A Debate Over "Cojones" At Babalú

There's a debate over "cojones" at Babalú. Yeah, it's like pigs sizing up their wings. On account of "cojones," Val & Henry are theatening another expulsion from Babalú, the blog that supposedly wants to bring democracy to Cuba but won't itself practice it. This time their target is tango, whose ostensible offense is to have used the word "cojones," which long ago passed into the common parlance in this country, like, well, balls.

Ever the gracious host, Val warns tango:

"[T]his is my house and we play by my rules. If you cant accept that and respect my house, kindly go somewhere else."
Posted by: Val Prieto at August 1, 2007 11:00 AM

Yet, on July 1, 2005, Val devoted a whole post to "cojones" and another on July 27 of the same year. A year later, on July 17, 2006, pototo and Val were comparing "cojones" in the same context that tango used the word. Pototo commented that "We should consider something when we refer to the cojones of those on the island. We need to look at our own." To which Val heartily concurred: "[At] mine as well." There are 219 other instances of the use of "cojones" at Babalú going back to the earliest days of the blog and continuing to this day. But now tango is being shown the door because he followed Val and everybody else's example: a vulgarian amonst vulgarians, at worst.

Yet only two days ago tango was Val's darling as one of the few to support Val's take on the "Wet Foot/Dry Foot" post. He endorsed, essentially, Val & Henry's pressure cooker theory, only in more colorful and offensive language:

"Cubans, prefer to get on a boat face the sharks instead of going to the streets to ask for their civil rights as eastern europeans did. Cubans always wanted the easy way out, or that the marines fix their problems. I think in spanish is call, Les faltan cojones y los castristas si los tiene. With exception, as Dr Biscet."
Posted by: Tango_1250 at July 31, 2007 09:02 AM

Rather than rebuke tango for insulting the manhood of Cubans, Val chose to object to his use of the word "cojones." Val admonished him that "there is no need to insult anyone to get your point across." Tango's point — i.e. that Cubans are cowards — should be made without using colorful language, but in the "socratic" way that Val does. Insulting their manhood, as Val does without reference to "cojones," is obviously acceptable at Babalú. The word itself (now) is not.

It is very appropriate, though, that this discussion should take place in a post dedicated to Wayne Smith, who is acquainted with cojones at chin-level, and undoubtedly knows more about them than he does about Cuba.


POSTSCRIPT:

Here's the secret that neither Val nor Henry knows: "tango" is their "friend" fantomas!