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I Still Think of Elian
Jewish World Review ^ | April 29, 2003 | Nat Hentoff

Posted on 04/29/2003 9:44:16 AM PDT by William Wallace

As soon as Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, I saw on television the firing squad execution of an array of political prisoners, which he ordered. He then began filling his brutal prisons with Cubans whose sole crime was a desire to breathe freedom after the Batista dictatorship -- only to find themselves in another totalitarian quicksand.

At one point, interviewing the already legendary Che Guevara -- an international Cuban revolutionary icon -- at the Cuban mission to the United Nations, I asked him if he could foresee, anytime in the future, free elections in Cuba. Crisply dressed in his military outfit, Guevara burst out laughing at my callow naivete.

Having interviewed Cubans who survived Castro's gulags, I have never understood or respected the parade of American entertainers, politicians and intellectuals who travel to Cuba to be entranced by this ruthless dictator who, for me, has all the charisma of a preening thug, akin to any killer on "The Sopranos."

These Castro-philes are among those who discredit liberalism because they're unable to recognize and be repelled by unbridled evil. Consider Steven Spielberg, who has developed impressive resources through his Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation to keep alive the horrifying presence of the Holocaust. Yet, as quoted in the April 11 Wall Street Journal, Spielberg described his audience with Castro last November as "the eight most important hours of my life."

Was Spielberg's life that barren until those gloriously transcendent hours with the chief warden of Cuba's prisons?

From time to time, I still think of Elian Gonzalez, so vivid a free spirit here until condemned by Janet Reno and Bill Clinton to a land where schoolteachers must keep a record of any signs of their charges' lessening fealty to the relentless light of their lives. I wish the American press would pay more attention to the ongoing lawsuit alleging that Doris Meissner -- head of Clinton's Immigration and Naturalization Service -- ordered the destruction of evidence that would have contradicted the Clinton administration's forcible removal of Elian to Castro's continuation of Stalinism. Judicial Watch in Washington has the information on that lawsuit.

In any case, the next batch of fawning celebrities and members of Congress who party with Castro, will try to evade the recent show trials of independent journalists, human rights advocates, poets and other dreamers of democracy who have been sentenced by Castro's kangaroo courts to punishments of up to 27 years. Britain's Economist magazine notes that "since many of the dissidents are aged between 50 and 60, in practical terms they are being put away for life."

One prisoner of conscience packed into the gulag is the internationally respected independent journalist Raul Rivero, director of Cuba Press agency, and a board member of the Inter American Press Association. In the Castro courtroom -- from which foreign journalists and diplomats were barred -- Rivero, suffering from phlebitis and other ailments, was sentenced to 20 years for being an independent journalist.

"This is so arbitrary for a man whose only crime is to write what he thinks," his wife, Blanca Reyes, said in an April 8 New York Times article. "What they found on him was a tape recorder, not a grenade."

The Clinton administration -- which has so much to answer to history for -- promoted "people-to-people" trips to Cuba, which have continued. The American tourists and the participants in educational and cultural exchanges will not be able to engage in person-to-person visits with Raul Rivero, and other Cubans whom the Castro "justice system" has turned into non-people. Not even such an eminence as Spielberg will be free to show Rivero videos of Holocaust survivors.

Spielberg, immersed in pre-production of his next film, was not available for comment on Castro's latest eradication of dissenters. But his representative, Andy Spahn of Dreamworks, told The Wall Street Journal that Castro had been "provoked" to order the crackdown, because the head of the American mission in Havana, James Cason, had been meeting -- can you imagine? -- with Cuban dissenters in their homes last February.

And if an American official had, however discreetly, been meeting with Jews in Berlin who still hoped that the world would come to their rescue -- if it only knew of the design for the Final Solution -- would that diplomat have exceeded his responsibilities to humankind by "provoking" Hitler?

HBO has wisely cancelled the May showing of Oliver Stone's Castro-admiring "Commandante." During production, says the Journal, Fidel was "given the power to stop filming at will."

The show would have been a fitting complement to HBO's "The Sopranos."


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To: Luis Gonzalez
It's more fun winding you up than posting on an immigration thread. I have never known anybody so wrong about everything, it's almost charming, your phobia over cultural conservatives.
401 posted on 05/02/2003 11:09:04 PM PDT by MissAmericanPie
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To: MissAmericanPie
"Cultural conservatives?"

ROTFLMAO!!!

PC speech hits the Klavern?

