RMS Protest Song On Gitmo 500
An anonymous reader tipped us to a protest song RMS has written and recorded (while visiting Cuba) and is hosting on stallman.org. It's a sort of parody, although it's too serious really to be called that, in Spanish of the song "Guantanamera," in which a Gitmo prisoner talks about his experiences and mourns his fate. RMS wrote the lyrics in 2006 after learning what "Guantanamera" actually means. The lyrics are moving, and the recording, in Ogg, is competent — RMS sings well and he's got some amateur musicians from Cuba backing him up. Here are the lyrics and an English translation.
Re:Antics like this... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Antics like this... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Antics like this... (Score:5, Insightful)
Eh? If you don't approve of the Guantanamo detentions, it means you like communism?? What kind of bizarre logic is that?
Look, I don't approve of the Guantanamo detentions, or the war in Iraq. I also happen to think that Fidel Castro is a raging deluded asshole, yet I also think that the embargo on Cuba is embarrassingly stupid and should stop.
And I didn't see anything at that website that indicated that RMS had actually visited Cuba, but speaking of that, it's also bizarre that an American citizen cannot go wherever the hell he pleases whenever he pleases.
Disgusting (Score:2, Insightful)
Let me get this straight. As long as Castro embraces software freedom, actual political freedom is irrelevant in Stallman's world.
This is the same man who links to impeach Bush sites -- presumably not because of Bush's lack of embracing software freedom, though based on the current evidence, Stallman would forgive Bush for everything if he would embrace free software.
How about a song for Castro's Victims? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:This guy keeps on getting lamer and lamer (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Antics like this... (Score:5, Insightful)
He should stick to what he's good at, writing software.
Next you're going to say country music singers should just shut up and sing.
It's bullshit. Being good at something does not take away your right to hold or express political views.
Re:Antics like this... (Score:1, Insightful)
Is that still a bad thing in America? Sounds like something from the 1950s!
Re:Antics like this... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:This guy keeps on getting lamer and lamer (Score:2, Insightful)
I am a FOSS supporter, but by no means I support such ideology.
But oh, I forgot. They use Free Software. They must be great by default.
Re:Antics like this... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:RMS = Richard Stallman (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Antics like this... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:This guy keeps on getting lamer and lamer (Score:3, Insightful)
Also, bitch and moan about how the embargo has done absolutely nothing (except keep the "Miami Cubans" happy and voting for whichever party). Face it, the embargo has done nothing, the USA trades with regimes that are much worse (Saudi Arabia for example, and previously Iraq (where did they get those chemical weapons from again?)) and the UN has voted every year for ages to have it removed (with only ever about 3 or 4 countries (and normally two, can you guess which two?) opposing and a similar number abstaining I think). And you wonder why US foreign policy is hated around the world.
I can't speak on why RMS hasn't been publicised objecting to "nasty" regimes (though I wouldn't be surprised if he has said something...), but I can say that calling him a "lame hypocrite" is stupid. I'm glad the whole of the Free Software Movement is not like you.
Re:Antics like this... (Score:5, Insightful)
One of the things that separate civilization from barbary is that we, generally, try to play fair -EVEN- with those people who would not extend the same courtesy to us.
Yeah, the human-rigths situation is (much) worse in Pakistan than it is USA, and on US-run detention-centres. That make you particularily proud ? Your ambition is to beat Pakistan, so aslong as you're ahead of them, you're a happy camper ?
MOD UP! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:How about a song for Castro's Victims? (Score:4, Insightful)
I would caution you to take these reports with a grain of salt unless there is some other hard evidence to support them. The same kind of stuff was coming out of Eastern Europe in the 1980s and much of it turned out to be a fabrication. Cuban "commies" were always on the mild end of the spectrum, when compared to, say, China, whom apparently we are supposed to measure with a wholly different measure because they make golf-balls for Wal-Mart.
So don't become a tool for some rabid Cuban exile land-owner who would play the world's smalles violin about human rights abuses in Cuba only to promptly abuse everyone in his path should he manage to get his paws back on the island.
