Castro arrived in New York in the middle of the 1960 presidential election

Fidel Castro arrived in New York on this day in 1960.    

Castro delivered a long speech at the UN focusing on US "aggression" and "imperialism." 

A few months later, or January 1961, the Eisenhower administration broke diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Cuba also became a hot topic in the Kennedy-Nixon debates.  Kennedy took a very tough posture toward Castro.   

Unfortunately, President Kennedy did not support the men of Brigade 2506 at The Bay of Pigs.  It turned into a huge victory for the Castro regime and the invasion was followed by severe repression against anti-Castro Cubans in the island.  The Missile Crisis followed 18 months later!

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1960: A visitor to the UN became an issue in the presidential election

By mid-September 1960, the Nixon-Kennedy presidential campaign was underway but everyone was talking about a certain visitor to the UN.   

Fidel Castro turned the visit to the UN into a first-rate show.  First , he stayed at the Theresa Hotel in Harlem and met with Malcolm X from the Nation of Islam and the poet Langston Hughes.      Then he spoke for almost four hours and delivered an attack on US “aggression” and “imperialism”.

Cuba also became a hot topic in the Kennedy-Nixon debates.   Senator Kennedy took a very tough posture toward Castro and criticized the Eisenhower policy.  VP Nixon, on the other hand, could not reveal existing plans.  I recall that my parents, and many Cubans, followed these debates with keen interest. Cuba had never seen such an important issue in a U.S. presidential election.  

Unfortunately, President Kennedy did not support the men of Brigade 2506 at the Bay of Pigs.  It turned into a huge victory for the Castro regime and the invasion was followed by severe repression against anti-Castro Cubans on the island.   (My father’s cousin was arrested at that time)  

The Missile Crisis followed 18 months later and you know the rest of the story.

My guess is that no one years ago thought that the bearded Cuban would become such a headache for the winner of the election.  

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1960: A visitor to the UN became an issue in the presidential election

(My new American Thinker post)
A post from 2016......

President Obama, and other world leaders, will be making their visits and speaking before the UN.     

In 2007, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela came and caused quite a controversy calling President Bush ‘the devil”. Not long ago, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the leader of Iran came to New York and said some rather bizarre things.

By mid-September 1960, the Nixon-Kennedy campaign was underway. Everyone was talking about the debates around the corner. And both candidates were talking about a visitor to the UN.  

Cuba’s Fidel Castro arrived in New York on September 18, 1960:

“In September 1960, Castro led a delegation to New York City to address the United Nations General Assembly. He and his entourage caused an immediate sensation by deciding to stay at the Theresa Hotel in Harlem. While there, Castro met with a number of African-American leaders, including Malcolm X from the Nation of Islam and the poet Langston Hughes.

On September 26, Castro delivered a blistering attack on what he termed American “aggression” and “imperialism.”

For over four hours, Castro lambasted U.S. policy toward Cuba and other nations in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The United States, he declared, had “decreed the destruction” of his revolutionary government.

Castro’s visit and lengthy public denunciation marked the final breaking point in relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

In January 1961, the Eisenhower administration severed all diplomatic relations with Cuba.”

Cuba also became a hot topic in the Kennedy-Nixon debates. Kennedy took a very tough posture toward Castro and criticized the Eisenhower policy. I recall that my parents, and many Cubans, followed these debates with keen interest. Cuba had never seen such an important issue in a U.S. presidential election.

Unfortunately, President Kennedy did not support the men of Brigade 2506 at the Bay of Pigs. It turned into a huge victory for the Castro regime and the invasion was followed by severe repression against anti-Castro Cubans on the island.

The Missile Crisis followed 18 months later!

My guess is that no one years ago thought that the bearded Cuban would become such a headache for the winner of the election.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

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September 1964: Memories of The Beatles in Dallas

Back in 2014, we remembered the 50th anniversary of "Beatlemania" in the US and Dallas was no exception.

On September 18, 1964, The Beatles played in Dallas, as Robert Willonski reports in The Dallas Morning News:

"Jan Howes, who was 10 at the time but already deeply in love with The Beatles, did not see the band when it played Dallas on Sept. 18, 1964, but her father did.It was, after all, his job: John Mazziotta was chief photographer at the Dallas Times Herald, assigned to cover John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr from Love Field arrival to Memorial Auditorium blastoff."

Mr Mazziotta's photos will go on auction soon and the world will get to see them!  It's a cool Dallas memory of the one and only visit by The Beatles to Dallas. 

In 2014, we spoke with Dave Michaels about The Beatles in Dallas and their influence on US radio.

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Listen to "The Beatles and their influence on American radio with Dave Michaels" on Spreaker.  

Minnesota 2026 US Senate & more

 

Minnesota 2026 US Senate & more

What's going on in Minnesota?

