Believe it or not, someone today told me that Castro gave it up because he couldn't bear being without Florence Henderson. Life sucks, then you die. I guess.
That was a Trump spin??????????????????? I gave him credit. I don't claim to know you but I see you have strong feelings about Castro so I'll leave you to your opinions. I do have to point out that it's a gross generalization to blame the Democrats only.
I know I'm going to get shit on, but for those who remember the context in which Castro came to power, it was a time when US business and political meddling killed real democtratic movements in places like Cuba, Haiti, Guatemala, Chile, Panama, El Salvador....it goes on. There was a real feeling that the US and US corporate interests, like the United Fruit Company, was dictating (pun intended) political moves to kill democracy in the name of anti-communism. Bautista was no different. He was as brutal and anti-democratic dictator as Castro, and Castro could not have even existed if not for Bautista and his US (and mob) supporters. One extreme comes from the other, and US hands are not clean. The US set back democracy in South, Central America and the Caribbean more than any nation. So you can celebrate Castro's death, but the alternative, status quo, leader's death would not have been any less celebrated if he had stayed in power.
Did Fidel Castro nearly have a career in professional baseball? by Mark Townsend | Big League Stew — 26 Nov 2016 Fidel Castro, the father of communist Cuba who led the country as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008, died on Friday. He was 90. Castro’s legacy in political history is well-documented. Even in death, it will not be reflected kindly. His beliefs and methods were at the center of many painful moments for families from Cuba, and they were the source of much discussion even during his final hours. In fact, Castro was just in the sports headlines on Friday when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick continued to defend Castro’s legacy despite his oversight of an oppressive regime that would seemingly contradict Kaepernick’s recent protests. That would be Castro’s final connection to sports in America. As most baseball fans know though, it was far from his first connection. Castro’s love for baseball was also well known, and if you believe certain myths his baseball talents very nearly brought him to the U.S., which could have changed the course of history forever. As the story goes, Castro was a pitcher at the University of Havana when he began drawing the attention of scouts in the United States in the late 1940s. From that point forward though there are conflicting versions of Castro’s true appeal as a pitching prospect and the lengths some major league teams reportedly went to scout him. From the Daily Kos in 2015: "In one version of the story, a scout reported of Castro:“Lots of enthusiasm, not much of an arm. Suggest he go into another business. In another version, though, various teams were said to have sent some players down for a batting practice to test him (during one of which Castro struck out future Hall-of-Famer Hank Greenberg). According to some versions, Castro was offered a tryout with either the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Washington Senators, or the New York Yankees, but failed to make the cut–and, in bitterness and resentment, became intensely anti-American. In another version, he was actually accepted by the New York Giants in 1949 (or in 1951) and was offered a contract, but turned down the offer to get his law degree and go into politics instead." The idea Castro might have attracted interest lends plausibility to the idea he could have made a career in baseball. It would also suggest any pursuit of the sport beyond these reported tryouts could have significantly altered his life’s path, therefore altering millions of other lives as well. But that doesn’t mean it’s true. As Snopes.com noted in 2012, Yale professor Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria went to great lengths to dismiss this myth in his book Cuba’s history in baseball. "Although this legend has an aura of plausibility to Americans in that baseball has long flourished in Cuba, and Castro has been a very visible supporter of (and pseudo-participant in) the sport, it is neither true nor credible, as Cubans have always been aware. Castro never had a tryout with a major-league baseball team, never played the sport professionally, and didn’t come close to possessing skills which would attract the interest of a big-league team. As Yale professor Roberto González Echevarría noted in his history of Cuban baseball, the claim that Castro was a star pitcher at the University of Havana and turned down a $5,000 bonus offer from the New York Giants in 1951 to pursue a law degree is nothing more than a reporter’s fabrication." There are some interesting excerpts from that story that are worth reading. The main takeaway though is that Castro’s baseball dreams were simply that. Of course, Castro’s relationship with the United States would go on to have a major impact on Cuban born players chasing the dream of playing in MLB. Many have and will continue to flourish after defying his reign and defecting from Cuba, but it’s difficult not to consider how different Castro’s legacy would be in sports and in general had he ruled differently, or maybe not ruled at all.
Is there a point other than your " USA sucks too"? Does any of that change the fact that he murdered thousands and ruined countless human lives for generation after generation? Reads all properly lib on a baseball message board, I'll give you that...but you should say that in a crowd of native born Cubans who had to flee his psychotic regime and see what kind of response you get.
I do agree with you that the US shouldn't be meddling in foreign countries to the degree it does.... But cant agree with your statement about him being no worse than the other dictators. Since you mentioned Chile, compare Castro to Pinochet in terms of health of the countries economy and perception by their people. Pinochet had way cooler death squads too.
Havana was Vegas before anyone knew what the Nevada desert felt like. Castro took out the whores, pimps, gangsters, and corrupt CIA agents. Then he decided this dictator thing that Bautista had going on was a pretty nice gig. We have killed 30M black babies with planned parenthood and nobody bats an eye at those numbers.
No, it's not a USA sucks comment. Why is everything love or hate and nothing in between with you. But if you want to dispute history, that's you perogative. It still doesn't make you correct. In Guatemala, for example, approximately 140k to 210k people were killed from 1960 to 1996 during the totalitarian regime and subsequent rebellion before a peace treaty was signed. As I said, yes Castro was responsible for thousands of deaths and the ruining of thousands of other lives. Bautista killed upwards of 20,000 people during is many incarnations as leader of Cuba....and thousands more disappeared and unaccounted for. But my point although those dancing on Castro's grave have all the reasons to do so, Fidel's creation has it's roots in the oppression caused by the support of the opposite form of totalitarianism. It does not come out of a vacuum and the alternative may not have been any better had the existing regime had another 57 years to do what it had been doing.
the right cant really go after the left on this one not when they start to imagine 30million more orphan black kids running around
I like pointing out that hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance on both sides. Just seems easier with the left lately.
Oh, and more white people get abortions than any other group, although black people are statistically over-represented based on percent of the population. http://www.operationrescue.org/about-abortion/abortions-in-america/
saying that more white people get abortions than any group is almost like saying that more women get abortions than any group
Sure reads that way. As if the roots of where you say it comes from or what may or may not have been is diluted or changed in any way by your or premise or Rube's that no one batted an eyelash about something else. And it is love or hate...cut and fucking dried flat out hate...that was the point of my initial post. That's how it was/is with the Cubans I knew, whether that fits in your agenda or not. It's not about being right, it's what is. Tell your Guatemala facts to a Cuban who had to get out and leave their family to die and see just what your " in between" mush gets you with them. See if they any hate less because Guatemalans suffered, too, or read your totalinarianism narrative.
