On Fiedler and Chihuahuas

The best summary of what was wrong about Tom Fiedler's comments vis-a-vis Cuban talk radio and Chihuahuas is this comment that was posted at Babalu.

Memo to Mr. Fiedler:

The old saying "if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging" strikes me as rather appropriate to your present situation. I just read your "apology" op ed piece in today's Miami Herald, and, frankly, I am appalled at the hubris it displays as you attempt to deflect or minimize the significance of the original epithet by now saying that it was directed at a particular "critic", who dared suggest that the Miami Herald appears to be "in league with the Cuban government", and not at a larger group.

The "critic" voicing that opinion is not a lone wolf (or do you still prefer the term "chihuahua" for this particular individual?), and the charge that the Miami Herald is "in league with the Cuban government" deserves a lot more than your bigoted dismissal. By now, you should be aware of the timeline of the events leading up to the dismissal of the Herald employees who contributed to Radio Marti. You should be aware of the encounter between Cao and Castro in Argentina. You should be aware of the discussions during the Cuban TV show Mesa Redonda. What this sordid episode calls far is a full investigation into the potential linkage between various events in the timeline, not an bigoted attack on those pointing it out.

Posted by Miguel-O-Matic at October 5, 2006 08:16 AM

As Mr. O-Matic points out, the real sin here isn't the epithet (though I doubt he'd still have a job if he called a black DJ a junkyard dog) but the casual way with which the Herald dismisses the odd "coincidences" related to the Marti Moonlighters story and how the Cuban government seemed to know exactly what the Herald was going to publish. The Herald needs to conduct a full investigation.

There are unanswered allegations that:

1: a copy editor at El Nuevo Herald was less than a year ago working as a writer for Granma, the official daily newspaper of the Cuban communist party. If true this would mean that they had hired a true propagandist for the other side; quite a difference from the trumped up charges of similar conduct against the Martí Moonlighters.

2: An editorial contributor to the Miami Herald was accused by a DGI defector in 1983 of being "controlled by the DGI." Obviously having a Cuban agent wandering the halls of 1 Herald Plaza is not a savory thought.