Drudge's link goes to AP's "Obama, Castro Come Face to Face in Historic Meeting in Cuba." ("Outside the palace in Havana's sprawling Revolution Square, Obama posed for a photo in front of a giant sculpture of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, creating an indelible image sure to reverberate in Cuba and beyond").
Posts
72 comments:
I assume Obama had a Che poster in his college dorm room so it is like coming home for him.
When does the Mariel boat lift start?
Paying tribute to a communist terrorist is what you'd expect from an Ayers acolyte. Thanks again for voting him into office, Ann Althouse.
This administration sure does seem to like authoritarian regimes.
Probably means nothing.
I assume Drudge was comparing this picture with the one that got Pres. Bush in so much trouble with the MSM on the aircraft carrier.
I predict the reaction by the media will be much more favorable to Obama than it was to Bush.
The Revolution will be televised, brother.
And on Drudge.
I don't think that is the best version of this image.
Try this one: Obama and Che
My parents were Cuban exiles. Che killed many many thousands of people summarily without trial for opposing Castro. For us, it really is like watching a US President standing in front of a monument to Hitler.
Obama never fails to disappoint.
Funny, I can't find the transcript, but CNN's Chris Cuomo is there, and is wearing a Che Tshirt. When asked about it from Alison Camerota, he said something about Communism raising everybody out of poverty, and how Castro gave his dad the T shirt years ago when they were discussing that. What a laugh!!! Why doesn't he and his family move there, if they are so impressed??
I always hate it when I get photobombed by a communist mass-murderer.
I hate this trend of declaring things "historic" when they are taking place.
Here's something historic to think about.
In Cuba the foreign operators of hotels pay the Cuban government US$350 per month for each hotel employee.
The Cuban government then pays the hotel employees US$15 for that month's work.
Nice, huh? viva la revolution
Good perceptions.
It's no worse than other pro-choice policies, and objectively better than selective child, planned parenthood, gender dysfunction, class diversity, selective exclusion, progressive wars, social justice disasters, government whoring, [anthropogenic] global warming, etc. There is always a special or peculiar interest that backs reconciliation, avoidance, creation, or recycling of an issue.
Who is going to run Cuba after the Castros are dead?
Raul Castro is on T.V. now explaining how Obama is desperate for his endorsement and how he could have said "Obama, drop to your knees."
Cuba has 11 million people. This isn't exactly Nixon going to China. This is symbolic flummery
The American Left's idolization of Che is one of the greatest flim-fams of all time. Historic.
I think it is the name and the beard. Che? Cher? Sounds cool.
In what way is that a "sculpture" of Che? It's black line art on a gray concrete wall.
Which is probably the best a Communist regime can do. Any actual sculptures that might be laying about will all be of Daddy Castro.
People don't know this, but Guevara spent most of his life shitting in the woods and wiping his ass with tall grass.
It means nothing when men in suits and ties stand in front of his likeness.
It's like standing next to a statue of Custer with Indian brains all over his pants, and eating a hot dog at the national park.
Get over it. "What difference does it make?"
mccullough said...Who is going to run Cuba after the Castros are dead?
Who's going to run America when the Bush's and Clinton's are all dead?
" a statue of Custer with Indian brains all over his pants,"
I expect that Guevara had some Cuban brains on his pants. How many did he kill with baseball bats ? 10,000 ?
Anyone who believes the myth of "Communism raising everybody out of poverty" should read this.
Money quote: In fact, a good chunk of the reason I wanted to get out [of Cuba] so badly is that I love omelettes and I refused to sleep with random French truck drivers just to eat them more than once every two weeks.
Most folks today don't know who Che really was besides being a cool looking dude on a t-shirt. Obama knows this. He is what they define him as today, not what he did in his real life. He's a polished turd.
Feminists conveniently forget that Margret Sanger was a racist, totalitarian, eugenicist; but why let that get in the way of a good narrative?
It's a tribute to people's ignorance that having Che's likeness in the background isn't considered more of an embarrassment. But then, I guess most people wouldn't recognize any of the Nazi henchmen below Hitler either.
