Monday, May 12, 2008

Ana Menéndez is Leaving Miami for Lebanon

Although there are very few things that RCAB and Babalú admire in common, there are a great many things that we hate in common. Near the top of that list, along with Lesnick, Aruca and Montiel-Davis, is Ana Menéndez, the transplanted Valley girl who discovered in her 30s that being Cuban — or the right (that is, left) sort of Cuban, anyway — could jump start a stalled writing career and make her the pin-up girl for every Cuban-hater in the universe. Her ignorance of all things Cuban and her contempt for all things Cuban were invaluable credentials in becoming a media expert on all things Cuban.

But she possessed something else which set her apart from the other "Cuban experts" anointed by The Miami Herald as representatives of a community which did not know them, and, worse, which they did not know: Ana Menéndez only consented to "pass" as Cuban if she could make it clear in each and every column that she was not a Cuban exile, but better, nobler and more sophisticated, an almost unique pattern of Cubanhood which had evolved in exile along the same lines as Castro's "New Man (Woman)" without the excuse of indoctrination or coercion.

She was such a perfect stooge of left-wing interests that the only way we could hope to rid ourselves of her was through promotion, and the gods have smiled upon us when they heaped on her more unearned honors and cushy sinecures. A Fulbright Fellowship — named after one of the Senate's most strident anti-Communists, architect of the Cuban trade embargo, relentless enemy of the Castro regime and reliable friend of Cuban exiles — has been awarded to this disciple of accommodation, apologist for the Castro regime and inveterate enemy of her exiled countrymen. The irony is so rich that it is almost lethal to consume it let alone savor it. I am sure that Fulbright himself would appreciate it.

Thanks to the agency of the old Cold Warrior this execrable woman is to be sent out of the country for one year, to Lebanon, of all places, the land of her ancient ancestors, where she will impart her wisdom on Cuba (which she has never seen) to that country's hapless university students. There is at least one valuable lesson which she can teach them: how Cuba, once the "Lebanon of the Caribbean," and Lebanon, once the "Cuba of the Middle East," shared a common fate which was consummated 50 years ago: both, once vibrant redoubts of civilization, are now wastelands; Lebanon, because of a civil war and numerous invasions; and Cuba, because one man, without dropping a single bomb, turned marble to dust.

The good news doesn't stop there, however. After her return from Lebanon, she will became an international correspondent, which means that she will spend most of her time out of the country, still writing for The Miami Herald but not about Miami anymore. This is the best possible news for all Cuban exiles, whom Menéndez will now have to go out of her way to malign. One Cuban, more than the others, will celebrate this fact: her own beleaguered father.

The only time that I was ever moved by anything that Ana Menéndez wrote was when she related the anguish and shame which her father felt because she was his daughter. How on one occasion, in particular, he stopped speaking to her because he interpreted her negative portrayal of our community as a rejection of her own parents. I felt sorry, of course, for him, not for her. And now I feel sorry for Lebanon, as if it didn't have troubles enough.

The royal palms sway carelessly today and the cedars of Lebanon shake with fear.

Also of interest:

Ana Menéndez Psychoanalyzes Cuban Exiles (09/24/07)


SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

RCAB is proud to announce that it will issue its first commemorative virtual lithograph (suitable for printing) to mark the migration to greener pastures of former Miami Herald columnist Ana Menéndez. Do not miss it. It is sure to become a virtual collector's item. Keep looking here and it shall soon appear and just as soon disappear (we don't want to glut the market).

38 comments:

Ms Calabaza said...

MaT,
I thought she won the Half-Bright and was going to teach at the U of Cairo? Cairo or Lebanon . . . good riddance. She is a Valley Girl with absolutely no clue about Cuba, Miami and the exile community. Besides that, she bores me.

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

ms. calabaza:

Loved that "Half-Bright," but aren't you being a little kind? There are other fractions smaller than half. Cairo or Lebanon, it little matters. Well, maybe we would prefer Lebanon.

Anonymous said...

Some Valley girl! Is that why the breed died out?

Ms Calabaza said...

MaT

you're right about the size of the fractions, but sometimes even a curmudgeon like me tries to give a moron the benefit of the doubt.

It doesn't really matter where she's going although a year at Isla de Pinos with a ration card could help her international credentials. . .

Vana said...

Ana Menendez is not Cuban, well only by the blood that runs through her veins, to be Cuban one must feel her in one's heart, good riddance, here's hoping she stays there for the rest of her life, poor Lebanon.

Fantomas said...

who is Ana M ?

Ms Calabaza said...

Fantomas,

here you go:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/columnists/ana_menendez/

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

fantomas:

"Ana M" is the wicked stepsister of "María la O."

Fantomas said...

gracias

Ms Calabaza said...

MaT,

did you like Liz Balmaseda's columns?

Anonymous said...

Mat:
When she returns, she will be focusing on Latin America. I think she will continue to write about Miami and Cuba.

