I find it hilarious to hear any American speak about Cuba and human rights

[malaise]

when several of their presidents tried to kill Fidel Castro.
Whether American like it or not what Fidel did for healthcare and education in Cuba is light years ahead of anything done by neo-liberals. And Fidel didn't lock any body's children in cages.
Enough with this bullshit - grow the fuck up. Wake up Everybody!

[Callado119]

1. Good luck, running in the general on a slogan of "make America like communist Cuba"..

...I hope we don’t have to find out the hard way how few Americans agree with you...we still time to get an electable nominee that doesn’t have to force every downbalot dem to have to disavow Castro and the Soviet Union when the election should be a referendum on trump..

[gab13by13]

15. Statistics show Bernie beating Trump in the general election.

I would be happy to be shown polls that show differently.

Bernie gave a truthful answer about Castro, I guess Dems are looking for a candidate who only gives politically correct answers?

[Dopers_Greed]

25. So now we are arguing that Castro SHOULD be popular with the American electorate?

We are truly doomed

[NYC Liberal]

27. Polls showed Dukakis beating Bush by 17 points in July.

Polls are utterly meaningless, especially this early.

[ehrnst]

37. Polls show that *all* Dem candidates are beating Trump, and Bloomberg is tied with him against DT.

Since you seem to be reluctant to show your source, here's mine:

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/

[ProfessorPlum]

16. you built that straw man in record time

nicely done

[2naSalit]

31. That was quick wasn't it?

Last edited Tue Feb 25, 2020, 03:05 PM - Edit history (1)

Almost like it was a mechanical device.

[shanti]

69. So many trolls

so little time.

[2naSalit]

70. Indeed.

[m-lekktor]

2. Thank you. it's truly a pathetic thing to behold. nt

[tirebiter]

3. The massive missile buildup

Sort of outweighs everything else.

[Act_of_Reparation]

98. We tried to invade their country and assassinate their leader.

Deterrence was the smart move. We would have done the same.

[ms liberty]

4. Yea, this. n/t

[blue cat]

5. It's not funny

And no amount of pouting is going to change the fact that many Americans are turned off by it.

[BlueTsunami2018]

6. Christ, this is where we are now?

Castro is better than every President from Ike to Clinton?

Have we finally lost our goddamn minds here?

[Pacifist Patriot]

14. Sure as hell feels like it!

[ProfessorPlum]

18. another beautiful straw man

beat up that straw man!

[Act_of_Reparation]

99. Go back and read what was written.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. Castro was undemocratic, period.

And no one is going to be elected on complimenting him.

There’s no need to whatabout things.

[gab13by13]

17. But Trump will be elected for

kissing up to Putin a murderer, for kissing up to MBS a murderer, and for Trump writing love letters to Kim Jong Un a murderer.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

19. And your point is?

Unless you’ve just woken up from a 4 year plus coma, we’ve been pretty consistent here about Trump’s assault on democracy.

[Act_of_Reparation]

100. Trump got elected gargling Putin's balls.

The American people have never been particular adverse to dictators as a concept. Just those who piss off the board at United Fruit.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

8. There's going to be a bunch of bald people...

in this country after the fire on their head is extinguished.

[delisen]

9. Fidel Castro was a major Human Rights Abuser and Dictator

Do you seriously believe that Fidel Castro did not separate families or engage in dictatorial human rights abuses?

In 1980 Castro initiated he Mariel Boat Lift-mentally ill persons and developmentally disabled person were summarily taken from institutions in Cuba and sent to an uncertain future in the US without any planning or even any care for their well-being. Even if those institutions were as bad as many of ours, using dictatorial powers to expell persons in distress and create havoc in the lives of people unable to fend for themselves was a truly disgusting act-

https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article209282994.html

The Mariel Boatlift started with a surprise announcement by Cuban President Fidel Castro on April 20, 1980. He said that he was opening the port for Cubans to leave the Communist island. The Carter administration had secretly worked to improve relations with Castro, but was caught unaware and unprepared for Castro’s decision.