Hopefully someday the Cubans can rid their country of all official portraits of that thug.
Cuba has 11 million people. This isn't exactly Nixon going to China. This is symbolic flummery
A lot of that visit was symbolic flummery. You could argue that the ratio of relative global importance to flummery was higher, but there was still a lot of flummery. There was the ping pong and the revolutionary ballet performances.
And a lot of Nixon's visit could be considered far more odious that Obama's visit to Cuba. Obama stands in a square next to some thugs with a murderer's portrait in the background. Nixon shook hands with a mass murderer many times over.
There are tangible changes in the U.S.-Cuba relationships that are worth watching. Just one minor shift is the State Department's relaxation of rules that prevented U.S. companies from directly hiring Cuban nationals. Think artists, musicians, and baseball players.
brains all over his pants
All over her pants. I wonder how she would argue self-defense.
The abortion rites and baby trials were/are held in private sanctuaries zealously guarded by liberal cults as sacrifices to the emanations or "gods" from the dark fringes of a penumbra.
Rich Rostrom said......I love omelettes...
When I was in the Philippines, every prostitute wanted to marry a GI. They would talk sexy, give you a trip around the world, and then pop the big question:
"Can you take me to the land of the big PX?"
You'd be surprised how many lonely Marines say yes. Once they got back to the states, the woman would get green cards for her whole family.
You start noticing this more around military bases, in that you can't get any good service unless you go to the many Filipino family shops. Americans are not born with their selling/service skills.
You'll never be lonely with a Filipino wife.
mccullough,
"Who is going to run Cuba after the Castros are dead?"
I don't think anyone knows that for sure. The Castros elevated a guy named Miguel Diaz-Canel to be First Vice President of the Council of State, and he is widely expected to be the regime's choice to succeed Raul Castro. Born in 1960, his designation as heir-apparent was pretty significant in that it marked something of a transition from the Revolutionary-era barbudos. Raul Castro has said he would step down in 2018, so Diaz-Canel certainly has the pole position.
But things don't always go as planned. Diaz-Canel could just as easily find himself replaced by a more dynamic candidate, fleeing to Bolivia or being dragged before a firing squad, Ceausescu-style.
"You'll never be lonely with a Filipino wife."
I have read that a lot of guys just retired to the Philippines and kept the wives there.
What difference, at this point...
Look, I'd bet a majority of the Media has or had Che posters/shirts and isn't ashamed of that fact. We can argue over whether support for Left-leaning authoritarian monsters SHOULD be acceptable, but there's no arguing that it IS acceptable. That's true even for people like Stalin! It's shameful but it's true--a picture of someone's office showing a small Stars & Bars pin will get 'em fired but someone as senior as Press Secretary to the President can decorate their HOME with Soviet propaganda posters and the Media thinks that's just fine.
I always ask my Castro-loving friends and family members this:
1. How come Fidel doesn't let people vote?
2. How come Fidel doesn't let people freely emigrate? Why do folks have to stay on the Island, when they simply want to go elsewhere?
I rarely ever get a good response.
Here it is....This is f*ing crazy.......
"the concern was the freedom of the people. What is the point of this communist regime if it is not to truly make everyone equal — not at the lowest level; not by demoralizing everyone; but lifting everyone up?
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/matthew-balan/2016/03/21/cnns-cuomo-wears-shirt-fidel-he-covers-obamas-cuba-visit
Wow, wendybar, that's really bad--one can hope Cuomo pays some sort of a price for it, but sadly I doubt he will.
I'm trying to think of an analogous situation w/the Right-Left ideologies reversed but I can't come up with anything similar for comparison!
Bay Area Guy said...
1. How come Fidel doesn't let people vote?
Voting is not necessary in a Marxist country. The issues concerning the government are solved by the politburo. The politburo is formed by party members, and is completely unlike a system in the USA, where money determines your membership.
2. How come Fidel doesn't let people freely emigrate? Why do folks have to stay on the Island, when they simply want to go elsewhere?
Peasants are easily corrupted. Take Elián González for instance. They tried to stuff dollar bills up his ass. Who couldn't resist dollar bills up your ass?
