End the War on Freedom

I've held off commenting about Elian Gonzalez, and I've attempted to resist pointing to stories on the web. Today at the health club, while walking on the treadmill, I saw Diane Sawyer's morning show on the television. Something about what I saw makes it imperitive for me to speak.

The powers that be have decided that Elian will go back to Cuba with his father. My initial take on the issue was that this was proper. The man is his father. The intervening space of time has caused me to reconsider.

The proper way for this to have gone would have been for Elian's father to come to the United States, talk with Elian and his Miami family, with whom he is currently living, and come to a mutual agreement between all involved parties, Elian included, as to where Elian would live for the next little while. Noone in Washington, no government agency, no court of law, no news talking head, nor I would have anything to do with this decision. If they were unable to come to an agreement, at that point they might petition courts and governments to help them out. Not before.

Instead, it has become a political issue. The INS, the Florida courts, Washington politicians, news talking heads, and I have told them what to do, mostly without ever talking to the only people directly involved: Elian, his Miami family, and his father. Most of us are happy to express our opinions and let it rest at that. It is after all not really our business.

The government folks, however, declared that there would be a meeting in Washington where Elian would be handed over to his father, like it or not. They got the privacy of the meeting right, but they decided the outcome in advance, and, as with all government action, there is the threat of force behind non-compliance. Compliant Elian's Miami family has not been. Good for them. From my perspective, they're the only people in this whole thing who are considering Elian's wishes, Elian's health and happiness. Forceful I pray the government will not be, though their history is piss poor in that department.

Somehow we've allowed our law enforcement "authorities" to believe it's OK to kill people over actions that endangered noone's life until those authorities became involved. This must stop. If a federal cop spills a single drop of anyone's blood over this, I will pray to God for his immortal soul, though it will be hard for me to convince myself that he still has one. He'll need that prayer very soon, too, because I will also wish for his speedy execution, and it will not surprise me if someone in Miami hears my wish and makes it so. in sha' allah