Exhibit A: Time Magazine honors Che Guevara among "The 100 Most Important People of the Century." Not satisfied with such a paltry accolade they list him in the "Heroes and Icons" section, alongside Anne Frank, Andrei Sakharov, Rosa Parks and Mother Theresa. .
Exhibit B: “Innocent people were not executed in significant numbers, (by Che and Castro.) Che presented a Christlike image, with his mortuary gaze it is as if Guevara looks upon his killers and forgives them." (Jorge Castaneda. Global Distinguished Professor of Politics and Latin American Studies. Visiting professor at Princeton and Berkeley,columnist for The Los Angeles Times, and Newsweek.)
Exhibit C: the cover of this very month’s GQ magazine (not exactly a “fringe” publication) features Che Guevara iconography on a smiling Johnny Depp.
Exhibit D: During last year’s presidential campaign, Obama campaign offices prominently displayed Che Guevara posters.
(Note: Che Guevara’s butcheries and Stalinist schemes were all orders from above, namely from his Stalinist boss, Fidel Castro, who appointed Guevara as his regime’s chief hangman.)
Exhibit E: “Fidel Castro is very shy and sensitive, a man I regard as a friend." Democratic Senator and Presidential Candidate, George Mc Govern:
* “Viva Fidel! Viva Che!” bellowed while arm in arm with Fidel Castro himself. (Democratic Presidential candidate, Jesse Jackson.)
* “Fidel Castro first and foremost is and always has been a committed egalitarian. He wanted a system that provided the basic needs to all -- enough to eat, health care, adequate housing and education. Cuba has superb systems of health care and universal education” (Democratic President James Earl Carter)
* “Fidel Castro is Cuba’s Elvis!” (former ABC anchorman Dan Rather)
* “Fidel Castro is an absolutely fascinating figure!” (NBC’s Andrea Mitchell)
* “Fidel Castro is one helluva guy!” (Ted Turner)
* “Fidel Castro has done good things for Cuba.” (Colin Powell)
Time and space restraints do not allow a listing of accolades to Castro/Stalinism from Hollywood folks.
The Toast of Manhattan!" crowed Time magazine about Fidel Castro's reception by Manhattan's Beautiful People on his visit to address the U.N. General assembly in 1996, upon the U.N.'s 50th anniversary celebrations.
"The Hottest Ticket in Manhattan!" read a Newsweek story that week, referring to the social swirl that engulfed Castro. After Fidel's whooping, hollering, foot-stomping ovation in the General Assembly, he was fêted by New York's best and brightest, hobnobbing with dozens of Manhattan's glitterati, pundits and power brokers.
First, there was dinner at the Council on Foreign Relations. After holding court there for a rapt David Rockefeller, along with Robert McNamara, Dwayne Andreas and Random House's Harold Evans, Castro flashed over to Mort Zuckerman's Fifth Avenue pad, where a throng of Beltway glitterati, including a breathless Mike Wallace, Peter Jennings, Tina Brown, Bernard Shaw and Barbara Walters, all jostled for a brief tryst, cooing and gurgling to Castro's every comment.
All clamored for autographs and photo ops. Diane Sawyer was so overcome in the mass killer's presence that she rushed up, broke into that toothy smile of hers, wrapped her arms around Castro and smooched him warmly on the cheek.
"You people are the cream of the crop!" beamed the mass-murdererr to the smiling throng that surrounded him.
"Hear, hear!" chirped the delighted guests while tinkling their wine glasses in appreciation and glee.
But the mass-murderer had barely scratched the surface of his fan club. According to the U.S. Cuba Trade and Economic Council, on that visit Castro received 250 dinner invitations from Manhattan celebrities and power brokers.