The Cult of Che

Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Marxist revolutionary, killed 40 years ago today, has, for some perverse reason, become a cult hero.

Che has been resurrected as a symbol of freedom, yet he founded Cuba's labor camp system.

Che is celebrated as a free-thinker, yet he spoke about "hatred as an element of struggle" and "unbending hatred for the enemy".

Che was perceived as a free spirit, but loathed individualism and anyone who was part of the establishment.

He signed his correspondence "Stalin II".

Che was said to disdain material comfort and everyday desires, yet when he moved to Havana in 1959, it was to the most luxurious mansion inside Cuba.

Time magazine featured him as a "hero and icon" of the century:"

"Though communism may have lost its fire, he remains the potent symbol of rebellion and the alluring zeal of revolution."

Paul Berman; "The Cult of Che, Don't Applaud The Motorcycle Diaries";
Sept. 24, 2004:

"Che was a totalitarian. Che presided over the Cuban Revolution's first firing squads. He founded Cuba's "labor camp" system—the system that was eventually employed to incarcerate gays, dissidents, and AIDS victims. To get himself -and a lot of other people- killed, was central to Che's imagination."

Guevara bragged from the podium of the United Nations that "we do executions."

Humberto Fontova, "The Che Guevara Farce", May 3, 2007:

"Lots of boys that went to the firing squads were 15, 16, 17 years old. They were poor boys who joined the military for benefits, much as is done in this country sometimes."

"I interviewed people who visited him and tried to save their sons from firing squad executions without trial. He liked to toy with them. He liked to pick up the phone in front of weeping mothers and bark out, "Execute the Fernandez boy right now!"

Che was clinically a sadist. Fidel, you could call a psychopath. Murders didn't affect him one way or another. For him, it was a utilitarian slaughter to consolidate his one-man rule.

Che, from all the people I talked to, relished the slaughter. He had a section of a wall knocked out of his second story office so he could watch his beloved firing squads at work."

One day those who revere this murdering thug will hopefully practice reading comprehension:

"Youth must refrain from ungrateful questioning of governmental mandates. Instead, they must dedicate themselves to study, work, and military service.

"Youth should learn to think and act as a mass. It is criminal to think of individuals!" -- Che Guevara

These are the words of a free-thinking free spirit?

Che is a Legend, yes.
Like Pol Pot and his killing fields.
Like Abu Musab al-Zarqawhi and his murdering minions.

Hero? No way in Hell, which is where he is.