Jay Nordlinger has a sad and cautionary tale to tell in today's Impromptus about Chinese dissident Charles Lee, a member of Falun Gong who was in the Chinese gulag for years. Here's an excerpt from his interview with Mr. Lee:

I asked him whether he thought he would die, at any time during the three-year ordeal. He said, "Yes. There was constant pressure. Constant pressure." He likened his experience to that of Prometheus, whom Zeus chained to a rock: Prometheus had his liver eaten out every day. Authorities at the prison had a sweet message for Dr. Lee: "We will make living worse for you than dying." Reports Dr. Lee, "They were very good at mental torture," as well as physical. "Some people mention the concept of 'the genocide of souls' — they kill your soul. They let you become a nobody."

When you read it, mentally replace the names and place names with a Cuban reference. The same horror is happening in Cuba and has been happening for almost forty-eight years now. Don't buy the platitude that we defeated Communism; it' alive and well in too many places around our sad world.