Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a present that we give to ourselves. It cleanses our hearts of all the toxidity that others have placed there. It renews the spirit. For many years I looked upon those who had collaborated with the Cuban Revolution before and after 1959, but who had regretted their actions and fled the confragration to which they had contributed, as no less guilty than those who had remained to inflict 50 years of tyranny on the Cuban people, indeed, perhaps more so, since at least those who remained were confronted on a daily basis with what they had wrought, and though I did not think them even capable of remorse, it pleased me to think that they could not escape the demons they had created but were obliged to live with them. Those who escaped, on the other hand, at least had the luxury of putting the past behind them, indeed, of disavowing that past and associating on equal terms with those who had not brought this hecatomb upon our country. We did not ask questions, and, they, of course, had no answers. It was best that way. The time had not come to settle accounts nor was exile the place. The final reckoning would come: they knew it and we knew it. No need to concern ourselves with it till then.

Now nearly half a century has elapsed. Innocent and guilty alike lie in the frozen graves of exile. There are still great malefactors among us as there are in Cuba. I will not sully my pen on this day with their names. Besides, I am not speaking of those guilty of blood crimes; these can never be forgiven by the law of man; let them look elsewhere for forgiveness.

The rest, those who purchased "26th of July Movement" bonds, who hung signs in their homes saying "Fidel, This Is Your House" (little thinking that he would take them up on their offer), who cheered every usurpation, every outrage, every crime committed by the barbudos (really, barbarians), who cried out for the blood of fellow Cubans whose only crime was to have opposed these monsters, who conspired to rob their neighbors and rejoiced to see them brought low even if they did not profit from their misery, those who followed the revolutionary juggernaut as far as it would take them, reaped what they could from the whirlwind, and, finally, fled it, leaving behind a people enslaved and a nation in ruins — these, the detritus of the Revolution, I forgive. They have been punished already. We who shared their punishment without their guilt can commiserate with their suffering. Let them make amends, if they can, for their sins. It will soothe their souls. As for me, the arrepentidos no longer press upon mine.

A First for the MSM: A Non-Biased Article About Cuba and Cuban-Americans

The article linked below ["Cuban Exiles' 'New Hope' As Castro Fades"] is the first about Cuba which I have read in the mainstream media to which I could raise no objection. Of course, it is not published in the U.S. mainstream media, but their British counterpart, which themselves have never been purveyers of the truth about Cuba until now. The subject is depressing, but we are conditioned already to expect nothing but what will batter the heart from our suffering country. I confess that as I read it I expected at any moment that the author would lose her way; there were innumerable openings that would have conduced her to the well-travelled roads of journalistic apologetics; but she was not content to follow the path of those who think by rote. Where this article differs from the rest is that it does not try to deny or mitigate the real causes of Cuba's suffering, or justify inhuman conditions with slogans and irrelevant statistics that are intended to conceal or palliate the truth, or at least compensate for it. The truth does not need to be barnished; it is stark enough and glaring enough and admits of only one conclusion -- the last 50 years have set our country back 500, except, of course, that what was pristine then is now debased, what was full of promise is now bereft of hope. This, of course, should not cause us to give up but to redouble our efforts, for where the task is greatest so, too, must be the human resources assembled to accomplish it. Since the redemption of our homeland is the common work of all, it is well that there are those on this side of the Florida Straits who are preparing to vindicate the Rule of Law in our country and restore the fallen and buried landmarks of civilization.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/23/wcuba123.xml

And here is another article ["Cubans Won't Shed a Tear for Fidel Castro"], also from The Telegraph, which does detour from the truth, in places, through partial ignorance but not malice, yet manages still to arrive at the right conclusion: "So what have Castro, Ché Guevara and the Cuban revolution achieved? The ruination of their country..."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=FOP4YEZVNTFHNQFIQMFCFFOAVCBQYIV0?xml=/opinion/2007/12/19/do1902.xml

Ron Paul Stirs Mutiny in the Babalunian Galaxy

They are having another debate right now at Babalú over the trade embargo. What distinguishes this debate from all others is that a Babalunian satellite has left its orbit and is headed on a collision course with its sun. We are speaking of Tomás Estrada Palma, fallen under the sway of Ron Paul, who is more loony even than the Babalunians. We are much grieved to hear this because Tomás is a genuinely good and kind man and, what is rarer, a conciliator. At the time of my rupture with Val, he was the only one who thought it possible to effect a reconciliation. He was wrong, of course, but it says much for him that he tried. Unity should always be preserved when possible, but not at the price of sacrificing one's principles. We can only be true to the cause when we are true to ourselves.

