the tragic fate of Pedro Picasso

[franksolich]

this is written for Karin, who inspired it

The famous Spanish artist Pablo Picasso had a cousin, whose life and fate can be found only in 500+-page biographies of the painter, in half a paragraph or so; the cousin's name was not really Pedro Picasso, but for purposes of simplicity, I always use it.

There is a lesson to be learned from the fate of Pedro Picasso; not only for richboy playboy Pedro, but also for all the other primitives on Skins's island.  One needs to be careful about which star to which one attaches one's wagon.

When I was young and adventurous, during my third trip to Europe, I was accompanied by four friends, all of us poor and thus traveling in winter, when prices were lower.  At the time, I believe the standard book was Europe on $25 a Day; we were managing it on circa six bucks a day, per person.

One January night, we ended the day in a village buried in the valleys of the Pyrenees Mountains, on the Spanish side, about fifty miles south of the borders with France and Andorra.  It was as far as the bus went, so we figured, okay, we'd stop here for a while.

One of us mentioned to the village innkeeper the peculiarity of the wind whistling down into the village; the wind sounded really weird to her.

The innkeeper told us it was the "screams of the damned."

Now, I cannot hear, and had to get the details of the tragic story of Pedro Picasso later; I can read Spanish, but the innkeeper was talking, not writing, but fortuitously, all five of us knew Spanish, although the Castilian (or Naverrese) dialect was somewhat different from the Spanish we knew (for those of us who could hear, and respond to it; I myself never had any problem reading written Spanish in any dialect).

We were fascinated by the story of Pedro Picasso, and decided to extend our stay beyond the next morning.

Someone else from the village took us to a place about five miles away, where there was a small, modest, church around which lay ruins of what must have once been a very large establishment.

It was in fact the ruins of a medieval church, monastery, and asylum for the insane, destroyed by Spanish socialists in May 1939, as they fled into France, fearful of the retribution they so richly deserved for having destroyed much of Spain.  But even in their panic-stricken helter-skelter rush northward, they couldn't resist the opportunity to lay waste to just one more piece of Spain.

And we were once again told the story of the tragic fate of Pedro Picasso.

There is a lesson in this for all primitives; the "left" has devoured its own since the dawn of history, the "left" is devouring its own today, and the "left" will continue to devour its own tomorrow.

I dunno why, but there you have it, there it is.

this is actually a short piece, but I have to run to town for a while, and so I'm locking and stickying it until I can come back to finish it; after it's all done, I'll unlock and unsticky it, leaving it open for comments; sorry for the inconvenience

[franksolich]

Pedro Picasso was born in Spain, apparently, circa 1900, being some years younger than his famous cousin Pablo Picasso.  When Pedro was still a little lad, his elder cousin took off to find fame and fortune in Paris, as both an "artist" and a socialist political revolutionary.

Pedro wished to follow in his footsteps, but alas Pedro lacked the "people skills" his cousin possessed, growing up spoiled, insolent, offensive, oftentimes insisting the outhouse had no odor after he had used it.

As a young adult, being ostensibly an "aesthete," and therefore too good, too sensitive, too beautiful, to work like other people, dabbled in his paints and charcoals, while his wife was compelled to take in laundry and cooking to support the family.

Pedro also attempted to emulate his now-famous cousin in politics.

At the time, the late 1920s, Spain had a king, to whom Pedro was not friendly.  He was caught many times making seditious comments, but as he was a ne'er-do-well and hence harmless, the gendarmes let him alone.

That is, until revolution began brewing in Spain, after which he was arrested for treasonous comments.  Actually, it was an act of charity by the king, who knew Pedro to be a blowhard but not a dohard, and figured it would be a relief to Pedro's wife, having him sent to an insane asylum; as the church and state would support him, his wife would have a less onerous burden to bear, one less mouth to feed.

In 1931, the revolution happened; the king was ousted, and the socialists took over.

