OPINION:
Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont, the presumed Democratic front-runner to take on Donald Trump in November, has had a number of exotic political associations dating back decades. Not surprisingly for a self-described socialist, he has at times praised the likes of the Soviet Union, the Sandinistas and Fidel Castro.
Happily for Mr. Sanders, many of his embarrassing pro-despot comments were literally made decades ago. Even the footage they appear on is grainy — much of it comes from ancient public access television programs — as if they are from another epoch altogether. It would be a simple task for him to walk away from them: Say, for instance, that Fidel Castro was a murderous thug who brought nothing but ruin to Cuba. It would be both politically savvy — and have the benefit of being true.
But that is not the path Mr. Sanders has chosen. In an interview Sunday night on “60 Minutes,” and again Tuesday evening in a CNN town hall, Mr. Sanders sang the praises of the Castro regime, specifically its alleged focus on promoting literacy. “When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?” he mused.
Yes, Mr. Sanders had a scintilla of a point: Cuban literacy rates improved over the second half of the 20th century, as they did in numerous other countries. In other words, Cubans are now “free” to read “Das Kapital.” Because they have precious few other choices: Cuba is heavily censored, and freedom of thought is banished. In 2003, Fidel threw librarians in prison for daring to open a private library system free from government censorship.
Here’s a question for Mr. Sanders: What good is a “literacy program” in a country that jails journalists?
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