Well, having taken Elian from the home, one wonders if now there will be some calm and a reduction in the media circus, once the inevitible storm of anger in Miami dies down.
Any guesses as to whether or not the courts will treat the case with some rationality?
I don’t know.
CBS was still broadcasting a special report when I came in from milking. I don’t know if the media circus will get any better or not. Certainly things just changed in a big way.
Thread hijack: I wish all the “Keep Elian in America” people in this country could get half as worked up over lifting our trade embargo with Cuba, which contributes to the destitute conditions of hundreds of thousands of poor Cuban children. Apparently, though, they only care about Cuban children who make it here.
I’ll be the first to say that the father should decide what happens to his child, and I have no problem with Elian going to live with his father in Cuba, but the photograph of the federal agent removing Elian from the house at gunpoint is going to inflame the pro-Elian protesters and won’t help the government’s cause. I wish a more peaceful way could have been found to allow him to be reunited with his father.
After seeing the Miami relatives, their lawyers and Donato Dalrymple on NBC this morning, I suspect that the media circus will continue for some time.
From what I heard this morning, it seems likely that Elian will return to Cuba regardless of the court decision. If the appeals court rules that he can’t request asylum on his own behalf, he goes back. If the appeals court rules that he can request asylum on his own behalf, he then has to prove that he would suffer persecution because of his political or religious beliefs. One of the analysts on the air this morning pointed out that it would be a little tough for a 6-year-old to make strong arguments on those grounds.
I understand there is also a special rule regarding Cuban refugees: if they come here, and stay here for a year, then they may stay at the Attorney General’s discretion. It doesn’t seem as though a) court proceedings will drag on so long that Elian is here for a year (although the Miami relatives may have hoped for that), or b) that Janet Reno would grant him asylum if it meant keeping Elian from his father.
I think if the Miami relatives had surrendered custody of Elian nine days ago when they were supposed to, it would not have come to this. Really, how long did they think they could jerk the feds around on this matter without repercussions?
I didn’t see the “at gunpoint” part.
Peace,
mangeorge
Teach your kids to bungee jump.
One them might have to cross a bridge someday.
The AP has the photo (Elian and Donato at gunpoint) up on its main page right now, if anyone wants to see it. Don’t know how long it’ll be up there, though.
I didn’t see the “taken” part. I got disgusted with this so long ago that I tend to tune it out when news of it comes on. I did read an AP report a few days ago about how the Elianistas, despite having pretty much ignored the remainder of Latin America and the Carribean states for decades, were now flying flags of other nations in the region in the hopes of attracting supporters among those nationalities. Apparently it didn’t work. I guess the Haitians and the Dominicans and the others, all of whose children would have been returned to their homelands the day after they washed ashore, were unconvinced of the Elianistas’ sincerity.
I hope every one of the Miami relatives gets locked up for obstruction of justice, or better yet, deported. They love Elian so much and have so much contempt for American justice, send them back with him to Cuba and see how big their anti-Castro demonstrations go over.
For some reason, when I see protesters in the US fervently waving the flags of other nations (Miamian’s waving Cuban flags, or hispanics in California marching with Mexican flags) it makes me think of a hostile army on our soil. It certainly doesn’t make me any more sympathetic towards their cause. On the contrary, it makes me much, much less sympathetic.
The Prince: “Did you kill Jahamaraj Jah?”
Lady: “Yes.”
The Prince: “My Gods! Why?”
Lady: “His existence offended me.”
[rant] I am so infuriated by the Miami relatives’ behavior over these last few months. They claimed they were doing what they thought was best for the boy, which may have been true for a very brief period right at the beginning, but very quickly turned into political grandstanding and media whoredom. I hope Lazaro and his cohort get the friggin’ book thrown at them. They’re crying about the raid and the damage to their home. Well, if you hadn’t been thumbing your nose at the federal government all this time and flouting every order that came down the pike, this would never have happened. Turn over the kid when you’re ordered to, and they don’t break your door down. See the connection? This is not about Castro, you jerk, this is about a little boy who should be with his father! I understand that the people who have left Cuba think it’s a terrible place, but given the principle of personal freedom we hold so dear in this country, Juan Miguel Gonzalez has the right to live in Cuba if he so chooses. [/rant]
I have the Washington Post as my homepage, and they have the picture of the guy taking Elian at gunpoint on the front page. Was it necessary to have photographers inside the house while this was going on? This picture is very inflammatory and isn’t going to help matters at all.
One of my housemates is from Miami, and she was just telling me that there is rioting today.
I think it ought to depend on why the flags are waving it. if it’s simply a demonstration of pride in their national heritage, I have no problem with it. I have no problem with the Elianistas’ waving the Cuban flag as a political statement of their feelings on the state of Cuba. But the damn cynical way they tried to drum up support by flying other flags of the region frosted me. I prefer my pathetic ploys for sympathy to be a bit less naked.
