Quick, I want everyone to go out and tell grocery stores and magazine stands (do they even have those outside of airports and New York City streets?) to remove EVERY SINGLE COPY OF THE ECONOMIST from their shelves because they said that Saddam Hussein was a great dictator. It's true. In 2007, they said of Saddam that he was "one of the last of the 20th century's great dictators, but not the least in terms of egotism, or cruelty, or morbid will to power." Shame on them, right? From a historian's perspective, absolutely not. From a logical human being's perspective, no way. But, from someone looking to make a story out of a sound byte and not the entire quote, The Economist should be banned right along with Catcher in the Rye and students in school should know what a horrible publication they are because they said that Saddam Hussein was a great dictator.
This level of absurdity is nothing new to the American media and it continued recently with the public outcry against Miami Marlins' manager Ozzie Guillen. Guillen was quoted as saying that he "loved Fidel Castro" and immediately the streets of Miami had a flashback to the days of the Mariel Boatlift. If the educated people in this country bothered to read the rest of the quote (or try and find it since the media conveniently left it out of their stories), they would have seen that Guillen's admiration came from the fact that he could not believe the Cuban President (dictator to America) was still in power after all these years given the harsh conditions he placed his people under. Guillen was suspended by his team for five games and held a press conference to not only apologize (a move that is now standard whenever someone says something that somebody else does not agree with), but to clarify his statements for the media since his original quote was lost in translation to those who can not imagine that it REALLY does say something about either the man or the system that Castro is still in power. Jim Norton had a great tweet this morning in which he said "Why aren't Cubans who fled repressive Castro supporting the rights of Guillen to say something they don't agree with?"
Our culture is working against the freedoms they try and protect and they do not even realize it. Here are some historical facts. Abraham Lincoln could have cared less about freeing slaves; he was more concerned with the preservation of the Union. Adolf Hitler returned Germany to the world power it was before World War I in just a few short years. Saddam Hussein was an anti-Soviet leader in the Middle East and the United States liked that in the middle of the Cold War. Fidel Castro rose to power behind a revolution in a country that was being used as a stash house and money laundromat for organized crime figures of the 50's and early 60's. Each of these men hold some sort of place in the history books. It usually depends on who is writing the history as to how they are viewed. Lincoln was one of the greatest Presidents that this country has ever seen. Hitler was one of the worst mass murderers the world will ever know. Saddam was right behind him. And Castro has not been worried about by many in the United States since the end of The Cuban Missile Crisis.
Ozzie Guillen said something he believed in. His complete thought and quote was not far off from a logical truth. Given the fact that those of us raised in a democratic society have been led to believe our entire lives that anything that is not a democracy is evil, it is not hard to see why the mainstream media was so quick to jump down Ozzie's throat and condemn him for his remarks. Ozzie has said that he does not agree with Castro's politics. Coming from Venezuela (another country that is led by a "dictator"), the historian in me tends to think that Ozzie understands what it takes for the men in power to remain in power under different forms of government. The United States was quick to implement a term limit for the President after Franklin Roosevelt was re-elected twice just in case someone like him ever came along again gained so much popularity that the idea of a "dictator-esque" democracy could not present itself.
In closing I will say something that you may not agree with. I love Ozzie Guillen. I love the fact that he says what is on his mind, whether I agree with it or not. I abhor the fact that the mainstream media makes people afraid to say what they think anymore, just because it might offend someone or someone else might have a dissenting opinion. To me, the art of conversation and logical debate are a lost art and those in the media who want to be the next one to break the big story or take the partial quote that will light up the front page are to blame. Shame on you.
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