an empire. It's very similar to Rome. The Romans knew they could not oversee politically every inch of their empire, so they set up military garrisons in the far-flung reaches of their territory and then allowed the Roman fighting machine to maintain order. Sound familiar?