Tomás is also Val's cousin. Perhaps this is the reason that he was not insulted, ostrasized or banned when he suggested that Ron Paul is right to favor the lifting of the trade embargo. Frankly, I don't think Ron Raul is right about anything. I take his opposition to the trade embargo as yet more proof that it should remain in place until Castro agrees to democratic reforms (which will be never) or until the restoration of democracy in Cuba by other means makes it unnecessary. Hugo Chávez is the band-aid, as was the Soviet Union before him. But the perpetuation of the Castro regime depends on its ability to be self-sustaining. This it will never be while the embargo is in place. Right now, the regime is one heartbeat away from collapse. That heart is not Castro's but Chávez's, which is why Castro is forever cautioning him to shield himself from the people and to be always on guard against would-be assassins. If, however, the embargo were lifted tomorrow, Communist Cuba would be provided perhaps not with the rope with which to hang the U.S., but certainly with rope enough to keep its people tied-up for several generations more. The Red Chinese have proven that human rights are not an unavoidable consequence of free market reforms; indeed, an economically viable tyranny, which has been integrated into the world market and no longer lives a precarious existence, will use its economic might to perfect and expand its apparatus of repression. Just as a democracy is more viable because it is prosperous, so, too, is a tyranny more sustainable because it can pay its bills (or, in China's case, because the U.S. pays its bills).

While supporting the lifting of the embargo without preconditions, Tomás still favors the ban on travel by Americans to Cuba. I don't know why Tomás feels that he must agree with Ron Paul in respect to the trade embargo but disagree with him on travel restrictions. Ron Paul is more forthright on this subject than on any other. He does not claim that contact with Americans will innoculate Cubans against tyranny. In fact he doesn't care at all whether Cubans are delivered from tyranny or not: it is their problem. All he wants is that his "right to travel" not be impinged. Of course, there is no constitutional "right" to visit foreign countries. But, then again, Libertarians often believe that the Constitution violates rather than guarantees their rights.

I received an e-mail from Tomás this week — which I suppose he also sent to other Cuban bloggers — encouraging me to write about Ron Paul. To his credit he did not suggest that we should write positively or negatively. He was unaware, apparently, that I had already followed his injunction. The article, published almost 2 month ago, was in fact picked up by Ron Paul 24-Hour Blog Radio, which linked it on its site. This astonished me because it was a highly critical review not only of his Cuba policy but of libertarianism itself. And then it dawned on me: they used it to attract pro-Castro liberals. My attack on Ron Paul as a Castro-appeaser was his bona fides. On the positive side, many hundreds of Ron Paul's supporters came to read that post at RCAB who would not otherwise have found their way here, and perhaps I was able to convince some that Ron Paul is a fraud and that to support him is a derogation rather than affirmation of American democracy.


UPDATE:

It seems that not even Tomás' relationship to our first president or even to the august Val Prieto can save him from abuse at Babalú for taking a position contrary to its canon. The first to lead the attack, of course, was George Moneo, who accused Tomás of "scrapping the bottom of the barrel" and cautioned him against "bumping into Hillary, Chris [Dodd] and Baraka" there. Guajiro de Broward later admonished the other commenters "Why do you all argue with a closeminded 'Ron Paul Fanatic.'" So far Val has abstained from the discussion. Or is he only waiting for the repudiation to grow to oust his own cousin from Babalú for the crime of lese majestie?

