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Man "invincible ignorance". That is just absolutely perfect and on many levels.

Eire can enjoy the privilege of speaking his mind because he is a tenured professor. In contrast, look what happens to untenured faculty like Jose Lopez in Chicago and Antonio de la Cova when they denounce the Castro dictatorship. The racism against Cuban Americans that Eire denounces at The Washington Post is also enthroned in academia.

beautifully written! Kudos Carlos!

OW, that had to leave a mark!

Wonderful letter, and if the Washington Post doesn't run it, that will only be irrefutable proof that everything Eire says is true (not that any further proof is needed).

I'm still surprised that, as Eire notes, that the Post would let its guard down this much. Of course the Post is bound to be sympathetic to Oliphant's views, but that's not the same as being careless or stupid enough to take the mask off. It suggests very intense anti-Cuban American sentiments and/or a sense of invulnerability. However, even Achilles wasn't invulnerable.

We have work to do.

Congratulations to Professor Eire.

BTW it seems that Raul Castro visits Italy with some frequency

See

http://www.elnuevoherald.com/256/story/84703.html

and may be seeking an official visit (same article)

Such could be a prelude to a retirement in Italy since Raul has relatives there, and the recently rennamed Italian Communist Party can be counted on to protect him in the same way as they protected famed assassin Vittorio Vidale

Perhaps one could imagine that Governor Ryan (he was instrumental in denying tenure to Jose Lopez) who now languishes in jail, as well as a certain gay senator (who visited Castro to try to raise Helms Button sanctions) were both manipulated to support Castro by someone very well informed on US politics,

Round Three!

De La Cova also had a few choice words to give WAPO.

In the event that the WaPo responds to Eire, de la Cova, Fontova and others, it will more or less play the innocent bystander who simply allowed Oliphant the right to free (hate) speech. It will claim the paper does not necessarily share or endorse the views of opinion people like columnists and cartoonists. It may make some feeble, halfhearted attempt to placate Cuba-Americans with some lip service favoring democracy for Cuba, but it will never admit the painfully obvious truth, so it will never apologize.

This cartoon, though certainly vile and deliberately offensive, is not nearly as serious as what Herbert Matthews did at the New York Times, which had far worse consequences for Cuba. Has the NYT ever apologized? Has it done anything except add insult to injury for decades? Does it feel even the slightest obligation or pressure to make amends of any kind? Absolutely NOT.

The Times and the Post are at the top of the media pyramid, and they're perfectly representative of the prevailing MSM attitude regarding Cuba. For all practical purposes, there's no real disincentive to screwing the Cuban people up, down and sideways. EVERYBODY does it; it's the NORM, so as far as the media is concerned, there is no problem--just business as usual.

I think Jewbana's suggestion in another thread is very good. Take out (pay for) the appropriate space in the Sunday edition of the Post for a carefully crafted response to this contemptible smear. Make it a BUCL campaign to collect the needed funding. Don't just let this blow over and be forgotten. I don't think Jose Marti would have let such a thing go unanswered.

The Post has unwittingly given us an excellent opportunity to expose and denounce media hypocrisy and double standard. We should not let it go to waste.

Bravo Professor Eire. Excellent letter. I agree with Jewbana's and Asombra's suggestion to make this a BUCL campaign and place a full page in the WaPo (bird cage liner) paper. I'm in if it's done.

Asombra:

Thanks. If any Babalusians want to contribute to this effort of raising money to pay for the ad, I'll be ther first one with my credit card in hand. And yes, something like this happened when Jose Marti was exiled here and he did respond to it. Does anyone know how to research the web for his article? I know it was published but I forget which paper.
I'm sure we must have some Marti scholars among us. Help!

I agree with Asombra and Jewbana. This should be a BUCL campaign if the Washington Post doesn't at least publish the letters from our resident scholars, and I too would willingly contribute to a paid advertisement fund if we were to take out an add in the Washington Post.

Jewbana - I'm a librarian and I can probably help you find what you're looking for if you can give me a little more information. Val or George - can you give her my email address? Thanks.

Thanks, Scott. I'm going to ask Dr. Bonachea of Unidad Cubana where Marti's protest was published.

Here's what I have on this so far:

In 1889, due to rumors that the US was considering buying Cuba or otherwise annexing it, a Philadelphia newspaper called "The Manufacturer" published a piece opposing that, claiming Cubans were undesirable, lazy, morally deficient, incapable and other choice adjectives. It went on to say that the lowest black man in Georgia was better fit for the presidency than the average Cuban black was fit to be an American citizen. You get the picture.

Anyway, the Manufacturer piece was picked up by the New York Evening Post, which ran it and endorsed its sentiments. Jose Marti, both a great patriot and a great writer, responded with a predictably formidable and very famous letter to the editor of the Evening Post, titled "Vindication of Cuba," which THAT Post had the decency to publish on March 21, 1889.

The vile Oliphant cartoon should be treated similarly. I feel that, for a number of reasons, Professor Carlos Eire is the person best suited to draft the text. He can easily get a hold of Marti's letter, which has been published in English, and he can also refer to and use what has been written on the Oliphant matter by de la Cova, Fontova and others. If the WaPo does not run the letters already sent by Eire and de la Cova, as seems likely, that means space will have to be bought in the paper as Jewbana suggested. BUCL and possibly other entities should be able to raise the funds.

We can bemoan MSM hypocrisy all we want, but something focused and concrete like this can have much more impact. This could be a blessing in disguise after all.

Are you people morons. I doubt a Yale professor would be stupid enough to get the name of the cartoonist mixed up with a columnist/pundit. It was Pat not Thomas. The date is also wrong.

Por favor! If Pat knew the difference between pre and post Mariel Cuban American most pre-Mariel Cubans would agree with him. If you want to travel to Cuba or send money or lift the embargo you should be sent back.

This purported letter is probably the work of some Republican hack.

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