Yesterday was a very sad day for liberals across America as one of their icons, Fidel Castro, stepped down after nearly fifty years as Cuba’s murderous, Marxist dictator.   Liberals often point to Cuba as the role model for what they envision across America, with free healthcare for all and dissidents silenced by Cuba’s very own version of the Fairness Doctrine.  

If you can recall way back when, Cuba was a very prosperous nation and was an ally of the United States. The Cuban work ethic had resulted in a booming economy where capitalism and the entrepreneurial spirit were alive and prosperity abounded. Then came the Revolution of 1959, with Fidel Castro taking over and using the power of government to do exactly what liberals want to do in America today.   The successful were forced to give their businesses, land and money to the government who in turn redistributed it to those who supported the revolution and its Marxist cause.   Those who voiced opposition were jailed, tortured and murdered.   This is the Cuba that liberals don’t want you to hear about. 

Castro’s Cuba is the epitome of everything that is wrong with liberal ideology that seeks salvation through big government.   The problem is that this salvation comes at the expense of individual liberty and justice.   Just as liberalism, better known as communism and socialism, has failed in every corner of the globe it is about to come crashing down in Cuba.  

Those who were successful left Cuba which has benefited America, in particular Florida, home to a thriving Cuban-American community that has not only assimilated into our culture, but has become  highly influential in conservative politics and big business.   These are the people who realize that government is never the answer and that it should be recognized as the most imminent danger to our freedom.   Perhaps this is why Cuban-Americans have become the single biggest Republican demographic, with over 90% supporting the GOP in most national elections. The Cubans have lived through the economic destruction and pain inflicted upon their people by Castro and his Cuban counterpart to the Democrats and understandably don’t want to see a recurrence here, which can only happen if liberals are put into positions of power.  

But as a nation we are too dumb to learn this lesson because we are too busy watching American Idol. We’re too caught up in our fervor to elect Obama to be president, not because he stands for anything or is qualified but quite simply because he’s black.   Even Michelle Obama announced that “for the first time” in her life she is proud of America. From what I have gathered Michelle Obama is certainly not stupid, so to make a statement such as this simply makes her incredibly shallow.   Maybe she should learn what makes America great and Americans proud by taking a visit to the Cuban-American community in Miami or Tampa, where her husband’s greeting card monikers of hope and opportunity are for real and not some fair tale preached from afar. 

This potential first lady is among the wealthiest of all Americans, has lived a life of privilege and prosperity not found anywhere else in the world, especially in Castro’s Cuba. Despite this, she was not proud of her nation until the lower end of the gene pool decided that they should elect an inexperienced one term Senator from Illinois for the simple reason that he is black. Yes, that should really make one feel proud about their nation.  

Most Americans are proud of the way we defeated the axis, raised the flag on Iwo Jima, defeated communism, landed on the moon or thousands of other accomplishments achieved in our short history as a republic. But none of this seems to matter to Mrs. B. Hussein Obama who is simply proud because we are poised to elect our first black president.   The fact is that an Obama presidency shouldn’t make us proud, it should scare the hell out of us.  Look, if electing a black president is what it takes to make you proud, go find someone who can stop sounding like a Hallmark greeting card and can actually do the job.   Arguably Condi Rice or Colin Powell are eminently more qualified, don’t have Muslim sympathies and actually have real experience.  Then again, those of us who know this wouldn’t be vying for the annual Darwin Awards.

Christopher Van

www.christophervan.com