Just found this little tidbit. I'm guessing that since Castro has survived every president since Eisenhower, someone, somewhere ought to break that code that he's not going anywhere and Communism isn't leaving Cuba anytime soon.

"I hope people don't play politics," said President Bush in the hurricane's aftermath. But that message didn't get through at the State Department, which is playing politics by continuing to ignore Cuba's offer to send 34 tons of aid and the services of 1,586 doctors.

On the face of it, the State Department’s inaction is puzzling. Cuban doctors have much experience in helping the victims of tropical storms. In 1998, Cuba sent 2,000 doctors to Central America to help the victims of Hurricane Mitch, a storm far more devastating than Katrina. Cuba’s assistance was just part of a massive international outpouring, led by the United States, which sent more than $1 billion in aid. There is also a need for Spanish-speaking doctors in the Gulf Coast region. Americans obsessed by Katrina's racial angle have largely overlooked the fact that up to 40,000 Honduran immigrants, most of them poor, lived in Katrina’s path.

1600 Crew philosophy: If my house is burning down, and my neighbor offers me a hose, but he's a Democrat, I'll wait for the ideologically-correct volunteer fire department from two towns over to put out the blaze.