Centerfield

All you have to do is look at a very popular movie in Latin America, "The Motorcycle Diaries." This movie elevates Che to a level of sainthood. Of course, it never goes into what he does AFTER he gets to Cuba. Most of Che loving leftists I know love to just ignore what he did and fluff it off as a "necessary evil" and the people executed probably "deserved it".

Of course, if we tried to do what Che did in the US to people who "deserve it" there would be a massive (and deservedly so) revolt. Heck, Che was a loose cannon. For the most part, Fidel was probably relieved when he was killed. It is a lot easier to control a martyr than a madman.

Many teenagers and young adults grant herohood casually, based on surface appeal.

The guy has been cleverly marketed so that the aspects of his story that appeal to the target demographic are emphasized and anything inconvenient left out.

The historical reality is much less widely known and sadly holds much less power than the mythical culture-bearing symbol of the daring revolutionary.

Fortunately, for the vast majority of folks attracted to Che, the depth of loyalty and attraction doesn't run much deeper than the sort of transient devotion granted to a Britney Spears or a Snoop Dogg or Hannah Montana.

Reminds me of something a good grad school friend told me once. A lesbian, she remarked that "lots of women take a walk through the pussy garden, but most of them don't stay."

Same thing with Che. Lots of kids take a walk through that garden, but few stay. In other words, the attraction to Che has a LOT to do with college dilettantism. We adults should feel comfortable remaining cool in the presence of self-styled agents provocateur.

This is an interestng example of something quite distrubing in America. Jon Stewart let it slip tonight on The Daily Show. In talking to Cristol, Jon stated what many Democrats think. America can't keep Shia from killing Sunni and Sunni from killing Shia. He admitted that should we pull out, Iraq isn't better, but will explode. His talking points sounded a bit dated, yet the "realism" displayed was that Iraq is lost because we could never keep them killing each other. Let them kill themselves.

Maybe he is right, Either Iraqis will get it together with our help or maybe we are just preventing the inevitable until we leave. Americans shouldn't die for a religious hatred half way around the world. Okay, Jon, I can at least respect such a cynical take, though it is a tad racist and over-looks the human rights consequences. Well, we didn't do much in Darfur.

The Democratic leadership couldn't run on such a sentiment. Several candidates said that human rights trump national security. Speilberg is pulling out of the Chinese Olympics over Darfur. There are many however on the Left that see revolutionaries, the independence of Chavez and Adhmadinejad something to be respected. Many of the Left resent their Democratic leadership and see America as creating most if not all of the problems in the world and find the "bad guys" in many cases, modern Josey Wales.

As I said, Democrats can't run on this sentiment. They would never reach the White House. There must be another way to articulate the reasoning for leaving Iraq. So some candidates explain that IN FACT, leaving Iraq will accelerate Iraq in becoming stable. One candidate goes to great lengths constructing an entire theory on how peace will come to Iraq if we would only leave. This shows good judgment as opposed to most others who aren't as bright.

Of course, Democrats do not really believe this. And such reasoning is not what many Democrats think. They are more inclined to go with Jon and want to end the vain attempt to bring stability to Iraq. The whole region could go up in smoke for all they care.

From this pervasive feeling, Che and others inspire the imagination into rebellion. As Susan Rice said, the next President will be the Janitor of the world, cleaning up Bush's mess. No wonder there was a Che, a Castro, a Chavez. Soon Stalin will be regarded as a great leader simply because he stood up to America. Capitalism, Western Hegemony, Allied Interests have been the scourge of the earth. The world according to Zinni and American foreign policy according to Chomsky.

Eight years of Bush derangment has led to a pervasive mood among many who don't know much history to glorify mistaken myths, vague rhetoric, and mis understand why Americans have ever risked or sacrificed their lives. The Left ECHO Chamber has resonated in many young and disenfranchized.

The media has certainly not shed much light recently on JFK the Liberal Hawk, or Clinton the Desert Fox. Instead a new mood sweeps the younger Left, who see all the world problems in a more Marxist or Utopian Matrix and consider us the most dangerous problem. The media encourages this swing with filtering from report placement to repetitive and blatant bias. There was a time just years ago when Russians buzzing our aircraft carriers would have made more front pages. There is little alarm because a worried America tends to vote Republican. Alarm strengthens Hillary. Funny why this is so.

This election will say alot about America. Hispanics may vote for McCain rather than Obama. Jews may vote for McCain. Asians may vote for McCain. National security enthusiasts may vote McCain too prefering a McCain administration driven a bit to the Left by a Democratic Congress rather than the pain of an Obama administration unresponsive to the storm and economic woes as media turns on its fairy tale. Clinton is certainly tested. The blame will fall on the Democrats paving the way for Republicans in 2010 as Iran approaches the bomb and Chavez has already undertaken covert military operations in South America.

Things are getting more heated now in the world, but the media filter understands anxiety is bad for Obama. It down plays global stories and focuses on the Campaign. What a message is coming for the next administration.

So one can ponder Che in an Obama office and ask what it means. The Left is the activist force behind Obama whether he is using them or not. There is a disengenuousness to the "coolness" of Che. There is also the same dishonesty with the tactics of the neoLiberal campaign personfied in Obama. Just like when he says leaving Iraq will bring peace. War is Peace? How Orwellian. This election may show how interwoven the two faces of the Left are. There is a fine line between an idiot dove and a confused Liberal under fire.

The irony is the way to the White House was paved in borrowed hawkish rhetoric, promises without substance and a vision as vague as clouds. At a moment where Right and Left must come closer, Che hangs on the wall, a reminder of the undercurrents of current politics and the presumption of a misguided media.

Che lives! Farc is a liberation army! Gringos go home!

My only comment, I hope this is a minority sentiment within the Obama campaign. Maturity is a good attribute for an administration's foreign policy outlook.

Exactly - The Motorcycle Diaries, like the rest of Che's best work was written sequentially before he was radicalized or corrupted by power. It's noticeably harder to find the more radical stuff in bookstores, presumably because more people find propaganda boring.

It's legitimate to respect the preradicalized Che, I think. But I certainly don't get too happy when I see his name - he failed history's test in a way that took too much and many with him.