For all their self-important huffing and blustering about "dictatorial" policies of the Bush administration, when it comes to standing up to actual dictators and reporting the truth, the American press usually takes the easy way out.

This ignominious tradition of pandering to the world's dictators began with Cuban ruler Fidel Castro and continues to this day. The Associated Press provides the most recent example (h/t Ace), wondering if Castro will be able to swing getting "elected" president:

City council officials in eastern Cuba nominated Fidel Castro for a parliament seat Sunday, a position the ailing 81-year-old must hold if he wants to remain the communist-run island's president after national elections in January.

The nomination was another step in a process that will eventually determine Castro's political status. He still heads Cuba's supreme governing body, the Council of State. But he has not been seen in public since emergency intestinal surgery forced him to cede power to a provisional government run by his younger brother Raul in July 2006.

Members of municipal assemblies in Castro's home province of Santiago nominated him for parliament, known as the National Assembly. If he agrees to be a candidate and is re-elected during national elections Jan. 20, Castro will remain in the running for another term as Council of State president.

Cuba elects National Assembly members every five years. Several weeks after a new slate of members is chosen, parliament convenes to choose the Council of State. Castro has held the council's presidency since it was created in 1976. Previously Cuba's prime minister, he has been the nation's unchallenged leader since leading a successful revolution 1959.

—Matthew Sheffield is the creator of NewsBusters and its Executive Editor.