Castro at the Crossroads

New York Sun ^ | September 11, 2010 | Staff Editorial

[neverdem]

There’s a wonderful riddle about the stranger traveling in the land of the two tribes — liars and truth tellers. Members of the two tribes look identical. The difference is that one tribe always lies, and one tribe always tells the truth. The stranger is walking along a road trying to reach the capital. Presently he comes to a fork, at which is standing one of the locals. The stranger is unable to detect whether the local is a truth-teller or a liar. But he needs to find out which fork leads to the capital. He is permitted one question. So what could he ask the local — who either always lies or always tells the truth — that would get him to his destination?

We thought of that riddle amid the excitement over the interviews that the Atlantic magazine’s star correspondent, Jeffrey Goldberg, has had with Fidel Castro. The dying dictator had summoned Mr. Goldberg, ostensibly to talk about the danger of a nuclear war between Israel and Iran and America. Mr. Castro had read, in the September Atlantic, Mr. Goldberg’s dispatch reporting that Israel is getting ready to bomb Iran. Mr. Goldberg, by his own description, has only limited experience with what he calls “Communist autocrats,” but he certainly doesn’t lack for gumption. At one point, after a three-hour dirge from Mr. Castro about Iran and Israel, Mr. Goldberg popped a question about whether Mr. Castro believed the Cuban model was, as Mr. Goldberg put it, “still something worth exporting.”

“The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore,” Mr. Castro replied. The response struck Mr. Goldberg as what he called the “mother of all Emily Litella moments,” a reference to the dotty commentator played by Saturday Night Live’s comedienne Gilda Radner, who extricates herself from her hilarious...

[neverdem]

Castro convertible: Long-time Cuban dictator finally admits Communism doesn't work

[LucyT]

More from the article:

So there it is — a reminder that Mr. Castro is what he always has been, a typical communist. He is a member of a tribe whose language is fundamentally disconnected from truth. It is something to remember when he talks about economic reform in the captive island.

[snip]

It is something to remember when he talks, as he did to Mr. Goldberg, of his sudden and new-found affection for the Jews and for Israel. Communist dictators can’t tell the truth because they stand at the head of structures of inter-locking lies. When any one lie is exposed, the whole edifice is threatened.

[LibFreeUSA]

"We have a free country here. We have no censorship, and the press is
free. The people can gather freely if they want to. There is no tormenting
of political prisoners, no murders, no terror. When all the rights of the
citizens have been restored -- and an election for the purpose is going to
be held as soon as possible -- why do we need arms?"
- Fidel Castro. January 9. 1959 - Havana

[November 2010]

Castro says that Goldberg quoted him and the question correctly. He says it was misinterpreted. But the answer is crystal clear. There was a moment of regret or clarity there for Castro before he went back to his communist dictator routine.

[hoosiermama]

When any one lie is exposed, the whole edifice is threatened.

Sort of like BO?

Off topic...sort of...Do you happen to have the exact quote that Justice Thomas made about BO's BC?

[webstersII]

So what is the question that the guy asked to find out which guy was lying about the fork in the road?

Anyone know the answer to the riddle?

[webstersII]

So what is the question that the guy asked to find out which guy was lying about the fork in the road?

Anyone know the answer to the riddle?

[LibFreeUSA]

In the riddle about the stranger at the crossroads, the solution for the stranger is to put the question to the local is this way:

- “If I were to ask you tomorrow, ‘which way to the capital?’, what would you tell me?” The member of the tribe that always tells the truth would tell him the correct way.

- The local who always lies would have, on the morrow, told him the wrong way, but he must lie about what he would tell him on the morrow, so inadvertently tells the stranger the right way.

[webstersII]

Thanks.

I had not heard that one.

[RachelFaith]

Castro says that Goldberg quoted him and the question correctly. He says it was misinterpreted. But the answer is crystal clear. There was a moment of regret or clarity there for Castro before he went back to his communist dictator routine.

It shows Truth: That even in the hardest of hearts, they know. They deny, but they know. I pray he comes to sincere repentance before it's too late.

[RachelFaith]

VERY clever riddle!

[MV=PY]

Another way:

Ask “If I ask the other fellow to name the path to the capital, what would he say?”

The reply is always the incorrect path.

[DesertRhino]

Ok, if Castro means it, we should quickly see him authorize a explosion of free enterprise, an unrestricted press, property rights, and an opposition party competing in a free election,,, right?? ,,,,Right???

[constitutiongirl]

Thanks alot you old bastard. Too bad you didn’t come to these conclusions before your soulless henchmen tortured my grandfather and killed my uncle. Can’t wait for you to drop dead pig. Then you’ll have to answer for every death you’re responsible for...from the people killed during the revolution right down to the people who have drown trying to escape your little communist hellhole. Also all the people from Angola to Central America whose deaths you abetted, I don’t think God’s going to forget them either.

[samtheman]

I’m sorry for your loss of friends and family and I thought about the same thing when I first read this scumbags declaration, that communism sucks, which of course it does.

I wondered how many people had to die to learn yet again this fundamental truth, and how many had to suffer in ways the effete elites of Hollywood and Harvard haven’t the slightest inkling.