James Carter has landed in Cuba to no small amount of fanfare.

James Carter has landed in Cuba to no small amount of fanfare, including a playing of our national anthem and an invitation to inspect any building in the nation; this last bit is so the Beard can persuade all relevant nations there are no “weapons of mass destruction” anywhere on the island. (Of course not! They’re all still being researched, planned and constructed.) Whatever type of inspection an old man with no authority can manage is unknown, but they are sanctioned and openly offered inspections nonetheless. Think of it as your great-grandfather searching through your sock drawer for your pot when you know full well it’s all in your backpack; you’ve got the idea. (Old men tell of a time when this man Carter was President; incredulous, I tried investigating the matter by looking up his accomplishments … there were none, I am vindicated.)

Sam Donaldson asks George Will, Can Carter accomplish anything in Cuba? Will: No. A nice face will be put on for a few days – Mr. Will reminds us, when the Pope was in Cuba years ago, the murals of Ernesto Guevara were temporarily covered with murals of Christ – and nothing will happen; one day Communism will fail mightily in Cuba, and it will have nothing to do with this Carter fellow. He’s right on both points, and while Mr. Will mentions the Beard’s brief period of relaxed religious oppression, he didn’t mention that Christmas was given a trial run after John Paul’s departure, and was popular.

Interesting: You may have noticed the 11,000 signatures on the petition calling for free elections; I am away from research facilities today (the Carter crack aside), so someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but my recollection is, Cuba’s Constitution calls for an open referendum on any subject around which the citizens can amass at least 10,000 signatures. When the Castro / Communist regime in Cuba fails – and it can happen within this decade – you may very well be able to trace the new revolution to that petition and its underlying thirst for the freedom it conveys. Obviously there are more than 11,000 Cubans interested in exercising certain freedoms, but only 11,000 not afraid to sign their names (and, presumably, identification numbers) to a document essentially saying the Beard may not be their first choice.

Reasonable people detest dictatorships (well, those where the people are openly held down, not like in America where the people are held down by acts of unusual, but casual, stealth) but are mostly wrong on how to topple them. Oppression is evil because it vigorously deadens the liberated spirit, but we forget how difficult it is; difficult because it demands a great and prolonged – perhaps over generations – downward force put upon millions of people, whose natural instinct is the freedom to do as they please. People will sooner or later grow bored, angry and revolt, then you see baby steps toward democracy. These are the best times for those outside observers who so enjoy freedom; but how do we get there?

Sorry to say, an idea along the lines of radio Free Cuba isn’t the answer; to too large a percentage of the population it will sound too much like Tokyo Rose. (“While you stupid Cubans are slaving away for the Beard, American tourists are invading your shores, smoking your cigars and having sex with your wives, girlfriends and daughters!”) I’ve always said, start piping Mtv into Cuba about the start of spring break and the Beard will be overthrown by Christmas.

Cubans would be drawn to the experience by a compulsion not unlike the one that forces you to keep playing with an infected tooth: it can’t possibly be good for you, but you can’t stop yourself. Mtv Spring Break for the first time in your life, at an adult age, would be like going from aspirin directly to crack cocaine, but in five minute doses it will show (once the culture shock wears off) what pure, unadulterated, ridiculous fun – i.e. freedom, in no small measure – looks like.

That is the idea, taken to a fair extreme (extremism in defense of freedom, et cetera). Uncensored news is fine, but Cubans would first have to understand the benefits of possessing the strength of proper knowledge, they must learn their natural compulsions to act and decide are not unusual, but inborn and should be sought, by force if necessary. Mr. Carter – a nice, religions man of high moral standards – cannot convey these things effectively to Cubans as long as it has to go through either the Beard or State sponsored television.