I thought it would be impossible to top the moral turpitude of Justin Trudeau, Jean-Claude Juncker, and Jesse Jackson yesterday, but I underestimated the capacities of The Nation, where Greg Grandin submits his entry for the prize:
Castro almost outlasted 11 US presidents. . . Perhaps he just couldn’t bear the thought of President Donald Trump. Having been sanctimoniously lectured by all 11 US presidents on what constitutes proper democratic procedure, he might have thought Trump, about to take office with a minority of the vote and with significant voter suppression, a vindication. . .
In recent years, since he gave up power to his brother Raúl, Castro has dedicated himself to writing lengthy thought pieces, many of them on global warming, war, the fascism of neoliberalism, poverty, and other threats to humanity. Castro was a famous optimist and an irrepressible strategist, finding ways out of the grimmest situations . . .
In My Life, Castro lists his country’s accomplishments in education and healthcare, advances in science and medicine, contribution to decolonization and defeating back white supremacy in Africa, ongoing humanitarian internationalism and the audacity of having survived “thousands of acts of sabotage and terrorists attacks organized by the government of the United States.”
In all his goodness and badness, Castro was a full man of the Enlightenment. It’s fitting, though depressing, that’s he’s left us on the cusp of a new darkness.
He forgot Castro’s commitment to curing cancer, advancing the cause of transgenderism, and solving the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
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