Pedro repeatedly asked for release from the asylum, giving his credentials as a socialist revolutionary, and was just as repeatedly ignored.

"Who's this Pedro Picasso?" frequently echoed in the chambers of Madrid.

"Oh, just a nut," just as frequently answered other echoes.

to be continued; this might be, uh, a little bit longer than I had planned; sorry

[franksolich]

In 1936, uprose the decent and civilized people of Spain, rebeling against the plundering, pillaging, and murdering of the nation; thus began the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), pitting the insurgent patriotic traditionalists against the solidly-entrenched socialists.

Much has been written about the Spanish Civil War, and as the English socialist George Orwell later pointed out, much of that much was nothing but barefaced falsehoods, lies, slanders, written from a, uh, particular point of view.

There can be no doubt the decent and civilized people of Spain included among themselves ruffians, cut-throats, thieves, murderers, but for every crime against humanity that side committed, the socialists committed ten, or a hundred, more.

The problem the insurgent patriotic traditionalists had was that of "public relations;" no press, no "artists," on their side.  White was black, and black was white.  The socialists committed atrocities worse than Guernica, but the insurgent patriotic traditionalists had no famous "artist" on their side to paint pictures of those things.

Too, there was the matter of foreign "allies."  The western democracies, in this case France and the British, were in a state of decay and apathy, and offered either side little, although they did tend to favor the power-hungry socialists.

When one is struggling for survival, one isn't fussy about who helps.

So the insurgent patriotic traditionalists had to rely upon the "fascist" powers, Germany and Italy.  In exchange for state-of-the-art, precision-made, top-of-the-line weaponry, the insurgent patriotic traditionalists paid with paper IOUs.

And the socialists had to rely upon the only "communist" power, the Soviet Union.  In exchange for shoddy, socialist-made, mismatched, near-useless weaponry, the socialists gave Stalin 24-karat gold bullion from the Spanish treasury.

By early 1939, it was apparent the decent and civilized people of Spain were winning the war, against unsurmountable odds.  And then came the sudden and unexpected collapse of Barcelona, which had vowed to hold out for "a thousand years."

As tens of thousands of socialists fled from Barcelona, seeking haven from retribution for their crimes, in lukewarm France, companies of them happened to pass through this isolated village buried in a valley of the Pyrenees, wherein Pedro Picasso was still asylumized, ignored and forgotten by his "leftist" comrades.

almost done

[franksolich]

Although beaten, weary, hungry, and depleted, the fleeing socialists made short work of the village, pillaging, raping, burning, killing.  The heads of infants and children bashed against stone walls, a favorite method of homocide by the left.

And then they came across the church, the monastery, and the insane asylum.

Well, the socialists Hated God, and so the church had to go.

Ditto for the monastery.

And well, since the insane asylum was supported by God and the church, the insane asylum had to go.

Even though they were leaving, defeated, the socialists wanted no reminders of God and religion in Spain.

The priests and monks were crucified; the nuns and old women from the village who worked at the insane asylum were raped and stabbed to death, hacked to pieces.

Which left only the inhabitants of the insane asylum.

Well, as the nutters had been supported by the charity and compassion of God and the church, the nutters had to go, too.

While being tied to a rafter, Pedro Picasso begged and pleaded for his life; after all, he was one of them, a rock-ribbed socialist, a communist with no peer, making Stalin seem a decadent capitalist, more left-wing than even Satan Himself.  He pointed out the sacrifices he had made for the cause, being locked away for so many years.

"Aw, he's just a nut," the socialists said, as they poured gasoline all over the interior of the building, and planted explosives.

And thus the unhappy fate of Pedro Picasso.

We all make our own destinies, road-map our own fates.

the end

[ReardenSteel]

bump

[DixieBelle]

Belle, Gary56, djones520, TNTexan and 26 Guests are viewing this topic.

 

[franksolich]

 

Well, decent and civilized people understand the moral of it.