After the start of the exodus, Castro shocked the world by opening Cuban prisons and mental health facilities, transporting the prisoners and patients to the port for the 90-mile trip to Miami. Floridians from Key West to West Palm Beach sent private boats to Mariel to be paid by families and friends to transport the fleeing Cubans across the dangerous Florida Straits. The flotilla that this spurred was described by the press as “Rag Tag Chaos.’

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article209282994.html#storylink=cpy


Human Rights Watch report of 2005 details abuses and looks at the actions of both the US and Cuba

https://www.refworld.org/docid/45cb38452.html

Over the past four decades, hundreds of thousands of people have left Cuba, many of them seeking basic rights denied them by the government of Fidel Castro, such as the rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly. Their ability to pursue these freedoms abroad has been curtailed, however, by Cuba's denial of another fundamental right – the right to freedom of movement.

Cuba routinely refuses to grant its citizens permission to leave their country and often denies those who have left permission to return. These restrictions have resulted in the involuntary separation of many Cuban families, violating the rights of children to be with their parents.

The emotional toll on family members is immeasurable. A Cuban physicist who now lives in Brazil, for example, has never been able to meet his six-year-old son. His ex-wife and son are in Cuba, but because he violated Cuban travel restrictions by refusing to return from an authorized trip abroad in 2000, the Cuban government has barred him from visiting the island to see his child. A Cuban mother in Mexico, who was separated from her sons for three years in similar circumstances, told Human Rights Watch that she felt like the Cuban government "tore out a piece of my life."


The dictatorial leaders, the human rights abusers, the anti-democracy strongmen can be found on both the left and the right.

[ehrnst]

38. ++10000. He did what he had to, then he turned into a brutal dictator.

One would never DARE say about Hitler that he did well with infrastructure, and got the trains running on time, promoted healthy families, was a devout Catholic, ate a healthy vegetarian diet... even if all those things are good things.

You don't minimize the horrors that he eventually visited on people by focusing on the minor positive things that improved from the Batista/US reign.

[carlvsam]

51. Think Again

There are people out there that would say stuff like this, and I am not referring to neo-nazis.

Back during the 2016 primaries, I came across this comment in a The Atlantic article on how some Bernie Sanders supporters were thinking about voting for Trump (this was back when their web site still had “Comment” sections for most of their articles - the only reason I still have access to it is that I quoted it on another forum: )

In order for Progessivism to be politically viable at the federal level, neoliberalism must die. A Donald Trump presidency ends it immediately.

"The Italian Peninsula was a loose collection of monarchies and papal states before Mussolini came to power and was a Democracy after he left so good does come out of an authoritarian leader.

"Even Germany was better off after World War 2 than they were after World War 1. Unfortunately, it took Hitler to get Europe and the United States to stop extorting their people into starvation.

[ehrnst]

54. Yep. "Burn it all down" is based in adult white straight cis male privilege.

They tend to lose the least when societal norms break down.

Everyone else fares far, far worse.

indeed.

[HopeAgain]

10. True,

so was Batista, who many of the original refugees had supported or worked for. Castro didn't overthrow a Democratic regime. And Bernie said he didn't like the authoritarian nature of the Cuban government, but he's not allowed nuance.

Also the American embargoes were cruel to the average Cuban.

[lostnfound]

11. Sleeping tiny minds are the funnel through which presidents are chosen

Not sure the public has been more than half awake in 50 years.
Thought control measures have been quite effective.

[malaise]

65. and then some

[safeinOhio]

12. Castro was a reaction to Fulgencio Batista,

a brutal dictator installed by the US and big Sugar. Everyone always skips the reasons for a dislike of America. Just like Iran was overthrow by British and US oil to install the Shah.
Please take a look at history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgencio_Batista
For all of those here that are attacking Castro, please compare and contrast him to who he replaced.

[ProfessorPlum]

20. Thank you

it's time we moved from children's stories to real history in our narratives.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

21. And the Ayatollahs were in reaction to the Shah.

All were/are undemocratic regimes. Just in different forms.

[safeinOhio]

84. Problem was that the Shah replaced a very popular,

Democratically elected leader. Like us now thinking anyone other than trump, they went with the only one with power to over through the brutal, repressive Shah.

Castro got into power because of the leader he replaced. That may have turned out bad, but it was because of Batista. This ain't checkers, you have to look beyond those in power and look at how they got there.

