Fidel Castro has outlasted nine - going on ten - US Presidents, so perhaps he can pick a winner. The oldest surviving Cold War Communist dictator thinks it's a Clinton-Obama ticket, reports Anthony Boadle for Reuters:
Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is tipping Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to team up and win the U.S. presidential election.
Clinton leads Obama in the race to be the Democratic nominee for the November 2008 election, and Castro said they would make a winning combination."The word today is that an apparently unbeatable ticket could be Hillary for president and Obama as her running mate," he wrote in an editorial column on U.S. presidents published on Tuesday by Cuba's Communist Party newspaper, Granma.
Read the entire article at the link above. Of course, it's hard to say whether he really believes it, or is just trying to use his influence with his fans in the Democratic Party to help out two fellow-travelers.
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Filed under:
2008 Presidential Race, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, World
Tags: Castro, Democrat, Presidential campaign
Comments (17)
Pretty sad when one of the ... (Below threshold)1. Posted by GianiD | August 28, 2007 10:42 PM | Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Pretty sad when one of the worlds most horrible people gives a vote of confidence....
1. Posted by GianiD | August 28, 2007 10:42 PM |
Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Posted on August 28, 2007 22:42
2. Posted by John in CA | August 28, 2007 11:01 PM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
I guess this means the rumors last week of Fidel's death were wrong.
2. Posted by John in CA | August 28, 2007 11:01 PM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on August 28, 2007 23:01
3. Posted by marc | August 28, 2007 11:39 PM | Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
That's some endorsement, they must be sooooo proud.
And I say that without a hint of satire.
3. Posted by marc | August 28, 2007 11:39 PM |
Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Posted on August 28, 2007 23:39
4. Posted by LAB | August 29, 2007 12:36 AM | Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
"The word today is that an apparently unbeatable ticket could be Hillary for president and Obama as her running mate,"
Someone spilled coffee on that "word". Hell yeah! What about an endorsement from a Communist newspaper? How refreshing!
/sarc
4. Posted by LAB | August 29, 2007 12:36 AM |
Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Posted on August 29, 2007 00:36
5. Posted by kindlingman | August 29, 2007 12:43 AM | Score: -3 (5 votes cast)
Well. Anthony is another example of the press twisting the truth. Fidel was stating that others ( "The word today is...")are saying this and not him. Fidel also uses the words "apparently" and "could be". This is hardly a ringing endorsement. Anthony Boadle should be excoriated for twisting Fidel's words.
MSM just can't get it right.
5. Posted by kindlingman | August 29, 2007 12:43 AM |
Score: -3 (5 votes cast)
Posted on August 29, 2007 00:43
6. Posted by Peter F. | August 29, 2007 12:50 AM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Strange way to submit an obit; via a press release....from beyond.
(Serious thought: Is there anyone more meaningless than Castro? Outside of Sheehan....)
6. Posted by Peter F. | August 29, 2007 12:50 AM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on August 29, 2007 00:50
7. Posted by Jim Addison | August 29, 2007 1:01 AM | Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
kindlingman ~ I don't see any "twisting" in Boadle's report; it seems rather straightforward reporting. Boadle never claimed it was an "endorsement," but instead a "tip" or prediction, which seems evident from the quoted passages.
However, Fidel also writes that Bush "needed fraud" in Florida in 2000 and that Jimmy Carter was his favorite US President. It's pretty obvious from his own writings where Fidel's sympathies lie in American politics, isn't it?
7. Posted by Jim Addison | August 29, 2007 1:01 AM |
Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Posted on August 29, 2007 01:01
8. Posted by Robert the Original | August 29, 2007 5:51 AM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Questions about the nuance of this and like statements were once thought to be a result of slight alterations in translation.
Many years ago, as part of Pan Am Games prep, I went to Cuba with other sports managers. On one trip, each of us had about 5 minutes, one on one with Fidel and a translator, and then he addressed the group as a whole.
He speaks only in Spanish but is said to be fluent in English and one could see the recognition as he often started his responses before the translator had even begun to translate the incoming English from me.
I forget most of the conversation now, but I know that one of his questions for me was awkward as it dealt with US politics. I remember being on the spot and having to sidestep or duck.
Anyway, my point is that he follows US politics closely and is probably able to read English to help him do so. This was no mistake in translation, either way.
Of course, troops with machine guns are the regular order of the day in Cuba and one sees them everywhere.
I cannot imagine a bigger complement to this corrupt dictator than when Janet Reno used Cuban style tactics with storm troops and M16's to crash the family pad in Miami and extract Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba. I do not doubt either, the accounts that the Reno appointment was Hillary's choice as a result of the settlement over bimbo eruptions.
Suddenly, Waco was not the isolated incident it was once thought to be.
And so, given the history and Castro's interest in US politics, I am not at all surprised at this endorsement.
One tyrant to another.
8. Posted by Robert the Original | August 29, 2007 5:51 AM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on August 29, 2007 05:51
9. Posted by dr lava | August 29, 2007 7:05 AM | Score: -5 (7 votes cast)
"Doing a heck of job Brownie!!"
9. Posted by dr lava | August 29, 2007 7:05 AM |
Score: -5 (7 votes cast)
Posted on August 29, 2007 07:05
10. Posted by Mike | August 29, 2007 8:27 AM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Now it's official -- Hillary really is "Commie Dearest."
10. Posted by Mike | August 29, 2007 8:27 AM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on August 29, 2007 08:27
11. Posted by P. Bunyan | August 29, 2007 9:23 AM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
"two fellow-travelers"
That was a generous way to put it, Jim.
11. Posted by P. Bunyan | August 29, 2007 9:23 AM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on August 29, 2007 09:23
12. Posted by spurwing plover | August 29, 2007 10:11 AM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Beware of anyone supported by a tyrant and despot especialy if the evil queen and jafar are running for the whitehouse
12. Posted by spurwing plover | August 29, 2007 10:11 AM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on August 29, 2007 10:11
13. Posted by Bandit | August 29, 2007 11:20 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Castro can supply Obama with all the cigars he'll need to keep HIllary happy.
13. Posted by Bandit | August 29, 2007 11:20 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on August 29, 2007 11:20
14. Posted by Mitchell | August 29, 2007 1:04 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Commandante Castro, Chairman of the Cubans for Hillary/Obama Campaign.
Certainly their philosophy of government is pretty close.
14. Posted by Mitchell | August 29, 2007 1:04 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on August 29, 2007 13:04
15. Posted by Jim Addison | August 29, 2007 1:13 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
That was a generous way to put it, Jim.
Well, no one expects generosity, so it's my chief weapon. My chief weapon is generosity - and surprise. My TWO chief weapons are generosity and surprise - and fear. My THREE chief weapons are generosity, surprise, and fear - and a ruthless efficiency. . .
;-)
15. Posted by Jim Addison | August 29, 2007 1:13 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on August 29, 2007 13:13
16. Posted by SPQR | August 29, 2007 9:21 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Its the comfy chair for you, Jim.
16. Posted by SPQR | August 29, 2007 9:21 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on August 29, 2007 21:21
17. Posted by Brian | August 30, 2007 12:44 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Ha! We don't like them foreigners commenting on how we run our government... unless it's Castro commenting positively about Democrats.
You people parody yourselves, time and again.
17. Posted by Brian | August 30, 2007 12:44 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on August 30, 2007 00:44