And I went and looked up the picture of Elian being taken by the INS guy and it was pretty terrible. Too bad the Elianistas, who claim to have so much love and concern for this boy, put him in the position of being the subject of a tactical strike.
But hey, it could’ve been worse. Think back to the first time Janet Reno ordered a strike in April. At least nobody died this time.
And is anyone else amazed at the articulateness of this kid? Why, from the reports the Elianistas give, he speaks of abstract concepts with an above average level of sophistication. A triumph of the Cuban school system? I mean, the Elianistas would never feed the media false quotes, right?
Were it my sister who died trying to escape from a dictator, I’d probably do all I could to keep my nephew with me, too. But when the evidence was overwhelming that he could NOT stay with me, I hope that I’d do the right thing and arrange for a transfer that would be the least traumatic. It would be very, very difficult though, esp. since they’ll probably never see the boy again.
It was a really sad case and I hope the Cuban people will be free of Castro soon. I mean, jeez, how long can the old geezer keep ticking?
Not following “orders” from Washington is a bad thing? What kind of scary fascist country do you think this is?
Yes, it was absolutely necessary! In order for a society to remain free, the free press needs to document and disseminate what the government is doing.
The picture of a jack-booted government thug pointing an automatic weapon at a six-year-old hiding in a closet bothers you? Good, it should.
These were people who were trying to keep this kid from his father. Gimme a break.
I do think that it was a little extreme to have the guys in full riot gear, but then again, given the past behavior of these folks, there was no way of knowing what they were going to be facing inside that house. The only reason the feds went in and took Elian by force was because thay had been left with no other choice. I don’t agree with everything our government does, but in this case, I think they were absolutely right. Don’t try to make it sound like we live in Nazi Germany, because it’s not the case.
From milroyj’s description, I envisioned the kid, all by himself, crouched in a closet with a gun pointed at his head.
I guess someone could’ve went in there wearing jeans and a t-shirt and unarmed, but I have no experience in these matters.
This whole thing could have been avoided had the govt. simply returned the boy to his dad at once.
Whether the mother was “escaping tyranny” or just joining her boyfriend isn’t clear to me yet. Whatever the case, the kid has just been dragged along since this whole thing began.
I wonder if the Miami family loves the boy enough to send his new possessions to him when he does return home.
Poor kid.
Peace,
mangeprge
I see your point re: flags, and agree with you mostly. I do believe as a statement of national heritage, carrying the flags of other countries is very acceptable. If I was of any identifiable heritage external to the US, I would do the same to express my pride.
It still seems wrong when used by most protesting groups lately. Seeing large crowds of protesters chanting, yelling, rudely gesturing, and waving Cuban (or Mexican, or French) flags just rubs me the wrong way. In this, I must respecfully disagree with your response.
I imagine as well that the picture of Elian, the agent, and the assault rifle will end up being one of those “pictures that define the decade” as told to us by the mass media. You have to admit, regardless of what side one is on regarding this issue, it is a very powerful picture. Especially if taken out of context.
Anthracite
“How come Jesus gets Industrial Disease?”
I was under the impression it was one of laws, including that you’re supposed to either follow what the government of elected officals tells you to do or else use the courts to get it changed. I wasn’t aware that refusing to follow the courts made someone antifascist. I’ll have to remember that next time I don’t feel like turning my tax money over to the IRS. If the family had accepted the decision of the government (which certainly seemed fair to me), there would have been no need for ‘jack booted thugs’ to come over. Are you implying that when someone blows off the government time and time again, the government should shrug it off and say “the hell with it”? Since all the previous attempts at non-forceful removal of the child failed, exactly how should the government have taken possession of the child?
“I guess one person can make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”
Frankly, and I can totally agree with this, the reason they went in there fully armed is because they had no idea what to expect. If someone from the family deciced to bring a weapon in there to protect the boy, things could have been much uglier.
You know what galls me the most? If you even have the SLIGHTEST idea that men with guns are going to break into your house to take a six-year-old out (and since the possibility had been discussed on the frickin’ evening news for the past two weeks, I would have considered the possibility a bit more than slight), you WARN the six-year-old that it might happen. You tell him in the simplest terms that at some point, men might come to take him to his father, but assure him that although they might look VERY scary, the men are not there to hurt him at all. Explain that you love him very much, and while you don’t want to give him up, he has to go live with his father who loves him just as much. From what I understand, they never really told Elian that he might be taken by scary people. Luckily, the kid seems incredibly resilient, more so than most.
Of course, I probably shouldn’t expect such things from a family who told the kid every time they served him chocolate milk that Castro wouldn’t let him have it if he went back to Cuba.
Not yet, but this and other incidents could be a red (yellow) flag warning. What if this happened at your house? What if the thugs, AKA government “agents”, pointed a gun at your child?
Free Elian Now!