[Ghost Dog]

104. It's worth reading Castro's words on the history, eg:

... The previous regime was guilty of petty politics, theft, pillage, and disrespect for human life; but the present regime has increased political skullduggery five-fold, pillage ten-fold, and a hundred-fold the lack of respect for human life.

It was known that Barriguilla had plundered and murdered, that he was a millionaire, that he owned in Havana a good many apartment houses, countless stock in foreign companies, fabulous accounts in American banks, that he agreed to divorce settlements to the tune of eighteen million pesos, that he was a frequent guest in the most lavishly expensive hotels for Yankee tycoons. But no one would ever think of Barriguilla as a revolutionary. Barriguilla is that sergeant of Weyler's who assassinated twelve Cubans in Guatao. Batista's men murdered seventy in Santiago de Cuba. De te fabula narratur.

Four political parties governed the country before the 10th of March: the Auténtico, Liberal, Democratic and Republican parties. Two days after the coup, the Republican party gave its support to the new rulers. A year had not yet passed before the Liberal and Democratic parties were again in power: Batista did not restore the Constitution, did not restore civil liberties, did not restore Congress, did not restore universal suffrage, did not restore in the last analysis any of the uprooted democratic institutions. But he did restore Verdeja, Guas Inclán, Salvito García Ramos, Anaya Murillo and the top hierarchy of the traditional government parties, the most corrupt, rapacious, reactionary and antediluvian elements in Cuban politics. So went the 'revolution' of Barriguilla!.

Lacking even the most elementary revolutionary content, Batista's regime represents in every respect a 20 year regression for Cuba. Batista's regime has exacted a high price from all of us, but primarily from the humble classes which are suffering hunger and misery. Meanwhile the dictatorship has laid waste the nation with commotion, ineptitude and anguish, and now engages in the most loathsome forms of ruthless politics, concocting formula after formula to perpetuate itself in power, even if over a stack of corpses and a sea of blood.

Batista's regime has not set in motion a single nationwide program of betterment for the people. Batista delivered himself into the hands of the great financial interests. Little else could be expected from a man of his mentality - utterly devoid as he is of ideals and of principles, and utterly lacking the faith, confidence and support of the masses. His regime merely brought with it a change of hands and a redistribution of the loot among a new group of friends, relatives, accomplices and parasitic hangers-on that constitute the political retinue of the Dictator. What great shame the people have been forced to endure so that a small group of egoists, altogether indifferent to the needs of their homeland, may find in public life an easy and comfortable modus vivendi...

https://www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/1953/10/16.htm

Thanks for the thread Malaise.

[Kaiserguy]

33. To many people

don't know ,don't remember or just don't care about history when it comes to what we did wrong.

[ehrnst]

39. However, the revolutionary became a despot, like in Iran.

The history of Cuba and Castro didn't stop at the the overthrow of Batista...

[safeinOhio]

47. But no worse and most likely

better for the people, if they weren't connected or rich. Both were a reaction to the first. Just a fact to consider.

[ehrnst]

48. On what do you base the statement

But no worse and most likely better for the people, if they weren't connected or rich.

[safeinOhio]

57. Personal relationships with

victims of Batista and the Shah.

[ehrnst]

58. Anecdotes from a limited group rather than a full analysis. (nt)

[safeinOhio]

88. Don't forget the Russians stepping in

to counter the 30 year block aid by the US. No Castro turned to communism with the help of Russia. Tramps bestie. If the US government wasn’t a tool of big business and had pushed Cuba toward Democracy, history would not be the same. Same story for most of Central and South America.
Always look at the big picture and skip the bs

[malaise]

83. Yesterday evening I heard a Local 10 Florida reporter lie with a straight face

He said that Batista was responsible for the improved literacy rates in Cuba. Every reliable data source I checked for the nth time says literacy rates under Batista were in the 60% range given the poor education available in rural Cuba. That changed under Fidel.
But facts are no longer popular.

[safeinOhio]

85. I really hope all those that moved to Florida

from Puerto Rico turn it Blue. Like to see the bully get screwed by those he screwed.

[malaise]

86. +1,000

and don't forget the Haitian-Americans as well.

