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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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Posted on 10/01/2002 6:46:27 AM PDT by Snuffington
The first governor of Minnesota, Henry Sibley, held office from 1858 to 1860. Imagine that, during his tenure, Governor Sibley visited slave plantations in South Carolina. When asked about abolishing slavery, he responded, "Ultimately it is the decision of the slaves, not ours. It is the slaves' state, and if there are going to be changes in South Carolina it will be the slaves who make those changes."
Sibley's response would have been oblivious to the nature of South Carolina's social order. Since enslaved individuals had no freedom of speech, assembly, political participation, or the right to bear arms, it was a bit tough for them to make changes. Furthermore, the violence perpetrated upon rebellious slaves terrorized others into submission (not to be conflated with consent). Minnesota's current governor has made Sibley's fictional response a reality.
Jesse Ventura recently visited Havana "to hopefully expand business between my state of Minnesota and Cuba." He responded when asked about political change in Cuba, "Ultimately it's up to Cuba, it's not up to us. It's their country, and if there are going to be changes in Cuba it will be the Cubans who make those changes."
This begs the question, "How are Cubans supposed to make those changes, Governor Ventura?"
Only adherents of communism can politically participate in Cuba; non-communists can't hold office or establish parties to contest the Communist Party. (Ventura describes himself on his homepage as "the first-ever Reform Party candidate to win statewide office," so one would expect some indignation over the absence of pluralism under Castro.)
Neither can Cubans establish their own media or gather to discuss ideas. Former diplomat in Cuba Catherine Moses observes in Real Life in Castro's Cuba, "If people were permitted to meet in groups, they might be able to organize and create a real opposition to Fidel Castro." With savage logic, Castro therefore criminalizes conscientious association.
Accordingly, it's a crime to criticize communism, Castro, and his henchmen. Ventura said, "That's one of the great things about the United States: You always have the ability to disagree." How much Cubans yearn to be able to disagree with Castro!
Every totalitarian regime entails a colossal police apparatus, and Castro's is no exception. His ubiquitous secret police and informers terrorize Cubans and chill dissent.
It will come as no surprise that there's no right to bear arms in Cuba. Castro understands that armed Cubans would not remain enslaved for long, so he segregates them from the tools of emancipation. (In Cuba in Revolution, Miguel A. Faria, Jr. discusses Castro's confiscation of firearms, expedited by registration lists established under Fulgencio Batista.)
Again, Governor Ventura, how are Cubans supposed to make changes?
Ventura's ugliest statement was when he indicated no intention to meet with Cuban human rights activists. "I don't know where they are," he said. "I mean, if they know my hotel is here and they want to come here and meet, I'll be happy to meet with them."
Unfortunately, heroic Cubans like Oscar Elias Biscet and Juan Carlos González Leiva couldn't visit Ventura because they're in Castro's prisons (fully functional despite the U.S. embargo). If Ventura had a scintilla of decency he would have requested to see Cubans such as these.
Ventura didn't know where they are because he didn't want to know. He had an hour of face time with Castro, though. Ventura discussed wrestling and other subjects with the autocrat, whom he described as "an extremely bright man."
Minnesota's governor prides himself on bluntness, so I'll be blunt: You're despicable, Governor Ventura, but not because you went to Cuba. You're despicable because you chummed with a slave master, snubbed his victims, and acted as if Cubans' destiny belongs to them.
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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What about Minnesota's 3M selling police equipment to Red China?
Ever seen this in Front Page MAgazine? There is more politrical prisoners in Chinese prisons then inhabitnats in Cuba.
Maybe big fool, but at least Ventura is not a hypocrit.
Ah, a question! Unfortunately, even in the rhetorical sense, this presumes that Ventura is capable of completing even a simple thought. Throw in some premises and conclusions, and Ventura's head would explode.
"I mean, if they know my hotel is here and they want to come here and meet, I'll be happy to meet with them."
See the paragraph above regarding Ventura and thoughts.
You're despicable, Governor Ventura, but not because you went to Cuba. You're despicable because you chummed with a slave master, snubbed his victims, and acted as if Cubans' destiny belongs to them.
This is the most interesting paragraph in the entire piece. Ventura has never been the brightest bulb on the tree. He does have a heightened sense of self-interest. By that I mean he would "never do nuthin for nobody" if it did not accrue to his benefit. Still, up 'til now most of what he has done or said is harmless mindlessness. Even the extremely liberal policies he has tried to foist on Minnesotans has been somewhat offset by the Republican controlled House.
This Cuba trip was more barbaric. Enhance the business climate between Minnesota and Cuba? Well, there's that pesky need to think once again...not a Ventura forte. There was surely a calculation in all of this, though. Ventura does want to be as established as possible with the liberal glitterati by January. Praising Castro was therefore, somewhat instinctive. In Minnesota, we can fervently pray that he does move to Hollywood. In his statements in Cuba he proved that he is at least as despicable as he is dense.
He's an embarrassment to my state.
Any state that boasts the likes of Ted Mondale, Paul Wellstone and Mark Dayton can easily say it is beyond embarrasssment. I, for one, refuse to be embarrassed by Ventura. He hasn't done or said one single thing, or perpetrated one single disconnect, that I didn't predict, starting when he was running as a "libertarian." There isn't, and never was, a snowball's chance in perdition that Ventura would have a clue what that means, other than how it relates to drugs and prostitution, both elements of previous Ventura braggadocios. I, too, live in Minnesota.
Now, this is true. He has never made any pretense of doing anything EVER that didn't benefit him in some way. He is up front, public and loud about it. In that he has never, EVER deviated.
You'd think so. But we seem to continue to try to top ourselves in that area. Yesterday's embarrassment seems almost charming measured by the standards of the embarrassments of today (Ventura, Dayton, Wellstone).
(To be honest, Ted Mondale is too much of a nobody to be an embarrassment.)
Too true. Maybe it's his linneage.
I have begun a Ping list to keep track of the Radical Left. If you are interested in joining or have found a relevant story drop me a line.
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