The Obama Report

Barack Obama has said that he would be willing to meet with the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Iran without preconditions. But apparently, they are not so eager to meet with him...........

Actor Sean Penn recently conducted an interview with Cuban President Raul Castro on behalf of the left-wing, liberal mouthpiece, "The Nation".

"You asked if I would accept to meet with (Obama) in Washington. I would have to think about it. I would discuss it with all my comrades in the leadership," Castro tells Penn in the interview for a December 15 issue published on its website.

So Barack, it seems you have little choice but to goad Raul into meeting with you. And hopefully, you will not squander this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet with this most magnificent and magnanimous leader.

Oh, and by the way Barack, if Raul - out of the goodness of his heart - accepts your offer to meet with him, I beg of you, please do not discuss Al Qaeda with him.

You see, Raul's brother, Fidel, recently suggested that the U.S. government was promoting "Americans' fears about al-Qaeda" and "fabricating enemies to justify its plans for world domination". Now, I'm not sure whether you agree with his point of view or not, but it would be best not to talk with him about Al Qaeda.

However, if for some reason, Al Qaeda does come up in your conversations, tell him you agree with his point of view, namely, that the Al Qaeda terrorist organization is tiny compared to the United States - and that they don't pose a serious threat to us the way, let's say for example, John McCain and George Bush do.............

Good luck, Barack, and please bring back some Cuban cigars for me. No joy in the world is comparable to the sheer ecstasy one experiences when smoking a fine Cuban cigar, except, perhaps, the joy one feels when smoking a fine Persian cigar. But we'll save that for a later date - Ahmadinejad willing................

P.S. It seems that Raul Castro had agreed to meet with Obama, but insisted they meet in a neutral location, like Guantanamo, instead of Washington. "I think it would not be fair that I be the first to visit," he said, "because it is always the Latin American presidents who go to the United States first." So maybe he won't have to be goaded into meeting with Obama after all. Hey, what wouldn't he do for a fellow comrade! And besides, while the two are meeting in Guantanamo, Obama may be able to pull some of those suspected terrorists out of jail. It's a win-win situation! Neat!