Jeb Bush -- hypocrisy already showing

Jeb Bush has just stepped onto a fast-moving express train  -- probably at serious risk for whip-lash injury.

Tuesday:   Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announces that he is going to explore the possibility of running for president in 2016, making him a likely opponent of Hillary Clinton.     Bush has always made a point to court the support of the Cuban-American community in South Florida as a major political base.   He once gave a speech to one of their groups exclaiming that we shouldn't even consider lifting the embargo of Cuba, we should increase it.

Wednesday:   President Obama announced his plan to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba and to work with congress to remove the embargo.   Within hours, Jeb Bush had condemned the decision, saying these "heinous Castro brothers" are being rewarded for being tyrannical dictators, and it is another example of Obama's wrong-headedness and excessive reach.

Thursday:   BuzzFeed investigative journalist revealed that for years, Jeb Bush has served as a highly paid adviser ($1 million per year) to Barclay's Bank of London which does business in Cuba -- illegally and in defiance of the embargo.    During the time of Bush's work for Barclay's, the bank has paid a $300 million fine for violating the embargo and sanctions against several countries, including Cuba.   Bush must have known about this.

Thursday evening:   Before the sun had even set on that news, Bush had announced that he would be leaving the Barclay bank in two weeks.   Even without Jeb Bush in the middle of a changing Cuban-American community that is surprisingly divided according to age brackets when it comes to Cuba, Obama's move was a political gift to Hillary Clinton.   It gives her a clear position in opposition to the policy Bush formed a decade ago when supporting Cuban-Americans was politically smart.   Now, 50 years later, with changing ages comes changed feelings about the homeland.   It's not even homeland for the younger generation.

This is what makes politics so interesting:   There's always something.   In a Clinton-Bush match-up, Bush would have seemed to have an advantage, having been  popular governor of Florida for eight years.    Now it looks as though Jeb Bush will represent the old guard among Cuban-Americans, and Hillary Clinton will have the opportunity to attract the younger, more progressive voters.

Ralph