Surely (and Yea, Verily), Sean Pean is an Apologist for a Brutal Dictator

Spicoli, who's having a really hard time with the Trump business, weighs in on CNN's "biased" coverage of Castro's passing:

Surely, in any revolution, in any fog of war, there will be those who suffer unfairly. Surely it was not only the elite collaborators of the dictator Fulgencia Batista, his corruption, and oppression who would suffer in the settling fog of the Cuban revolution. Surely atrocities and tragedies occurred whether directly or indirectly attributable to Castro or the revolution. Just as certain are the nuances of military and economic interventions and acts of terrorism against Cuba that arguably sustained a continuation of tragedies and atrocities. It is in regard to these nuances that the objective among us have the highest responsibility.

Ah, yes--"those who suffer unfairly," "atrocities and tragedies," and, last but not least (no, never least with those who share Penn's worldview), "nuance".

Re all of the above, I think another now-dead Communist mass-murderer said it best when he observed: "A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic."



Update: The CBC offers a glimpse into everyday life in Fidel's "nuanced" utopia:

Five days a week, 22-year-old Daniela heads off to school in Havana, where she instructs six- and seven-year-olds on the basics of math and Spanish. 

The work may be rewarding, but the pay leaves something to be desired. 

And so at least three nights out of the week, the young schoolteacher and mother of two puts on a short, tight-fitting dress, goes out into the city very late and tries to sell herself to tourists for sex. 

"It's the only way I can survive and help my kids." 

Daniela is not her real name, and she did not want to be photographed. The fact that she must turn to the streets for money bothers her "mucho," she says, sitting in the bar of a quiet, clean-looking Havana hotel that offers rooms for some prostitutes and their clients. 

"Hopefully something happens in the future, [like] the government raises the salaries," she says. 

Daniela's been a sex worker for about a year, and she says the majority of her friends are also in the trade. 

She refuses to say what she earns moonlighting, but it's a safe bet that even during slow weeks, it's more than the 20 Cuban Convertible Pesos (CUCs) — roughly 25 Canadian dollars — a month she makes as a teacher...

And there you have it. Unless you're part of the ruling cadre, you have to sell yourself to the tuuristas just to survive.