The best way to serve your people then, is to protect them from Capitalists and world hedgemony and their massive Weapons of Mass Destruction.
If they still want to leave, you can bash their heads in, and the other peasants will get the message.
Michael K said...I have read that a lot of guys just retired to the Philippines and kept the wives there.
We called them "lifers". These were old crusty Navy Chiefs and "Gunny" Sergeants. They actually owned all the bars and fishing boats with diesel engines.
You'd see them out behind the bars peeling potatoes and have two grandchildren on their laps and big toothless smiles.
Actually, in socialist countries, the end justifies the means, and consequently party membership. In capitalist countries, participation varies by the established religion or moral philosophy. However, as with left-wing regimes, competing interests keep the honest people honest, and others from running amuck.
"You'll never be lonely with a Filipino wife."
I'd be ok with a Honolulu Lulu.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF2lqI_gvww
"1. How come Fidel doesn't let people vote?
2. How come Fidel doesn't let people freely emigrate? Why do folks have to stay on the Island, when they simply want to go elsewhere?"
The communist's conception of "democracy" is different from ours. For them, voting and other freedoms are tainted by bourgeouis desires that make them subordinate the greater good for short term wants, and what's better for the people is a revolutionary cabal that knows what's best. So, no voting, but you get your basic needs met by the state. And no one can leave or they'd take all their free stuff with them.
Of course, over time people start to realize that the cabal in charge isn't much different from any other corruptocrats, and a closed system manages to just spread poverty more evenly. They can float along a bit but ultimately stagnate.
Communist dictators, Islamists, illegal immigrants, cop killers. Who will our President embrace next, convicted serial killers or arsonists?
Say. Why is Castro better than Assad, Mubarek or Gaddafi?
A. He's a communist
B. He's not oppressing Muslims
C. He's willing to have Russian/Chinese/N Korean missile bases in Cuba
D. All of the above
Anybody need a hint? Obamadupes? HillBillies?
I've never wanted to tell my President to fuck off, but I'm getting there.
"In what way is that a "sculpture" of Che? It's black line art on a gray concrete wall."
I guess if you count the wall.
It might be a freestanding slab.
Or maybe what looks like a flat line has some dimensionality, making it a bas relief.
What bothers me is not that a photo like this, with such awful optics, happened. The Castros are bastards. This is what they do.
What bothers me is the moment he stepped off the plane in Havana, I knew something like this would happen, & that Obama & his team were too clueless & gutless to keep it from happening.
Castro is the son of a wealthy Spanish immigrant to Cuba. Che was the son of a doctor. Both Castro and Che were raised in solidly middle to upper middle class households, as were most American journalists with a national audience.
"I expect that Guevara had some Cuban brains on his pants. How many did he kill with baseball bats ? 10,000 ?"
I read somewhere that he seemed to derive extra pleasure in killing little boys.
derive extra pleasure in killing little boys
Selective. The Chinese preferred to kill little girls. Liberal societies seem equally comfortable with killing little boys and girls without a voice to protest, arms to resist, and public exposure to invite public condemnation.
"So, no voting, but you get your basic needs met by the state. And no one can leave or they'd take all their free stuff with them." Cuba is like the Hotel California. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.
From Wendybars link about Chris Cuomo wearing the shirt his father got from Fidel:
underlined that "it didn't mean something to him [his father] because it came from Fidel Castro necessarily, but because it marked conversations going on decades ago that were the same as those today." [video below]
The anchor summarized that for his father, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, "the concern was the freedom of the people. What is the point of this communist regime if it is not to truly make everyone equal — not at the lowest level; not by demoralizing everyone; but lifting everyone up? My father, generations of politicians, have been fighting this. So, I wear this shirt as a reminder of that, and of my pop."
Yes, it marks the same conversation going on decades ago. And its the same convesration because Fidel's Cuba never changes. THe concern WAS the freedom of the people. Why isn't it now? Cuba has done nothing to show they actually care about that. So why should we reward them for it? Is that lifting everyone up? how about the dissidents thrown in jail on the day of Obama's visit. They are totally lifted up, I'm sure.
