Babalu Blog

Unfortunately yes.

One of the main criticisms the left has for the right is that we occasionally make deals with less-than-stellar characters. People like the Shah of Iran, or the Saudis, or the Afghan mujahedeen during the 1980s. These are legitimate criticisms. Whenever we prop op one of these types of people we inevitably doom the people they rule of a life of oppression. Often times the constraints of realpolitik require that diplomats choose between the lesser of two evils, and if anything this is what conservatives are guilty of. What you do not see, however, is conservatives feting and glorifying those dark figures with which we are forced to deal.

When Saddam Hussein was fighting against Iran, our mutual enemy, we turned a blind eye. What we did not do, however, was invite Saddam to America for speaking engagements, or give him humanitarian awards. This is exactly what the left does with Fidel Castro.

Why does the left idolize dictators and despots, specifically Castro? This is a subject I dealt with on my blog earlier this year. A group of activists, Nobel laureates, and Hollywood celebrities signed a letter in defense of Cuba. I wrote:

Do you want to know why the left is so singular in its support of Castro? With the USSR gone and China abandoning Marxism in favor of evil capitalism, Cuba is their last chance to prove that communism can work. [Singer Harry] Belafonte is an old-school communist from way back, and [actor Danny] Glover is just a typical America-hating, left wing asshole. Note that neither of these men would have been so crass as to sign a statement in defense of, say, America, or US troops in Iraq. But Castro? He's the man!

In short, Cuba is the left's last desperate attempt to prove that they haven't been wrong in supporting communism their entire lives.

Undoubtedly Larry Singell, the academic who is "honored" to have gained an audience with Castro, would justify the meeting on the grounds of understanding, fostering discussion, and peaceful resolution of problems. This is liberal-speak for the idolization of their last chance for greatness. How many times have you heard lefties waxing in admiration at Castro's 100% literacy rate or free health care? On March 31, 2000, Michael Moore wrote " A Letter of Apology to Elian Gonzales."

The worst that could be said is that, in Cuba, you were in jeopardy of receiving free health care whenever you needed it, an excellent education in one of the few countries that has 100% literacy, and a better chance of your baby sister being born and making it to her first birthday than if she had been born in Washington, DC.

As John Derbyshire noted in National Review, "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." The repression of Castro's Cuba is secondary to the progressive goals that he has been able to institute. Freedom is scary to the left, because free people are free to make bad decisions. Totalitarianism removes that risk.

When Castro falls, and he will fall eventually, the Cuban people will finally have a chance to prove to the world that they are free, willing, and able to shake off the yoke of oppression that has kept them in bondage for generations. As we see now in Iraq this will not be an easy transition. There are countless numbers of Cubans who have benefitted from the current system of cronyism and terror, and they are not going to let go without a fight.

Are the Cuban people up to the task? The United States will do all it can to assist them, most conspicuously from the thriving Cuban community in Florida. I think that, in the end, freedom and humanity will triumph over free health care and 100% literacy.