Fulano de Cal said...

Ana M is as bad as Vivien Lesnick. I had the misfortune of watching a small Youtube clip of Lesnick's recent movie about her father, and she shows a clip of Miami Cubans celebrating Fidel's illness and then bobs her head, flips her hair back, and says patronizingly "these are my people!" Then she goes on to label them as terrorists. How revolting. These two are narcissistic freaks who don't know (or regret) what it is to be Cuban. Cubanas arrepentidas. Descaradas.

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

ms. calabaza:

Balmaseda exhibited a genuine cubanidad that Menéndez never did or could.

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

anonymous:

When she returns (or perhaps not?) to The Miami Herald, she will be stationed in Latin America as a foreign correspondent, and though I don't doubt she will throw the occasional barb at Miami Cubans, libelling them will no longer be her mainstay.

Since she knows even less about other Latin Americans than she knows about Cubans, I am sure she will acquit herself in her new position no differently than any other foreign correspondent.

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

fulano de cal:

It appears to be a type now -- anti-Cuban cubanas without cubanidad. Fortunately, there are few of them, though that does not make Lesnick or Menéndez less repulsive.

Anonymous said...

When asked how many months she would be out of the country, Menendez clopped her right front hoof 12 times.

Sharpshooter said...

Hopefully she will get acquainted with a few of the mebers of the group whose name start with an H that denies Israel's existence. They are rabid (as in foaming at the mouth) Castro's supporters and Miami Cubans haters. I am sure she will feel right at home among them. That young lady has a lot to learn specially about her own ancestors. I wonder what makes her such a self-loathing Cuban?

bookster said...

this off subject, but i thought i pass it along. this new study reveals the quicker and quicker adaptation of immigrants to American norms.
In general, the longer an immigrant lives in the United States, the more characteristics of native citizens he or she tends to take on.

The chart is interesting notice that cuban immmigrants have assimilated faster than mexicans and central americans. Looks like vietnamese immigrants have the highest overall level of assimilation. Read More

See John Logfellow you need not worry about pancho comming to indiana.

Anonymous said...

como se habla mierda en este blog

A las trincheras mambises

a corred Corred bayameses

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 4:33 PM:

"como se habla mierda en este blog"

~sera por eso la razon que te gusta visitarnos todos los dias.

Anonymous said...

como se habla mierda en este blog

A las trincheras mambises

a corred Corred bayameses


All you do is talk shit on this blog

to the trenches mambises

run run Bayameses

Anonymous said...

"All you do is talk shit on this blog" Anon. 7:56

~ Speaks volumes about YOU. Ja Ja Ja !! How many times have you logged on today?

Anonymous said...

"como se habla mierda en este blog
A las trincheras mambises a corred Corred bayameses"

Fantomas: why are you hiding ?
YOU are el campion habla mierda.

Anonymous said...

Fantomas salio a comprarse ropa nueva para Cuba Nostalgia pero no es facil por que esta un poco gordito. Quizas Fanto se encuentra una gordita in Miami.

Anonymous said...

O quizas un gordito.

Anonymous said...

ay bendito ahora si corred corred

a nut in a camel just got loose from mazorra and he wants to ride a camel

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

fantomas:

Your canards about Martí have been transferred to The Madhouse. If you continue in the same vein, you yourself will be permanently confined there.

Vana said...

LMMAO Manuel loved Ana's picture, and her metamorphosis, you are too much always manage to give me a good laugh.

Vana said...

I see fanto is up to his old tricks, will you please grow up fanto, go take care of your dying blog.

Anonymous said...

only 29, no more 100+ plus comments

The end is near

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

rin tin tin:

No, we recently switched to 200+ posts.

Anonymous said...

I see a decline in your readership MAT

Site meter does not lie

Your boring posts are the reason

Fantomas said...

Vana said...
I see fanto is up to his old tricks, fanto, go take care of your dying blog.

5/13/2008 11:29 PM


Dying.... my baby blog is just beginning Vana , esta naciendo ahora only 2 years old , como puedes decir que se esta muriendo

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

anonymous @ 11:33 AM:

Yes, they are posts, not just articles extracted from the MSM which are framed with a couple of sentences (if that).

At RCAB you get the benefit of my opinions. Elsewhere you learn whose opinions somebody else subscribes to. Here we try to explain the truth to you; there they lead you to others who can explain the truth (or not) better than they can.

We serve you a substantial meal at RCAB. At other blogs they distribute imported tidbits. What you choose to consume is your business.

Anonymous said...

wow--what a sad, narrow bunch of people. so sorry i stumbled onto this site. this first visit will be my last.

Anonymous said...

I too, get tired of the endless Cuban bashing. For a people used to mule carts, it's too much to expect them to understand lines painted on the streets and traffic lights. Turn signals? Too complex. Cut them some slack, please.

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