Today should be a day for celebration: Fidel Castro, the brutal Communist dictator who has held Cuba in thrall and charmed idiotic American celebrities for 49 years, has officially stepped down as Cuba's leader:
The announcement ends the formal reign of a man who, after seizing power in a 1959 revolution, not only outlasted nine U.S. presidents but his communist patrons in the former Soviet Union as well. Prior to the Soviet Union's collapse, support from the Kremlin sustained Cuba as a socialist outpost on the doorstep of the United States, and placed Castro and his country in the middle of events central to the Cold War, including the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis.Aww, how nice. Outlasted nine U.S. Presidents, what a resilient guy! (What's that? Presidents are term-limited and have to run for re-election because we live in a democracy?) Apparently being a Communist is enough in terms of charm and charisma to overcome the fact that you missed the decade when military fatigues went out of style.
At least we have a president who has the courage to use the words that murderer's reign really deserves:
President Bush, asked about the news in a public appearance during his trip to Africa, said: "The question really should be what does this mean for the people in Cuba. They are the ones who suffered under Fidel Castro."
Bush said he hoped this would be "the beginning of a democratic transition for the people of Cuba . . . An interesting debate will arise. Some will say let's promote stability. In the meantime, political prisoners will rot . . . This should be a transition to free and fair elections. And I mean free and fair. Not these elections that the Castro brothers rig."
How much longer will we have a president who calls evil by its name? Anyway, hopefully this can begin a transition for Cuba away from oppression and slavery and toward freedom and democracy. I hope the United States will support such efforts, no matter which party holds the Capitol and the White House.
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