Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

"The vice of capitalism is that there is an unequal share of the blessings; the virtue of socialism is that there is an equal share of the misery." Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965). And now, a leap from the hallowed pages of history to "history's first draft", as journalism has been called:

Castro then began shuffling some clippings he had brought with him; he grumbled that they were out of order. A couple of minutes rolled by before he found what he was looking for, an article praising Cuba's performance in the Classic from one of the international wire agencies, and he proceeded to read it out loud. Castro's voice was tremulous. He finished reading the dispatch, and then he read another, and another, and another, for more than a half hour. The students in the bleachers around me were, by now, clearly bored. Many fidgeted or talked. Some slept. As Castro read commentaries from Miami's El Nuevo Herald, ESPN, and the BBC, it struck me that he was sharing information from sources that were out of bounds to most Cubans. But if he was aware of the paradox he didn't show it. When he was done with the articles, he talked for another hour about Cuba's achievements in medicine and education. The restless din in the stadium grew, but Castro seemed oblivious. I tried to read the faces of the members of the Politburo who were seated near Castro, but all I saw was their disciplined and neutral expressions.

An excerpt there from the excellent "CASTRO'S LAST BATTLE: Can the revolution outlive its leader?" by Jon Lee Anderson in the current New Yorker. How good is Anderson's journalism? Well, to get an idea, contrast it with what Paul Reynolds offers up at the BBC. Writing of Castro, Reynolds says "The name is expressed with affection by some, with hostility by others..." Is that supposed to be an insight? This is then followed by: "The story of his life is very much the story of our times." In which way? Lots of us didn't grow up in dictatorships. And now the clincher: "He continues to inspire his followers with slogans and five-hour speeches." Well, he doesn't! As Jon Lee Anderson points out, Castro's days of the five-hour speech are finished. Hate to see another major media organization settling for the Reuters standard, but these are desperate times.