Taranto on Castro.

Better Dead Than Red
So this is what communism comes down to: a feeble near-octogenarian dictator lying in a hospital bed, bleeding from an unmentionable part of his digestive tract. As Reuters reports, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has "stepped down temporarily . . . handing over power for the first time" to Crown Prince Raul Castro:

[Fidel] Castro, who will be 80 on August 13, said in a statement read out on television that he overexerted himself this month on a trip to a summit of South American leaders in Argentina and celebrations of his 1953 assault on a military garrison.

"This caused an acute intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obliged me to face a complicated surgical operation," he said in the "proclamation" read out by his personal aide Carlos
Valenciaga.

"The operation obliges me to remain for several weeks resting, away from my responsibilities and duties," it said.

Now of course Castro is merely going the way of all flesh, but this apparently is a surprise to some of his enthusiasts among Western journalists. The Associated Press "reports" that the Cuban people are morons who had no idea Castro was mortal until recently:

Talk of Castro's mortality was taboo until June 23, 2001, when he fainted during a speech in the sun. Although Castro quickly recovered, many Cubans understood for the first time that their leader would eventually die.

Reuters, too, is impressed with the emperor's elegant clothes:

The left-wing leader has enjoyed a revival in international support. . . . Castro is admired in many Third World nations for standing up to the United States and providing free education and health care. He has won friends. . . . Castro was greeted by crowds like a rock star. . . . Anti-globalization youths see him as a hero. . . .

Yet, at home critics say Castro has subjected Cuba's 11 million people to collectivized poverty in a police state.

Wow. Where to start? Howie Spleen is a "left-wing leader". Castro is a world-historical mass murderer. Free edu...ack! I'm gonna puke!

Anti-globalization youths? I think that means Green Day. (Unless their CDs start selling in Ghana, that is.

Yeah, well, nobody's perfect. In his statement, Castro vows to "fight until the last drop of blood." We will be keeping an eye on his condition. May it stabilize soon.

This Just In
"Castro Relationship With U.S. Has Long Been Rocky"--headline, CNN.com, Aug. 1
(Thanks to Best of the Web Today for the heads up.)