The Cult of Che

slate ^ | Sept. 24, 2004, | Paul Berman

[bad company]

The cult of Ernesto Che Guevara is an episode in the moral callousness of our time. Che was a totalitarian. He achieved nothing but disaster. Many of the early leaders of the Cuban Revolution favored a democratic or democratic-socialist direction for the new Cuba. But Che was a mainstay of the hardline pro-Soviet faction, and his faction won. Che presided over the Cuban Revolution's first firing squads. He founded Cuba's "labor camp" system—the system that was eventually employed to incarcerate gays, dissidents, and AIDS victims. To get himself killed, and to get a lot of other people killed, was central to Che's imagination. In the famous essay in which he issued his ringing call for "two, three, many Vietnams," he also spoke about martyrdom and managed to compose a number of chilling phrases: "Hatred as an element of struggle; unbending hatred for the enemy, which pushes a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him into an effective, violent, selective, and cold-blooded killing machine

[dsc]

W.E.B. Griffin, Special Ops.

[demlosers]

[Starve The Beast]

Good for Slate.

[bad company]

I'll check that out.

[moehoward]

Bump for later read

[sageb1]

"Many of the early leaders of the Cuban Revolution favored a democratic or democratic-socialist direction for the new Cuba. But Che was a mainstay of the hardline pro-Soviet faction, and his faction won. Che presided over the Cuban Revolution's first firing squads. He founded Cuba's "labor camp" system—the system that was eventually employed to incarcerate gays, dissidents, and AIDS victims. To get himself killed, and to get a lot of other people killed, was central to Che's imagination."

Unfortunately, we are preaching to the choir here at FR with this. This "cool" Che-crapola is reaching far and wide right now in response to the socialist and neo-communistista movement. Also unfortunately, we need to be aware and afraid. The anarchists are finding friends there (spin works wonders among the ignorant).

[SquirrelKing]

Great book.

[rottndog]

The only good Che,



is a DEAD Che!

[goldstategop]

He was a communist mass-murdering psychopath thug who also died a coward. I can't see why people glamorize an enemy of freedom.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Right Wing Assault]

Che was cooler (room temperature) than the guy standing next to him, though.

I've always thought that was a weird picture. It looks like he's just waking up from a nap.

[Fiji Hill]

When I encounter Che Guevara partisans at demonstrations, I yell at them, "Viva, Barrientos" (René Barrientos Ortuño was the Bolivian president whose troops hunted down and killed Che), and "Viva, Pinochet" (Former Chilean president Agosto Pinochet Ugarte has long been a boogeyman of the Left).

[skikvt]

I've never understood why my "Dr Mengele" T-Shirt business never took off. Oh well.

[demlosers]

I've always thought that was a weird picture. It looks like he's just waking up from a nap.

I can't say that about his buddy who has a third eye:

Peruvian Juan Carlos "Chino" Chang, of the Peruvian Communist Party.

[Old Seadog]

[PzLdr]

There's a picture from the Civil War of the body of William "Bloody Bill" Anderson, a Confederate Bushwhacker, onetime Quantrill lieutenant, and Jesse James' mentor [as well as a full blown psycho]. The resemblance to Ernesto [sounds a lot less romantic than 'Che', doesn't it?]in his death photo is amazing.

[F-117A]

Bump!