Letter to the editor

Senator McCain's recent comment that he wished Fidel Castro would die soon was, to me at least, one good reason why we don't need McCain at the helm of our government. If the people of Cuba had really wanted to get rid of the man, you'd have to think that at one time or another over the past 40-plus years, they would have found a way. All of the presidential candidates, except Barack Obama, have stated that they wouldn't meet with Castro's successor until they had been guaranteed that he would turn Cuba into an American-styled democracy. Well now, as President Reagan used to say, "There we go again." We just can't seem to control the urge to insist upon everybody dancing to our tune whether they want to our not. Haven't we learned yet, that other countries and other peoples simply do not jump for joy at the prospect? The Bush administration, in its infinite stupidity, told us the Iraqi's would be throwing rose petals in the paths of invading American troops. Rose petals indeed! McCain overlooks the fact that it was Republican presidents who sat down with our cold war enemies to hammer out ways to avert war. Nixon went to China and courted Mao Tse Tung while Reagan actually struck up a friendship with Russia's Michael Gorbachev that may have resulted in the Berlin wall coming down. I don't recall that either China or Russia had agreed beforehand that they would agree to abandon Communism and become our bosom buddies. We may not yet be out of the woods with these countries, but at least we've managed to keep from killing each other and that, whether McCain gets it or not, is no small thing.

Theodore Roosevelt's "talk softly, but carry a big stick" was pretty good advice. McCain
needs to remember the "talk softly" part before he starts brandishing the stick. That goes for all the candidates.

George Morin
Auburn, Ga.