First it was New York Times reporters [1] who were quoting unelected Cuban dictator Fidel Castro insulting the 'idiocy and ignorance' of the candidates for the GOP nomination, in a January 26 story. Now columnist Thomas Friedman gets in on the act, quoting Castro approvingly in Sunday's 'Made in the World [2].'
The Associated Press reported last week that Fidel Castro, the former president of Cuba, wrote an opinion piece on a Cuban Web site, following a Republican Party presidential candidates' debate in Florida, in which he argued that the 'selection of a Republican candidate for the presidency of this globalized and expansive empire is - and I mean this seriously - the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance that has ever been.' When Marxists are complaining that your party's candidates are disconnected from today's global realities, it's generally not a good sign. But they're not alone.
Is it really "not a good sign" to be criticised by Castro? Shouldn't a democratically elected U.S. politician be proud to be on the bad side of an unelected tyrant?
Then again, Friedman has a history of wishing America was more like Communist China [3].
- Clay Waters is editor of the MRC's TimesWatch [4] site.