Notable & Reprehensible: Liberty Is Not for All, Says Ron Paul

Notable & Inflated: Henry the "Economist" and Val the "Architect"

"Tomas, we've been off the gold standard for more than 30 years. The value of the dollar is based on the collective health of our economy. Short term fluctuations can be influenced by speculation and by incomplete information but eventually it all comes out in the economic wash called equilibrium. As long as we don't encumber industries with too much arbitrary interference and regulation, the economy and therefore the dollar will do just fine. No apocalypse on the horizon. But hey what do I know, my degree is in Economics." — Henry Gómez, "The Conductor's Report Card," Babalú, December 22, 2007

No, Henry. The United States went off the gold standard in 1933.

But if The Wall Street Journal can identify Val as an "architect," then Henry can certainly identify himself as an "economist." Oh, brother.

Notable & Hilarious: Val Accuses Us of "Condescension and Hubris"

"Are you picking up where Rick left off, Carlos [Miller]? Cause we’re kinda busy singlehandedly ending the Cold War and unearthing fidel castro’s remains to deal with yet another little local blog-clique schoolyard shoving match. If you want to discuss serious issues seriously, let us know, we’d be more than happy to abide. But if your preference is to deride in condescension and hubris, stick with Tellechea. It’s his, and by the looks of this post, your specialty." — Val Prieto, Photography Is Not a Crime blog, December 21, 2007

Where do I begin? Bad as he is on his own blog, Val really becomes incomprehensible when he takes his show on the road.

Here he accuses Carlos Miller and me of "condescencion and hubris" while at the same time claiming that he and his fellow Babalunians are "busy singlehandedly ending the Cold War." We thought that Ronald Reagan was responsible for that with an assist from Margaret Thatcher. If he means the localized Cold War between the U.S. and Cuba, how does he propose to "end it?" By defeating Castro? He will need an American president who is willing to engage him aggressively, which his idol GW did not. Or does Val mean that he wants to end the tropical Cold War by capitulating to Castro, because that's the other way to end it. As usual, Val is long on braggadocio and short on answers. Val also credits himself (also singlehandedly) with "unearthing fidel castro’s remains." That, at least, is less enigmatic, for Val has buried Castro who knows how many times and been obliged to unbury him just as many. But does he actually take pride in lying and then having to eat his words?

Val writes that my "preference is to deride in condescension." Is there any other way? He says this just after referring to Carlos Miller's blog as "yet another little local blog." As for "hubris," that's a word that he learned recently from me (the word, not the thing). I am glad that I can at least expand Val's vocabulary for I cannot expand his understanding.

Carlos Miller has an excellent reply to Val's invitation to "discuss serious issues seriously." Read it at:

http://carlosmiller.wordpress.com/2007/12/20/muck-on-the-palmetto/

Notable & Ironic: Fidel Is "A Cuban X-Man"

"He's eighty some-odd years old, has had more than a few surgeries, has been out of his beloved limelight for 18 months, has been reportedly pretty ill and bedridden and must be taking a slew of meds and just the other day reported that he was done with the leader of the country thing. And yet, he still has the wherewithal to sit down with his protegé [Hugo Chávez] and discuss such complex issues as the integration of two countries into one! The man is a horse, folks! A Cuban X-man!" — Val Prieto, "Must be the Spinach or the Bionic Tracksuit," Babalú, December 21, 2007

How many times has Val Prieto killed and resurrected Fidel Castro this year, let alone in the span of his blog? More than we can remember. At Babalú that's known as building an audience. That this is also playing into Castro's hands, discrediting his enemies and fostering the myth of his indestructibility, is also quite obvious. What we had not suspected is that Val is actually overawed by Castro's seeming invulnerability, really the product of diverting all the king's horses and all the king's men to his preservation. Nothing can be more ironic than to have Val mock Castro as "the horse" — or, in Val's cultural parlance, an "X-man" — when no other exile has contributed as much as Val in recent years to perpetuating the myth of his indestructibility.

