Honrar, honra" (In honoring others we honor ourselves) said our great Mart�and before him the Golden Age Spanish writer Graci� Well, there really is very little room for elegant variation in a quotation consisting of two words, and when Mart�aid it, the quote caught on.
In any case, I don't think the quote is applicable in every instance. For example, this one. Still I would be remiss if I did not congratulate Oscar Corral for the dubious honor that The Miami New Times has seen fit to bestow on him in its "Best of 2007" issue, where he was named Best Commie Spy. But although I rejoice that Oscar has been recognized for something other than as the worst reporter on The Miami Herald, I am not altogether sure that he is deserving of this Award. The best commie spy, of course, would be the one who doesn't blow his cover, that is, someone who has worked at The Herald as a Castro mole for years without ever raising any suspicions. Now, Oscar has raised a whirlwind of suspicions since he arrived at The Herald. If he were a commie spy, he is not the Best, but the best known commie spy on The Miami Herald.
However, I have on more than one occasion defended Corral against the charge that he was a Castroite spy on the grounds that he is simply not smart enough and Castro's spymasters are too smart to recruit him. I will stand by that position until proven wrong, and I am by no means adverse to the idea of being proven wrong in this case.
If Western Union telegrams had not been discontinued I would have sent him one and had it delivered ceremoniously at The Herald. But since I couldn't, I have personally left my congratulations at Miami's Cuban Connection, and I note that my erstwhile ally in the Miami Moonlighters' case Henry G� was the first to congratulate Oscar.
Here is my own congratulations:
I suppose I must validate your Award with my own congratulations, which I offer most sincerely. For me, the New Times' intended sarcasm is nothing of the kind, but a true testament to all that you have done over the last year to foster Castroism by misrepresenting and defaming his enemies.
While I am at it, let me extend my congratulations also to Critical Miami and Stuck on the Palmetto for their respective New Times Awards. All three blogs were former haunts of mine and I remember them all with fondness.
Finally, I want to promise Mambo Watcher that I will do everything in my power to make sure that he is the 2008 recipient of New Times' Best Commie Award, so help me God.
