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Monday, February 09, 2009

Blinded by hate


“Well, if everyone could travel any time they wanted, you can’t imagine the traffic-jam there would be in the skies.” -Cuba National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcón at a January 19, 2008 forum responding to a student questioning Cuba's limitations on freedom of travel.
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I despise Fidel Castro and everything about his "revolution."

Castro has enslaved and deprived an entire nation of hope, democracy and freedom for half a century.

I despise all that he is, just as I despise all dictators.

Imagine living in a country where every basic freedom is denied and the state decides at every turn what's good for you and what's not good. (See quote above)

On a very basic level you could say that I am on the same wave-length as the guys over at the Babalu blog who write daily about the evils of the Castro regime. We both despise the dictator.

But that's where the similarity ends.

While the people who run Babalu blog say they hate Castro and all that he stands for, one needs only need to spend 20 minutes or so on their blog before it becomes clear that have morphed into the very thing they despise about Castro.

Dissent and opposing views are not tolerated on their blog. Just like it's not tolerated in Cuba.

Try posting a differing point of view to their rabid screeds and you'll be shouted down with epithets and if you persist and you'll be banned.

If you write about them on your blog and link to them to show their hypocrisy and bigotry, your links will be blocked....just as they they do in Cuba and Communist China.

One South Florida blogger learned that last week.

Some in the media bestow legitimacy on these bigots by writing puff pieces. Or calling them every time they need a quote.

The Babalu folks oblige and in turn they've have deluded themselves into believing that anyone cares what they think. They actually believe their own press clippings.

The reality is that Babalu is really nothing more than a fringe group of bomb-throwing, anthrax-mailing, loud-mouth fanatics gone high tech.

Loud mouth fanatics are nothing new in Miami.

Babalu posted dozens of hate filled missives against Barack Obama during the campaign in an effort to link him to Muslim fanatics and and a failed 70's "terrorist."

But what the folks at Babalu forgot to mention is that they court and embrace the fanatic fringe that has been has been a source of terror for decades right here in Miami.

So while the Babalu people had plenty to say about Obama and his ties to a "terrorist" just try finding any criticism on their blog of the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles. Good luck!

The Babalu blog and the people who post there are another version of the viejitos who line up daily in front of the Versailles restaurant...frustrated old men who bury Castro every day only to wake up the next and find that he's still alive.

When inevitable finally happens - perhaps as soon as April 10 - when Fidel Castro finally leaves this planet, one truth will stand out above all else.

And that is that not one word that has been spoken or written here in Miami over the past 50 years - of all the hundreds of millions of words - will be what caused him or his regime to lose power.

And the stark reality is that nothing that's been written on the Babalu blog has moved Castro one centimeter closer to the grave.

They claim to abhor Castro. But they've become so blinded by their hatred for Castro that they can't see that there isn't much difference between them and the thing they claim to hate.

12 comments:

  1. Schweet.

    Watch for them blocking your links, too. It's because they're totally unable to formulate any thing resembling an articulate response. The only way they can lash back is by trying to silence those who don't agree with them. Just like you know who...

    Always remember the words of Val Prieto, "We must control the message."

    Fidel would be proud of those guys.

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    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, because blocking unwanted inbound links to one's own blog which is otherwise accessible to the entire world including the blocked blockhead is the same as keeping an entire nation of 11 million behind an information blockade. Real logical argument. Let's face it, Rick has an obsession with Babalu blog. I don't blame him. I guess I would too if I had no life nor any prospects of one. I would too if I were as miserable a son of a bitch as him.

    By the way, nice for rent sign in your sidebar. I should send you a bill since you stole it.

    Have fun in the "south Florida blogosphere" with its self appointed pope.

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  3. From a group of guys who has anointed me spokesperson for South Florida liberals and tagged me with a nickname while spending an inordinate amount of time visiting SFDB to see what was written about them that day, I believe your "obsession" statement is as laughable as they come, Gomez.

    If you have any cogent response to the argument that babalu blocks dissent in the same manner as your buddy in Cuba does, let's hear it. Otherwise, just STFU and go back to comparing Obama to communists and Marxists around the world and waiting for Fidel to kick off. Talk about a miserable life.

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  4. Because Gomez can't or won't say why he blocks SFDB, let me suggest a few reasons.

    Babalu blocks SFDB...

    ...because they trumpeted to the world that Fidel was dead and falsely reported that Miami-Dade was mobilizing resources, and I called them on it.

    ...because they intimate that Generacion Y blogger Yaoni Sanchez might be a Castro agent up until the point where she wins an international blogging award and the respect of her peers, and I called them on it.

    ...because they predicted "McCain by a landslide," and I called them on it.

    ...because Gomez arrogantly claimed in May 2008 that we weren't in a recession and in November chief economists said that the recession began in 2007, and I called them on it.

    ...because George Moneo claimed we won the war in Iraq in November 2008 and the next month Bush said we were still fighting it, and I called them on it.

    ...because Val Prieto calls himself a proud American, waves the flag and says that he will always respect the office of the president no matter who is in it...and then posts a poster of President Obama along side Che, Karl Marx and others, and, yeah, I call them on it.


    Babalu blog blocks SFDB because they're hypocrites and SFDB is pointing it out every time that it happens. They don't want SFDB readers going to babalu and seeing the hypocrisy that we point out almost on a daily basis at SFDB.

    But that's not going to stop us. Stay tuned.

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    ReplyDelete
  5. Henry

    I don't agree with everything that Rick says. I disagree with him an many things and when I do I call him on it.

