OPINION:
A newspaper in Cuba has seized on Bernie Sanders’ kind comments about its authoritarian leadership literacy program and and used them for propaganda purposes to show how even a member of the U.S. government can see the good in the Gestapo-esque.
Note to Sanders: This is why you don’t go around praising authoritarian regimes. The authoritarian regime is only too happy to take those comments, in context or out, and spin them to the advantage of, you guessed it — the authoritarian regime.
Way to go, Sanders.
Who would’ve seen that one coming, right?
Anyhow, as the Miami Herald noted in a headline: “Havana gives front-page coverage to Bernie Sanders for praising Fidel Castro.”
Granma, the rag of the Communist Party, wrote of Sanders’ recent hat tip to Castro for raising literacy rates among the Cubans, and for other social programs.
Let the propaganda go forth.
“U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, today one of the strongest candidates for the nomination of the Democratic Party to the November presidential elections,” the newspaper wrote, “recognized Cuba’s role in sending doctors worldwide.”
Granma also noted Sanders’ recent interview on “60 Minutes” in which he told host Anderson Cooper that it was “unfair” to characterize that “everything is bad” in Cuba — that Castro, for instance, introduced a great reading program for all the state’s residents.
Yes: It was called Read Or Die.
Just kidding. It wasn’t called that.
It was implied.
But back to Sanders’ praise of dictators: Why?
Granma’s grab of the comments is certainly predictable.
The fact Sanders couldn’t see that himself is troubling. Almost as troubling as the remarks he made in the first place.
No matter how you shake it, this is a guy who simply doesn’t belong in the White House.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE.
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