The Perfidy of the Press

On Babalublog, Val takes on The New Republic and the MSM. The New Republic article is a must read for being behind the 8 ball. It naively maintains among other idiocies

The Cuban government has acquired an image as adept at lies and cover-ups. Though the reputation has stuck, it's in large part a myth of the government's own making.

and

Another reason the Cuban government isn't going to pretend he's alive when he's not is that his ministers believe that the Cuban people will need a chance to mourn him before moving forward.

Val's post, however, is notable in how very well he expresses my sentiments and those of many, many others in reference to the role of the MSM:

The Mainstream Media has not only been instrumental in the lack of information regarding the death or "aliveness" recently of fidel castro, but reporters very much like Ms. Barclay are responsible for bringing fidel castro into power; ignoring the apartheid system in place in Cuba; ignoring the human rights abuses in Cuba; ignoring political and ideological prisoners in Cuba; ignoring the systematic repression of dissenting opinions in Cuba; ignoring dissidents; ignoring actos de repudio; ignoring the abysmal state of healthcare for the average Cuban Jose...etc. So, not only are MSM journalists, who kowtow to the castro regimes whims and regulations so that they not be expelled from the island and allowed to remain to cover "the big story", instrumental but complicit in the subjugation of the Cuban people, and not just in the "covering up" of fidel castro's "death." One need only look at the facts and the history of the castro regime's manipulation of the media.

By the way, am I the only one who remembers the original post in which Val said it could be a rumor?