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Welcome to the commentary magazine daily podcast.

Today is Friday July 16 2021. I'm John Potwarts, the editor of commentary.

Christine Rosen is out today with us in her stead.

Washington commentary columnist fellow at the American Enterprise Institute founding editor of the Washington Freebeak and Matthew Cottonetti. Hi, Matt.

Hi, John. Thanks for having me.

Also as ever executive editor, a Greenwald high-aib.

Hi, John. And associate editor Noah Rothman. Hi, Noah. Hi, John.

Hey, guess what guys communism bad communism is bad. We finally have a kind of consensus in the United States.

Once again that communism is bad it took about four days because after the protests, a rose in Cuba on Monday, the United States criticized the

authoritarian, unquote regime in Cuba that was both that you know that was a deliberate choice by the administration because everybody used the word authoritarian from Joe Biden to his spokesman.

So there was some kind of pre rehearsed decision to characterize it that way.

And then I guess after three days and people saying you know maybe we don't want to be completely obliterated in Florida for the next generation Biden yesterday came out and know what what did he what did he actually say in his

third or fourth go around at the Cuba issue. He said a couple of things and they're good. I mean they're unequivocally good. We should be praising these statements as agonizing as the interval between this protest erupted and Joe Biden actually saying the consensus view

over on communism was you know it's it's nice to see it because nobody's people who need to hear it are not listening to us but what he said was a following quote communism is a failed system.

A universally failed system and I don't see socialism as a very useful substitute but that's another story. It wasn't another story.

He went on to say we're considering whether to have a tech whether we have the technological ability to reinstate access to communications platforms like the internet.

Good for him God bless him and the people who really need to hear this message are in his coalition so it's not a risk free proposition to say something like this as as horrible as that sentences to say it's the truth there are communist in his coalition and he risks alienating.

I mean we know that because here's what's interesting Christine talked about this yesterday we said hey where's the squad wasn't the squad talked where the leftists left us seem silent and then Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Cousin protest both issued statements which which drew a complete parallel between the terrible things that the regime

and the problem of a suppression of freedom on the ground in Cuba and the terrible consequences of the American embargo.

And I think Tom Bevin of real clear politics counted that in in in a causio Cortez's statement there were 44 words condemning Cuba and 59 words condemning the United States so Matt what do you what do you make of that well and the Sanders and

the court has statements were moderate in comparison to the statements put up by black lives matter and DSA democratic socialists of America which are totally just blaming the United States and saying it basically defending in many ways the Cuban regime so there's great Asians I think when I look at the administration's response from the past week it started off basically as Obama reducks we were back in the Obama administration.

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