This is precisely what happened in the Eastern Europe where the Solidarity used to broadcast "shocking" reports by rebellious reporters about how well off the top members of the socialist government were: "Two! count em! Two 4-room apartaments!! Outrage!!". Of course as soon as the "freedom loving capitalists" took over, some of the former historical palaces of the nobility which have been designated as museums became houses of some of the same ex-Solidarity members who bemoaned the wretched inequality of the "commies".
Buyer beware.
Irony Much? (Score:5, Insightful)
Political Freedom (Score:4, Insightful)
And who do you think is a good example of embracing freedom, if you were going to consider the USA, then consider the following points.
- Doesn't recognize the democratically elected palistinian government as being legitimate
- Recognize Pakistan's military dictatorship as legitimate.
- Places domestic travel bans on its citizens
- Limits travel to other countries (as mentioned above)
- Spies on its own people without probable cause, (echlon/carnivore/whatever its called now, RFID ? )
- Violates its own constitution (count the ways)
- No longer has a clear separation from the judicial system (sacking bush unfriendly judges)
- Highest imprisonment rate of any country per head of population
- The government of some states kill their own people (capital punishment)
Face it, "land of the free" is nothing more than a propaganda term.
RMS isnt superman... solving all the worlds problems is too much for one person, maybe he just wants to concentrates on software freedom, doesnt mean he shouldnt express his views on other types of freedom.
If you would expect RMS to keep silent about his views on political freedom, then can you honestly say you respect political freedom ?
Re: GTMO (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh, wait. They're not entitled to fair trials, so we'll never know.
Re:Antics like this... (Score:5, Insightful)
True, but being good at being attractive or a good singer does give you a larger stage than you would normally have to disseminate your ill-informed, embarrassing rantings, which your opinions usually are when you're a rich dilettante whose principle contribution to society was to make millions of people think, "that sounds neat" for thirty seconds.
Re:Disgusting (Score:1, Insightful)
Let me get this straight. As long as Castro embraces software freedom, actual political freedom is irrelevant in Stallman's world.
Huh? What in flying fuck are you talking about? The song is about political freedom, you idiot. Just because it's Stallman singing the song, it doesn't mean he's singing about software.
Re:Irony Much? (Score:5, Insightful)
Does anyone else appreciate the irony of having a U.S. military prison in Cuba? Wait, maybe that's not irony...
Re:This guy keeps on getting lamer and lamer (Score:1, Insightful)
That's crap, 1. because they DO get criticized ALL the time, just switch on TV 2. an American can hardly do anything about it short of starting a war with those countries.
On the other hand, the United States ostensible has the aspiration to be a beacon of human rights. Furthermore, the American people DO have a chance to correct the wrongdoing of their own country which they can't with regard to, for example, China.
Re:A related movie (Score:4, Insightful)
Compared to US government officials?
That depends if you consider "We deny everything", "No comment", and "I don't recall" to be dishonesty or some sort of "standard response form" that means nothing and therefore is neither honest or dishonest.
I'm sorry... (Score:1, Insightful)
Attention Castro haters: (Score:4, Insightful)
The song has NOTHING at all to do with Cuba, it's about Gitmo which, for all practical purposes, is 100% American.
He happened to write the song while in Cuba, so what? He could have written it in Argentina or Canada or China.
Now go back to your GI Joes, the grown-ups are talking.
Re:Antics like this... (Score:5, Insightful)
Besides the poor - or soon to be poor - who does an embargo hurt?
The opposing party/leaders. An embargo provides what every politician needs: something to blame everything on.
"It's not my fault your poor. It's the embargo"
"Not my fault we don't have enough fule. It's the embargo"
"The lack of electricity in Havana? The food shortages? All the American's fault"
"It's not that we have rules and policies that discourage actual progress. It's all those damn Americans"
As someone whoes talked to a lot of Cubans and knowing what conditions are like in that country (outside of the tourist areas) I have to wonder if Castro would have been overthrown a long time ago if the American government hadn't been jumping up and down with huge "Blame us for everything" sign on their foreheads.
