Bernie’s love affair with Fidel

By Tom Quiner

Ready … aim … fire!

These were the last words Howard F. Anderson ever heard. He was executed by firing squad per the orders of Fidel Castro. He refused a blindfold so he could bravely stare down his executioners. He whistled a tune before the first bullet pierced his heart, ending his life.

Prior to his execution, Castro had most of Mr. Anderson’s blood drained so it could be put to medical use for the benefit of his revolutionary soldiers.

Howard F. Anderson was one of some 20,000 Cubans tortured and executed by Fidel Castro. Although he wasn’t in the same league with Hitler, Stalin, or Hussein, Castro was nonetheless a prolific mass murderer of his political enemies.

For some reason, American progressives, such as Bernie Sanders, go out of their way to say nice things about Castro:

“When Fidel Castro came to office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?”

Barbara Walters gushed:

“For Castro, freedom starts with education. And if literacy alone were the yardstick, Cuba would rank as one of the freest nations on Earth. The literacy rate is 96%.” — Barbara Walters on ABC’s “20/20,” Oct. 11, 2002.

MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchel concurred, and went one better by including health care:

“(Castro) gave his people better health care and education.”

NBC reporter, Ed Rabel, was granted access to Cuba back in 1988. He waxed eloquent about the “Cuban paradise”:

“There is, in Cuba, government intrusion into everyone’s life, from the moment he is born until the day he dies. The reasoning is that the government wants to better the lives of its citizens and keep them from exploiting or hurting one another….On a sunny day in a park in the old city of Havana it is difficult to see anything that is sinister.”

One reporter did see something sinister. Her name is Bonnie M. Anderson, a former reporter for CNN, a 7 time Emmy Award winner, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Ms. Anderson was stunned by CBS News’ coverage of Castro’s illness when he was dying. They repeatedly stated that:

”Castro is considered a ruthless dictator by some in Miami.”

The key word is “some.” CBS implied that there isn’t a consensus on whether Castro is a ruthless guy or not.

So why was Ms. Anderson so worked up? Because her Dad was Howard Anderson to whom I referred at the top of this post. She and her mother were able to flee to Florida to escape further persecution. She said almost every family in Cuba in some way had been touched by Castro’s reign of terror in Cuba.

She knows about the torture and the 20,000 deaths.

Ms. Anderson was writing for the Miami Herald back in the late 70s. She wrote something critical of Castro. He got wind of it and was so infuriated that he had her father’s remains dug up and thrown out.

Those are the sort of things Castro didn’t let reporter Ed Rabel see.

The American media slobbers all over the mass-murdering Castro. Here is a small sampling:

“Half of the Cuban population is under the age of 25, mostly Spanish speaking, and all have benefitted from Castro’s Cuba, where their health and their education are priorities.” [Kathleen Sullivan, CBS This Morning]

“Castro has delivered the most to those who had the least, and for much of the Third World, Cuba is actually a model of development. Medical care was once for the privileged few. Today it is available to every Cuban and it is free.” [Peter Jennings, ABC World News Tonight]

“The educational system is a jewel in the society his revolution has built….It’s a source of great pride for the President, as is Cuba’s literacy rate — virtually 100 percent.” [Dan Rather, CBS News]

Ms. Anderson sets the record straight on behalf of liberal Americans willing to ignore Castro’s grotesque record on human rights:

“If a man who murdered 20,000 people, imprisoned for decades hundreds of thousands of others, caused countless hundreds of thousands to flee the country (many losing their lives in desperate attempts to reach freedom on flimsy rafts) and has repressed a nation for nearly five decades – – denying them the most basic of human rights — is not considered a ruthless dictator by all, who the hell is? … But I have faith in my fellow American citizens. And I know, in my heart and spirit, that when the truth is known, those of us who have suffered at the hands of Fidel Castro will finally receive the compassion we are due.”

Did things get better after the Cuban thaw implemented by Barack Obama in 2014? Not according to Human Rights Watch:

“The Cuban government continues to repress dissent and discourage public criticism. While in recent years it has relied less on long-term prison sentences to punish its critics, short-term arbitrary arrests of human rights defenders, independent journalists and other critics have increased dramatically. Other repressive tactics employed by the government include beatings, public acts of shaming and the termination of employment.”

What do liberals consider to be evil?

Smoking.

Coal.

Oil.

Big Gulps.

But in their moral confusion, they think Fidel Castro and communist Cuba has a pretty good track record.

10 Comments

  1. churchbus71andetc on February 27, 2020 at 7:21 pm

    Good post. I hope many will read it and consider. Especially some so dedicated to Sanders. Keep up the good work!



  2. John R. Hugo on February 27, 2020 at 8:46 pm

    Democrats are evil and will destroy the United States if not stopped in 2020 and in the future.
    Get to the polls in droves and KAG 2020 and from now on.
    We need to get government back into it’s Constitutional Cage with the help of our non establishment President Trump.



  3. John Hugo on February 27, 2020 at 9:18 pm

    We need to get to the polls in droves to KAG 2020 and beyond. We need to help our non establishment President Trump to get government back into it’s Constitutional Cage.



  4. Ken Smith on February 27, 2020 at 10:28 pm

    Darn it, Tom, are you trying to confuse me with facts again? Seriously I really like the way you can lay out the real facts in many situations you write about and let the readers draw their own conclusions . Most of the time normal thought leads one to a correct conclusion without name calling & sterotying. Thank you



  5. parrillaturi on February 27, 2020 at 11:00 pm

    I was living in the greater Los Angeles area during this monstrous period. It was very difficult to witness the executions of so many, on live TV. I remember witnessing the execution of this gentleman. No blindfold at all. Another one was an Army officer, who was also executed with no blindfold. I sat there glued to the TV set, as this officer yelled in Spanish, “Listos, Apunten, Fuego.” Ready, Aim, Fire. The impact of the bullet sent him sprawling onto a mass grave that had been recently dug for such executions. I have many Cuban friends who lost loved ones at the hand of this monster, Castro. It’s difficult for me to understand how these Bernie followers can actually root for him, a heartless communist.



    • quinersdiner on February 28, 2020 at 7:45 am

      So true. Thanks for writing.



  6. Cristina Crawford on March 12, 2020 at 6:20 am

    Sadly, a good read. Thank you for posting this. I too am flabbergasted that Bernie has gained such momentum in this country. Young people need to READ, READ READ! It’s clear they are not learning history in school.



    • quinersdiner on March 12, 2020 at 9:35 am

      Thanks for writing.