Weekend at Fidel's
The guy who does Filibuster Cartoons thinks that Chairman Fidel is about to die. Apparently the State Department thinks that he's suffering from serious health problems.
Me? I'm skeptical. It's rather common for these communist leaders to want no part in public life when they're shown as weak. If they show Fidel resting as he recovers from surgery, he appears weak. Demonstrations of weakness, particularly in the case of autocratic rulers like Castro, can lead to coups, or uprisings. Remember a few months ago, when Castro tripped and broke his arm on television? And then he hastily went on television to show that he was okay? I guarantee you, that wasn't to reassure all of his adoring fans that he was fine; it was to demonstrate to all of the potential dissidents, "Don't try anything; my arm may be broken, but I can still mess you up if you so much as breathe the wrong way."
Let's keep in mind, folks, that Chairman Fidel turns eighty years old on Sunday. My grandmother, who's not even seventy, had routine bypass surgery earlier this year and she still wasn't up and around like usual for a few weeks. Castro had intestinal surgery, which is even more invasive, and it happened last week. Do people really expect him to be running Cuba again, already?
Also, for the record, I've seen news articles in the past couple of years that questioned where Kim Jong-Il had disappeared to, and wondering if he had been eliminated, only for him to show back up again, whining aout Hans Brix or something. When communist autocrats are in a position to appear weak to the public, they avoid it by not appearing at all until all is well, or can be made to look that way.
It's very possible that the U.S. State Department has information I don't have; however, given the history of those wacky communists, I don't find it at all surprising that we haven't seen Fidel's smiling face in a few days. If Castro actually dies, I agree with the cartoon I linked to; Cuban communism won't survive him for very long. However, I'm not convinced that we're anywhere near that point yet. In the mean time, I think all young men should be getting ready for that inevitable day by playing Ghost Recon: Island Thunder.
Me? I'm skeptical. It's rather common for these communist leaders to want no part in public life when they're shown as weak. If they show Fidel resting as he recovers from surgery, he appears weak. Demonstrations of weakness, particularly in the case of autocratic rulers like Castro, can lead to coups, or uprisings. Remember a few months ago, when Castro tripped and broke his arm on television? And then he hastily went on television to show that he was okay? I guarantee you, that wasn't to reassure all of his adoring fans that he was fine; it was to demonstrate to all of the potential dissidents, "Don't try anything; my arm may be broken, but I can still mess you up if you so much as breathe the wrong way."
Let's keep in mind, folks, that Chairman Fidel turns eighty years old on Sunday. My grandmother, who's not even seventy, had routine bypass surgery earlier this year and she still wasn't up and around like usual for a few weeks. Castro had intestinal surgery, which is even more invasive, and it happened last week. Do people really expect him to be running Cuba again, already?
Also, for the record, I've seen news articles in the past couple of years that questioned where Kim Jong-Il had disappeared to, and wondering if he had been eliminated, only for him to show back up again, whining aout Hans Brix or something. When communist autocrats are in a position to appear weak to the public, they avoid it by not appearing at all until all is well, or can be made to look that way.
It's very possible that the U.S. State Department has information I don't have; however, given the history of those wacky communists, I don't find it at all surprising that we haven't seen Fidel's smiling face in a few days. If Castro actually dies, I agree with the cartoon I linked to; Cuban communism won't survive him for very long. However, I'm not convinced that we're anywhere near that point yet. In the mean time, I think all young men should be getting ready for that inevitable day by playing Ghost Recon: Island Thunder.
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