Surreal Life (Richmond Version)
The session is winding down. I have two major conference reports outstanding. One should be finished today. The other may have to get kicked over til 2011.
Last night, there was a "sine die" party at Havana 59 which is a great Cuban restaurant in Shockoe Bottom, right down the hill from the Capitol. It was a bipartisan crowd there to sample the food, have a drink and even smoke a cigar.
I ended up at a table with the following folks: Morgan Griffith and his wife, Ward Armstrong, Eric Finkbeiner and David Mills. We had a very good time.
For those keeping track that's the House Majority Leader (Republican), the House Minority Leader (Democratic), the Governor's Chief of Staff and the Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Virginia.
Can't we all just get along?
Not to upend the spirit of cooperation and harmony but is it not illegal for a US citizen to import, purchase or consume a Cuban cigar (citing the US embargo of Cuba during the Kennedy administration)?
Oops, I forget. Lawyers and lawmakers are above the law. My bad.
Chap didn't say he smoked a Cuban cigar.
Groveton is right. Anti Castro still runs strong through the Cuban American community.
Miami is one of the few U.S. cities with its own foreign policy. A politician can never be too opposed to the Bearded One and his brother Raul.
Not sure I follow the logic in your comment but anonymous acccusations are not known for intellectual clarity. thanks anway.
Eric Finkbeiner is not Chief of Staff..he is the Senior Advisor for Policy.
Thanks for that clarification. Just goes to show that the folks here are often the last to know the correct titles. Chap
Sen. Petersen wrote that he went to a cuban restaurant and smoked a cigar. He did not write that he smoked a cuban cigar. I have been to many cuban restaurants in the US. Many are owned by former Cubans who immigrated to the US years ago. They hate Castro and would never do anything to help him. Usually, they sell Dominican cigars although I have also had Jamaican cifars and even a passable Indonesian.