Like the Coen Brothers, the Castro Brothers March Deep into Oscar Night...

Nick Gillespie | February 25, 2008

Earlier on Sunday, before the grand Oscar hoopla started, Raul Castro, the Jerry Van Dyke of communist tyranny, officially took charge of the revolution in Cuba, thus ensuring at least a few more years of despotism and poverty for the unfortunate people of that misbegotten island:

Cuba marked a historic milestone in its revolution Sunday as Raul Castro took over as president from his brother Fidel, defying the United States with pledges not to abandon the communist path.

"Fidel is irreplaceable; the people will continue his work when he is no longer with us physically, though his ideas always will be here," Raul Castro, 76, told lawmakers in his acceptance speech.

"I accept the responsibility I have been given with the conviction I have repeated often: there is only one Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution: Fidel is Fidel and we all know it well."...

Raul Castro vowed to be on guard against its powerful northern neighbor the United States, saying "we have taken note of the offensive and openly meddling declarations by the Empire (as Cuba refers to Washington) and some of its closest allies."

More here, via AFP.

There's no question in my mind that the U.S. embargo/boycott of Cuba is not only immoral and misguided but ineffective at its stated goal of bringing the Castro regime tumbling down. Here's hoping that policy changes, and changes quickly.

But as Michael C. Moynihan pointed out just last week (and as reason has over the years in its coverage of Castro and Cuba), the Castro Bros. deserve a special place in hell for the horrors that they have brought to the land they've governed for the past 40-odd years. And the brothers' defenders in the free world deserve a long time in purgatory, at the very least.

The odd Oscar connection: Perhaps it's a harbinger of true change that the winner of the Academy Award for supporting actor, Javier Bardem, was previously nomnated for an Oscar for his portrayal in Before Night Falls of Cuban poet-prisoner Reinaldo Arenas.

Bonus Oscar connection: former reasoner Tim Cavanaugh looks at the Big Gummint pretext for the Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which involves among other things the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Comments

Abdul|2.25.08 @ 8:20AM|#

Like the Coen brothers, the Castro brothers have also shoved their share of bodies into a wood-chipper.

|2.25.08 @ 8:20AM|#

...something about a very special hell for the Castros...right next to lawyers, child molesters and people who talk at the theatre.

|2.25.08 @ 8:42AM|#

Ahh, the suspense has ended.

I was sitting on the edge of my seat wondering who would win this hotly contested election.

|2.25.08 @ 9:00AM|#

I hear the Coen brothers are 100% literate and have excellent access to health care.

Dickin D\'Ass|2.25.08 @ 9:16AM|#

Viva Fidel

thoreau|2.25.08 @ 9:47AM|#

I think that if we just continue our Cuba policy a little while longer, there's a decent chance that not one but two old men will die of old age.

|2.25.08 @ 10:03AM|#

Ouch, thoreau, I think your comment just drew blood.

Sam Grove|2.25.08 @ 10:50AM|#

"U.S. embargo/boycott of Cuba is not only immoral and misguided but ineffective counter productive at its stated goal of bringing the Castro regime tumbling down."

There, fixed.

|2.25.08 @ 11:23AM|#

First Kim Jong Il replaces his Daddy, now Raul Castro is replacing his brother as the leader of a country.

Glad to see that the egalitarian claims espoused by Marx have come to pass.

|2.25.08 @ 11:31AM|#

thoreau, it was the CIA's secret aging weapon that did it. After the exploding cigars, mafia hits and the rest that one finally paid off.

Took a while, but hey, it's the long term goals we're going for here.

Can't really claim credit for this. It was one of Peter Sagal's gags on Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! last Saturday. An episode that featured, BTW, Drew Carey as a guest.

|2.25.08 @ 12:00PM|#

The fawning by certain members of the British press is rather revolting.

As an Englishman, I have no idea why there's a cigar shaped blindspot for British lefties when it comes to good old dictators. I think it's a question of linguistics; they enjoy the word comrade and the first fifteen seconds of the old soviet anthem so nostalgia drips away at their hearts.

Idiots. One and all.

Sean Healy|2.25.08 @ 12:15PM|#

Yeah, trade and engagement sure are doing a lot to erode tyranny in China.

Kolohe|2.25.08 @ 1:24PM|#

Yeah, trade and engagement sure are doing a lot to erode tyranny in China.

Well, yes they are.

|2.25.08 @ 1:54PM|#

Yeah, trade and engagement sure are doing a lot to erode tyranny in China.

An incomplete list communist nations that we have engaged economically

Poland
Romania
Russia
Ukraine
Hungary
Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic and Slovakia nowadays)
Belarus
Latvia
Lituania
Estonia
Georgis
Kazakhstan
and others.

Those we have embargoed,
Cuba
North Korea

|2.25.08 @ 7:23PM|#

...the Jerry Van Dyke of communist tyranny...

My nomination for line of the week...

Josh|2.26.08 @ 9:29AM|#

First Ozzie Canseco, then Jerry Van Dyke.

Too funny, Nick. May I suggest a Frank Stallone comparison for your next Raul Castro post?