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by Eric
Englund
On a recent airline flight (Horizon Air) from Spokane to
Seattle, I was reminded of how utterly lowbrow and despicable
political correctness is. In order to pass some time, I was
thumbing through Horizon Air's complimentary January 2003
magazine when I stumbled upon a tasteless and disturbing
advertisement for the Hotel Lucia (of Portland, OR). This
ad (shown herein) sheds a favorable light on two despotic
communist dictators (Fidel Castro and Josif Stalin). Instantly, I wondered why
an upscale hotel would place an ad that favorably invokes the names of Castro
and Stalin? Immediately, an answer came to mind: I live in a region (served quite
well by Horizon Air) where the left-wing induced infection of political correctness
runs wide and deep. Thus, it is in vogue to be anti-capitalist and pro-socialist
(it is no wonder why Boeing moved its headquarters from Seattle to Chicago).
Indeed, the Hotel Lucia's ad is targeting limousine liberals who so commonly
fly this regional air carrier. Nevertheless, this well-targeted ad doesn't change
the fact that it is disgraceful.
To give you a quick example of how deeply engrained
political correctness is, here in the Pacific Northwest, I must pass on to
you an experience I had at an upscale restaurant in Bellevue,
WA. A broker, with whom I have business dealings, ordered
an "Oriental" salad for lunch.
Our waiter had the audacity to "correct" this gentleman and stated "Sir
it is called an 'Asian' salad" (which is what was stated on the newly updated
menu). Apparently, saying the word Oriental is now just as dangerous as the
using the word niggardly in everyday conversation. This "alert" waiter admirably
displayed his moral superiority by playing the "thought policeman" vigilantly
working to expunge dangerous and hateful thoughts from society.
This vacuous waiter,
and his PC ilk, are taking us down a dangerously slippery slope. Today, the
politically-correct crowd embraces the foolish idea of having
judges and legislators redefine the criminal code to include "hate crimes." This recent phenomenon literally
gives the state arbitrary power to "police" a criminal's thoughts and
to mete out (a harsher) punishment accordingly.
Perhaps this is why the anti-capitalists/pro-statists
so much admire Castro and his ongoing "revolution." For Castro may
be the ultimate thought policeman in the world today. According to the wonderful
book The
Black Book of Communism, "In 1978 a law was adopted to prevent criminality
before it actually happened. What this meant in practice was that any Cuban could
be arrested on any pretext if the authorities believed that he presented a danger
to state security, even if he had not committed any illegal act. In effect the
law criminalized any thought that did not accord with the ideas of the regime,
turning every Cuban into a potential suspect." I think the aforementioned
waiter could have a promising career ahead of him in the newly formed U.S. Department
of Homeland Security. 
Now
back to the despicable ad. Clearly, the Hotel Lucia wants all customers
to enjoy their stays. Thus, you are figuratively implored to join
a pampered and blissful Fidel Castro at this elegant hotel.
Of course, one must ignore the fact that Castro is the
head of a criminal regime that has committed mass murder,
has operated concentration camps, and uses torture to "reform" political
prisoners and common criminals. To give you a taste of
what may happen to you if you don't think in a politically
correct manner in Cuba (which is a crime), here is some disturbing
information as to what transpires in Cuban prisons (as
conveyed by The
Black Book of Communism):
The violence of the prison regime affected
both political prisoners and common criminals. Violence began with the interrogations
conducted by the Departmento Tecnico de Investigaciones (DTI). The DTI used solitary
confinement and played on the phobias of the detainees: one woman who was afraid
of insects was locked in a cell infested with cockroaches. The DTI also used
physical violence. Prisoners were forced to climb a staircase wearing shoes filled
with lead and were then thrown back down the stairs. Psychological torture was
also used, often observed by a medical team. The guards used sodium pentothol
and other drugs to keep prisoners awake. In the Mazzora hospital, electric shock
treatment was routinely used as a punishment without any form of medical observation.
The guards also used attack dogs and mock executions; disciplinary cells had
neither water nor electricity; and some detainees were kept in total isolation.
And
the Hotel Lucia wants to pamper Castro? Perhaps the pro-statist limousine liberals
are comfortable with Castro because he is willing to "crack a few eggs" in
order to bring about a socialist utopia. These "eggs" are real people
and between 15,000 and 17,000 have been executed in Castro's penal system. This
megalomaniac does not belong at the Hotel Lucia, he belongs in prison.
