Politically Incorrect - Cuba Solidarity and Gay Liberation

2009 is a year of multiple anniversaries - 70th anniversary of the start of WW2, 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing, 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall....oh, and the 50th anniversary of Castro's seizing power in Cuba. One of the many enjoyable and heartwarming sights recently has been numerous writers pouring excrement over the great man and all his works - notably Theodore Dalrymple at his best:

Cuba a Cemetery of Hopes

It is a measure of how far French political writers have come since the enchanted summer of '68; who could have imagined that "Le Monde" would one day be so critical of left wing Paradises?

It also reminded me of one of the most hilarious events in my life - better than any movie or stage comedian I have paid to see. It was the 1993 conference of my union in Bournemouth, on the South Coast. A motion was proposed that our union affiliate to the Cuba Solidarity Campaign. Normally, with all the gruesome old Stalinists on the Executive Committee, such a motion would have been instantly passed nem con (without dissent). Unfortunately, a Gay Liberation speaker jumped up to protest at Castro's treatment of his brethren in Havana. For a few terrible minutes two forms of Political Correctness faced a head-on crash. You could feel the Castro supporters tying themselves in knots trying not to offend the gays while upholding Fidel and all his marvelous works. Finally, the Cuba motion was passed, but it was a close-run thing......