Bob Menendez's stupid antics on behalf of failure

So what do you do if you're an out-of-touch supporter of a policy that is now going on 50 years of failure? Apparently, you try and hold the Obama Administration hostage.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), a strong supporter of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, is launching a full-on battle this week to remove several provisions from the 2009 government spending bill that would open a small crack in the slammed door of relations with Havana.

Menendez fired a broadside at the Obama administration yesterday for backing a provision buried in the $410 billion spending bill, which must become law by next week in order to keep the government running. The New Jersey senator, a Cuban-American, objects to language in the bill that would allow Cuban-Americans to visit relatives on the island once a year and end limits on the sale of American food and medicines in Cuba. [...]

The WaPo reports today that the senator has held up two Obama science nominees in an attempt to twist the arms of his fellow Dems.

Steve Benen responds:

Menendez supports a policy that hasn't worked after decades of trying. That's his right. But President Obama ran on a campaign platform that vowed to change U.S. policy towards Cuba, and managed to do quite well with Cuban-American voters. (Indeed, most Cuban Americans support lifting the counterproductive embargo.)

But Menendez isn't just making his case to continue with a failed policy, he's now blocking two White House nominees -- Obama's choices to be the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- to get the senators' attention on his Cuba-related concerns.

So, to summarize, Menendez supports Obama's nominees, but won't let the Senate vote on them until after he's done complaining about a subtle change in a foreign policy that hasn't worked after more than five decades of attempts.

The Cuban embargo is not long for this world, and will likely be phased out over the next few years as support dwindles to a handful of dead-enders. Indeed, much of the impetus for change in the embargo won't just come from Obama and other anti-embargo Democrats, but by pro-trade Republicans (especially in farm states) who want to see the island opened up to greater trade and investment. (Remember, the influential foreign policy voice and Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar has already publicly called for a reevaluation of Cuba policy.)

This isn't a partisan issue. The fault line is between a bipartisan handful of (mostly) Cuban-Americans too invested in a failed policy to change course, and pretty much everyone else. It's too bad seeing Menendez associating with the dead-enders, when he could be a valuable voice in crafting our post-embargo approach to Cuba.