THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL

Since 2011
Gabe Fleisher, Editor-in-Chief
wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com

wakeuptopolitics.com @WakeUp2Politics

From the Editors Desk

Winter Break This is (gasp) the last edition of Wake Up To Politics in
2014. It has been a banner year for the Wake Up, and Ive had a lot of fun
reporting on the various news stories of the year I hope youve equally
enjoyed reading them.
The Wake Up will be back on Monday, January 5 in the meantime, have a
great winter break and a happy holidays!
Event of the Year However there may be something to look forward to in
your inbox before thenthe Wake Up To Politics 2014 Event of the Year
Magazine.
However, I wont know what event to feature in the Magazine if I dont
know what subscribers want in the magazine sofor the last time: please
vote.
Here are the choices for Event of the Year:
Crimea annexation
Ebola outbreak
Ferguson protests
Flight 370 disappearance
Gaza conflict
Immigration debate
ISIS executions
Midterm voting

 NFL sexual assault

Nigeria kidnapping
Same-sex marriages recognized
You can vote in the following three ways through Friday (although there
will be no reminder in the Wake Up tomorrowbecause there is no Wake
Up tomorrow).
1) Email Send me your choice from the list above to
wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com. If youd like, include an explanation
that may be featured in the Magazine.
2) Survey Fill out a survey with the same choices on
wakeuptopolitics.com.
3) Twitter Tweet your choice from the list above using #WakeUpEvent
Please vote by Friday!!!!

White House Watch

Obama Takes Steps to Normalize Relations with Cuba Hours after
Cuba released an imprisoned American, President Barack Obama announced
changes to the U.S. policy on Cuba, taking steps to thaw a relationship that
has long been icy between the two countries.
In the most significant changes in our policy in more than fifty years, we
will end an outdated approach that, for decades, has failed to advance our
interests, and instead we will begin to normalize relations between our two
countries. Through these changes, we intend to create more opportunities
for the American and Cuban people, and begin a new chapter among the
nations of the Americas, Obama announced Wednesday.
The policy changes were made after Cuba released Alan Gross, a subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),
who has been imprisoned for five years. Meanwhile, three convicted Cuban
spies were released from American prisons, in what the Obama
Administration stressed was a separate prisoner swap.
Separately [from Gross release], in exchange for the three Cuban agents,
Cuba today released one of the most important intelligence agents that the
United States has ever had in Cuba, and who has been imprisoned for nearly

two decades, Obama said. Republicans were soon to jump on this claim,
doubting that Gross release was a humanitarian one and not a swap.
As the Cuban spies landed in Havana, Gross also arrived at Joint Base
Andrews in Maryland, his home state, with his wife and lawmakers waiting.
What a blessing it is, Gross told reporters once he had landed. Thank
you, President Obama, for everything you have done today and leading up to
today.
Re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba is a risky move for Obama,
although 66% of Americans said they would support it in a 2009 poll. This
is the latest in a string of executive actions, on issues ranging from
immigration to the environment, that represent Obamas change of direction
in what has been a cautious presidency now entering its final years.
Theres a complicated history between the United States and Cuba,
Obama acknowledged in his remarks Wednesday. I was born in 1961 just
over two years after Fidel Castro took power in Cuba, and just a few months
after the Bay of Pigs invasion, which tried to overthrow his regime. Over the
next several decades, the relationship between our countries played out
against the backdrop of the Cold War, and Americas steadfast opposition to
communism. We are separated by just over 90 miles. But year after year, an
ideological and economic barrier hardened between our two countries.
Neither the American, nor Cuban people are well served by a rigid policy
that is rooted in events that took place before most of us were born, the
President continues.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, most of us were indeed born after
the U.S. embargo on Cuba went into effect in October 1960 73.4% of
Americans. Interestingly, the Washington Post found, this is in contrast with
65.4% of members of Congress who were born after the embargo.
As a result of actions announced Wednesday, diplomatic relations between
the United States and Cuba, severed in January 1961, will be re-established.
President Obama announced plans to open an embassy in Havana. Currently,
the United States operates a de facto embassy in Havana, as an Interests
Section of the Embassy of Switzerland, formally a section of the Swiss
embassy, although staffed by the U.S. State Department. The Cuban

government has the same representation in a section of the Swiss embassy in

Washington, D.C.
In addition, a State Department review will be conducted of Cubas
designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, and the Administration is
taking steps to increase travel, commerce, and the flow of information to
and from Cuba. Soon, the embargo may be lifted, and travel between the
nations will be easier which will affect credit and debit card use, trading of
MLB players, and Cuban cigars. President Obama even discussed a visit to
the nation from himself or other high-ranking American officials.
After decades of icy relations between Cuba and the United States, who
changed things between the two nations? Pope Francis, the Argentine pontiff
who celebrated his 78th birthday Wednesday. He began the diplomatic
process by writing letters to both President Barack Obama and Cuban
President Ral Castro, urging Gross release. When Cuba consented,
normalization talks began, ending with the actions taken by Obama
yesterday.
Top Vatican official Monsigner Beccui said Wednesday a new chapter in
Cuban-American relations was a beautiful present for the Holy Father.
The Presidents Schedule At 2 PM, President Obama will meet with senior
advisors.
Also the Obamas leave for Hawaii tomorrow to spend the winter break in
Honolulul, as usual. If he follows what has become a tradition the past six
years, Obama will hold a year-end press conference as he does every year
the day before leaving for Hawaii.

Todays Tidbit
Obamas on Racial Profiling A very revealing excerpt from the Obamas
interview with People Magazine.
Colberts Last Day Today is the last episode of Comedy Centrals Colbert
Report, as Stephen Colbert replaced David Letterman at CBS Late
Show. What Colberts character (who has hosted the Colbert Report for the
past nine years NOT Colbert the person, who will host the Late Show)
will do nextremains unknown.

 Truly the end of an era as the Colbert Report ends after nine great years.
AlsoI noticed yesterday that EVERY late-night talk show as
BASICALLY the same name. Take a gander at:
Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Criag
Ferguson on CBS
The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers,
Last Call with Carson Daly, and Saturday Night Live on NBC
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, @midnight, and the upcoming
The Nightly Show with Larry Willmore on Comedy Central
Real Time with Bill Maher and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
on HBO.
Takeaway: EVERY SINGLE ONE has tonight or daily or night or
late or some other measure of time in their name.