“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…” Those famous words are, of course, from the Declaration of Independence, signed by America’s Founders on July 4, 1776. That charter set the course for American Liberty, which George Washington and the Patriots of the War for Independence secured at great cost.

As heirs of that legacy, forgive us if we take great umbrage with the latest pronouncement from Barack Obama: “Here’s my message to the Cuban government and the Cuban people. The ideals that are the starting point for every revolution — America’s revolution, Cuba’s revolution, the liberation movements around the world — these ideals find their truest expression, I believe, in democracy.”

Where to begin? The Castro thugs who have ruled Cuba with a totalitarian iron fist since their brutal takeover in 1959 have nothing but contempt for “unalienable rights,” and they operate a government instituted expressly to deny these rights without “the consent of the governed.” Obama, a former “constitutional professor,” isn’t ignorant of this distinction between our nations. We can’t say this strongly enough — to compare the United States with Cuba as Obama did is utterly disgraceful. For a sitting American president to do so is even more reprehensible. It’s a gross insult to every American Patriot who’s given life and blood defending our Liberty.

It’s also a slap in the face to the political prisoners who languished in the Cuban gulag while Obama did the wave with Raul at a baseball game. Castro taunted, “You can give me a list of political prisoners, and if we have those political prisoners, they will be released before tonight ends.” Subsequently, Obama was presented with a list of 89 of Castro’s political prisoners. He responded by attending the baseball game.

Obama has said some despicable things during his seven-year occupation of the Oval Office, but likening our own fight for Liberty to the tyranny of Cuba’s dictators is a contender for the most shameful.