Communist at 140?

The Associated Press reported this week that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, at age 77, is in good health and can live to be 140. What a pity.

"He is formidably well," Dr. Eugenio Selman Housein told the AP, citing Castro’s regular exercise regimen and his recent 800-meter march in an anti-U.S. protest.

Perhaps Dr. Housein should take a look at the people of Cuba who have little choice but to live under Castro’s tyrannical (and maniacal) rule. Perhaps he should look at the way they attempt to leave Cuba in fruitbaskets and rowboats, seeking a better way of life in the United States. Perhaps he should look at the success stories of Cuban Americans who long have enjoyed the fruits of freedom, democracy and capitalism.

Cuba is the last vestige of communism in the western hemisphere (save Massachusetts), and we have Castro to thank (or blame). Let us all hope his years don’t extend to 140 -– and that someday we will witness seeds of democracy take root on that island to the south.