It is better to keep your mouth closed...

and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

I read the following letter to the editor in yesterday's Miami Herald. Emphasis Mine.

End Cuban embargo

I lived in Miami from 1968 to 1985, and I hated Fidel Castro during that time. His reputation was similar to that of Saddam Hussein's. No doubt Castro has committed crimes, but he will die, and the people of Cuba will still be there.

What are we communicating to those people by imposing a trade embargo on them? Should we expect the citizens to overthrow him? Since we are obviously going to let Castro exist, we might as well make the best of the situation.

I would love to take a vacation there and smoke Cuban cigars if I choose to. We are the home of the free and the brave, are we not?

TOMMY McGRAW, Tallahassee

You're right pal. Don't let a little thing like Human Rights get in the way of a good time. What's the next stop on your fun vacation itinerary, a concentration camp, a gulag? You want to know what we are communicating to those people? We are communicating that even though American companies could have made a buck on their misery and conspired with the castro regime like so many Spanish, Mexican, and Canadian firms have, that the United States of America stands strong against oppressive regimes and will not appease, aid or otherwise reward their tormentor.

Tommy, do me a favor and go to Cuba, but don't come back. And as for the cigar when you find a fat one, you know where you can stick it.