A few months ago, the SDMB was buzzing with threads about Elian. Now that the Federal Court of Appeals has ruled that he can’t apply for asylum on his own, and that only his father can, not the Miami relatives, I expected further debate - but zip so far.
How come? Once it’s in the courts it’s no longer a debate? the TM have short attention spans? it’s no longer an issue in the U.S.?
Just curious…
Elian’s father ‘very happy’ with court decision, Miami family will fight on
Federal court decisions don’t come with a lot of interesting photographs like the earlier parts of this story.
The next big deal will probably be when Elian returns to Cuba.
Don’t count them chickens yet, there are still appeals.
As far as the attention span of the Teeming Millions is concerned, I think everybody’s just a teensy bit burned out.
Besides, like BobT said, there aren’t any more interesting visuals with this story. No standups in front of the weeping relatives, etc.
And I think the media’s a little bit burned out, too. Time to move on to other stories.
Even Monica Lewinsky went away eventually.
Popcorn: How have you “met” DDG “again” if this is your 1st post? I detect a “ringer” or a returning “banned”.
DDG, are you really NTM? 
Comeon, you can tell your old friend, daniel, can’t you?
I imagine the following scenario:
Day 1: The Supreme Court refuses to hear the appeal.
Day 2: Reporters break in for “urgent news” that Elian and his Father have departed for Cuba just 12 hours after the decision.
Day 3: Reno has a press conference where she says “as far as she’s concerned, the order barring them from leaving was removed after the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal.”
Day 4-7: The media shows many interviews with Cuban exiles demanding justice, or a repeat of the Bay of Pigs. The Cousin cries a lot. The Uncle bellows a lot, and waves a Cuban flag and shakes his fist. The Fisherman has a press conference about his new book and screenplay (Harpo productions presents: “Elian - Will There Ever Be A Rainbow?”). Protesters in Miami burn some tires, and roll some of their own cars.
Day 8: News break! Can eating too much chalk dust be harmful to your kids? Should you sue just in case? Tune in at 10:00 for more information…
I was tired with Elian less than a week after he came back to the US. Why? ‘Cuz it’s all BS, that’s why. That kids’ entire life is going to be complete f***ed up from now on… he’s going to grow up thinking he’s something special while he really isn’t (no more so than any other person, that is). Or, even worse, if he returns to Cuba, he’s going to be quarantined like he’s got Captain Trips, and he’ll be brainwashed and de-programmed and what-have-you…
So as soon as that kid set foot in America, he essentially died. But to the Media, it was a long funeral.
I am so tired about hearing of that dang kid. It’s not like the media can’t find other stories, this one just happens to have a small kid attached, so we should all naturally go “Awww” and be glued to the TV like we care.
Personally, they return thousands ( I think, I’ve only heard that number on TV and you can’t trust them) of mexican kids each year and no one complains, so why bitch and moan over one Cuban kid? Send him back via ICBM and be done with it.
Perhaps you are all tired of Elian. I certainly did see a few heated words exchanged about this child while it was still in the news everyday. Must have burnt itself out. What I did see last week was the families of the 1400 or so American children that are being held by parents in foreign countries and keep from their American parents. Many of these countries and the US have an agreement to return these children. I have known about this problem for many years. Naturally the United States is just not willing to go that extra mile for it’s own citizens. So I have always thought it would be hypocritical of us to keep that child here. Because we do after all have this agreement with many countries. Not Cuba of course we don’t agree on much with them at all. But I’ve always felt like we should honor the spirit of this agreement. Even if our government isn’t inclined to force other countries to do so.
Need2know