"Hatred is the central element of our struggle! Hatred that is intransigent...hatred so violent that it propels a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him violent and cold- blooded killing machine...We reject any peaceful approach. Violence is inevitable. To establish Socialism rivers of blood must flow! The imperialist enemy must feel like a hunted animal wherever he moves. Thus we’ll destroy him! These hyenas are fit only for extermination. We must keep our hatred alive and fan it to paroxysm! The victory of Socialism is well worth millions of atomic victims!" - THe lefts buddy Che. The same guy in the photo in behind the president.
Also, kind of a racist: The n*gger is indolent and lazy, and spends his money on frivolities, whereas the European is forward-looking, organized and intelligent.”
(techincally) he said "the negro" but he had nothing but contempt for blacks so, he might as well have used the n word. Didnt' see THAT in the motorcycle diaries.
Was Che himself not a physician? I thought he was.
Say, do you suppose there is any chance that the Castro brothers might take the entire delegation hostage?
While my Cuban father went to Ohio State University in the early 50's, Fidel Castro tried to sell him a car.
Seriously, actually a true story.
I always liked to imagine that that specific failure as a used car salesman is what led to his hatred of capitalism.
"1. How come Fidel doesn't let people vote?"
Ha. I remember about 20 years ago when I still listened to NPR's Talk of the Nation (when Ray Suarez was host), he and a guest were making fun of Cuban "elections" and their 98% Castro votes and some dingbat called in and was all mad because They love Castro and they all really vote for him!!!11 Eleventy!!!"
That was one of many times I began to earn that liberals weren't nearly as smart as they thought they were.
It is ironic at least, and quite likely the height of hypocrisy, for Drudge to be ridiculing the Obama/Cuba visit, without noting Trump's support for normalizing relations with Cuba.
Drudge is SOOOOOO selective, about his choice of linkable news on Trump.
I'm fine with the ridicule of Obama; I'll join that party quite happily. I deeply despise the man and his Cuba policy. But I won't party with anyone who supports Trump, on the subject of Cuba. (Or any other subject that comes to mind.)
"I always hate it when I get photobombed by a communist mass-murderer."
That's what Che said.
This is a national disgrace.
Cuba should have been liberated 50 years ago. Now, after this eight year obscenity, this, to apply the president's own idiom, protracted shit show, it is almost necessary to liberate our own country before terminating the sovereignty of this piss ant nuisance tyranny 90 miles off Florida. Free men need not respect the sovereignty of slave states but we only barely qualify.
I've thought for 30-40 years that the Cuban trade embargo was counterproductive. the main thing it allows their govt to do is tell people that the reason they can't have nice things is because of the meanies in the United States.
This ignores the fact that they could get nice things from 150 other countries in the world.
If they had anything to trade for them.
We should open trade but with one key caveat: Anyone who sells anything to Cuba, anyone who invests in Cuba does so entirely at their own risk.
So, if I want to sell cars to Cuba, it is my responsibility to collect. The problem is that Cuba has nothing to trade with. The only exports they have are cigars and sugar. There is a limited market in the US for both.
Under current trade laws (stupid and should be abolished) nobody can import sugar into the US. So that leaves cigars.
So drop the trade embargo and Cuba is in the same position as they are in today except without being able to blame the US.
Cuba might be good for tourism and I am fine with that. Let Americans go to Cuba and see what life is like under socialism. Let people go to Cuba and see how the hotel staff gets pretty much nothing out of what the tourist pays. Let them go out into the countryside and see how people live.
Or, let the Cuban govt restrict the American tourists from traveling freely or speaking with people freely. Then Americans will see what a repressive state looks like.
I am all for American tourism to some of these shitholes like Cuba. It might counteract some of what they are told by professors and journalists about the worker's paradise.
John Henry
Let me see if I have this straight:
Most Americans agree that we want Mexico to keep their citizens within Mexico. Or at least out of the US unless admitted legally.
Many comments here about how bad it is that Cuba does not let their citizens leave for the US.
I'm confused. Does this mean that Cubans are good and desirable and Mexicans are not?
