JOSEPH C. PHILLIPS COMMENTARY: Say Hey! Che

The conservative Republican actor discusses liberal fascination with Che Guevara, the late Argentinian communist: "Che was no friend of free speech or artistic expression. Che is on record as saying that it was his aim 'to make individualism disappear from Cuba! It is criminal to think of individuals!' Young people said Che, 'should learn to think and act as a mass.' How odd that a Hollywood that prides itself on pushing the envelope of free expression and individualism continues to celebrate a man that jailed or sent into exile most of Cuba’s best writers and artists. Perhaps Hollywood’s love for Che is fueled primarily by a sense of fashion rather than a concern with facts ala Cameron Diaz. You will recall that Diaz offended the people of Peru by strutting around carrying a bag emblazoned with a red star and a quote from Mao Zedong – another Marxist murderer -- 'serve the people.' No doubt she felt fabulously stylish but was apparently oblivious of the price paid by 70,000 Peruvians murdered by Maoist insurgents attempting to walk in Che’s bloody shoes. There are those, however, that are aware of Che’s record and admire him nevertheless. I think it says a great deal about their true philosophical leanings. I try to keep that in mind when I see the likes of Jesse Jackson, Danny Glover and the Congressional Black Caucus embracing Fidel Castro and chanting long live Che Guevara."

Mr. Phillips continues his commentary: "We should all be concerned that anyone in the halls of our government would celebrate Guevara. As head of the National Bank of Cuba, he ran one of Latin America’s most successful economies into the ground and nearly killed its primary industry. Oddly enough, he also concentrated wealth in the hands of a few elite. Alas, the players may have changed, but the game remained the same. Following the fall of the Batista regime [in Cuba], Guevara signed the death warrants for hundreds of military, religious and political prisoners. As he sent men to the firing squad, he proclaimed that 'To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary.' So much for due process.
He was also instrumental in setting up the Cuban secret police and supervised the creation of Cuban forced labor camps for those who he deemed to have committed crimes against revolutionary morals. These criminals included homosexuals, Catholic and other religious leaders."

My response: What virtually all folks who love Che Guevara (who was half Spanish and half Irish, by the way) and try to deify him fail to point out is his rampant racism. Here is a lovely excerpt from The Motorcycle Diaries, Che Guevara's memoir about an early 1950s trek across South America: "The blacks, those magnificent examples of the African race who have maintained their racial purity thanks to their lack of an affinity with bathing, have seen their territory invaded by a new kind of slave: the Portuguese.....The black is indolent and a dreamer; spending his meager wage on frivolity or drink; the European has a tradition of work and saving, which has pursued him as far as this corner of America and drives him to advance himself, even independently of his own individual aspirations." And let's not even bring up The African Dream, a book which discusses his views of Congolese rebels during his stint there in 1965. It is intriguing that this racist communist has been turned into a capitalist brand by so many liberal and leftist admirers, including black ones. There are also other, far worthier leftist icons to admire, like Nelson Mandela or W.E.B. DuBois.