[safeinOhio]

87. Then there all of those

second, third and fourth generation Cubans. My cup is always half full.

[MerryBlooms]

102. rec.

[HAB911]

13. Ain't it the truth

[Tarc]

22. The Castros and Khomeinis of the world are the direct result of

the Batistas and the Pahlavis propped up by the West. The only reason conservatives hated Castro and the like is because they lost control; there is no valid humanitarian concern or opposition.

[Dopers_Greed]

26. I'm sure this is top of mind for most blue collar workers in the midwest

[Tarc]

62. I'm sure the fucks I have to give about appeasing rural conservatives in flyover country

is approximately zero.

You and Tulsi can work on courting the Deplorable voters if you wish, I'll pass.

[treestar]

78. They have sway in the electoral college

Can’t afford that attitude

[Tarc]

80. You can spent time courting his nationalist base

Good luck with that.

[treestar]

101. Was it only his base that gave him all the swing states?

By slim margins?

[delisen]

32. Khomeini was a right-wing theocratic suppressor of human rights

regardless of the West.

Did the women of Iran have human rights prior to colonialism and western influence? No. Neither did children.

Other countries, including theocracies are quite capable of Human Rights abuses without any influence from the west.

Human rights abuses flourished long before colonialism.

Do you think Saudi Arabia was a bastion of freedom for all its citizens prior to the discovery of oil and its alliance with western powers?

No. It was a kingdom of tribal all-male rulers with the power of life and death over their family members-where the law allowed for maiming and murder of "transgressors.

[Tarc]

61. This point is whooshing over your head

There was a democratically-elected government in Iran.
The US and the UK aided the coup which installed Pahlavi.
Resentment and anger over a colonial puppet state created the situation in which Khomeini rose to power.

In Cuba, in Vietnam, and others, this pattern has repeated itself. Actual progressive, liberal individuals oppose such foreign meddling.

[Mosby]

82. What democracy?

Iran has been led by military dynasties since the 1700s.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qajar_dynasty

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pahlavi_dynasty

[Tarc]

90. History really isn't your strong suit, is it?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

The PM was overthrown by the CIA, to give Pahlavi, their asset, more control of the nation.

[Mosby]

103. You claimed that we ousted a democratically elected government.

It's not that simple, Mossadegh was appointed to the position of PM by the Shah.

[malaise]

89. Great post

[ancianita]

36. +1

[vlyons]

23. Bernie never wrote love letters to Kim Jong Un

or kissed Putin's ass and laundered money for Russian mobsters

[Vinca]

24. While that might be true, I guarantee you Americans will more likely vote for an

admitted pussy grabber over someone they are told is a "Commie lover." Details don't matter anymore, it's the headlines. I'm getting a sick, sick feeling about where this is all headed.

[NYC Liberal]

28. There can be more than one piece of shit in the world, you know.

[brutus smith]

29. Obama was trying to normalize relations with Cuba.

[evertonfc]

30. Visited Cuba 4 times

twice in last 18 months. It absolutely pitiful the conditions they have to live in. They may have high literacy rates but who cares when you can't make a nickel. I love the people and they love America.

[ProfessorPlum]

41. might the decades-long US economic sanctions/embargo against Cuba have _anything_ at all

to do with their pitiful conditions? Asking for a friend

[evertonfc]

44. tell your friend

It's thier form of govt mostly. Even they will tell you that. Doctors, computer programmers make nothing. The system of free enterprise only exist for a small few. I live Cuba. I'll probably go back in July. I enjoy taking basic toiletries like soap, lotion, toothpaste, shampoo. They love it. Go Check it out. Cheap flights. Air Bnb. I stay with Cuban families.

[ProfessorPlum]

45. do you have any data except anecdata to back that up?

[tenderfoot]

52. I thought he was describing the appalling conditions that Americans live under.

LOL

[ProfessorPlum]

53. lol, that made my day

[ancianita]

34. Absolutely. Been to Cuba twice, north and south & seen how we've been such a horrible neighbor.

Castro, a lawyer, set up Cuba as a self sustaining, people-driven society. Russia's still got its spy tentacles there, though.

Cuba's medical system, founded by Che Guevara and the best in the Americas, has sent doctors across continents to keep brothers and sisters alive and healthy through their struggles to keep insurgents from stealing their lives and landbase resources.