402 posted on 05/02/2003 11:11:07 PM PDT by Luis Gonzalez (When the elephants are stampeding, don't worry about the pissants.)
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To: MissAmericanPie
I dont think he can explain why Miami is one of the poorest cities in America and why the jump in TB has been over 30%?
403 posted on 05/03/2003 5:16:11 PM PDT by AbsoluteJustice (Pounding the world like a battering ram. Forging the furnace for the final grand slam!!)
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To: MissAmericanPie
I guess I know about Miami because way back in 1746 some of my relatives lived in Georgia, before that some of my Cherokee relatives made regular hunting parties to the area.

Since you are well aware of your history, who killed more Cherokee indians, Luis Gonzalez and the Cubans or Andrew Jackson and the Amrerican government?

404 posted on 05/03/2003 6:00:50 PM PDT by bjs1779
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To: Ready4Freddy
Your comments about 'illegal alien' don't really pertain, bjs - anyone, Cuban or not, is properly called an 'illegal alien' or an 'undocumented alien' until they have been reclassified to 'legal alien' by being officially admitted or paroled into the US. Persons who have been temporarily paroled into the country, such as Elian was, remain illegal aliens until they are admitted or permanently paroled. Even the 11th Circuit's injunction to the DOJ about doing all they could to keep him in the US didn't change Elian's status as an illegal alien.

If you had facts to back up your nonsense, I am sure you would of posted it.

405 posted on 05/03/2003 6:13:34 PM PDT by bjs1779
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To: bjs1779
"If you had facts to back up your nonsense, I am sure you would of posted it."

Huh? Regarding the terms 'illegal alien' and 'undocumented alien'? They are interchangeable, bjs, and apply to any alien prior to their admission or permanent parole into the US.

That's a fact! ;>)

406 posted on 05/03/2003 6:26:17 PM PDT by Ready4Freddy
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To: Ready4Freddy; Luis Gonzalez
Huh? Regarding the terms 'illegal alien' and 'undocumented alien'? They are interchangeable, bjs, and apply to any alien prior to their admission or permanent parole into the US.

Pretty tough to find the word "ILLEGAL" in the Cuban Adjustment Act I see...

BTW, whatever happened to your E.O. 12807 nonsense? Looks like you are hiding from that also.

407 posted on 05/03/2003 6:38:13 PM PDT by bjs1779
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To: bjs1779
"Pretty tough to find the word "ILLEGAL" in the Cuban Adjustment Act I see..."

Which has absolutely no bearing on the use of the terms, bjs. I don't perceive either term as being inherently pejorative. Do you?

"BTW, whatever happened to your E.O. 12807 nonsense? Looks like you are hiding from that also."

I'm not hiding from anything, bjs. Are you getting a case of secondary umbrage from our friend Luis?

What E.O. 12807 nonsense, bjs? It remains the genesis of the wet feet / dry feet policy, what more can I say? Signed by G.H.W. Bush in 1992, and contains no exceptions for any nationalities. Take a look at the USCG site, if you want to know what basis they use for their interdictions at sea.

408 posted on 05/03/2003 7:17:53 PM PDT by Ready4Freddy
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Comment #409 Removed by Moderator

To: Ready4Freddy; bjs1779
"It remains the genesis of the wet feet / dry feet policy, what more can I say?"

That's a lie.

The genesis for the wet feet dry feet policy is the Clinton administration's Immigration agreement of 1995 with Cuba.

There was no wet foot/dry foot prior to Clinton's agreeing to send all Cuban migrants intercepted at sea back to Cuba, the matter got worse with Doris Meissner's 1999 procedural memo to the INS explicitly ordering the INS to process all Cuban migrants that reached US shores.

So, by Clinton administration policy the following procedures are implemented between the 1995 agreement, and the 1999 INS memo:

Hence "wet foot/dry foot".

E.O 12807 as signed by Bush the Younger, redefines the destination of illegal migrants intercepted at sea, and takes them to a neutral location for processing.

Bush effectively ends the practice of returning fleeing Cubans back to Castro's jails implemented by the Clinton administration.

By the way Freddy, you're still wrong on 12807 signed by Bush the Elder, which revokes Reagan’s 12324.

Reagan’s 12324 specifically orders the AG to take care "that no person who is a refugee will be returned without his consent", and further orders the AG to maintain a strict observation of "our international obligations concerning those who genuinely flee persecution in their homeland."-- EO 12324.