Re:Antics like this... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Yes yes (Score:5, Insightful)
The fact that the United States is playing international law games in order to facilitate the holding of prisoners indefinitely without trial is something that no US citizen should consider even slightly acceptable. The United States was founded on the ideal of freedom, and the founders thought that the issue of imprisonment without trial was so important that they dedicated an item to it in the Bill of Rights.
If other countries want to torture their prisoners that's bad. But for the United States to hold prisoners indefinitely in the name of defending the country - that makes a mockery of the very values that make the country worth defending at all.
Re:How about a song for Castro's Victims? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Gee I'd like to listen (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Gee I'd like to listen (Score:2, Insightful)
Hey dumbass, here's a conundrum for you: why the fuck would anybody else bother to create an independent implementation when the one the Xiph people made already exists, works perfectly well, and is free in both senses of the word? Maybe you're stupid enough to waste your time doing something like that, but the rest of the world isn't.
Having only one implementation doesn't make the thing "proprietary," except perhaps in your twisted little mind!
Re:Antics like this... (Score:3, Insightful)
Sadly, this is not the only example of the US acting against its own interests in disastrous ways.
Re:How about a song for Castro's Victims? (Score:3, Insightful)
Stallman is too damn emotional on some topics, he fails to accomodate practicality and long-term benefit. People like him would always be the small time hero, but never become president. He's singing a song in SPANISH written while visiting a communist state. A man whose image reflects directly on the image of free software should know better than to do this, even if his position is technically correct and I would heartfully sing along with him. We struggle for years to remove the commie/rebel/unprofessional icon taped onto FOSS by certain elements of the industry, and in one happy day a "leader" brings it all down. Sometimes I wish RMS would lie. FOSS would be years ahead.
Re:Score 1 for the Islamic extremists! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I'm sorry... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes -- the reason they left (according to the GP) is that "they've had family members tortured and killed in some of the most horrif and brutal ways immaginable" (sic). So you're saying that, aside from the brutal torture and murder, Castro's a great guy? That's awesome.
Re:I'm sorry... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Antics like this... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Gee I'd like to listen (Score:2, Insightful)
There are no terms or conditions on use of the format at all, ever, anywhere.
The only terms and conditions on the use of the provided BSD-licensed source is to abide by the BSD license, which is basically give credit where credit is due; If you use the provided source, credit it; if you redistribute the provided source, credit it; don't claim your use of that source is somehow an endorsement.
It's an open standard because the group who created it allows anyone to use it for any purpose, hence being open, and they continue to maintain, support, and publicly publish the exact structure and operation of the format, hence making it a standard.
However, I do not think that will explain it to you, as I think you are merely trolling for responses.
You SHOULD be concerned about Guantanamo (Score:5, Insightful)
The fact is, that the US is hijacking foreigners in foreign countries, flying them to 3d-world countries to torture them and circumvent US laws.
Just one question: What would you say if
What would you then think of Germany as a country?
Thing is, the US is exactly behaving like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalid_El-Masri [wikipedia.org]
Then imagine reading a german website where a lots of Germans would say: "Well capturing foreigners and holding them without trial is not such a bad thing. At least we're not torturing them... well at least not so brutal... and giving them food. And bibles."
Then figure what your opinion of Germany and the German ppl would be.
Re:Political Freedom (Score:4, Insightful)
But regarding regarding your point that "palestinians want a government dedicated to the destruction of israel" - here is a free history lesson:
The Israeli ppl have a govt that has already destroyed the country of Palestine. The land that is currently called Israel was taken from the Palestinians by force (i.e., what would be called barbaric terrorism nowadays). What do you want the Palestinians to do? Ask nicely for their homeland (which they did btw)? Is that what Americans would do if someone invades and occupies their land? What's good for the goose...
So, the next time you want to make a statement about the actions of the Palestinian terrorists, take some time to read the history of the region and the actions of all parties involved.
