Ah, come on, lefties - don't tell me you're too depressed over the death of your hero to talk about it?

Poor little lefties, you've lost your patron saint...

When Castro took power in January, 1959, I was in Junior High School and remember watching the nightly news (called "CBS World News Roundup") on CBS with Douglas Edwards, I watched in horror at the nightly broadcasts from Cuba showing executions of many Cubans by firing squad on Castro's orders - no charges, no trials, just executions. Less than two years later, responding to Castro's "nationalization" (seizure) of US businesses in Cuba, President Kennedy gives the green light for an invasion of the island by Cuban exiles that had been trained by the CIA for just this job. At the last minute, with the invasion underway, Kennedy got cold feet and cancelled air support. As a result, the invasion failed and the exiles were captured. This became known as "The Bay of Pigs Incident" where the implied meaning for most Cubans of the word "Incident" is really "betrayal." How did Castro respond? First, he swore allegiance to Communism and declared his "revolution" to be a "Socialist Revolution." Then, fearing more adventures from the Yankees, he buddied up to the Soviet Union and Nikita Kruschev, who ordered nuclear missiles to be shipped to Cuba. The US found out and blockaded Cuba and turned the missile-laden Soviet ships around and sent them back to their home country. The US was uncertain if this blockade and direct confrontation of the Soviets would result in a nuclear exchange. Simple American citizens like me, just held our breath and hoped we'd not be seeing mushroom clouds. That happened in October, 1962.

So in the short span of about three years Castro seized power, executed all his opponents, fended off an abortive invasion, and brought the world to the bring of nuclear war. I learned to despise him when I watched those people tied to poles being shot as Castro solidified his hold on power. The Bay of Pigs failure showed me what having a Democrat in charge of national security would bear as fruit, bitter though it might be. And the missile crisis made me understand that Castro is a madman willing to cause the destruction of the world for his petty self-satisfaction. No wonder he's the darling of the Left. I hope the sucker's dead. If we find it out, I will cheer. Meanwhile, in "sophisticated and nuanced" liberal circles, there will be sadness and muted mourning over the loss of yet another icon. First there was Arafat, then Zarqawi, and now Castro. Who's next, Kim Jung Il?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro

This is a fair and balanced assessment of Castro. As always, blame lies on all sides. We must always remember that life is just shades of grey. Much like the background of this comment box.

That is a brilliant post, Rev. Absolutely brilliant.

" The Bay of Pigs failure showed me what having a Democrat in charge of national security would bear as fruit, bitter though it might be."

If the Libs who lurk here even understand what happened at the Bay of Pigs, I doubt that it would matter to them. Ideology trumps decency every time on the Left.

(But for conspiracy theorists, the Bay of Pigs does explain why Cubans would have been happy to kill JFK.)

"And the missile crisis made me understand that Castro is a madman willing to cause the destruction of the world for his petty self-satisfaction."

But Rev, couldn't we have just TALKED to him? Or maybe DISASSOCIATED with him? I hear shunning is pretty tough stuff, feared by dictators all over the world.

Thank you for pointing out that MADD doesn't work with madmen. The Russian leaders were mean SOBs, but they weren't crazy. Irrational loonies pose a whole different kind of threat.

Before I go to wikepedia, let me ask----are you claiming that there is someone other than Castro to blame for his atrocities, his brutal regime, his murderous rise to power? Just curious.

Lordy, I love moral relativism. This "shades of grey" stuff just floats my boat. No right, no wrong, just a bunch of wishy-washy greys. It's so much easier than understanding what is going on, and taking a stand.

OK, Marc, back from wiki land. Hmmmm. Blame on both sides, eh?

Which side is to blame for the accusations of "gross human rights violations, including the murder of thousands of political opponents..." as quoted from your source and described in part by the Rev. True, some find him a "charismatic liberator" but the word "liberator" seems to be very loosely used here, as Cuba fell into a completely repressive state after Castro took over as dictator.

He is noted for his "land reform"----"Land reform (also agrarian reform although that can have a broader meaning) is the government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of — i.e. transfer of ownership of (or tenure in) — agricultural land."

So the confiscation of private land is a grey area? Just curious. Being against government confiscation of private property myself, whether it be my land or my income, I am not so likely to call this "grey".

He is also noted for his nationalization of companies and private assets. "Nationalization or nationalisation is the act of taking assets into public ownership/state ownership." Grey? Seems pretty black and white to me.

Maybe it is a "grey area" when some think he did a good job of promoting medical care, overlooking the fact that "Others see Castro and his policies as being responsible for Cuba's general economic depredation, and harshly criticize him for the criminalization of political dissent, free speech, and provoking hundreds of thousands of Cubans into fleeing the country."

Gee, sorry, but "general economic depredation" sounds more black to me, as does "criminalization of political dissent, free speech, and provoking hundreds of thousands of Cubans into fleeing the country."

Please, no more efforts to defend anything the man has done. Such efforts remind me of the efforts to defend Mussolini---after all, he did make the trains run on time. And Catro turned out some doctors---how many deaths did that atone for?

Yeah, Castro created a paradise in the Caribbean---such a paradise that almost daily people risk their lives,and their children's lives, for the faintest chance of escape.

I'm off to have a rum and Coke, in honor of the passing of one of the world's worst human beings.....Cuba Libre!