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Gallstone #21 Apr 08 2000 |
| I've had it right up to my neck with young Elian Gonzales. More accurately, I have no beef with the little boy;
I've never met him. I'm just fucking sick of hearing about him. I'm embarrassed that we're so desperate to miss
the forest for the trees, that this 'tree', this single person, has become a national focus. Elian Gonzales is
a non-issue, a red herring. Maybe if we were happier with our forest, we could see past this tree. Young Elian came to us in a tragic journey from Cuba, and his mother died on the way. As it turns out, his father is alive and well in Cuba, where Elian was born and is a citizen. So, the way I understand things, Elian is a Cuban citizen who tried to escape to the United States. Elian is a child with a father in Cuba who wants Elian to return to his birth country and live with his father. WHY THE FUCK IS ELIAN GONZALES STILL HERE? This really doesn't seem like an item of the slightest controversy. I mean seriously, who do we think we are, keeping this boy separated from his father? What right do we have? Do you have any idea how BAD a parent you have to be in this country, for the courts to take your child away and award custody to distant relatives without your consent? And yet, we are doing exactly this, to citizens of ANOTHER COUNTRY. Our government has a serious inability to mind its own business, but I think even Ollie North would find this outrageous. Elian is staying with relatives in Miami, being paraded around town like a stolen heirloom from the old country. He has told the press that he likes the States better, and many use that as grounds for his retention in country. Now, hold on a fucking minute. Elian is six years old. He likes the States better? Is he talking about the socio-economic policies, the freedom of opportunity, the geographic sprawl of the United States? Or is he talking about the sugary snacks and the fawning attention? Remember, he's SIX. The last time I checked, six year olds can't get work as paper-boys, much less request political asylum. We're so happy to hear that we're *better*, that we believe it when a six year old tells us! The 'sad' fact is that Cubans grow, live, learn, laugh, love, and die, just like we do, and for every example of American superiority offered, a Cuban counterpoint can be given in retort. Yes, we have shiny new cars and a very high cell-phone-per-capita ratio, but Cuba has less than half the adult illiteracy we do. So get off the soapbox about how this little boy's life will be destroyed if he is returned to those nasty Communists. He'll be just fine, and if he's not, he can come back later. When he's an adult. I think his life is being destroyed by a foreign government (ours!), keeping him from his home country and his father. The relatives have graciously invited Dad to Miami, to talk about taking Elian home. They refuse to travel to D.C. where, unbelievably, the entire federal government is tiptoeing around over this little boy. Miami is the world's hotbed of Cuban politics; it has been said that Miami influences Cuba more than Havana does. For Dad to spend time in Miami, would be supremely unwise and would surely cost him his life. Fortunately for Elian, his dad has declined the 'friendly' offer to visit Miami. As a result, so far, Elain still has one parent left. Currently, we are holding a foreign citizen on our soil, against the wishes of his parent. What do you think the rest of the world makes of this? We are kidnappers & terrorists. Seriously, honest-to-God, no exaggeration, this is exactly what I think should be done- March a unit of Marines into Miami and extract Elian from his relatives. Take him to D.C. for a press conference and to reunite him with dad. Then put their asses on a plane to Havana and forget about them, as they will about us as they get on with their rudely interrupted lives. |
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