What's going on in Minnesota?:

Minnesota in play for the GOP? 

We will wait for more polls. My guess is that Senator Klobuchar will win because she always does. She is a "vanilla" type Democrats who talks nice but always votes with Senator Schumer. The U.S. Senate race may indeed be a surprise because of the candidates. On one hand, you have the Minnesota version of Talarico, Lt. Governor Flanagan. She is weird, as a friend in Minnesota told me. On the other hand, newcomer Michelle Tafoya has the message down and presents the kind of alternative that may just flip the Senate seat.

Keep an eye on Minnesota. A surprise may be coming,

1955: Brooks Robinson got his first 2 hits

On this day in 1955,  Brooks Robinson went 2 for 4 in his major league debut against Washington.      He was 18 and would go on to play the next 22 seasons in Baltimore.    Robinson won the 1964 AL MVP, the 1970 World Series MVP and Hall of Fame 1983.

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We remember Orlando Cepeda. 1937-2024)

We remember Orlando Cepeda, one of the greatest players from Puerto Rico, who was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on this day in 1937.  He died in June 2024.

Cepeda broke with the Giants in 1958 and was NL Rookie of the Year: .312 average, 25 HR & 96 RBI.    He followed that with some great seasons, including leading the NL with 46 HR & 142 RBI in 1961.   Cepeda played with St Louis and was selected as the 1967 NL MVP.   Later, Orlando was traded to Atlanta and finished with Boston in 1974.    Overall, he hit .297 with 379 HR, 1,365 RBI over 2,124 games.    

Cepeda was inducted to The Hall of Fame in 1999.

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We remember Hank Williams (1923-1953)

We remember Hiram King “Hank” Williams, the great country legend.    He was born on this day in Alabama on this day in 1923.

Williams was born in Alabama and died in West Virginia at age 29.   He was  one of the most influential country singers of the 20th century.

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1787: A timely moment to wish 'happy birthday" to the US Constitution

(My new American Thinker post)

We begin today with a "happy birthday" to the U.S. Constitution.  Maybe you remember this from your U.S. History class.  They taught it when I went to school, and I'm hoping that they still do today.  Or maybe they start today's classes with a reminder that it was the work of a bunch of white guys who had slaves and didn't let their wives vote.

This is the story that I learned:

On May 25, 1787, delegates representing every state except Rhode Island convened at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania State House for the Constitutional Convention. The building, which is now known as Independence Hall, had earlier seen the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and the signing of the Articles of Confederation. The assembly immediately discarded the idea of amending the Articles of Confederation and set about drawing up a new scheme of government. Revolutionary War hero George Washington, a delegate from Virginia, was elected convention president.

During an intensive debate, the delegates devised a brilliant federal organization characterized by an intricate system of checks and balances. The convention was divided over the issue of state representation in Congress, as more-populated states sought proportional legislation, and smaller states wanted equal representation. The problem was resolved by the Connecticut Compromise, which proposed a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the lower house (House of Representatives) and equal representation of the states in the upper house (Senate).  On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was signed. As dictated by Article VII, the document would not become binding until it was ratified by nine of the 13 states. Beginning on December 7, five states—Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia and Connecticut—ratified it in quick succession. However, other states, especially Massachusetts, opposed the document, as it failed to reserve un-delegated powers to the states and lacked constitutional protection of basic political rights, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press. In February 1788, a compromise was reached under which Massachusetts and other states would agree to ratify the document with the assurance that amendments would be immediately proposed. The Constitution was thus narrowly ratified in Massachusetts, followed by Maryland and South Carolina. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the document, and it was subsequently agreed that government under the U.S. Constitution would begin on March 4, 1789. In June, Virginia ratified the Constitution, followed by New York in July.

On September 25, 1789, the first Congress of the United States adopted 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution–the Bill of Rights–and sent them to the states for ratification. Ten of these amendments were ratified in 1791. In November 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Rhode Island, which opposed federal control of currency and was critical of compromise on the issue of slavery, resisted ratifying the Constitution until the U.S. government threatened to sever commercial relations with the state. On May 29, 1790, Rhode Island voted by two votes to ratify the document, and the last of the original 13 colonies joined the United States. Today, the U.S. Constitution is the oldest written constitution in operation in the world.

My late great uncle, who died in Cuba in the 1970s, was a judge, attorney, and law school professor.  He was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln and once told my father that the beauty of the U.S. Constitution was the amendment process.  And then he quickly added that the U.S. was very lucky that a man like George Washington was around to take it from a document to reality.

The document, and the governing system it created, was finally put to the test when George Washington was inaugurated in March 1789.

We remember today the document and its history.  I mean especially today, because I'm not sure if we are teaching our kids how fortunate we are to be living under it.

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