Re:Antics like this... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:How about a song for Castro's Victims? (Score:3, Insightful)
Another one is that while it (lack of compromise) sometimes hurts the movement, IMO it's necessary. In the same way we need Debian purists. Part of Ubuntu's success is in going for the compromise (example: proprietary drivers) whenever it gives considerable advantages for the user. But without purists, the community would go for bigger and bigger compromises all the time... to the point that it would be as rotten as the coroporate software industry.
Re:Score 1 for the Islamic extremists! (Score:5, Insightful)
For example, I don't know many people that support EEUU views on the Iran nuclear issue. Because they know that EEUU has been the only country in the story of humanity that has actually dropped nuclear bombs to innocent people. So their thinking goes like "uh, the only country that has dropped nuclear bombs into a city and feels proud of it now tries to look like he is trying to stop other countries from doing the same?"
And we know that EEUU has a long track of supporting dictatorships that supported capitalism and declaring the war to democracies that tried to turn into a socialist economy. South-america hates EEUU, and for very good reasons. So we just don't believe when EEUU says he's trying to fight terrorism and promote freedom - we know quite well EEUU doesn't bothers about democracy or dictatorship, he just cares about capitalism (which allows EEUU companies to enter those countries) and communism, nothing else. IOW, they only care about money, not about freedom and rights.
Re:Antics like this... (Score:3, Insightful)
Then I guess Cuba should be very sparsely populated by now, as most people have tried to escape (and either succeeded, drowned or having been killed by Cuban forces). But according to Wikipedia, Cuba has a population of a little more than eleven million people on 110,000 km^2, which isn't really sparsely populated. Now of course the Wikipedia article could be manipulated by the cuban government to inflate their numbers...
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Score 1 for the Islamic extremists! (Score:5, Insightful)
Indeed you're right. The US has sabotaged its own good name and goodwill over and over again. And they just keep at it, over and over, again and again.
The most stunning example of this is how they gained sympathy all over the world after 9/11 and then somehow managed to squander it all in a few months, simply by showing an astonishingly bullying attitude rather than looking for co-operation regarding the Iraq war.
They had such amazing goodwill and sympathy, even in Islamic countries. Sadly, their propaganda machine refused to portray this goodwill, preferring to stir up conflict. But outside the US and its propaganda machine there was so much goodwill, it felt like some kind of world-wide friendship among nations was growing forth. So many past mistakes were being forgiven.
And yet somehow they managed to squander almost all of this in just a few months, by showing an amazingly bullying attitude and disdainfully neglecting all the persistent warnings about the chaos and surging terrorism that would unavoidably ensue if they went forth with their Iraq adventure.
*Sigh!* For a while it looked so promising!
I suppose their war industry didn't like that promising outlook.
Re:Gee I'd like to listen (Score:4, Insightful)
Approach A: The formats like MP3 are patent-encumbered, which threatens everyone's freedom to use and implement it. Furthermore, proprietary formats like WMA and AAC lock you in to a single vendor, and also enable mechanisms like DRM, which doesn't supposedly stands for "Digital Rights Management" but we call it "Digital Restrictions Management"
Approach B:Ogg's the format that a lot of games use now. It sounds about as good as mp3, but they don't have to pay for it like with mp3 -- yeah no kidding, it costs a lot to legally make an mp3 player. Anyway, winamp plays 'em.
The average joe on the street isn't going to give a damn about the ideology until the alternatives aren't a hassle.
Re:Score 1 for the Islamic extremists! (Score:5, Insightful)
> And yet somehow they managed to squander almost all of this in just a few months, by showing an amazingly bullying attitude and disdainfully neglecting all the persistent warnings about the chaos and surging terrorism that would unavoidably ensue if they went forth with their Iraq adventure.
Living in the US and being one of the 25% of people interested in news and current events, I can guarantee you that the Iraq War, which began in March of 2003, took quite a bit longer than "a few months".