I know a lot of Cubans and Cuban-Americans. I just came back from a few days working in Mexico and met a lot of regular people, as I have on my other trips. All of them, Mexican and Cuban seem pretty good and desirable people to me.
Just to be clear, I am all for controlling our borders and all for deporting all illegal aliens.
John Henry
I wish President Obama had not gone to Cuba but I do not have a huge problem with it.
I do have a huge problem with him posing in front of that murderous thug. I don't know if he is to stupid to know better, doesn't care or is an actual Che fan.
It was just plain wrong.
John Henry
Fresh from his progressive wars. Impulsive regime changes. Million man humanitarian disaster. Recycled and created terrorist organizations. Obama is suing for peace... somewhere else.
" The only exports they have are cigars and sugar. There is a limited market in the US for both. "
The cigar makers all left early to Nicaragua, Tampa, or the Canaries. I've had Cuban cigars in Britain. Nothing to brag about.
The Cubans who left the past 50 years were the middle class cream of the population. Just as my Irish friend said the Irish don't like Americans coming over there to look for "roots" because they all know "The Cream Left." Ditto for Cuba,.
Posing in front of that Che monument was a deliberate choice by Obama. He's signaling that murderous jacobinism is just fine in the service of universal, however inferior, health care.
Someone should ask Obama what he thinks of Robespierre. I'd venture he say he's never been to the capital South Dakota.
No doubt Ritmo has a Che poster on his bedroom wall and thinks that the optics of this are magnificent.
mccullough said...
Who is going to run Cuba after the Castros are dead?
It's a family crime business. There are plenty of tyrants waiting in the wings
The beautiful irony of Obama in Cuba is that the Cuban government is very racist. It's mostly white people ruling over a majority black country. That's always been the best part of the Obama legacy: the racial healing.
I wonder how long it will take for people to comprehend what a god-awful person Che Guevara truly was. Nowadays people are apt to consider Napoleon a proto-fascist but for over a hundred years he was painted as the new Charlemagne. Aren't there any Che revisionists on the left? Lenin has had a fall from grace. Ho Chi Minh is tactfully ignored, but Che is still celebrated. His reputation will outlive me. Bummer.
Blogger William said...
I wonder how long it will take for people to comprehend what a god-awful person Che Guevara truly was.
All anyone has to do is read a little history.
I did not know until recently that Hemingway would take a lawn chair and a cocktail and go and watch the executions. Now his suicide makes sense.
I'd never heard that about Hemingway, but anything is possible.
Especially in the immediate aftermath of the rebel victory (1959-1960), the vast majority of executions, by design, were carried out by non-Cubans; apparently, this was to prevent Cuban revolutionaries from having to incur blood feuds with other Cuban families, potentially fracturing an already fractured movement (despite post hoc attempts to revise history, the Cuban Revolution was never just about Fidel Castro and while he was first among equals, it was never a foregone conclusion that he would emerge as the socialist dictator-for-life that he became-- he had to eliminate several sources of potential competition along the way).
Che was certainly one of the more well-known executioners, but he'd by no means be among the most prolific -- that "distinction" is believed to belong to an American, Herman Marks or Mark Herman (Cuban diaries report both names, but the stories told about him clearly indicate it is the same guy), who also is believed to have been the executioner of William Alexander Morgan, the most prominent of the American members of the Cuban Revolution (when he recognized that the Revolution was turning socialist, Morgan started running arms for the CIA to counter-revolutionaries in the Escambray Mountains, was discovered and killed by firing squad in March 1961).
Another American active in the Revolution, Neill Macaulay, actually bragged about carrying out executions in his novel, A Rebel in Cuba, and to numerous documentarians (if you can believe it, Macaulay went on to become a tenured professor of Latin American studies at the University of Florida).
I too have tried a Cuban cigar, in Canada. It was pretty bad. The best cigar I ever had was a Puerto Rican Antonio y Cleopatra, bought at the BX on K-2 AB, ROK--when my first grandchild was born.
Behold..the master of optics and smart diplomacy.
Looks like Che has a pistol to his head.
Post a Comment