George Bush revoked EO #12324 with his 1992 E.O. 12807, to address the ongoing Haitian exodus, however, maintained Reagan’s instructions to the AG "that a person who is a refugee will not be returned without his consent"(source) thus allowing the continued practice of granting parole to all Cuban immigrants reaching the US via irregular means.

410 posted on 05/03/2003 8:35:59 PM PDT by Luis Gonzalez ("Palm Pilot, a nickname boys used to get when they reached puberty"---Dennis Miller)
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To: borderwatch200
You lied.

"I also noted that you did not comment on being a friend of Demetreo Perez, Jr."

You lied again.

"...you are a close friend of Demetrio Perez,Jr."

You lied, you don't even know me.

But then again, lying comes easy to you.

411 posted on 05/03/2003 8:38:37 PM PDT by Luis Gonzalez ("Palm Pilot, a nickname boys used to get when they reached puberty"---Dennis Miller)
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To: AbsoluteJustice; dirtboy
"The rise in diseases such as TB and other ilnesses have dramatically risen in Florida in conjunction with the dramatic rise of the Cuban population."

Now, it's time to start dealing with your lies.

"Less than 10 years ago, scientists were predicting the imminent eradication of tuberculosis in the United States."---Source.

That statement is significant in the fact that Cuban immigration had waned to its lowest point since Fidel's takeover in 1959, with the last significant wave of Cuban immigrants arriving in 1994. Cuban immigrants account for 25 out of the 1304 cases reported in Florida in 1998 (source), that works out to slightly under 2 out of every 100 cases...hardly "dramatic", wouldn't you say?

Now, TB is on the rise in the U.S., and people like yourself, looking to unleash your blatant bigotry on anyone, blame immigrants for it all, however, the fact is that the majority of the increase in TB cases is directly linked to the rise in HIV cases in the United States.

As many as 15 million Americans have latent TB, but people with HIV are either more vulnerable because their decreased ability to fight off infections, or more susceptible to new infections.---Source.

" According to the New York City Task Force on TB, urban areas are a breeding ground for TB, not because of immigration, but mostly because of high rates of HIV infection, homelessness and inadequate health care."---American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics.

You may want to look up the word "ethics", you lack them, as do your "sources".

412 posted on 05/03/2003 9:59:58 PM PDT by Luis Gonzalez ("Palm Pilot, a nickname boys used to get when they reached puberty"---Dennis Miller)
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To: Luis Gonzalez
"That's a lie. The genesis for the wet feet dry feet policy is the Clinton administration's Immigration agreement of 1995 with Cuba.

Luis, why would you characterize something well known to all immigration attorneys as a lie? Your invective shows no sign of abating - why is that, may I ask?

Even, or should I say especially, the USCG indicates E.O. 12807 as their support for wet feet / dry feet.

"There was no wet foot/dry foot prior to Clinton's agreeing to send all Cuban migrants intercepted at sea back to Cuba, the matter got worse with Doris Meissner's 1999 procedural memo to the INS explicitly ordering the INS to process all Cuban migrants that reached US shores.

There was no wet feet / dry feet for Cubans prior to the 1995 agreement, but that doesn't change the genesis of the policy. The 1995 agreement simply had the result of applying an existing policy to all nationalities, not all but one.

Meissner's 1999 policy memo was a good thing for Cubans, Luis - the 1996 IIRIRA specifically singled out '..arrival in the United States at a place other than an open port-of-entry...' [as] a ground of inadmissibility to the US. Had the INS ever fully followed this law, any Cuban rafter would have been denied admission. The memo clarifies that "However, after serious consideration of IIRIRA, the Service established that a Cuban national or citizen who arrives at a place other than an open port-of-entry may still be eligible for adjustment of status, if the Service has paroled the alien into the United States.". IOW, back to the existing status quo for Cubans.

As an aside, I get the distinct feeling that you are copying and pasting verbiage from sources other than yourself, shall we say, without attribution. Is that the case? That might explain what appears to be deliberate misrepresentations of the laws we are discussing.

"George Bush revoked EO #12324 with his 1992 E.O. 12807, to address the ongoing Haitian exodus, however, maintained Reagan’s instructions to the AG ...."

Actually, the instructions changed significantly between EO 12324 & 12807, Luis:

EO 12324:

"..provided, however, that no person who is a refugee will be returned without his consent.

to:

EO 12807:

...provided, however, that the Attorney General, in his unreviewable discretion, may decide that a person who is a refugee will not be returned without his consent.

