A Sunday ramble

Good riddance, Fidel

So one of the world’s most long-surviving dictators has died, too late for his corpsification to do anybody any good. I was amazed by some of the glowing “official” responses to Fidel Castro’s belated kicking of the bucket, particularly the now-infamous proclamation by Canada’s latest infestation of Trudeau, Justin. I knew he was far left. But frankly, I didn’t believe you northern types when you said he was such a complete moron. Consider yourselves vindicated.

Trudeau’s excuse-making for monsters has even spawned a blackly hilarious #TrudeauEulogies hastag on Twitter and Gab. Which even MacLeans noticed.

Even the carefully neutral tone of many MSM obits seemed odd to me. Sure, we want the MSM to be neutral; it’s just that the death of a political and economic monster doesn’t seem like the moment to begin. Fabiola Santiago’s non-RIP in the Miami Herald and George Will’s intelligent savaging seem more to the point.

Maybe I’m naive, but I was shocked at the glowing tributes. I imagined that, by now, even the most ardent communists and socialists would have realized that hundreds of thousands of people don’t risk their lives to flee a country, and critics aren’t jailed for decades in sadistic conditions, when the Big Boss is doing a good job. I thought, at best, that the MSM and the socialist mob would kind of mutter quietly behind their hands, embarrassed ever to have believed or supported the man.

Of course, as Glenn Harlan Reynolds notes, right-wing dictators can be evil, but left-wing dictators merely have a lot of bad luck. Not to mention wreckers and saboteurs who get in the way of their Glorious Plans.

Yes. You, too, can be a pawn of the Russians and a purveyor of fake news!

But then, the ability of the leftstream media to deceive itself (or imagine it still has the power to manipulate others) appears boundless.

Ron Glass, I wish you were still with us

Then there’s a dear man who died before his time. (H/T PT in comments). Ron Glass played characters that were likeable and interesting while never, ever being saccharine. You got the feeling that only Ron Glass could have inhabited those particular fictional beings. RIP to an enduring actor.

And RIP to my always-vain hopes that the original cast of Firefly would one day get back together for a second series or at least a prequel to the not-very-good movie where Whedon so egregiously killed off a couple of the best characters.

Well, all the main characters on Firefly were the best. It was simply a magical ensemble cast. But I’m still going with Shepherd Book as a favorite. And Jayne Cobb, of course. Well, Mal. And Inara. And …

Stein’s plans: now with even more nefariousness?

The Gateway Pundit isn’t the most reliable source, so take this with a whole shaker of salt if you need to. But there may be an even more nefarious motive behind Jill Stein’s recount plans.

And now the Hillary campaign is participating, too. Funny how during the debates it was so very, very outrageous, insane, and anti-democratic for a candidate to say he might not be willing to accept the results of an election. Horrifying, even. So said Hillary herself.

But …

There are still nice people in the world, in which category J.K. Rowling and this Syrian family seem to fit.

I know celebs are always doing “nice” things when the public might be watching. But Rowling seems to be one of those rare celebrities who’s genuinely an intelligent, introspective, likable, and loving person. She cherishes her privacy, too. That’s a definite point in her favor.

And sometimes (left-wing dictators aside), you really do get hit with a stroke of amazing luck.

On that note, have a good day. And think creatively.

Today’s Amazon Native Ad selection was inspired by F.T. and D.H. and consists of fun, educational projects for kids (and some for kids and parents together). Some involve building devices to facilitate the violent, but generally harmless, flinging of projectiles. Others are more staid. Several are scientific. Enjoy.