Way To Go, Castro!

I never thought I'd say this, but ... nice move, Fidel.

By now just about everyone in the US has heard Cuban leader Fidel Castro has taken his knee off the neck of his country ... so his little brother could kneel down and take his place.

The media was swift and decisive in its recognition of the event, politely sweeping all the political killings perpetrated by Castro in the 1950s under the rug of history, right along with the brush with World War III we casually call the "Bay of Pigs" affair today. Also forgotten is Fidel's twisted bastardization of Che Guevara's noble revolution against the Batistas as well as the murky circumstances of that noble revolutionary's death.

Moments after this new villain-turned-media-darling agreed to cede control of the Cuban government to brother Raul, starry-eyed US reporters were crowding President Bush and asking him if the rumors were indeed true: Would Havana be restored once again to its former glory as a haven for pimps, gamblers and undesirables of similar ilk?

Thankfully, Bush has not gotten caught up in this sudden romance with Cuba and has chosen to treat the country's leaders as the wily little villains they still are. US policy hasn't changed; the embargoes are still in place.

Let's keep our heads, here, folks. Remember, the woman who nursed the snake back to health was dying when she found out that vipers very rarely lose their venom...

So, yeah. Maybe things will be different. I'd like to hope so. But until we see what kind of leader Raul is, I think we should save our sympathies for the Cuban people who have been face down on the concrete for way too long.

The term "cautiously optimistic" comes to mind and it seems appropriate here, so I'll invoke it. Here's hoping Cuba makes a comeback and Fidel soon gets whatever is coming to him.