Son of Cuban Political Prisoner Forgets the Free Health Care

The United States is not the only country turning out spoiled children, ungrateful for the blessings of life in their land. Cuba is suffering from the same affliction, to judge by "My father's 'crime'" by Yan Valdes Morejon, which appears in today's Boston Globe.

Morejon's column turns out to be just one long complaint. Rather than giving proper thanks for all the wonders of the workers' paradise, like members of our MSM regularly do, it's filled with this kind of kvetching:

He has spent almost a decade in prison, and is serving a 25-year sentence. He has been held in inhumane conditions, sometimes together with violent criminals, and at other times in isolation and total darkness for extended periods. He has lost more than 40 pounds as well as most of his teeth. His crime? Calling for respect for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Cuba.

My father has been put on trial several times by the Castro regime. Each time, the regime painted his nonviolent, freedom-loving activities as a threat to the security of the state. These illegal proceedings have been widely criticized by many, including the United Nations, which has called upon the Castro regime to release my father.

It is not easy to be the child of a prisoner of conscience. I was a teenager when my father was arrested for the first time. He has been arrested dozens of occasions since then, often without warning, often at night, and it is a frightening experience every time. Nonetheless, my father always met Castro's thugs at the door with dignity, and he has held his head high.

I kept reading, certain that at some point Morejon would have the decency to thank Fidel for the free health care and the low illiteracy and infant mortality rates that the great leader has graciously bestowed on the Cuban people. But no: to the contrary! Speaking of health care, rather than showing some gratitude, Morejon even had the bad taste to mention that his father, a medical doctor, had gotten into trouble for protesting the Castro regime's practice of enforced abortions.

Why can't Morejon show sensitivity, some enlightment, a deeper understanding of the wonders of Cuba and the Castro regime? You know, the way our liberal American media have? Earlier this year, MRC Research Director and NB Senior Editor Rich Noyes documented this phenomenon in "Fidel's Flatterers: The U.S. Media's Decades of Cheering Castro's Communism." Before writing his carping column, Morejon would have benefited from reading Noyes's work and learning from the example of his betters in the MSM.

You'll find some examples below. But before listing them, let me mention the worst part of all this. President Bush, rather than condemning Morejon's ingratitude, has actually invited him and his sister to Washington tomorrow to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of their father. According to Morejon, "President Bush will honor all those who have dedicated their lives to opposing the current regime and advocating for freedom and democracy in Cuba."

How can we expect kids to grow up to be enlightened adults -- like those in our American media -- if we encourage the kind of petulant behavior Morejon exhibited in his column?

OK, here are some examples from "Fidel's Flatterers" of a properly appreciative attitude toward Fidel's freedom-loving regime, courtesy our MSM:

"There is, in Cuba, government intrusion into everyone’s life, from the moment he is born until the day he dies. The reasoning is that the government wants to better the lives of its citizens and keep them from exploiting or hurting one another." -- Ed Rabel, NBC, 1988.

"Half of the Cuban population is under the age of 25, mostly Spanish speaking, and all have benefitted from Castro’s Cuba, where their health and their education are priorities." -- Kathleen Sullivan, CBS, 1988.

"Medical care was once for the privileged few. Today it is available to every Cuban and it is free. Some of Cuba’s health care is world class. In heart disease, for example, in brain surgery. Health and education are the revolution’s great success stories." -- Peter Jennngs, ABC, 1989

"The educational system is a jewel in the society his revolution has built....It’s a source of great pride for the President, as is Cuba’s literacy rate — virtually 100 percent." -- Dan Rather, CBS, 1996

"For Castro, freedom starts with education. And if literacy alone were the yardstick, Cuba would rank as one of the freest nations on Earth. The literacy rate is 96 percent." -- Barbara Walters, ABC, 2002.

Noteworthy: Jay Nordlinger's take at NRO: "If [Biscet] were a prisoner under a right-wing dictatorship, he’d be featured on 60 Minutes every week."