Why Castro is a better leader than Bush

Last year Hurricane Ivan struck at Cuba. They didn’t suffer a single casualty, because they successfully evacuated 1.9m of the nation’s 11.2m people.

What accounts for this difference? How is such a difference possible, when Cuba is so poor and America is so rich?

1. Cuba is prepared. It has preparedness education programs for the entire population. In America, on the other hand, our government is only prepared when it has to indulge in spin to cover up its never-ending screw-ups. And the people suck it up.

2. Cuba uses its resources well, and in a sophisticated way. In water-logged conditions, they used amphibious tanks to evacuate their people. In America, on the other hand, we can’t even use our school buses. "The Cuban way could easily be applied to other countries with similar economic conditions, and even in countries with greater resources that do not manage to protect their population as well as Cuba does," said Salvano Briceno, director of the U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction in Geneva. Yes, the Cuban way could and should be applied to America. Michael Chertoff should go study under Castro immediately. We’re not prepared, and yet the people act surprised. Why are they surprised? Our government wasn’t prepared to fight a long war in Iraq either. Didn’t the people realize then that their government is not prepared for anything it does?

2. In Cuba the government realizes that it’s there to serve the people, not to run a welfare program for big business. In America, on the other hand, the government believes in government by the fat cats, for the fat cats, and of the fat cats. We pass an energy bill that’s all about giving tax breaks to oil companies, who are now using Katrina as an excuse to raise gas prices to gouge us. Congress passes a bankruptcy law that’s all about helping rich credit card companies and screwing poor people. In America, government and big business work hand in hand to loot the people. And the people let them get away with it.

3. In Cuba the government believes in government. In America, on the other hand, the Republican Party follows the dictum of Grover Norquist, who famously said: "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.” And the people go along with it.

4. In Cuba the government cares about the little people. In America, on the other hand, the government cares only about cutting taxes for rich people. And the rest of the people let them get away with it.

5. Cuba is poor, so people with jobs are expected to do their jobs. In rich America, on the other hand, Bush makes his pal Michael Brown head of FEMA, even though the man is totally unqualified (his last job was running Arabian horse shows). Employees who speak up and point out mistakes are fired, demoted, and/or smeared. And the people soon forget the warnings of whistleblowers.

OK, so Cuba is better at doing disasters than we are. So what? Well, here are a few questions for you:

1. How safe do you feel now, America? Can you rely on your government to act promptly and efficiently when we suffer a terrorist attack?

2. Would you vote for Bush today because he makes you feel safe and secure?

3. Why does it take a disaster of Katrina proportions to wake you up?

4. How long will it take for you to go to sleep again?

5. When will you ever be able to tell the difference between leaders who are on your side and leaders who are on the side of the fat cats?

It's been said that you can’t fool all the people all the time. Wrong. You can fool enough of the people enough of the time. Bush and Rove do it all the time. Watch them fool enough people again.

Conclusion: Whether you agree with Castro’s politics or not, you have to admit that the Cubans have a real leader. In America, on the other hand, we don’t. But the people rarely complain. In fact, they actually voted for the incompetent man we call our leader. Twice. They find his incompetence with the English language endearing, forgetting that his incompetence starts there and goes on endlessly ad infinitum -- and unfortuntately, for the next three years. God save us.