Killing Oscar Biscet With Love

I do not know what compelled Henry Gómez first to appoint himself Oscar Biscet's campaign manager and now his speechwriter. I suppose he feels great admiration for Cuba's most-honored prisoner of conscience and wishes to assist him in any way he can. This is entirely laudable and one of the few instances where Henry's enthusiasm has found a worthy subject. Frauds like the rocker Sting and Fred "Cubans are Suitcase Bombers" Thompson, on which Henry has also expended considerable amounts of emotional capital, are not deserving of anybody's public adulation, not even Henry's. The odd thing, however, is that Henry's misplaced admiration has not caused any harm to befall Sting or Thompson; but his desire to be Biscet's volunteer-everything has nearly gotten the poor man killed.

Earlier this year Henry got the idea that Biscet should run for president of Cuba from his prison cell. Yes, Henry wanted Biscet to endorse the existing communist system by agreeing to be a candidate in its sham elections. Biscet's wife, terrified at the prospect of what might happen to her husband if Henry's idea took off, had to beg him to desist before he got her husband killed.

Of course, Henry's vision of Oscar Biscet as president of Cuba never entirely died. For Henry, it was only a dream deferred and not very long. The award of the Medal of Freedom to Biscet provided Henry with the opportunity he was waiting for to revive Biscet's campaign. This time Henry did not appoint himself Biscet's campaign manager but his speechwriter, which he probably thought less presumptious and hence less objectionable. But is it? What could be more presumptuous than to speak for a man without his permission or even his being aware of it? Presumptuousness is the least of it. It is down right insulting, condescending and presumptuous to put words in Oscar Biscet's mouth. If his torturers could not do it, what makes Henry think that he has the right to? It is no exaggeration to say that there is a virtual ocean which separates Henry from the experiences of Oscar Biscet without even factoring character into the equation. One who has never walked in Oscar Biscet's shoes should not presume to tell him where to go. Even if Henry's intentions are the purest, it is still a signal act of disrespect to the man. Matters were not helped, either, by the insertion of a photoshop of Oscar Biscet addressing the United Nations, presumably as Cuba's democratically-elected president. Hasn't Biscet's wife already warned Henry about that? Does Henry believe that in the last 6 months what was unacceptable then is suddenly acceptable now? Or does Henry value the idea of an Oscar Biscet more than he does the man himself? Oscar Biscet is not an expendable man and the one thing that Cuba does not need is another martyr. May God protect Oscar Biscet from Henry and others who think that they know what is best for him.

Tancredo Is Out

Tom Tancredo, the most overt racist to run for president since George Wallace, has quit the race. It will be interesting to see whom Tancredo will endorse; for surely that will be the second most racist candidate in the Republican Party (a hard call after Newt Gingrich quit). Although Tancredo was never anything but a joke (and one in very bad taste at that), we did not ignore him at RCAB, although we covered him tangentially, which is all that he deserved:

http://reviewofcuban-americanblogs.blogspot.com/search?q=tancredo

I also outed Tancredo as a closet Hispanic (via Sicily, which was ruled 400 years by Spain) when he attacked Miami as a "Third-World" country:

http://blogs.rockymountainnews.com/denver/rockytalklive/archives/2006/11/tancredo_not_miami_nice.html

Notable & Quotable: "Blog-Eat-Blog-World"

"[A]nonymity is a shield that can be abused. And one that human curiosity will eventually want to strip away. If a blogger develops a big audience, it’s only natural for the audience to wonder who’s talking to them. Anybody can have an opinion. It takes courage and conviction to put a name to it. Good night and good luck Mr. Rick, whoever you are." Michael Mayo, "Blog-eat-blog-world," Mayo on the Side, Sun-Sentinel Blogs, December 20, 2007

Michael Mayo's opinion is of special interest because he is the "first cause." Mayo was the author of the article on gay prisoners which Rick lampooned on Stuck on the Palmetto evoking the wrath of the Daily Pulp's Bob Norman, who questioned how Rick was able to blog 24/7, which caused Rick to panic at the prospect of being exposed and to act exactly as if he had been (which he never was), shutting down his blog, dumping 6000 posts, 100,000 comments and his sidekick, and leaving one question on everybody's mind — Who is Rick?

