New York Times Can't Get Enough of Tyranny

Today's online edition of the New York Times carried with it this article in doe-eyed praise of one of the worst tyrants in the world today. Specifically, his program of forcing medical students to go through Marxist indoctrination. To quote:

"The Latin American School of Medical Sciences, on a sprawling former naval base on the outskirts of this capital, teaches its students medicine Cuban style. That means poking at cadavers, peering into aging microscopes and discussing the revolution that brought Fidel Castro

to power 48 years ago.

Cuban-trained doctors must be able not only to diagnose an ulcer and treat hypertension but also to expound on the principles put forward by “el comandante.”

It was President Castro himself who in the late 1990s came up with the idea for this place, which gives potential doctors from throughout the Americas and Africa not just the A B C’s of medicine but also the basic philosophy behind offering good health care to the struggling mass"

Yes, I am sure that they are discussing the revolution that brought Castro to power. Somehow I get the feeling that maybe less than the full range of opinion is welcome.

This was especially amusing:

"Still, the Cuban authorities are eager to show off this school as a sign of the country’s compassion and its standing in the world. And some students cannot help responding to the sympathetic portrayal of Mr. Castro, whom the United States government tars as a dictator who suppresses his people."

Yes, the United States tars him as a dictator. Maybe the good folks over at the NYT are unfamiliar with basic English, but a ruler who seizes power in a coup, holds on to it through brute military force, and brooks no dissent, sounds like a dictator to me.

Don't worry, this parade of murder-apologetics isn't over yet!

"The education the students are receiving here extends outside the classroom.

“I’ve learned to become a minimalist,” Mr. Williams said. “I don’t necessarily need my iPod, all my gadgets and gizmos, to survive.”

There are also fewer food options. The menu can be described as rice and beans and more rice and beans. Living conditions are more rugged in other respects as well. The electricity goes out frequently. Internet access is limited. Toilet paper and soap are rationed. Sometimes the water taps are dry.

Then there is the issue of personal space.

“Being in a room with 18 girls, it teaches you patience,” said Ms. Benyard, who was used to her one-bedroom apartment back home and described her current living conditions as like a military barracks."

Well, thank God Castro institutes those socialist policies that turned the economy on its head and let to abject poverty for the Cuban people! How else would we learn not to use our iPods so much!?!

One parting gift for you:

" “Democracy is a great principle,” said Mr. Williams, who wears long dreadlocks pulled back behind his head."