Undoubtedly,
the Hotel Lucia's patrons are impressed with the spare elegance of the hotel's "post-Stalinist
design." However, would the PC limousine-liberal crowd recoil in horror
if the ad bragged about the hotel having an elegant post-Hitlerian design?
Of course they would. Hitler was responsible for the murders of 6,000,000
Jews. How could anybody invoke the name of Hitler in a positive fashion?
He was a despotic, genocidal maniac. At the very least, the hotel would be
accused of displaying gross insensitivity towards the Jewish community.
My
retort to the Hotel Lucia's ad is that it is not only tasteless (to those
of us who understand the criminal enterprise that communism was and still
is) but that the ad is highly offensive to Ukrainians whose history is
marred by what is called "The Unknown Holocaust." I
don't think the Hotel Lucia's management team would positively invoke Josif
Stalin's name if they took the time to watch International Historic Films'
masterful film titled "Harvest of Despair: The Unknown Holocaust" (co-produced
by the Ukrainian Famine Research Committee). As stated by this film's producers: This
film documents the Ukrainian "terror famine" of 1932–33, which
caused the deaths of 7,000,000 people. Using interviews with survivors and scholars
to supplement rare photographic evidence, it establishes that the "terror
famine" was deliberately created by the Soviet Government as part of Stalin's
decades-long effort to destroy the Ukrainian peasantry who resisted the forced
collectivization of their lands.
I must warn you, this film should not be
viewed by the faint of heart. It certainly shows that Stalin was every bit as
evil as Hitler.
The Black Book of Communism, which acts as an excellent
supplement to the aforementioned film, explains that Stalin ordered the creation
of a hunger zone that covered "...the whole of Ukraine, part of the Black
Earth territories, the fertile plains of the Don, the Kuban, and the Northern
Caucasus, and much of Kazakhstan." In order to create this hunger zone (as
explained in the film), Stalin ordered the Soviet Secret Police to seal the borders
of this vast territory. Therefore, no food was allowed to be brought into the
hunger zone, whilst livestock, grain, and produce were sent out of this vast
area. Any grain that remained was "protected" by armed guards. In this
two-year period, as stated in "Harvest of Despair," 10,000,000 people
died of which 7,000,000 were Ukrainians. And just imagine, the Hotel Lucia invokes
Stalin's name in a positive manner! Utterly contemptible.
With the Hotel Lucia
bragging about its "post-Stalinist design," let's hope that the Hotel
Lucia's restaurant's menu is post-Stalinist as well. For if it is not, you may
open the restaurant's menu and be shocked to see pictures of your children (as
they are today's entrées). Let me explain. During Stalin's terror famine,
as explained by The Black Book of Communism, Ukrainian "...peasants
became indifferent to the daily phenomenon of death. Cannibalism was so widespread
that the government printed posters that said: 'Eating your children is an
act of barbarism.'" Additionally, you may want to avoid ordering a meat
pie at the Hotel Lucia. As the same book explains, in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv: "Every
night the bodies of more than 250 people who have died from hunger or typhus
are collected. Many of these bodies have had the liver removed, through a slit
in the abdomen. The police finally picked up some of these mysterious 'amputators'
who confessed that they were using the meat as a filling for meat pies that they
were selling in the market." It is almost unimaginable to think that one
human being had the power to engineer such a terrible famine. Josif Stalin
did so and reduced Ukrainians to the point that many practiced cannibalism
in order to survive. Now you can see why I truly hope that the Hotel Lucia's
restaurant's menu is post-Stalinist as well.
A key purpose behind advertising
is to evoke a positive response from your target market. Thus, the Hotel
Lucia is wise to promote its upscale amenities and excellent service in its
magazine ad. However, it is most disturbing that the hotel's management is
comfortable in invoking the names of Stalin and Castro in order to create a
positive image for the hotel. It is irrelevant that the hotel has a permanent
collection of photos from the Pulitzer Prize winning photographer David Hume
Kennerly (which includes the above-shown photo of Fidel Castro). What is relevant
is that a leftist/pro-statist political climate has infected the Pacific Northwest
(for reasons too numerous to list here; however, the list would begin with lousy public schools).
From this infection has emerged intellectually vapid people who profess
to have moral and mental superiority (as can be detected by their political
correctness). In my opinion, this infection has caused an enfeeblement
of the mind so severe that even murderous Marxists, such as Castro and
Stalin, can help an upscale Northwest hotel create a positive image for
itself. How saddening and sickening.
February
20, 2003
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