I'm rather dubious, though, that lurking primitives might "get" it.

I bet they don't.

[miskie]

Well, decent and civilized people understand the moral of it.

I'm rather dubious, though, that lurking primitives might "get" it.

I bet they don't.

They won't - which is why time after time, they repeat the same tragedy.

[Chris]

Wow. 

Five stars.  And that you for the perspective on the Spanish Civil War. 

[Duke Nukum]

Compelling story, Frank.

[USA4ME]

While being tied to a rafter, Pedro Picasso begged and pleaded for his life; after all, he was one of them, a rock-ribbed socialist, a communist with no peer, making Stalin seem a decadent capitalist, more left-wing than even Satan Himself.  He pointed out the sacrifices he had made for the cause, being locked away for so many years.

"Aw, he's just a nut," the socialists said, as they poured gasoline all over the interior of the building, and planted explosives.

And thus the unhappy fate of Pedro Picasso.

And all liberals.

Amen.

.

[franksolich]

Wow. 

Five stars.  And that you for the perspective on the Spanish Civil War.

Over the night, I got several personal messages on freerepublic, from members there giving their insights on Spaniards and the Spanish Civil War.  Like any other people legitimately interested in history, apparently there's a lot of people who think the truth will never be known about the Spanish Civil War.

Francisco Franco of the insurgents was no Mother Theresa, but on the other hand he was far from being any bloodthirsty socialist.  He wasn't even a Benito Mussolini, who was no Joseph Stalin or Adolph Hitler.

Spain languished in poverty for 40 years not because of Franco, but because by 1936, the socialists had stolen, pillaged, destroyed all of the wealth of Spain, leaving nothing but bare soil.

I have something to say about my use of the terms "insurgent patriots" and "socialists;" about 2003, I had a pretty mild mole on Skins's island, and one time I used the historically-correct terms "nationalists" and "republicans."

The primitives, given their knowledge of history, thought the "nationalists"--the insurgent patriots--were something like the People's National Liberation Front, and the "republicans"--the socialists--a whole lot of Iberian George Bushes.

I have since never been surprised at the ignorance of history, of the primitives.

As this was written for the illumination of lurking primitives, and not for decent and civilized people who know history, I hope my relabeling didn't ruin my credibility in history, but unfortunately it was necessary.

[franksolich]

This is from someone on freerepublic:

Another excellent piece Frank.

During the early - mid ‘80’s I lived for 1/2 the year in a small ‘puebla blanco’ village in south eastern Spain. Right on the Med. Salabrena is the name. My landlord was a rather older gentrifies land-owner who had been quite the activist during the Spanish Civil War. even 40 yrs later he had nothing but contempt for the ‘socialist bastards!’ as he was fond of screaming from his large balcony as we ate tapas and drank vino tinto and good local beer. Served, of course, by one of village babes trying to get on his ‘good’ side...he was a widower and a notorious lady-man.

The remnants of the socialists in the area avoided him and tried unsuccessfully to remove him from any position of power on the area councils. They would try to block labor on anything he was building. Slow permit applications at the court house. Attempt to bribe inspectors. But he was too smart by a long shot for these guys to have much effect.

Quite often our talks would turn to my concern for his safety. The occasional bombing or assassination was not unheard of at that time. Did he not fear that one of the crazier leftists would seek him out?

“O no Senor..I know their moves sometimes before they do...hahahah. These are like children to me. I have known them all since their Mommas wiped their dirty asses on the beach”

“So you have known since they were children. That is good”

“Yes, but what is even better, I have known their Mothers since that time. And their Mothers have known me!” This was said with an upturned eyebrow and a sly smile.

“Si si Patron, claro...claro. So the Mother is on your “side” in these matters. But, and pardon my frankness, these Mothers grow old. Their vitality becomes less. Of course, unlike yourself Patron”..said with a nod of respect.