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2007/12/blogeatblog_world.html

Prospects Not Good for the "Happy Blogger"

And what shall happen next to Rick?

Well, nothing good — that much is sure.

The story of SotP is actually bigger now than it was when it first broke. And what is worse, it is still an incomplete story. Only when Rick's identity is revealed can it finally be put to bed. The conclusion which Rick tried so desperately to avoid will come nonetheless and sooner than if he had merely ignored Bob Norman's harmless insinuation. We suppose that Bob and his editors are in conference right now, spurred by The Herald story. Will New Times let the scoop slip between their fingers or name names? Rick has placed the onus on them. So have many others. Since Bob has already been accused and convicted in some venues of outing Rick, he might as well go for the glory if he's going to get the obloquy anyway.

Given the publicity that The Herald story has generated thus far, Rick's boss would have to be the world's dumbest if he hasn't put two and two together yet. The fact that Rick has gotten away with doocing for years, at SotP and on his old blog, which reached 3500 posts before Rick killed it too, would seem to indicate that his boss must himself have been engaged in some extracurricular activity of his own to have missed Rick's protracted dereliction of duty encompassing thousands of individual acts. Unless Rick has no responsibilities at all at his workpace, it is likely that the job which he didn't do during the day he performed after regular hours for overtime pay. What would that make him? A double-doocer? No, it doesn't look good for Rick, and the story that the newspapers may actually report is the news of his firing. If that is all that befalls him, Rick might have cause to be grateful.

But there is, of course, the question of restitution, not to mention fines, which may just be waived, however, because of the magnitude of the restitution.

One would have thought that given his present circumstances Rick would be through with blogging for the forseeable future. But we doubt it. We see him writing desperate replies to his enemies which he will post one day when this is all over. But it's not going to be over for a long time. And the next thing that Rick may have to post is bail.

The Miami Herald Gives Rick What He Didn't Want

We said it here several days ago. A major media outlet was working on a story about Rick's travails which would take this affaire a notch up. Thanks to The Miami Herald Rick's identity is now no longer the subject of speculation among a dozen or so bloggers and interested parties, but has become a national story. At this juncture, a national story is the last thing Rick needed. In an e-mail to The Herald, Rick wrote ''The blog is done and I'm moving on.'' Or so he hopes. That hope, however, seems more elusive now and his anonymity more threatened than ever. His fellow bloggers were not kind to him. ''For the record, I HATE anonymous bloggers. They, in my view, are chickensh-- people who don't stand behind their words,'' Miami New Times editor Chuck Strouse was quoted as saying. Nevertheless, Stuck on the Palmetto was twice awarded the New Times "Best Local Blog" Award. SotP nemesis Val Prieto was also interviewed for the story and delivered himself of his usual profundities.

The Herald showcased four local blogs in its story: newtimesbpb.com/blogs; miaminewtimes.com/riptide; manormaniac.blogspot.com; and babalublog.com. It snubbed many more, including Alesh Houdek's Critical Miami. I think that was the reason for Alesh's temper tantrum this morning. Or perhaps Alesh really is Rick's heir; he certainly is in the thrall of the green monster anyway. But more about him later.

Alex was not mentioned in the story though SotP was also (supposedly) his blog. I guess that Alex, as jealous of his anonymity as Rick, was probably glad of that.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/349766.html

Poor, Poor Alex (formerly of Stuck On the Palmetto)

