If there is one thing I recommend for any and all members of the peanut gallery (I mean that respectfully) to do, it is to watch Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Atom Bomb. It is barnone, my favorite film (most probably because my senior seminar covered a lot of what was discussed in it, inadvertently, so I have a pretty good idea of what their satirizing).
Now what does a Kubrick film have to do with not tolerating rafters? Well, one of the central characters to the film was played by George C. Scott, known as General Buck Turgidson. He's the stereotypical hawk (like Wolfowitz, Perle, Rumsfeld, Bennett, FOX, etc.) that says all the things one would expect from a General Westmoreland (you know, the fellow in charge of Vietnam) or a Patton (as Mr. Scott played after it).
Among the other jingoistic proclamations that Buck Turgidson ballyhoo's is, "we must not allow a mind shaft gap." This is lampooning the non-sensical belief that there was a "Missile Gap" between the Soviets (Ruskie, Commie, Pinko, etc.) and the Americans (the gap never existed). Contemporaneously, this would be like... well, the same thing.
A successful realpolitik strategy that talking-heads (you know, those guys you "elect" to tell you what to eat and how to read) use today is accusing their opponent that the other was soft on 'Drug Enforcement' or at this moment, waging war on Iraq. During the next campaign don’t be surprised to see something like this:
Tweedledee: "I was in favor of supporting this war vis-a-vi monetary funds and moral support. In fact, I voted on the bill that gave our President a carte blanche on any and all that he deemed worthy. The [cough] treasonous
Tweedledumb: “I too was in favor of supporting this war and would have voted in favor of it had I been chosen to represent this district. If elected into office, I will make my number one priority waging war and exporting peace to all corners of the earth – faster than my colleague did.”
So, given a problem (originally caused by the efforts of the State Department, the CIA and the military), the quickest way to apparently fix it, is to put another band-aid on it and call all of those who tried to disinfect the wound through other means lying cowardice’s (argumentum ad hominem). And so we have Cuba, the little island that almost could.
I doubt most people know the contentious history that has reigned over what was the original Las Vegas. Like most tin-pot dictators across central and South America, the Military and/or the State Department propped them up in some fashion. General Batista was no different.
Batista originally overthrew an unpopular fellow (well, I guess that term is subjective – he kicked out the old and brought in the new); and then later he became unpopular (no more free chickens in every pot or Bear Patrols). His unpopularity made someone praise and deify Castro that much more (ex: Cuba 1959) -- just like the Tsar’s unpopularity made Lenin look more attractive or Chiang Kai-Chek and Mao. Batista as I said, originally overthrew an already illegitimate State (is there ever such a thing as a ‘legitimate State’ – oxymoron?) and propped himself up with the aid of both the Mob and the American Military.
Through many poor political decisions (like repressing students – if you’re ever going to try and become ruler of the world do not attack students, similar to having a land war in Asia) and miscalculated maneuvers, Batista found himself in a world of hurt and no more strawmen to use (Jubans [Jewish Cubans] didn’t exist at that point). He then managed to get pussywhooped by a medical doctor from Buenos Aires and a lawyer from Havana (both of which erroneously believed that 'freedom' could also be promoted through aggression).
Back up 50 years, to Teddy Roosevelt (and the Monroe Doctrine and Spain before him) who started a chain of clandestine developments that brings me closer to why “we will not tolerate rafters.” He initiated force to get his goals accomplished, not a good way to win friends and positively influence others. He then put in place various legal reforms (remember, laws create monopolies thus hampering competition) that benefited some at the expense of others (rob Peter to feed Paul).
Now to the roaring '20s. To legislate morality (‘for the children’) Congress prohibits the manufacturing, selling or transportation of alcohol (the 18th Amendment). So gangs, mobs & syndicates form and operate outside the auspices of the State (if the State got kickbacks I doubt they would complain quite as much).
This is where the phrase ‘Baptist and bootleggers’ comes in. Believing it is ‘sinful’ and ‘wrong’ to consume alcohol, members of the Temperance movement advocated the abolition of the only gift that keeps giving and giving long after it is consumed. The bootleggers, understanding the economics of the situation, would then promote and fund those in office who are Pro-Prohibition. Why? Because they have the market cornered and will reap all the benefits at being the only show in town, just ask the Kennedy’s.
One of the outlets the mob uses as both a place to kick back and relax as well as to meet and conspire with other members of their gang, is Cuba and Havana, the Latin Las Vegas (Las Vegas came into the limelight primarily because they absorbed the brain drain of musicians from Cuba).
One reason Batista could get away with the things he was doing is because he was propped up by financial aid by the American military. This is another instance of the ‘Tyranny of Good Intentions,’ that is to say, the road to hell is paved with many good intentions.
This is where the rafters fit in.
As the name rafting implies, some sort of rafting takes place, usually in the form of make-shift flotillas bobbing up and down the coast of Florida. A number of individuals living on the Cuban island have attempted, like Mr. Gonzalez’s mom did a few years ago, to land on the Shores of Freedom (that was supposed to elicit a tear). One reason some of these individuals wish to flee is because of how Castro & Co. supposedly treat dissidents of the regime. And now, members of the State department are clamoring over rumors of another exodus of rafters, followed closely by surfers and mimes.
Well, the rafters part is true, but don’t be surprised if the State Department adds more Untouchables to its list of “People we don’t want on our pure land” (of course, property owners could always decide not to allow outsiders in, but then one realizes that the State ultimately owns all the land so that is not an option – I want to be my own vassal).
So, in short one of the primary reasons Cuba is a unpleasant place to reside in, is because of detrimental domestic and foreign policies developed by the busybody, fideist efforts of Tweedledee and Tweedledumb.
Posted by Tim at April 17, 2003 03:15 AM | TrackBack