“Yes..yes. This is true. But look around you. Each day you see the young beauties who come here to ‘assist’ me. To do my washing. To clean my house. To work in my cafes. They all are here with their Mothers good wishes.

These are the...Sisters”

So, life goes on. I last spoke with Senor Palomares in 1987. He was 82 at the time. Moving slower, but still setting on his large veranda having his tapas and red wine. Looking over his cafe, his hotel and the beautiful Mediterranean. And still winking at the, now not so young, woman filling his glass and bringing him his slices of fruit. He outlived his enemies. The best revenge, no?

[USA4ME]

I have since never been surprised at the ignorance of history, of the primitives.

Too true.

Slightly in a different direction, but in 2002-03 when I was engaged with the anarchists at SF and LA Indymedia, they will tell you in no uncertain terms that Spain was being set up to be an anarchists paradise except that they made the mistake of trusting Francisco Franco.  Ah, so close, and yet so far.

.

[DumbAss Tanker]

The tale from FR highlights something I think of as "The Peril of Peace," a problem which we can see chronicled over and over again throughout history and legend back to the stories of Arthur and on into classical times.  Time and again, once the great problems of the day are vanquished and a generation matures in relative peace and plenty, it falls into meaningless social intrigues and a something-for-nothing mentality.  It seems that with prosperity comes a generation which has grown up sheltered from the harsh reality of the world endured and conquered by their parents and grandparents, and who accordingly feel (for no rational reason) that the peace and abundance they have known as well-cared-for children should be their birthright as adults, and for all adults, with no further effort on their part to strive for or maintain it against adversaries.  It is a fool's trap, but one society seems to gravitate toward inevitably.   

[franksolich]

Damn, you're good, Tanker, sir.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Damn, you're good, Tanker, sir.

Why thank you, my friend, but a great many have observed, and chronicled the cautionary tale throughout time, that without great challenges to conquer, Mankind seems doomed to an inbred and petty stupidity.  From the Greek and Roman histories, to Camelot, to The Shape of Things to Come, wise men have often treid to teach the lesson that the laurel bush produces much better headwear than it does furniture.

[Wineslob]

The tale from FR highlights something I think of as "The Peril of Peace," a problem which we can see chronicled over and over again throughout history and legend back to the stories of Arthur and on into classical times.  Time and again, once the great problems of the day are vanquished and a generation matures in relative peace and plenty, it falls into meaningless social intrigues and a something-for-nothing mentality.  It seems that with prosperity comes a generation which has grown up sheltered from the harsh reality of the world endured and conquered by their parents and grandparents, and who accordingly feel (for no rational reason) that the peace and abundance they have known as well-cared-for children should be their birthright as adults, and for all adults, with no further effort on their part to strive for or maintain it against adversaries.  It is a fool's trap, but one society seems to gravitate toward inevitably.   

and we are there..........................

[Karin]

Thank you, Franksolich for the excellent history lesson, and your kind opening salutation.  (I had asked Frank about how Atman became Playboy Pedro). 

[franksolich]

Why thank you, my friend.....

This is probably more suitable for the military discussion forum, but I've always wondered about something.

Now, I dunno how many books and papers (master's and Ph.D. theses) I've read about the Spanish Civil War (although it's been quite a few years since I did that); probably anywhere between 200 and 300, and some of these were not short.

(I did that while a sophomore at the University of Nebraska, for 6 hours credit in independent study for history, although the "200 and 300" includes stuff I read occasionally over the years following.)

One thing has always mystified me about the progress of that war.

Madrid, the capital of Spain and in the center of the country, was essentially conservative and traditionalist, and expected to fall right away, during the first stages of the war, in 1936. 

But Madrid held out to the bitter end, in May 1939, and in fact had not yet surrendered when the insurgents had won.