    That's a whole lot different from the way things are run at Babalu where everyone thinks alike and where opposing points of view aren't tolerated.

    Why can't you see that you and your friends aren't all that different from Fidel?

    By the way I didn't steal the "For Rent" sign....I just borrowed it for a little while! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dude, do your really think that that argument holds water? Or you just being douchie douche's do boy? Do you think your "you guys are just like fidel" argument is original? Please.

    Your unoriginality belies your illogic.

    Are we just like fidel because we enforce the rights to our own space, the space we pay for (not get for free from blogger) the way we see fit?

    If I were fidel, I'd come to your house with a gun, break down your door and take you out back and have you shot. But I have no interest in doing so because despite your dumb accusation I share nothing with fidel.

    We're free Americans acting freely. Apparently that's not good enough for you. In order for me to enjoy my rights they have fall into line with your worldview. I must accept that fuckhead Rick is linking to us. Well you're wrong sweetheart.

    The constitution does not guarantee Rick or you or anyone a right to link to Babalu or any other blog.

    Oh you can link but once that link hits our server we have the right to send you anywhere we want. Don't like it? Change the fucking channel. That's freedom.

    I have no obligation to accept links from people who openly hate me. I'm not a glutton for punishment like Rick who doesn't feel alive unless people are hating his guts.

    By the way, you may be some sort of photographer but your photoshop skills are terrible. No wonder you had to steal a banner from Babalu.

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  7. By the way, when cocksucker Rick deletes my comments because he doesn't like being called what he is, doesn't that make him "just like fidel"? Everybody is a little fidel, right?

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  8. Henry

    aren't you able to formulate your points without resorting to profanity like some ghetto punk?

    as far as being just like Fidel I am referring to the fact that you engage in censorship on your forum. that's hardly conducive to open a dialogue is it?

    or do you guys just want to talk to each other?

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  9. Bill...They're unable to disagee with anyone without resorting to that kind of language. It makes them tough guys, you know?

    Gomez, you and your crew are right about one thing here...you guys can do anything you want to do to try to silence me. It's totally within your rights to ban me and my readers. And, yes, I recognize it's your blog and you are perfectly within your rights to mold the message that you guys want to put out, even when it means limiting comments to only those who agree with you. But it's also totally within my rights and other's rights to make fun of your childish behavior and dictatorial style.

    We also have that right. So post the Bill of Rights as many times as you want. But remember they apply to everyone.

    PS: Cupcake, you actually are complaining about not being able to comment at SFDB? After you've banned me and my readers from babalu? You're joking, right?

    PSS: Thanks for making me feel soooooooooo alive, Gomez.


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    ReplyDelete
  10. Bill,

    I dont know you from Adam but you certainly think you know me. First and foremost, the blog is mine. I pay for it, I maintain it and I own it. I dont have to offer a voice to anyone whose opinions i know to be wrong. or, for that matter, I dont have to offer a voice on it to anyone, period.



    Second, have you ever commented at Babalu? Have you registered to comment? A quick scan of my commentor logs tells me you havent, thus, what you are stating here as fact - censorship - is a misrepresentation on your part., Having never actually, you know, even attempted to comment there as far as I know.



    Third, you blog anonymously. No one knows who you are, exactly, For all we know, this could yet another Rick blog iteration and you are, well, Rick. The name you see on my posts is my own as I dont hide behind a veil of anonymity and I stand by what I write and I post.



    Fourth, we blocked Ricks blog posts because we felt like it. he selectively quotes and misrepresents everything he links to on Babalu and thus, I opted to just block his linkage altogether. Even his own readers have criticized him - or you if youre his sockpuppet - for his obsessive compulsive behavior towards babalu. I have asked him many times to just leave us alone, as we do with him, but to no avail.



    Fifth, the following statement is libelous:



    The reality is that Babalu is really nothing more than a fringe group of bomb-throwing, anthrax-mailing, loud-mouth fanatics gone high tech.



    Unless, of course, you can prove in a court of law that I or any of my contributors have in fact thrown bombs and mailed anthrax.



    Since you cant prove the above, I suggest you edit your screed and remove that text as I may feel inclined to take you to court.



    I will let your disrespectful comment toward the "viejitos" go, as its obvious someone like you could never truly understand what they went through nor care, If you did, you would have a bit more sympathy for them. But here's a little lesson for you: those viejitos you so bravely denigrate, even now at their age and with their frailties, are much much more man than you can ever even begin to contemplate being.



    I wont bother addressing any of "Ricks" comments here as, really, who cares what the hell he has to say?

    And do us and yourself a favor, the next time you feel the need to come after babalu, get your facts straight, leave your prejudices at the door and do so without resorting to libel, disingenuousness and misrepresentation. Dont walk in Rick's footsteps, Bill. Youll be better regarded and much more respected.

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  11. Do you think your "you guys are just like fidel" argument is original?

    It's as original as 2+2=4. An accurate observation needn't be original, merely accurate.

    I think if you were running a country, it would look a lot like Fidel's Cuba.

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  12. I don't have to offer a voice to anyone whose opinions i know to be wrong.

    Fidel would be so proud of you, Val. Here you are, absolutely defending his practices.

    90% of what you censor isn't "wrong" at all, it's only "different" than what you believe. We have no freedom without the right to express a dissenting opinion. There is no discourse without acknowledging that dissenting opinion. You actively - no, proudly - suppress dissent.

    You're no true American, Val. Yours are not the action of an American patriot. Your stated opinions are not those of democracy-loving citizens. You are a student of Fidel, and it shows.

    ReplyDelete

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