Posted on 05/08/2003 12:35:27 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay
Ed Asner sees a greater threat from the Bush administration than from the hapless Fidel Castro who is being pushed around unfairly. Defending Harry Belafonte and Danny Glover signing a letter denouncing the U.S. for threatening Cuba, Asner charged on Wednesday's Buchanan & Press on MSNBC that "they may well be put in prison here for...the support they're giving to Castro, the way things are going in this country."
Asner insisted that those put to death by Castro, for trying to hijack a ferry so they could escape to the U.S., received a "very fair" trial.
Blaming the U.S. for Castro's repressive regime, Asner insisted: "My country is much more fortunate so it can't, it doesn't have to afford the excesses that Fidel Castro has to resort to by constantly being embargoed by the United States."
Asner asserted that he doesn't "regard the Bush Administration as being representative of my country."
When Pat Buchanan noted that Castro "has denied" Cubans "free elections for 40 years," Asner fired back: "We didn't have a free election in 2002."
MRC analyst Ken Shepherd caught Asner's wackiness which occurred during the 3-4pm EDT edition of MSNBC's May 7 Buchanan & Press. The relevant portion:
Buchanan: "Mr. Asner, thanks for coming on and Ed, let me ask you about Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte who have co-signed this statement basically supporting Fidel Castro after he put 75 dissidents in prison for up to 28 years and executed the three who tried to sort of hijack a ferry boat and come to Cuba [meant U.S.]. What is it about these, Harry Belafonte, frankly, and Danny Glover that they can attack the American government and defend a guy who would basically put him in prison for doing what they do here in the United States?"
Asner: "Well, they may well be put in prison here for those, for the support they're giving to Castro, the way things are going in this country. I am opposed to capital punishment by any country, by any persons. I disapprove of Mr. Castro's executing. I understand that the trial was very fair, that the death penalty is exercised in Cuba and therefore, by Cuban standards, the trial was fair and judicious even though I abhor the death penalty."
Buchanan: "I want you to name individuals in this country who have made political statements criticizing President Bush who have been put into a penitentiary for five, ten, or twenty-five years like these dissidents who criticized Castro were put into prison. And is this not a real slander on your own country to suggest that it behaves in the same manner as Fidel Castro?"
Asner: "Uh, my country is much more fortunate so it can't, it doesn't have to afford the excesses that Fidel Castro has to resort to by constantly being embargoed by the United States."
Buchanan: "Why does he have to do this? Why does he have to do it?"
Asner: "Why does he have to do it? Because he feels the imminent threat of the Bush administration. I don't regard the Bush administration as being representative of my country."
A bit later Buchanan pointed out: "He has persecuted his own people, he has denied them free elections for 40 years. He's an unelected dictator who puts people in prison on his own whim. What is the infatuation?"
Asner interjected: "We didn't have a free election in 2002."
Buchanan: "Alright, what is the infatuation in Hollywood with Fidel Castro given the record of this fascist regime over 40 years?"
Asner blamed the U.S. for driving Castro to communism: "What is the, because when Castro first took over, we all celebrated enormously. Cuba, which was never supposed to be under the hegemony of the United States had finally found its freedom. Within a year, because of pressure by the United States, Fidel demonstrated his independence of the United States. The United States could not tolerate a little country, a little Hispanic country 90 miles off the United States declaring its independence of the United States so immediately embargoes, everything began to take place, forcing him into the sphere of Soviet influence."
Yeah, he was such a pro-freedom guy as a guerrilla fighter.
Forbes 02.27.03
Fidel Castro Cuba 110 million
IRAQ: London Mayor Ken Livingstone attacks US President George W Bush, calling him "corrupt".
Translation = They actually bothered with a one day trial instead of shooting them outright.
Did Clinton teach Asner how to weasel, or did Asner teach Clinton?
We can't buy Castro's cigars so he has to shoot people who want to leave his country?
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