I love Harold & the Blue Notes.

[malaise]

64. Just the truth

[Judi Lynn]

35. It has taken decades of disinformation to create such ignorance

The only ones who know otherwise have been led by their own character to put in the time and concern needed to start looking for the truth themselves.

The tidal wave of absolute propaganda only takes down those who settle for whoppers easily sold to idiots.

Awaken, grow up and don't die stupid. Use that brain as more than a storehouse for unquestioned alarmingly stupid lies created to mislead idiots.

Use some time to look up the father of spin who organized the first US political propaganda and learn how he launched that massive ship so long ago with the violent overthrows of Guatemala and Iran.

[ProfessorPlum]

42. hear hear

[malaise]

63. Nailed it

as usual

[KG]

40. the u.s. blockade did more to keep castro in power than overthrow him.

[groundloop]

43. I wonder how many people realize that there's nobody named Castro in Cuban government anymore

Miguel Díaz-Canel, who was trained as an electrical engineer, is currently the President of Cuba.

I too have visited Cuba, I was there approximately a year ago, shortly before Bolton and Trump reversed all the advances made by President Obama in Cuban relations. I'd like to go again if I ever get the chance.

It's a shame that so many people in this country have such strong opinions about Cuba without actually knowing anything about it.

[Happy Hoosier]

46. Hey, I'm glad you think my buddy's uncle being killed is "hilarious"

Last edited Wed Feb 26, 2020, 11:26 AM - Edit history (1)

Very compassionate!

Criticizing Castro is NOT an endorsement of American human rights atrocities, FFS. That's fucking insulting.

It's possible to oppose human rights abuses no matter who does them, ya'know...

[leftstreet]

50. He must have hated Obama for trying to normalize relations n/t

[Happy Hoosier]

60. He actually didn't....

But he did harbor a deep hatred for the Castros and the Cuban government.

he did think that engaging with Cuba was the best way to end human rights abuses.

[Nature Man]

59. Who is your buddy's uncle?

does he know my best friend's sister's cousin?

[Bettie]

49. I get what he was saying

and it isn't as if it was a paradise under Batista either.

Apparently, nuance isn't a thing anymore and you'd think, here in the US, that we could see that few things are 100% good or 100% bad, since our own government has done some awful things over the years.

[avebury]

55. Agreed

Castro couldn't hold a candle to all the crap Trump and his cronies have done and will continue to do is Trump steals the 2020 election.

Mao led the Communist revolution in China but Nixon found a way for the US to make peace with each other.
Japan bombed Pearl Harbor but they are one of our allies now.
The US was in an extended war with North Viet Nam but we have worked things out with them. John McCain even visited the country years later.

But the US insists on holding a grudge against Cuba for the rest of eternity. Yes there are Cuban-Americans who have family members who suffered under Castro.
Castro might have not been the most benevolent ruler of a country but for crying out loud - he is DEAD! At some point the US needs to move on and reestablish a relationship with Cuba. Based upon our attitude about Cuba it is a miracle that we have relationships with the England (remember Revolutionary War and War of 1812), Saudi Arabia (they provided the majority of the 911 hijackers), and so on.

If the current state of the Cuban people is that poor, the US has probably contributed to it by doing everything they can to isolate them. It is not surprise that the Soviet Union (now Russia) has close ties to Cuba. When the US refuses to do business with a country it leaves a vacuum for other countries to fill.

[kentuck]

56. They say he increased literacy rates so they could read his propaganda.

Wouldn't it have been easier to propagandize the people by keeping them illiterate? Why gamble that they might read something else, living so close to the US?

[H2O Man]

67. Thank gosh that

there aren't any silly distraction taking place. That might make it hard to keep our eyes on the prize if there were such distractions intended to divide our party. Plus we are all too smart to get sidetracked on nonsense.

Recommended.

[malaise]

68. M$Greedia is leading the distractions

Last edited Tue Feb 25, 2020, 03:37 PM - Edit history (1)

Wait - they're creating them

[H2O Man]

71. They are distractions.

[Mc Mike]

72. First, I'm with you. If big money Americans didn't put crooked murderers like batista in,

they'd be in a better position to bitch about how 'bad' his replacement was.

