Wednesday, February 20, 2008
On respecting Fidel
I suspect that had CNN been around when Benito Mussolini "stepped down" from power, it would not have qualified its criticism with a respectful nod toward the fascist program for social justice in Italy (universal suffrage, including for women, eight-hour workday, minimum wage, reform of the pension system, establishment of worker safety rules, promotion of secular public schools, progressive taxation, not to mention making the trains run on time). It has, however, directed its reporters to mention all the "social reforms" that Fidel Castro accomplished during his long murderous rule over Cuba:
* Please note Fidel did bring social reforms to Cuba – namely free education and universal health care, and racial integration. in addition to being criticized for oppressing human rights and freedom of speech.
John Derbyshire pre-responded to this sort of idiocy eight years ago:
Wherever there is a jackboot stomping on a human face there will be a well-heeled Western liberal to explain that the face does, after all, enjoy free health care and 100 percent literacy.
This is, of course, much the same thinking that claims that Iraqis were better off with the "stability" that they enjoyed under the tender mercies of the Hussein family.
CWCID: Michael Totten.
5 Comments:
By 
, at
Wed Feb 20, 11:30:00 PM:
It is unfortunately all too typical of CNN and the MSM gang. What makes it sadder is that there is never any context given, such as : 1) what was Cuba like before Caudillo Fidel took over? Caudillo Fidel inherited a prosperous country that he ran into the ground. 2) How does Caudillo Fidel's performance compare with other countries? For all the MSM praise of Fidel in health and education, they never mention that democratic Costa Rica and Pinochet’s Chile had a better record than Caudillo Fidel in reducing Infant Mortality to below 20 per 1,000 births, in spite of having much fewer MDs per population than did Caudillo Fidel. ( Sources: ECLA (UN: Economic Commission on Latin America) yearbooks, and UCLA’s Statistical Abstract for Latin America)
At the same time, what can you expect of the network that later admitted it kept reporting from Saddam’s place, knowing that their being able to do so meant that they would censor what they sent out. Courage, for CNN, consists in having Eason Jordan claim that the Army targeted journalists in Iraq when he spoke at Davos.As the Spanish phrase goes, CNN has no name.
By , at
Thu Feb 21, 06:18:00 AM:
I recall reading about the great statesman's social reforms and healthcare approach to persons who were HIV positive.
1st, mandatorily test all subjects;
2nd, offer those who test positive (unclear if there were tests to validate the false positives) their choice of state sponsored healthcare:
(a) life in solitary in a stinking prison, er 'healthcare facility';
(b) one-way ticket to the USA, or was that via boat?
I've heard some remark that pre-Fidel, Cuba was a playground for rich businessmen to enjoy Cuban whores, booze, and gambling. Of course, there's prostitution pretty much everywhere, and booze and casinos throughout many resort destinations. Just because we left doesn't mean that the Russians or Euros did, the conditions of the resorts and cities just deteriorated.
... tender mercies indeed ...
Spike
By 
Christopher Chambers, at
Thu Feb 21, 08:24:00 AM:
You're right. I think we should erect social welfare statues to Pinochet and definitely Battista hahahaha.
By , at
Thu Feb 21, 11:40:00 AM:
CC, instead of acting like a SNEERING IGNORAMUS, you might check the record. Go to those sources . You are close to good libraries that have the volumes I cited. Or are you afraid of the truth? Perhaps better said, it takes less work to be a SNEERING IGNORAMUS than actually spend the time to investigate some facts.
While the MSM/lefty line is that Pinochet’s Chile had an abysmal record with regard to such matters, the truth of the matter is that Pinochet’s record on social welfare was much better than painted in the MSM.
Perhaps the best book on the issue is in Spanish. Tarsicio Castañeda: Para combatir la pobreza : política social y descentralización en Chile durante los '80, Santiago de Chile : Centro de Estudios Públicos, 1990.
At the same time, we are all glad that democracy has returned to Chile.
If you have time to stop your sneering, you might be interested in reading the Declaration of the Breakdown of Chile’s Democracy, a resolution that the House of Deputies passed three weeks before the coup, by a 81-47, a commanding 63%-37% margin. As many have said, the Declaration was an invitation to a coup. Patricio Aylwin, who was elected President of Chile after Pinochet lost the 1988 referendum to remain in power, was a strong supporter of the Declaration. A supporter of a Declaration that was an invitation to a coup is later a leader in the NO vote in the 1988 Referendum that means that Pinochet has to leave office, and subsequently gets elected President in a center-left coalition. History is messy.
By , at
Fri Feb 22, 12:17:00 AM:
Dozens in hollywood will book passages to cuba to hold a big retirement party for castro
