WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Castrodaemmerung: The Twilight of the Bros. “As an old Cuba hand, I have no desire to defend the island’s communist government or make excuses for its dismal failures in the area of human rights and economic development, but with the news that Cuba is considering the release of yet another tranche of political prisoners, it’s increasingly clear something important is happening down there. . . . The Castro brothers may be doing something bigger than trying to fire up the fifty year old American policy debate on Cuba. Just possibly, they are signaling their intentions for the next stage of what they hope will be a stage-managed, controlled transition to the post-Castro era in Cuban politics.”

Maybe Obama’s troubles have convinced them that socialism can’t work. . . .