Beyoncé and Jay-Z Do Cuba

Barack Obama’s favorite power couple is traipsing around Cuba on vacation, raising howls of outrage from human-rights activists and the Cuban-American community.  No one should be terribly surprised by this – “no enemies on the Left” and all that.  Leftist dictators can be as brutal and oppressive as they like, without facing absolute condemnation from their fellow travelers in the more respectable club cars of the World Socialist Express.  

Throw in a dash of “man of the people” rhetoric, thunder about the evils of capitalism from the balcony of your favorite palace, and you can count on at least a dash of respect and affection.  If nothing else, you can rest assured that the Western media will salute your remarkable intellect and “passion.”  Why should brilliant, passionate leaders who have accomplished so much for their people (100 percent literacy!) be ostracized over a few filthy dungeons, overstuffed ballot boxes, and unmarked graves?

This could prove to be a wonderful learning experience, if Beyonce and Jay-Z were stripped of all assets and identity papers, and forced to live as Cuban peasants for a year.  Then let them back into the United States and ask them what they think of socialism.  We might even get to see a few visible indications of that wonderful Cuban socialized medicine before they got to say a word.