Missed in the hustle and bustle of Friday as I saw my affianced off on the Three Day Walk for Breast Cancer and had a project at work, was the hugest news ever to come out of a sewage grade celebrity gossip reporter…
OMG Fidel Castro is Dead! (and, no I’m not going to link to it, because if I link to it, the terrorists will have won.)
Perez Hilton, omnipresent celebretard blogger who, like the morons he covers has gained a certain level of notoriety not for any real talent, but instead for just being, expanded his reporting horizons beyond the drunken hook-ups of bimbos and reported on Friday afternoon that Fidel Castro was dead. The story was later picked up on by the totally-real-always-trustworthy Drudge Report.
Now what does this say about society? The simple answer is not much. Perez Hilton is a member of South Florida’s extra-gossipy Cuban-American community, and rumors of Fidel Castro’s death bubble out of there faster than a Mitt Romney flip-flop.
The more complex the answer? That our entire media-information complex is broken and only the miraculous reincarnation of Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow will save us from certain stupidity. One of the more interesting arguments about the fall of the Roman Empire, attributes at least part of the collapse to presence of widespread lead poisoning leading to a decline in the birthrate among the patricians. Looking back a thousand years from now anthropologists will look back and ascribe part of our failure to the retardation of the American public because of the crap that we read.
And if this week it should come out that Fidel Castro really did die late last week? Then I’m fashioning a garrote out of wire twist-ties and offing myself, because the end is nigh.
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It’s an indictment on the news media but not for the reasons that you state. None of the media has been able to uncover the true state of castro’s health despite the fact that all the majors have bureaus in Havana. That’s not surprising though since they do very little substantive reporting from those bureaus anyway. They are more than happy to accept censorship and government statements at face value in Cuba, something they would never accept here in the US. Bottom line is the public ought to know the reality of Cuba, but they don’t and these media types are willing accomplices in the deception.
If he has passed, it will certainly mark the end of a very historic life. When his passing is confirmed, I will most certainly light up a cigar in his memory and drink some rum.
Gee i do like your classification of the Cuban-American community in Florida. Apparently Republicans aren’t the only people who make generally insulting statements about other races.
Why is it insulting to say that rumors abound in a particular ethnic community, or that the community is “extra-gossipy”? Gossip and rumors are common in closely-knit communities that are not covered extensively by the media.
Chris — I’ll take some of that rum, but the last time I bought a Cuban cigar (in Canada), it was stale. Where do you complain?
Cuban is a race?
Interesting.
It wasn’t the clearest written paragraph ever. I’m not insinuating that Cuban-American’s just sit around shooting the breeze about the girl from around the way, what I’m insinuating is that the Cuban American community has a special talent for rumor-mongering about the health and well being of Fidel Castro.
It’s like Republicans rumor-mongering about Bill and Hillary Clinton’s love life, they just can’t get enough.
Although, the failing health of a dictator who has violated their rights and freedoms in many cases, and in most all, their friends, loved ones and relatives, does seem to be a little more warranted and important than talking trash about Hillary Clinton.
Sean | Edited syntax on last paragraph
“If he has passed, it will certainly mark the end of a very historic life. When his passing is confirmed, I will most certainly light up a cigar in his memory and drink some rum.”
Gee Chris, it almost sounds like you’re celebrating that someone you disagree with ideologically is dead.
Ouch! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjs6aiSrdCg
And what is it about Republicans sucking on big fat cylindrically shaped objects?
Randy,
You have to buy from La Casa del Habano stores otherwise you won’t get good cigars. I’d actually share some of my rum with you. It’s wonderful stuff with lots of vanilla, caramel, jasmine, coffee, tobacco flavors.
Sally,
Unlike you, I did not thank Jesus for calling him home. I said I was going to smoke a cigar and drink some rum in his memory. That’s entirely different.
“I did not thank Jesus for calling him home. I said I was going to smoke a cigar and drink some rum in his memory.”
thats speculating a lot — namely that he’s going to heaven. Sean
Sean - that’s probably WHY Chris didn’t thank Jesus for calling him home… :)
There is a big difference between celebrating (or wishing for) another person’s death and celebrating the end of the despotic regime he ran.
Randy, are you talking about Castro or Bush?
What do any of you, or I, actually know about Cuba or Castro for that matter? Can you actually find me any credible reporting in the American media on Cuba? I am much more apt to believe the people I know who have been there numerous times, under numerous circumstances, than virtually anything I hear from the media in America. Geez, talk about rumors!
RIchard — I’ll take any excuse for a party.
Anonabat 35 — Yes, the media reports from Cuba are unreliable. The country is second only to China in the number of journalists it has in prison, and Cuban law criminalizes the spreading of “unauthorized” news. Human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are not allowed into the country (they probably tried to make reservations at a bad time). The Red Cross is not allowed into its prisons, for some reason (there are over 300 political prisoners in Cuban jails).
Of course your friends who have visited Cuba paint a different picture. Do you think the Peace and Friendship tourist guides are going to let any foreigners talk to real dissidents, or ordinary citizens who aren’t looking over their shoulders for the police? Back in the day, when people I knew came back from the Soviet Union, they would say that everyone seemed happy enough—”wink, wink.”
BTW, I think the U.S. policy towards Cuba has been uncommonly stupid. The economic embargo has done more to keep Castro in power than anything else since the Soviet Union stopped aiding the country.
Randy,
On the issue of Cuba, we both agree. Bring out the rum and par-ty! :-)