Your memory, however, is correct, much of the US' "international good-will" evaporated in a few months after 9/11, especially in Muslim and what used to be the "non-aligned" countries. After the US attacked the Taliban in Afghanistan. And to that, I give a giant middle finger to the self-serving hypocrites around the world expressing "sympathy" and withdrawing it after the US took appropriate action in its self-defense.
It's sad so many people lump in the justified war in Afghanistan with the unjustified war in Iraq.
Re:Score 1 for the Islamic extremists! (Score:4, Insightful)
It is also generally agreed that the Afghanistan war and its aftermath could have had very positive consequences, both in the struggle against terrorism and in the democratization of the region, whereas the Iraq war from the very outset promised only exploding terrorism, and would sabotage what could otherwise have been gained in Afghanistan regarding democracy in the region.
Here in Sweden the two wars are seen as very different, and in many ways diametrical opposites.
Re:Antics like this... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Antics like this... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Antics like this... (Score:3, Insightful)
I absolutely can't stand the "be thankful you live in America" crowd. It's like the "feel good about ourself no matter what you do" crowd. Self-criticism and self-reflection are the only paths to improvement. Being content with what you have is a recipie for stagnation.
Re:Antics like this... (Score:4, Insightful)
Well there was a very famous case of a supposed terrorist being killed by a missile launched from a drone in kuwait or someplace. They guy was getting in a car and boom!. No need for messy trials or jails or nothing.
Then there was the case of the army admitting that many people were killed in afghanistan under US custody. The army coroner ruled the deaths murder.
Then there are the cases of the "disappeared" people. People the US announced that they had captured but nobody has seen since.
"o be fair, as to the 'torture chambers in gitmo', cite please? "
The US has admitted to conducting waterboarding, subjecting to extreme tempratures, sensory deprivation, "stress positions", and force feeding by tubes through the nose. These acts are considered to be torture by all international conventions and the US has admitted to using these methods on a regular basis. The US claims they are not torture but they are alone in that.
Correction to the above. Republicans claim these acts are not torture. Only republicans. Everybody else acknowledges that these are acts of torture.
"The Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations have been over gitmo with a fine-toothed comb, and no 'torture chambers' or anything even close exists at gitmo."
Nope. The red cross is not allowed unannounced visits and they are not allowed to interview detainees alone.
"As to any claims by the detainees, if *I* were a dedicated jihadist captured and sent to gitmo, if some do-gooder organization came asking, I'd wail and cry and gnash my teeth about all sorts of horrible conditions, daily torture, and my innocence, with the goal of creating as much trouble as I could for the hated unbelievers."
How convenient!. That's a really clever way to dismiss all claims of torture by everybody in every US prison everywhere in the world.
Anyway like I said the US itself has admitted comitting these acts, the armies own doctors have ruled the deaths murder. The only people who deny systematic torture by the US military and intelligence are republicans and let's face it how can anybody take anything any republican says at face value? People like you care more about your party then the constitution, morals, human rights, justice, fairness, law and order, or the country.
Keep denying that the US does not torture anybody. You and the rest of the 25% of the american public are a disgrace to humanity but it's important that we amplify your voices so that the rest of decent america knows people like you still exist. We can't get complacent. As long as people like you are around we must keep up our diligence.
Re:Score 1 for the Islamic extremists! (Score:3, Insightful)
I think this is a reflection of your ability to distinguish between who is doing the evils and who is being subjected to them. As an American, I find this attitude not only honest but refreshing when considering it is coming from an outsider. Usually, it is Americans reading the messages about how everything is evil and such are the Americans then having to sit back on wonder who the hell they are actually referring to. It is amazing when the government goes power crazed and usurps mosts of the freedom and the rest of the world think there is some consensus of American people supporting it.
It is really the plague of living in a free country, many people support different actions of the government for different reasons but none of us support everything it does for the same reasons. From outside looking in, it must appear that most people support both the extreme and the exact opposite at the same time. I think the fact is that you only get this impression when looking at all the individual causes and grouping them to some common cause which is linked to the governments screw ups. But I guess that is what we deserve when American politics is divided to the point that we will elect one person over another based on their position over just one or two things. Bush was elected twice not because he was the best leader, He was just the lessor of the two evils running and the only person the second time around who had their own ideas that wasn't afraid to say something about them in public.