Barcelona, on the eastern edge of the country, was notorious for being a hotbed of left-wing and socialist radicalism--the "reddest" (i.e., most communistic and socialist) city in Europe at the time--and it was predicted it would take the insurgents ten years or more to crack that nut, if it could be cracked.

Barcelona did not fall until early 1939, but that was only because of geography; the then-largest city in Spain was far from any theatre of war, and hence not even threatened until early 1939.

However, when the insurgents were finally within striking distance--but still miles and miles away--Barcelona collapsed like a popped balloon.  Immediately.  And unexpectedly.

There's of course lots of theories as to why traditionalist Madrid held during three years of siege, and socialist Barcelona surrendered even before the insurgents got there, but only theories, as the truth and the facts were buried a very long time ago.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Frank, I have to say that I am more familiar with the foreign forces that fought in Spain, and the oddity of the international naval neutrality patrol involving countries that in reality were not so neutral at all, than I am with the overall course of the war.

However, I would hazard a guess that several factors entered into the equation - first, that with respect to Madrid the mere value of being in control of the government very greatly aided the Republicans, they were quite successful in publicizing Nationalist excesses but suprressing news of their own; the very size of the city gave it a certian strength; it was of course the capital and had a symbolic value for defense above and beyone questions of mere resources or purely military considerations; and (The crimes of Stalin being then largely unknown outside the USSR) Republicans successfully associated themselves with populist and democratic ideals and the Nationalists with Fascist ones.  Though far less knowledgeable than you on the particulars of what transpired in Madrid, I would suppose that in addition to all the 'No Pasaran' posters there was also a pervasive and Draconian way of dealing with any disloyal sentiments that would rival the worst days of the French Committee of Public Safety, Socialists and Reds being the swine that they are.

Further, as I recall, the "Cuatro Generales" came on Madrid from different directions, so there was also an aspect of inescapability to it - there is a thread in military thought so old that it probably goes back to Neolithic hunters rather than organized military bodies, to the effect that if you want your enemy to run, leave him a way out to do it, and if you want to destroy him, don't, but a cornered rat is a lot more dangerous than a fleeing one.

The opposite was the case for Barcelona, I believe - there was a way out, which remained open as the Nationalists closed in.  The fact that it was 'Redder' to my mind is no indicator that resistance should have been more fierce, the shroud of political conviction tends to fall away once the bullets fly around you, as many military biographies from the losing sides of 20th Century wars attest.  The truly most important questions then become things like which side has the most veterans, or fighters actually trained as soldiers?  What is the morale of the soldiers - which side's men perceive themselves to be in the ascendancy?  Is the terrain defensible?  What is the relative quality of the generalship, to include the degree to which it is hampered by meddling from the political class?  What is the state of supply, and the ability to resupply and move reinforcements, supplies and equipment once forces are committed to battle?

In many of these areas, the Nationalists enjoyed advantages due to their rebellion having a large base in the Army, and supported by the unifying moral authority of the Church; and the Republicans on the other hand relying more on 'community organizers' and their flocks plus trade unionists for manpower, and disunited artists, poets, fools, demagogues, and dilletantes for their ideological support - a military situation not unlike the clash of the Freikorps vs. the Reds and the short-lived attempts of the latter to seize control in parts of Germany from 1919 until 1921 or so (German memories of which no doubt had a certain amount of influence on the decision to contribute the Legion Kondor to the Nationalist cause).     

[franksolich]

Further, as I recall, the "Cuatro Generales" came on Madrid from different directions, so there was also an aspect of inescapability to it [franksolich--Madrid under siege]- there is a thread in military thought so old that it probably goes back to Neolithic hunters rather than organized military bodies, to the effect that if you want your enemy to run, leave him a way out to do it, and if you want to destroy him, don't, but a cornered rat is a lot more dangerous than a fleeing one.

The opposite was the case for Barcelona, I believe - there was a way out, which remained open as the Nationalists closed in.....

This is a concept of course which would not occur to a professional civilian.

Thanks, Tanker.