Who Heard about Castro?

All due respect to the Cuban people, both in Cuba, here in America, and abroad, but Castro gets way more than his fair share of media attention because he's the last Communist leader we're allowed to hate. (The Soviets are gone and we can't hate the Chinese anymore because they own most of our debt.)

The old bat has surgery and the whole nation hears about it. I guess it's noteworthy that for the first time in 47 years, the guy has given up power. The fact that it's temporary seems to be of little concern. Ok, Ok. He's 79 and having rather invasive surgery. He'll be handing over power to his brother, Raul Castro, for a number of weeks as he recovers.

But in the end, nothing has really changed. The transition from Fidel to Raul seems to have been smooth. The population of Cuba took the news in stride. The only reason we hear about this tin-pot dictator instead of the any number of other small time dictators (all equally repugnant) is because he's 80 miles from Miami and he's the only one that the media can turn into the ghost of the 'Red Menace.'

That said, hopefully signs of Fidel's failing health hint at a smooth and peaceful transition from dictatorship to representative government for the people of Cuba.

Cuba Fidel Castro Raul Castro