The situation is really a lot like a candy store that has a few things no one else has and when the kids go in to buy this or that. Someone makes the connection that all kids like that candy store when they are only going there for one or two things that aren't the same thing the other kids are going there for.
Re:Lest we forget... (Score:2, Insightful)
Yes, and after a well orchestrated gang rape with the moderations system, all those people dispelling an anti-anti-Bush post have been successfully karma'd out or just move on to sites that weren't taken over by the left. This is a problem with the politics section being left in rather then taken out after the election like the plan original was stated. Just look at what happens to this post and you will see. Anything that questions global warming or the left's political causes get modded down.
And yes, the old frayed ability to lump everyone into one group based on a common denominator. The thing is, I remember only certain middle eastern countries being inherently evil. But I guess after years of exposure to America being the root of all evil, these middle eastern contries don't seem as bad. I guess instead of a common denominator, we are focusing on the least common denominator.
Loud music and flushing the bible down the toilet is atrocities? After all, this is what the torture amounts to according to amnesty international. There were a few reports about physical abuse but there is never any scares and such to validate them. I'm not saying that means it didn't happen, but I would attempt to make my captors look in the worst light possible if I had the chance. Maybe atrocities just doesn't mean what it did 10 years ago. Maybe this is the one area were the dictionary failed to preserve the meaning of the words in it in favor of political posturing.
Maybe his is because few have changed their minds in places were they think they can speak freely. Maybe This is because in order to be a converted thinker on the issues mentioned for the reasons mentioned, you are bing played by the other side too. I would suck to think about how you were a tool from one idea just to realize that you are now a tool for another. And this can be validated with the politics in the US to the extreme. All the leadership from the major opposing parties do is complain that something isn't going right. They don't ever offer alternative solutions or plans that would work better. Kerry ran for office in 2004 claiming he had a plan for Iraq that would work better but because he wasn't elected as president, the country of America doesn't get to know what this better thing was. We have democrat walking around claiming the conversation on Iraq has to change but then not offering and conversation to the One guy who could change anything about it. Instead they are demanding troops quite fighting, making references to losing like in vietnam and then trying to play games with the funding of the troops and the levels of support they have to press the issues just like in vietnam were congress forced us into a loss.
But being a tool or being played like an accordion isn't anything new. It is something that has been around for a while. Look at senator Reid's response to the recent partial birth abortion case brought before the supreme court. He voted for the Ban [senate.gov] in the first place and then claimed the court was stacked [cbn.com] incorrectly when it went before them. And like the Wars we are in the middle of, the side opposing it the most today was supporting it back then. But t
Re:i'm not going to defend guantanamo (Score:3, Insightful)
Your ability to talk down to people is amazingly well developed. I imagine it's your parents that taught you that, mostly by example, and as such, that's why you feel so powerless frightened and alone. Degrading other people isn't the best way to make a point.
You seem to be making the argument that we should cast a judgement over the entire world, then line up everyone by order of the biggest sin. By doing so, you can identify the causes that are worthy of addressing (being worthy, that's not something you are familiar with is it?).
Well let me tell you something... I do have an understanding of human nature. It is because of human weakness that we have laws, laws based on moral codes. The laws of America, it's highest laws in fact, include the right to a trial, the right to be protected against cruel and inhuman punishment, the right to speak freely. The prisoners in gitmo are prisoners of America. As such, we apply our laws and thus our moral code to them, and we exhibit these in the way we as a people handle the situation. So far, it has been to ignore our highest laws, ignore our moral standards, and now, you would advocate that we ignore the problem altogether because there is other suffering in the world.
It's is a weak man who abandons his morals in times of trouble. In fact, by ignoring this and allowing this, it demonstrates that these morals are simply relative to the situation, which implies that they aren't morals at all.