I can almost feel sorry for Alex. Almost because he placed himself in this predicament by freely associating with Rick, whose hatred for all things Cuban finally encompassed even him. Alex was the model second banana to Rick, unconditional in his support, or, more accurately, obeissance. We have more than once wondered why someone so infinitely superior to Rick in all matters of the intellect would apprentice himself to him and provide cover for him. Alex is certainly no less perceptive than Val & Henry, and if even they could see through Rick we must wonder what it was that prevented Alex from doing so to the very end. Misplaced loyalty, perhaps. Pride, most likely. What I do know for sure is that Alex's loyalty was not repaid in kind and his pride most seriously wounded in this transaction. The decision to shut down SotP and erase its contents was meanspirited on many counts. It was an affront to its readers and commenters and showed in what contempt Rick always held them. But, more than that, it was a personal betrayal of Alex. Rick could have walked away from SotP and left the blog to Alex. After all, Rick's conflict of interests did not touch Alex. There was no reason why Alex could not have continued the blog sans Rick. It was the most popular local blog in South Florida, which owed its success in part and most of its relevance to Alex. Why was he denied ultimately his part in its success but forced to share with Rick the ignominy of its end? I suppose the simple answer is that it was never Alex's blog. Rick unilaterally made all the decisions, and it was he who decided, without even consulting Alex, to kill the blog. Alex was not even accorded the simple courtesy of saying good-bye to his readers. Rick had the first say and the last.

In recent "Comments" on Critical Miami, Alex managed to contain (barely) his simmering discontent about being cheated of his share in South Florida's most successful local blog. He avers that he has been able to save some of his old posts, which means that Rick obliterated the blog without even giving him the opportunity to download all its contents. Certainly he deserved to retain a copy of SotP if Rick did (and we are sure he did, under some pumpkin patch). Another indication of Alex's resentment of Rick and break with him is the ferocity with which he attacked Alesh and to a lesser extent me on Critical Miami. It's called displacement. His real fury has nothing to do with either Alesh or me. Alex is too proud to acknowledge just what a dupe he was ever to become entangled with Rick, or how much Rick's betrayal has affected him. He would rather continue to be seen as Rick's co-equal (what a joke!) than acknowledge how greatly he was wronged by him. As I said, I can almost feel sorry for Alex.


POSTSCRIPT:

Alex @ Critical Miami, Wed Dec 19, 06:47 PM:

Thanks Ferfe. Pay no attention to Manuelito’s feverish conjectures and fabrications. He’s just baiting me into comment in one of the zillion posts he has dedicated to SotP in his otherwise unread blog. Getting a bit of my attention has always brightened his day. As to your offer, much honored. I’m out of blogging for the time being (lots of work and then vacation) but come 2008, who knows?

@Alesh: I don’t have any “sides." My opinion of your character changed, that’s all. That was clear on the comment.


Manuel A. Tellechea @ Critical Miami, Wed Dec 19, 08:40 PM:

Alex:

You are a proud man. Too proud ever to admit how you were conned by Rick. You prefer to continue playing the “yes man” rather than have the world know how badly you were used by one who should have appreciated your loyalty and reciprocated it. But anyone who analyzes your part (or lack thereof) in the dissolution of SotP cannot but conclude that you were evicted from “your” blog, thrown into the pyre along with 6000 posts and 100,000 comments. My humble blog, read by hundreds every day (including you), has somehow managed to survive SotP despite Rick’s recent prediction that it was doomed. I have re-posted his prediction as prove of the prescience that never failed him. Do not be so quick to turn down Ferfe’s offer. You seem to be predisposed to exercise the role of second banana, and you might as well be Ferfe’s Number 2 as Rick’s. There will be many more posts about you at RCAB.. Except one in particular. Because I, at least, can keep a trust. Too bad your friend Rick couldn’t.

If You Never Read Anything Else on Cuba, Read This

[The following comment by Joe Papp, the most concise and brilliant exposition of the Cuban dilemma ever written, was left on the previous post about Stuck on the Palmetto. We do not think that it should be confounded with that topic and so have assigned it its own post as the first (and probably last) of our guest editorials. In our response to Joe's comment, we explained its importance and transcendence. Joe Papp is a Cuban by virtue of the fact that he is married to one (the Constitution of 1940 grants citizenship to the spouses of Cuban nationals); but, above all, he is a Cuban because of his love for our country and her people and perfect understanding of their plight, which Castro's refusal to release his wife and son has made his plight too].

joep said...

