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This Week in Congress Congressional floor Schedule
Illinois Bikers Win
Nagy Announces 44th Ward
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Doing the right thing
In one of the strangest events in recent memory Illinois Governor George Ryan visited Cuba this past week. In what was probably a sincere mission to bring humanitarian aid to the decaying island, Governor Ryan managed a rare feat. This is one of the few times the right wing of the Republican Party and the Clinton administration appear to be on the same page. The Clinton State Department is upset that the Governor would meet with Fidel Castro- thus giving credibility to the aging dictator. This meeting accomplished yet another rarity. The publisher of City2 E-News is in full agreement with the State Department on this issue. The fact that the Republican governor of a conservative Midwestern state would travel to a foreign country and denounce the United States policy toward that country is more than a bit disturbing to this writer. It borders on the outrageous when one factors in that this country is a Marxist-Leninist state who leader has regularly spued hatred toward the US. Having said that, I would agree with the governor that the embargo against Cuba is a failed policy that should be removed. My problem with Governor Ryan is the location of his statement. As I write these words I am on a Metra train bound to Chicago, in Northeastern Illinois. My airing my disapproval with the embargo on Cuba is in my opinion, entirely proper. If I was in downtown Havana I don't feel it would be correct, or patriotic, to make that same statement. There is just something wrong in my opinion with Americans going abroad and denouncing United States policy. Whether one agrees with that policy or not there is a time and a place to denounce our own government. If feel Governor Ryan picked the wrong place.
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