Second, any pol who cozies up to Castro's Cuba could never be elected in America. Here's the proof:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141583668

[malaise]

73. I remember that - great reminder

You see you can cozy up for profits but don't you dare praise the literacy advances or health care

[Mc Mike]

74. Yeah, he actually broke the law and tried to aid Cuba financially. Like Monty Burns.

Got caught at it, and it came out after his anti-castro speech to the American Cubans who hate Castro.

He pissed off the one group of Latin/Hispanic Americans that reliably voted R in bloc. And it was no big deal for him or the repugs, or corporate media.

[malaise]

75. So true

As we say 'jackass say di world nuh level'. Iran-Contra is another glaring example of law-breaking by RWs.
Sadly until Dems address the madness that is US foreign policy, this crap will continue. You cannot overthrow democracies overseas and expect it to thrive at home. You cannot argue that you overthrow governments because they object to dissent from their citizens when you try to kill leaders in said countries because they show dissent to your way of doing things. That is not simply being inconsistent, it is absolute madness.

[Mc Mike]

76. United Fruit, Standard Oil, US Rubber, just use the same hypocritic Monroe Doctrine double standard,

and the corporate media retails the bs to us as reasonable.

We hate castro cuba, but love North Korea and Saudi Arabia.

[malaise]

77. Whether we're dealing with the Monroe Doctrine or the Platt Amendment

the simple question is if both the Executive Branch and Congress can get rid of previous presidents' policies, why have either of these spread rather than removed. There is only one conclusion - the US wants the same imperial power as the Europeans once enjoyed.

Don't forget how they turned on Obama for the Arab Spring which removed Mubarak - dictators are loved and encouraged as long as they are pushing the agenda of the most powerful folks on our planet - and of course buying weapons to kill their own people or any neighbors who want to run their own lives their way.

[Mc Mike]

79. There are political and economic powers above our top elected positions.

Most of the citizens here are just bled for the bigshots' empire, bled with taxes to finance their military adventures and bled by being cannon fodder for them.

Most of us are living like plebes, not roman citizens. Fair trade would not hurt our standard of living.

[malaise]

81. And that is the absolute truth

Notice the global silence re the current situation in Haiti - police and the army are fighting it out out against each other in the streets. You have to see it to believe it.

[Mc Mike]

91. If our bigshots didn't like how things were going in Haiti, we'd be hearing about it.

The WASPs never forgave Haiti for that successful rebellion. They've squatted on Haiti ever since.

We need a UN with teeth, no security council veto power.

[malaise]

92. So true - and I agree about the UN

[Mc Mike]

93. I had not heard about the latest in Haiti, until you told me.

Good day to you, mal.

[malaise]

94. Thankfully our local news covers our neighbors

Sadly Jamaica and Haiti have a thriving drugs for guns trade. Turns out some of the assault rifles that show up here with Haitian police IDs. Most are of course US made.

[Mc Mike]

95. Interesting how quick Panama got back into drugs and laundering after Poppy's great crusade

removed his buddy Noriega.

Imagine if US manufacturing could make renewable energy equipment, water purification kits, ag and manufacturing tools, medicines, instead of guns and bullets.

[malaise]

96. The tin pot dictators in our region don't understand how dispensable they are

Iran Contra has several off-shoots - many of the biggest drug dons were given visas and allowed to thrive as long as the guns flowed to kill off opposing interests. And of course the evangelicals poured in to destroy the liberation theologists and social justice groups.

[Mc Mike]

97. I noted the movie Sicario featured a plot that stressed the need to kill some Mexican cartel

leaders, in order to restore the more 'stable' Medellin cartel to power.

Penny Lernoux had some excellent reporting and books about the death squads vs Lib Theo adherents.

Noriega's big sin was not implicating the Sandinistas, and thinking he deserved to be in charge of his own country, because of his decades of loyal service to the North, and West.

[HAB911]

105. Fidel gave us

Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, and all the other insane RW Cubans in S. Florida, indirectly.

I've told Marco, my Senator, on three occasions via email that he should go back to Cuba and take Ted with him and that pisses me off because it's antithetical to my core beliefs as a raging liberal. crickets