I understand that you feel the way you do, and I can guess why. I suggest that you either stand up for what's right, or please sit back down. Let those folks that do have conviction and courage, those folks who love America and what it stands for, let those people show you the way so that one day maybe you can learn what it is to be worthy.
Re:why is it that (Score:2, Insightful)
> kind of an inability to have perspective, to understand scale, to perceive context
> why guantanamo garners so much attention
Let me explain. Cuba and Castro don't go shooting their big fucking mouthes off about bringing freedom (tm) and democracy (r) everywhere. Cuba and Castro aren't illegally invading sovereign nations in the name of bringing said freedom (TM) and democracy (R) .
A nation that is always proudly pointing at its Bill of Rights and Constitution, a nation that is always banging on their chest for being the Last Bastion of the Free (TM), a nation that always claims to possess the Moral High Ground (C) should never ever do what is being done on Guantanamo.
I don't suppose the acts committed at Guantanamo are what irks people, it's the massive scale Hypocrisy and Zealotry behind it that kills people. The sheer gall of the US in the face of their own shortcomings.
I am an atheist, but let me take this time to quote some Valued Scripture from the State Religion in the US:
Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.
The point here is that, by the principles on which it is founded, the US should be striving to become the one without Sin rather than the one who is throwing the rocks in this world. That would be worthy.
Re:I'm sorry... (Score:5, Insightful)
Moving back into the political, if you were a non-American attempting to develop a well-rounded and nuanced perspective on American foreign policy, would you go and ask Iranians? Iraqis? Probably not. Not because these groups don't have valid complaints -- but rather because their bad experiences hamstring their ability to approach the issue of America's foreign policy in a rational way.
Similarly, the Palestinians would probably not be the right people to ask about Israel's right to exist. This is not because their complaints are unjustified, nor is to say that those should not be addressed -- but their feud with Israel makes them the least likely, in principle, to provide you with a nuanced perspective on the topic.
Armed with this understanding, the thing to realize about the Cuban American population in Florida and elsewhere is that, well, they hate Castro. Asking them what kind of a guy Castro is is about as productive as asking an internal party cadre in Cuba what kind of a guy Castro is -- the response is certain, before you even ask the question. Cuban Americans hate Castro -- that's why they left. They're not going to tell you about the good things he's done, because they want him out of power, and they see American pressure as a means to that end. Similarly, if you asked somebody high up in the Cuban Communist Party what they thought of him, they would certainly not mention anything about the bad things he's done -- they owe their livelihood to him, it is in their best interest that you see him as a good leader worthy of support.
This is the essence of propaganda, whatever end it pushes. You needn't lie; no one is perfect. Choose a side, and then selectively report only the good or only the bad, depending on which view you'd like your readership to take. If you listen to liberals, for example, Bush's tax-cuts were a "gift to the rich, at the expense of the poor" -- but in actuality, thanks to a (proven) economic phenomenon known as the Laffer curve [wikipedia.org], federal income has increased since the tax cuts, which should surprise no one who has studied economics. This is quietly ignored in the left-leaning press, who instead opt to play the percentages game and say that the middle class pays proportionally more of the tax burden than it used to, ignoring that everyone is paying less than they used to. In a similar vein, when you listen to Fox news, the completely unjustifiable Iraq war was justifiable because they had WMD, or Saddam was a bad guy, or whatever -- now, the right is careful not to invoke images of WMD because they know that it will hurt their image, which is already so tarnished that one wonders how much more damage can be done.
Selective reporting -- you should always be wary of it. My view, and I believe it nuanced, is that Castro has been a pretty brutal guy at times, and can in no way be considered a great leader by any honest definition of the term. But having said that, it is telling that the infant mortality rate in Cuba is the lowest in the Americas -- which, lest you gloss over it, includes the US and Canada. The literacy rate in Cuba is nearly 100%. People are poor, but they are not walking around on the street fearing for their lives, either, as in many places in Latin America, where kidnapping and drug cartel related deaths are a fact of life. It's not such an easy question to answer: well meaning but weak governments hav