THE INGLORIOUS END OF FIDEL CASTRO

    Fidel Castro, former dictator of Cuba; idol of the American Left; and one of the 20th Century's most prominent international arch-criminals died last night at the ripe old age of 90.

    Castro's catalogue of crimes is so vast and the extent of human misery he unleashed on the world so widespread that detailing them all is probably best left to Another Judge before Whom Castro is answering as we write. But some of his more prominent villainies were:

     *Overthrowing the legitimate Cuban government and looting the entire country.

      *Numerous mass-murders committed while doing the above.

      *Persecution of the Church.

       *Driving thousands of innocent people into exile.

       *Nearly starting WW3 by instigating the Cuban Missile Crisis.

        *Suspected---not without good reason---of complicity in the murder of President John F. Kennedy.

          *Sending abroad thugs like Che Guevara and his gang of bandits to terrorize and destabilize Latin America.

           *Running international smuggling rings and funneling weapons and narcotics into the US.

           *Covertly aiding Communist cells in the United States.

            *Helping to impose Communist regimes in Nicaragua, Mozambique, Angola, Ethiopia, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe (former Rhodesia) among other places.

              *The Mariel Boatlift.

              *Nearly starting WW3 again by taking American hostages in Grenada.

       Essentially, there were very few crimes that Castro wasn't involved in at one point or another. As if to put an exclamation point on his especially evil life, Castro was one of the few world leaders to endorse Hilary Clinton during the 2016 elections. In many ways, his character resembled that Hilary's husband, Bill Clinton. We reflect upon the lives of such men and find no point in their lives when they weren't utter blackguards. Such characters are a source of mystery and speculation. Many evildoers had a point in their lives that changed them; but in cases like Castro's, we look for one in vain.

       As for the Cuban people, they doubtless feel as though a great weight were lifted off their shoulders. Obama may actually have unintentionally done something right in normalizing relations with Cuba; because now the Trump Administration now has a free hand deal with Cuba through non-military means. We await the future, but for the Cuban people a dark chapter in theirs---and the world's---history has finally closed.