Che Guevara's Profile

Last week one of the tsunami pictures took us by surprise.

It was a picture of a man giving aid to a tsunami victim while wearing a T-shirt with Usama Bin Laden’s face emblazoned on it. Of course, we shouldn’t be too surprised. A lot of Muslims live in areas where information is skewed by intense anti-U.S. propaganda.

So what’s our excuse when top-brand fashion houses sell out clothing with images of Che Guevara (search) on them? The familiar Che profile now adorns t-shirts, hats, and even, for a time, a one-piece baby outfit. And yet Fidel Castro’s right hand man had a hatred for freedom and the United States that rivaled Usama’s.

During the Cuban missile crisis, Che wanted to fire nukes at the U.S. and was furious when Khrushchev (search) backed down. Che also organized firing squads in Cuba to execute hundreds of dissents. Even liberals recoiled at Che’s fanaticism. Columnist Nat Hentoff (search) met with Che in the early ‘60s, and asked if there would ever be free elections in Cuba. According to Hentoff, “Mr. Guevara burst out laughing at my callow naivete.”

It’s bad enough when some ignorant soul in Southeast Asia puts on a T-shirt of a monster. But when the sophisticated elite over here get their kicks from the likes of Che, maybe we’re all in trouble.

And that’s the Asman Observer.

Watch David Asman on "FOX News Live" weekdays at noon ET.