MaT, I don't know if this fits your topics of interest with regards Cuba, but I'm still waiting longingly for someone with your talent to write the definitive commentary or analysis on why internal revolt in Cuba is about as unlikely as my being invited back to the Vuelta a Cuba after I pissed on a statue of Fidel on the outskirts of Cienfuegos. I'm hoping for a piece that contrasts Cuba with Eastern Europe with particular attention paid to the relevancy of 1) The Cuban regime's having a monopoly on violence (no private ownership of weapons); 2) How the geographic isolation of Cuba, unlike East/West Berlin, or East/West Europe, makes it much more difficult for external players to meaningfully fund or support materially an internal resistance; 3) Total control of news outlets, an indoctrinating educative system that discourages critical thinking and strives to maintain a population in a total state of ignorance; 4) How material conditions (such as almost-famine) leave the population waging a daily struggle for sufficient calories, as opposed to waging a insurgency against government forces and (to keep this short and not make it a PhD dis.) 5) How policies in other nations, directed towards Cuba, actually enable the Castro regime to stay in power, through whatever mechanism is triggered (an example could be the US's banning family remittances to Cubans who don't fit a particular definition of "immediate" family). Will you do it?
12/18/2007 8:37 AM

Manuel A. Tellechea said...

Joe:

I'm sure you don't realize it, but you have just written that perfect post: succinct, compelling and original. I can expand but not improve upon it. What you say is exactly what I have always believed; indeed, it is the only conclusion which a reasonable person can make. Certainly it is the one that most inhabitants of the island have already made. Your powers of penetration into the Cuban predicament are unrivalled by any American. All the millions of papers that so-called cubanologists have regurgigated over the last 40 years have not managed to analyze the Cuban reality as you have with such economy and brilliance.
12/18/2007 9:18 AM

For more reactions to Joe's comment from Charlie Bravo, Steve ["As In Blood"] Klotz and Carlos Miller, see:

http://reviewofcuban-americanblogs.blogspot.com/2007/12/who-shall-succeed-sotp-as-south.html

Who Shall Succeed SotP As South Florida's Most Visible Blog?

Critical Miami and Klotz As In Blood Are the Top Contenders

Many crocodile tears have been shed over the death of Stuck on the Palmetto by South Florida blogs that depended on its blogroll for their survival. I say "crocodile tears" because all these blogs, small and smaller, while benefitting from SotP's seal of approval also despised it cordially as all industry leaders are despised. What was it exactly that SotP was a purveyor of and how could one or more of these vestigial blogs replace it? That is the question which many pretenders to Rick's mantle have been asking themselves. If you ask me, I think there is an heir apparent to SotP already. Which is? Critical Miami, of course. It's a little too highbrow (though not insufferably so) and much too conventional, and Alesh's legendary adversion to a local blogroll is an impediment to Critical Miami's ascendency, since many regard him unfavorably because of it. In fact, chief among Alesh's critics in this respect was Rick, who chided him many times for the blog equivalent of stinginess. It is a poor emperor who has no dependencies and Alesh's reluctance to give his imprimatur to any other blog is the only thing which is holding him back and which may prove an insurmountable obstacle to his aspirations (supposing he has them).

The only other South Florida blog of its stature, which sparkles at times in ways that the genial but rather staid Critical Miami rarely does, is Klotz as In Blood. He is by far the best writer among the South Florida bloggers: wit, irony, sarcasm, those precious condiments of good writing which others avoid or use indiscriminately, Steve knows how to balance to create quite a smorgasbord. But he too has his limitations. He is not prolific and he is too much of a wordsmith to be. His blog is not easily identifiable as a South Florida blog since it has no distinctive Florida marker in its name (e.g. "Palmetto, "Miami"). Although he writes often about South Florida, he would have to write a great deal more about it to don SotP's mantle as leader of the local blog consortium.

