Was this the best decision Biden ever made?
As the name of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, 71, has gained national attention due to the wildfires ravaging the city, it is hard to believe, in 2020, as a U.S. congresswoman, she had gained attention as a potential running mate for Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden. In what can only be lauded as the best decision Biden ever made, Bass was not selected.
However, the above praise for Biden’s decision-making comes not from what we know about Bass’ failures as a firefighting mayor; rather, it comes from what was known about her back then. And, despite this, the fact that Biden would have even considered Bass as vice presidential material is both shocking and most foretelling about his own subsequent failures as president that followed.
In the 1970s, Bass was a community activist. She became enamored of Marxist-Leninist ideology, smitten by the leadership of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Her addiction to the ideology and fascination with Castro cannot simply be dismissed as the musings of a foolish young activist. She began taking numerous trips to Cuba, making 15 during the 1970s and even continuing to make such trips up through her current tenure as L.A.’s mayor – the last occurring in 2023.
In 1969, the Castro regime had established the U.S.-based Venceremos Brigade, seeking to engage young Americans into challenging our policies toward Cuba. It also had a hidden objective: “to subvert American interests, weaken democracies and spread communism around the world.” This was done by funding annual trips to Cuba, which was done for over half a century.
In 1973, Bass made her first trip to Cuba, becoming very enchanted with Castro. She often attended his speeches. When Castro died at age 90 in 2016, despite Cubans viewing him as a dictator who had impoverished their island, Bass described him as “charismatic,” adding, “The passing of Comandante El Jeffe is a great loss to the people of Cuba.”
Over the years, the Brigade coordinated the travel of 10,000 young Americans to Cuba with Bass traveling there routinely every six months.
What makes Biden’s 2020 consideration of Bass to run as his vice president so jaw-dropping is what U.S. intelligence had learned about the Brigade over the years.
A 1976 FBI report noted that the real interest of Cuban intelligence (DGI) in the Brigade was “the recruitment of individuals who are politically oriented and who someday may obtain a position, elective or appointive, somewhere in the U.S. government, which would provide the Cuban government with access to political, economic and military intelligence.” [Emphasis added.] With her election to the U.S. Congress in 2010, Bass fit this profile exactly.
A 1982 U.S. Senate report confirmed, soon after the Brigade’s founding, DGI tasked those affiliated with it to collect public information on prominent Americans, minimizing DGI’s need to do so and to test the loyalty of those so tasked. It is unknown if Bass was tasked in such a manner.
Of note too is the Brigade’s subsequent affiliation with and radicalization of M-19 – a women’s group of terrorists. In 1983, M-19 bombed the North Wing of the Capitol. Forty years later – in 2023 – M-19 traveled to Cuba to celebrate the anniversary of the bombing along with the South Los Angeles Venceremos Brigade, led by none other than Bass.
Apparently, Bass’ frequent flyer miles to Cuba over the past half century failed to satisfy her ideological travel urge. She opted to attend a presidential inauguration in Ghana which, despite constitutionally having a republican-democratic government, is noted for being closer to a true Marxist-Leninist socialist state. It was rated as a “flawed democracy” in 2022.
During the days of the former Soviet Union, many of the wildfires that erupted in the Russian Far East could not be fought for lack of assets, with the communist country simply leaving them to burn out. One can only wonder if Bass, who so embraces Marxism, has adopted a similar firefighting mindset for L.A.