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ELIAN
by H. David Blalock
copyright 2000
What does it mean when the government, known for its lack of common sense in dealing with just about anything, is the only party in an argument that doesn't seem to be out of their minds?
Over the last several months, the media, hungry for something like the O.J. Simpson scandal to fill the void, fed on a custody battle over a six-year-old Cuban boy. If this had been an American child kidnapped by its American parent and taken away, there would have been nothing interesting in the story. In fact, hundreds of American children are kidnapped every month, with little or no attention in the press. In this child's case, it was suddenly of absolutely vital importance everyone in the country know every single detail of every single moment of the conflict.
Custody battles are vicious things. They are never pretty. They cause bad blood between every family member involved. And the family often resorts to not just dirty but filthy tricks to get what they want. They will accuse each other of the most horrible atrocities, casting the person they earlier promised to honor, cherish, and love until death with the most heinous crimes, things even unconsidered by Dr. Mengele or Hitler.
In this case, the boy's family in America used the American media as their stage. They shamelessly manuevered the American people, manipulating the people around them using the most powerful tool available, one used by national politicians to change popular opinion on such fundamental moral issues as abortion, gun control, and prison reform.
They used public relations to advertise their political agenda and disguised it as a custody battle.
It is no secret Miami has a large Cuban contingent, that these folks want Castro out so they can go home. Every American understands this wish, applauds it, and hopes some day it can come about.
Had Elian's father been unfit, unable to emotionally support the boy, it might have been different. Financial support should never have been an issue in this debate. Cuba's economy and America's economy have no comparisons. Anyone who has lived in a third world nation for any amount of time knows this.
The fact of the matter is, Elian should never had been held for so long. He should have been returned to his parent at the earliest possible moment. He should not have been made into a scapegoat for Miami's Cuban community's need to air their hatred against Castro's regime.
He is a six-year-old boy, not a political icon.
The U.S. government was forced into a position it should never have had to be in. There literally was nothing else it could do. The boy's captors were holding him in violation of court order and refusing to surrender him to the custody of his rightful parent. In most countries, this is called kidnapping.
How else can you define it? What other response could there be?
There are those who will mindlessly repeat the platitudes generated by the media: "What about the boy's civil rights? What about his happiness? What about his physical health?" and so on.
The hard facts are these: not everyone lives in the U.S. America does not have a lock on good health care and financial well-being. Happiness cannot be defined by living in America. America is not the panacea for all ills. Get over it.
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