Steve Chapman: The Strange Source of Our Cuba Policy
For a long time, the U.S. ostracism of Cuba has been like the vintage American cars on the streets of Havana: obsolete but imperishable. It didn't topple the Castro government, didn't force human rights progress and didn't unite the world behind us. Yet failure was no enemy of longevity.
There are many reasons for its endurance. But if you're parceling out responsibility, you have to start with a curious invention of the founding fathers that we know as the Electoral College, writes Steve Chapman. Without it, our Cuba policy never would have persisted for so many years—which is a reminder that our Cuba policy is not the only thing that needs changing.