For my part, I should be pleased with either Steve or Alesh. Both are decent and honorable human beings with no hate except for purveyors of hate. In this they differ markedly from and are a great improvement over Rick, who hated many and sundry, especially Cuban-Americans, and used that hate to expand his readership. I do not suggest copying his formula of seeding hatred among ethnic groups, either. Racism is a disease of the mind, not an eccentricity; and I believe that Rick succeeded despite and not because of it. But, again, there is no chance that either Steve or Alesh would follow that course. By virtue of that fact, they won't require a second banana from a maligned group as a token. In fairness, Alex was more than just a token; often he pulled Rick from the brink of his own unfanthomable ignorance. Why he would consent to be Rick's waterboy when he is in every way his superior, I will never know. Although neither Rick nor Alesh need a partner, they should nevertheless consider acquiring one. I can think of no better blogging partner for Alesh than Steve and vice versa. They balance each other perfectly. The success that they would achieve together would be far greater than what each could attain individually. Both have at least some respect for my opinion, and if they were content to follow my advice, they could exceed by far SotP's ephemeral success.

But what if neither desires to succeed the late SotP as doyenne of the local South Florida blogs. Well, there is a formula which any local blog can follow to achieve SotP's rapid rise and avoid crashing as it did. Ephemeral success, ultimately, is not success: it is a fluke. My formula also contains the seeds of permanence. I should really sell it to the highest bidder, but to avoid another Rick — that is, to avoid creating a monster — I prefer to pass on the formula to all the local blogs and let them compete on an equal footing. There may be an element or two which I have missed that one of them can supply which might prove the determining factor. I will present this formula in a future post, as I wish to give Alesh or Steve the chance to seize the moment.


POSTSCRIPT

Here’s the formula:

Google News is your best friend. Search South Florida and every major city there. Also, Digg’s Offbeat News. Copy and paste liberally. Add a sentence or two of your own. Be sarcastic and offensive if possible. There you have your typical SotP post.

Do an occasional introspective piece about yourself. These can be dashed off quicker than the news posts.

Pick a group — not blacks or gays — and make it the object of your special ire. Attack them often and ignorantly. Hope that they will attack you too.

Be rude and smarmish with your commenters. The post itself is insignificant; it’s the give and take of the thread that will get you the stats.

Hope and pray for someone like me who can carry a thread forever and do other yeoman service for you. And don't forget to ungrateful.

Rick's Defenders and Apologists Gather to Mourn Stuck on the Palmetto

Bob Norman's blog The Daily Pulp has thus far maintained a respectful silence concerning Stuck on the Palmetto's demise, which was a suicide although some insist on attributing it to Bob. It has been Alesh Houdek's Critical Miami, accused, ironically, by Rick of "piling on," which has presided over the obsequies for the vanished blog. I have myself laid some hemlock on SotP's grave. Be sure to pay your respects also.

http://criticalmiami.com/2007/12/17/stuck-on-the-palmetto-is-dead

Notable & Quotable: A Proud Enemy of Rick's

"Manuel A.Tellechea, another blogger who declares himself an 'enemy' of Rick (it’s a Cuban thing), is convinced that Rick was an actual cop. But I am not so convinced. Perhaps he was a civilian employee working within a law enforcement agency, his salary still funded by tax payers." — Carlos Miller, "Snuck Off the Palmetto," Photography Is Not a Crime blog, December 17, 2007

The word "enemy" does not need to be translated. In "Cuban" or English it means the same thing. Acknowledging that fact is called being honest. I hope that there are also honest Americans.

I should hope that at his age Rick has advanced through the ranks, if not on merit then by the Peter Principle, to a more exalted position in the department than "cop." Regardless, he must be held to the same standard as a street cop. In 2006, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department fired a 23-year veteran for playing the bagpipes when he should have been on patrol. Rick's job, even if it only entailed shuffling papers, did not carry a license to steal from the taxpayer. Rick did not "choose responsibility over ego (i.e. blogging)." He chose to stop stealing. Which I suppose is as commendable in a cop as it is in a crook.

BTW, "Snuck Off the Palmetto" is the best headline so far to describe Rick's abrupt departure. Alesh and I could only come up with "Stuck on the Palmetto Is Dead." I had already exhausted my creative powers on "Stopped On the Palmetto."

http://carlosmiller.wordpress.com/2007/12/17/snuck-off-the-palmetto/