Why we call them Freedom-Haters - today's edition

The Most Equal Comrade is so obsessed with creating a legacy of a visionary astride the world stage bringing harmony and "equality" to all that he's willing to be treated with contempt by all the dictators to whom he reaches out.

Case in point: Cuba:

Even some supporters of President Barack Obama’s moves to strengthen relations with Cuba are questioning the timing of his planned visit to the Communist island next month, after arrests of dissidents by Raul Castro’s government reached a five-year high.

Obama vowed Thursday that he’ll promote human rights during his historic visit, the first by a sitting American president since 1928. But more than a year of warming relations between the nations, separated by just 90 miles, have so far failed to slow the Cuban government’s crackdown on political dissidents.

The Madrid-based Cuban Observatory on Human Rights said 1,474 people, including 512 women, were “arbitrarily” detained in January. The arrests have been climbing since the December 2014 announcement that the two governments would improve ties.

“A presidential visit should occasion a broader progress on the human-rights agenda. And I haven’t seen any changes on that front,” said Christopher Sabatini, an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs who has supported the rapprochement.

Talk about cart before horse. You don't explore rapprochement until you see some movement toward basic decency on the part of the regime you've been enemies with.