Keith, the Elian issue slipped into a near-Pythonesque level of comedy about two days after it began. That's when I washed my brain of it.
On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 11:34 PM, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net>wrote: > > > Well, I'm not happy that little Elian is being indoctrinated into the > Communist party of Cuba, nor that he's used as a propaganda tool for the > government. But i also know that returning him to his father was the right > thing to do. There was no real reason for his legal, biological father to be > denied custody of his son--the late mother's feelings notwithstanding. While > I understand his relatives and other Cubans wanting him to enjoy the > freedoms of America, they didn't have a leg to stand on in this case. Elian > wasn't abused, he loved his father, and, reports to the contrary, he wasn't > starving. We can't start breaking the bonds of family across international > waters just because we don't like the governmental system under which a > child may be raised. > > I also must say I found all the wailing and teary-eyed celebs, ex-pats, and > Americans decrying his "horrible" future a bit irritating, given all the > children living here in the States who could use some of that concern. > A lady at my old job was extremely upset with me when I said he should go > back to Cuba. > "But Keith, he want even have milk to drink there!" she cried, quoting that > curiously oft-stated "fact". > I replied, "I can take you to half a dozen spots not twenty miles away > right here in Atlanta where black kids don't have milk, bread, or eggs", I > replied, "and I've *never* heard you utter one word about wanting to help > them". > The horrified look on her face as she walked away was memorable. She rarely > spoke to me after that... > > Oh--and what's up with this Yahoo story talking about a "paramilitary" > outfit "menacing" Elian? They weren't menacing the boy, they were simply > following orders to retrieve him. Menacing would connote intentionally > trying to threaten, frighten, bully, or hurt him... > > ******************************************************** > http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100406/ts_ynews/ynews_ts1481_4 > Cuban government releases photos of teenaged Elian Gonzalez > Ten years ago this month, the saga of a Cuban boy named Elian > Gonzalezcaptivated the nation and much of the world. Elian, 6, was found > floating on > an inner tube off the coast of Florida, after his mother drowned trying to > reach America. > > The Cuban immigrant community in Florida embraced the boy as a symbol of > the struggle of ordinary Cubans to flee the oppression of Fidel Castro's > communist regime, and rallied behind the boy's extended family in Miami, > which sought custody of young Elian. > > But U.S. immigration officials insisted that the boy be returned to his > father in Havana. Agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service > conducted an armed raid on Elian's adoptive Miami home - yielding a > powerful > image<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts1481/35718970/SIG=12f5917sp/*http://pub.tv2.no/multimedia/na/archive/00188/Elian_Gonzalez_blir_188999c.jpg>of > paramilitary forces in America menacing a frightened 6-year-old. > Florida's Cuban immigrant community brandished that infamous photo as a > reminder of what they considered American power effectively doing the > bidding of a heartless Castro government. > > A decade later, however, there are new photos of a nearly grown-up Elian > Gonzalez<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts1481/35718970/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100405/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_cuba_elian_gonzalez>- > and they present a very different kind of propaganda image. > > > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts1481/35718970/*http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//100405/481/urn_publicid_ap_org_f9178cda03e14bf9a035dd63d5a7a82c/> > (*AP*) > > The new pictures show a serious-looking 16-year-old sporting a closely > cropped haircut, wearing an olive-green military school uniform with red > shoulder patches, as he attends a Young Communist Union meeting. The Cuban > government press released the images under the none-too-subtle > headline<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts1481/35718970/SIG=129oe16c6/*http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/06/elian-gonzalez-cuba-picture>"Young > Elian Gonzalez defends his revolution in the youth > congress." > > Since winning Elian's return to Cuba in 2000, the Castro regime has > closely tracked the boy and his father. (Indeed, Cuban State Security has a > monitoring station next to their home.) In his homeland, Elian Gonzalez is > hailed as a national hero who embodies the triumph of Cuba over the United > States. Every few years, the Cuban government has floated news updates and > photographs trumpeting Elian's progress as a model young citizen of the > Castro regime. > > In 2004, NBC's Keith Morrison traveled to > Cuba<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts1481/35718970/SIG=1159rdlhd/*http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5540113>to > interview Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, and filmed footage of a > communist museum that houses a bronze statue of Elian raising a clenched > fist. After Elian's return home, his father was made a member of the Cuban > National > Assembly<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts1481/35718970/SIG=123ab3ul6/*http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/17/world/main4185799.shtml>, > and Castro has been known to show up at Elian's birthday parties and school > graduation ceremonies. In 2005, in an interview with CBS' Bob > Simon<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts1481/35718970/SIG=12659e24k/*http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/28/60minutes/main888950.shtml>for > "60 Minutes," Elian referred to Castro "not only as a friend, but also > as a father." In 2008, Elian joined Cuba's Young Communist Union. > > While Cuba has played up Elian Gonzalez's symbolic value in stoking > nationalist sentiment, he still remains a more divisive figure in the > United States, provoking fierce reactions on the American left and right. > After the latest batch of photos went public Monday, the American Thinker > weighed > in<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts1481/35718970/SIG=12g3f96pp/*http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/04/elian_gonzales_10_years_later.html>with > a rallying cry from the right, no doubt seconded widely in the Cuban > immigrant community: > > If Elian had been granted asylum, today he would be a teenager preparing to > go to college with every opportunity for success ahead of him. Instead, on > the cusp of adulthood, Elian poses for propaganda photos sandwiched between > Cuban army soldiers attending the Union of Young Communists congress in > Havana...The youthful Gonzalez should have been wrapped in the America > flag. Instead a boy who once represented the quest for the God given right > to be free, waves a Cuban flag symbolizing poverty, oppression, > authoritarianism and misinformation. > > > > --Brett Michael Dykes is a national affairs writer for Yahoo! News > > >
