Bad comedy - sometimes - must be watched. trump’s speech at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner on 7/24 exemplifies “must be watched.” [FN1] Standup can be scary, w/possible PTSD on top of shelling out bucks for a cover charge. I meant members of the audience ... 1/9

can feel violated, esp if there’s a cover charge. [FN2] The material was pure torture for the audience. And at one hour + the speech was too long. And yet an alternative lay close at hand. This week, the State Department issued a 100-page report on Cuba, [FN3] that’s such 2/9

a joke even AI couldn’t create it. HAL has some scruples and is, after all, intelligent. Interns must have done this & for free. The work spins out cliches from the “Cold War” & identifies Cuba as the center of an international attack on the U.S., noting many New Left 3/9

organizations of the 1960s-70s disappeared. But “Cuba’s influence went on to burrow much further into American institutions” and Cuba became “a pilgrimage destination for generations of New Left activists and intellectuals.” [FN4] It’s more than silly, but trump wants 4/9

to attack Cuba and has to have some reasons to give to a less-gullible U.S. electorate. Reading the report is almost as bad as watching trump’s shtick last night. I really need to suggest a plan to undermine the nefarious hoax that trump wants as a springboard for invasion. 5/9

Baseball is part of Cuban culture. [FN5] Major League Baseball should open two franchises in Cuba. With two franchises, a good rivalry can build. And before anyone screams “socialism!” or that this violates free market concepts, the two MLB franchises taking the most $$$ 6/9

in subsidies should be moved South. The only people of whom I’m aware who traveled to Cuba went to buy cigars, not to wage revolution. We can see how fast those teams develop. Though cynical, this suggestion involves no violence. And it’s baseball! 7/9

Footnotes:
FN1. Video replay makes it more palatable, but we only can hope that trump gives up his day job to get out there, start w/”open mic” nights at comedy clubs, and work his way up.
FN2. To clarify: an “open mic” night for standup usually is on a weeknight and there’s no “cover.” 8/9

FN3. United States Department of State, “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism,” 7/20/26, accessed 7/25/26.
FN4. Id., p. 14.
FN5. Roberto Gonzales Echevarria, “The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball” (1999).
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