to Nelson Mandella

"When the news broke that beloved and revered civil rights icon Nelson Mandela had passed, it felt like the entire world took a collective sigh as we mourned the loss of one of the greatest heroes of a generation. The Woolworths in South Africa was planning a Christmastime fundraiser with a flash mob. At the last minute, they dropped the Christmas song they were going to sing and chose to pay tribute to "Tata Madiba." The song they chose is by British musician Johnny Clegg called "Asimbonanga," which was written in the 1980s calling for Mandela's release from prison."

Always something in the other hand when the media puts a shiney object in front of you.


1) “If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don’t care for human beings.” Mandela made this remark in a speech Jan. 30, 2003. It was reported by CBS News. Mandela was furious about the U.S. invasion of Iraq and directed much of his fury toward President Bush: “Why is the United States behaving so arrogantly?” he asked. “All that (expletive deleted) wants is Iraqi oil.” I guess it was Mandela’s way of thanking Bush for bestowing upon him two years earlier the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest honor, and for dubbing him “perhaps the most revered statesman of our time.”

2) “Long live the Cuban revolution. Long live comrade Fidel Castro. … Cuban internationalists have done so much for African independence, freedom and justice. We admire the sacrifices of the Cuban people in maintaining their independence and sovereignty in the face of a vicious imperialist campaign designed to destroy the advances of the Cuban revolution. We, too, want to control our destiny. … There can be no surrender. It is a case of freedom or death. The Cuban revolution has been a source of inspiration to all freedom-loving people.” Mandela made this remark commemorating the 38th anniversary of the start of the Cuban revolution, Friday, July 26, 1991. You can see it documented on his official website.


3) “[T]he people of Asia and Africa have seen through the slanderous campaign conducted by the USA against the socialist countries. They know that their independence is threatened not by any of the countries in the socialist camp but by the USA, who has surrounded their continent with military bases. The communist bogey is an American stunt to distract the attention of the people of Africa from the real issue facing them, namely, American imperialism.” Mandela said this in an inflammatory speech in March 1958.

4) “Under a Communist Party government, South Africa will become a land of milk and honey. Political, economic and social rights will cease to be enjoyed by whites only. They will be shared equally by whites and non-whites. There will be enough land and houses for all. There will be no unemployment, starvation and disease. Workers will earn decent wages; transport will be cheap and education free.” This was just part of a paper Mandela wrote in his early activist years. It was called “How to Be a Good Communist.” Keep in mind, he steadfastly denied he was a Communist through most of his prominent years, though the historical record is breathtakingly clear he was. If you care for more insight into the mind of Mandela, I suggest you read the entire paper for yourself.

5) “Yasser Arafat was one of the outstanding freedom fighters of this generation, one who gave his entire life to the cause of the Palestinian people.” Mandela issued this official statement after the death of Arafat, Nov. 11, 2004.

6) “The cause of communism is the greatest cause in the history of mankind!” This one comes from Mandela’s own pen, again – his infamous “How to Be a Good Communist” manuscript.

Order WND columnist Ilana Mercer’s brilliant polemical work, “Into the Cannibal’s Pot: Lessons for America from Post-Apartheid South Africa”

7) “Those who feel irritated by our friendship with President Gadhafi can go jump in the pool.” This quote was actually proceeded by an even more stunning one: “Those who feel we should have no relations with Gadhafi, have no morals.” Mandela said it when facing criticism for accepting support from the Libyan dictator and terrorist supporter.

8) “There’s one place where (Fidel Castro’s) Cuba stands out head and shoulders above the rest – that is in its love for human rights and liberty!” He said this in May 1990, as reported in the New Republic. Unfortunately, it is not available online.

9) “The victory of socialism in the U.S.S.R., in the People’s Republic of China, in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Rumania, where the living conditions of the people were in many respects similar and even worse than ours, proves that we too can achieve this important goal.” Again, back to his manifesto – “How to Be a Good Communist.”

10) “Communists everywhere fight to destroy capitalist society and to replace it with socialism, where the masses of the common people, irrespective of race or color, will live in complete equality, freedom and happiness. They seek to revolutionize society and are thus called revolutionaries. Those who support capitalism with its class divisions and other evils and who oppose our just struggles to end oppression are called counter revolutionaries.” Ibid: “How to Be a Good Communist”

11) “In our own country, the struggles of the oppressed people are guided by the South African Communist Party and inspired by its policies. The aim of the S.A.C.P. is to defeat the Nationalist government and to free the people of South Africa from the evils of racial discrimination and exploitation.” Ibid: “How to Be a Good Communist”

If being a terrorist and killing innocent women and children through a campaign of terrorist bombings makes a person a hero I suppose Mandela qualifies in spades.

Looks like hell just got a superstar.

Yeah that Winnie is a peach...

"And despite winning a Nobel peace prize Mandela remained on the US terror list until 2008 - a fact that the Bush administration described as “embarrassing”."

How do you Obama's Boys like the connections?..........need dots?

He was translating into Ebonics.

OK, so maybe Mandela was another imperfect human, he'll still likely be known as South Africa's Abraham Lincoln. Not bad company to be in.

We're all imperfect Salmo, even you. The difference being that our imperfections aren't the intentional murder of innocent people including women and children.

Desperate folks look for heroes in everything. It might amaze you to note that not everyone in South Africa holds him in high regards. To many he'll likely be known as South Africa's Osama bin Laden.

Sadly, South Africa is woefully short of models of exemplary leadership.

As is every country on the Dark Continent.

I haven't heard one deaf person complain about his gestures and even I, someone who doesn't understand sign language understood "side by side" at 27 sec.

In looking at Mandela's embrace of Communism and Socialism it looks like most of the quotes came from quite a while ago. At a time when the US pretty uch supported Apartheid. Where could he turn for support?

At that time, too, Communism was a relatively new system that was generally making life better for the masses in their countries. The failures came later.

Not to say he was perfect but many of the choices he made back then make sense when taken in the context of his world at that time.

He had some warts, what great leader hasn't?

As you know time is relative. I would like to know if you are you speaking of time in geological or astrophysical terms?