View this link:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081215/penn

Paddling all the way across the Gulf Coast and North Atlantic Ocean to single-handedly rescue the benighted masses from tyranny and oppression with drunken sidekick Christopher Hitchens and some other guy, wily Liberal Activist Sean Penn chronicles his recent trips to Venezuela and Cuba in The Nation.

I thought this was a great quote from his conversation with Fidel Castro:

With our dinner finished, I walk with the president through the sliding glass doors onto a greenhouse-like terrace with tropical plants and birds. As we sip more wine, he says, “There is an American movie—the elite are sitting around a table, trying to decide who will be their next president. They look outside the window, where they see the gardener. Do you know the movie I’m talking about?” “Being There,” I say. “Yes!” Castro responds excitedly, “Being There. I like this movie very much. With the United States, every objective possibility exists. The Chinese say: ‘On the longest path, you start with the first step.’ The US president should take this step on his own, but with no threat to our sovereignty. That is not negotiable. We can make demands without telling each other what to do within our borders.”

Anyone taking any bets on how long it will take the National Review’s “The Corner” blog to post a thorough and scholarly “deconstruction” of Hal Ashby’s film—ghost-written by the Sandanistas! All of them!