Added more than a bit of leeway to the AG, as you can see, Luis. One might ask "What is a refugee" - in the eyes of the INS, as instructed by the Congress, it's a person who is fleeing a country due to political persecution (not economic hardship). That's why it's extremely difficult for say.., a Haitian to gain admission after illegal entry, and 'purt near impossible for a Mexican, too. I suspect that some of the impetus to apply existing law & policies to Cubans as well is the realization that, after the collapse of Cuba's patron state, the incidence of Cubans fleeing Cuba for economic, as opposed to political, reasons has risen dramatically.

"E.O 12807 as signed by Bush the Younger, redefines the destination of illegal migrants intercepted at sea, and takes them to a neutral location for processing.

Bush effectively ends the practice of returning fleeing Cubans back to Castro's jails implemented by the Clinton administration.

I think you're talking about EO 13276 here, Luis (W didn't sign an EO 12807). There's nothing in 13276 that precludes the return of a Cuban to Cuba. In some circles, 13276 is known as the 'anti-Elian' order, in that it says "If the Attorney General institutes such screening, then until a determination is made, the Attorney General shall provide for the custody, care, safety, transportation, and other needs of the aliens. The Attorney General shall continue to provide for the custody, care, safety, transportation, and other needs of aliens who are determined not to be persons in need of protection until such time as they are returned to their country of origin or transit.". Many attorneys believe that had this been in effect Thanksgiving weekend, 2000 that the Elian saga would have been about 1 month long, because he could not have been even temporarily paroled into US.

413 posted on 05/03/2003 10:24:01 PM PDT by Ready4Freddy
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To: Ready4Freddy
LOL!! Without attributing?

Check out my webpage and my archives at http://bulldogbulletin.lhhosting.com/page1.html, I don't need help with verbiage.

414 posted on 05/03/2003 10:38:16 PM PDT by Luis Gonzalez ("Palm Pilot, a nickname boys used to get when they reached puberty"---Dennis Miller)
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To: Ready4Freddy
"The 1995 agreement simply had the result of applying an existing policy to all nationalities, not all but one."

Clinton's 1995 agreement was made directly with Cuba, and specifically directed itself at Cuban migrants. If Clinton had decided to apply existing policy to all nationalities, he could have instructed the AG to instruct the INS to not parole any immigrants, from any nation, arriving on US soil under other than ordinary means. He didn't.

In spite of 12807, to the best of my recollection, Bush the Elder never returned Cuban migrants intercepted at sea to Cuba.

415 posted on 05/04/2003 6:34:16 AM PDT by Luis Gonzalez ("Palm Pilot, a nickname boys used to get when they reached puberty"---Dennis Miller)
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To: Luis Gonzalez
I have provided you with the facts and the links. You are Cuban or an immigrant so of course you do not want the truth to be known. Luis your agenda is apparent on these boards. Scientists may have been predicting it 10 years ago but guess what? The rise only happened in a couple places Luis and guess where that place is? Oh my my my that ONE of a couple places happened to be Miami. I have provided the facts for this and the dramatic rise in the cases of TB in Miami. The rises also go for the highest percentage of immigrants ie N.Y. So please spare us your not us tyrade and stick to the facts. I like how you pull the bigot card for anyone that does not like the current immigration policy. Like your Demonrat friends they prefer the label rascist. Please just uncover yourself Luis and say it that you would like to see the destruction of America before owning up to facts.
416 posted on 05/05/2003 5:05:59 AM PDT by AbsoluteJustice (Pounding the world like a battering ram. Forging the furnace for the final grand slam!!)
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To: AbsoluteJustice; dirtboy; Jim Robinson; bjs1779
I provided you with facts, and links from the Duke University Medical Center, the Online BMJ Medical Journal, The American Lung Association, and the online magazine from the American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics.

You discount their obvious findings and defend the slanted articles from anti-immigration organizations whose sole purpose for existing, is attacking immigrants to the United States.

You are a bigot, a racist, and ignorant fool, and your obvious hatred of Cubans, as well as your unwarranted direct attacks at me are transparent in their nature.

To claim that the Cuban immigrant community is responsible for the "dramatic" rise of TB in the State of Florida these past ten years, when there where less than three cases of a Cuban immigrant contracting TB in 1998 reported in the State, is not only ridiculous, but laughable.

Your kind of bigotry is an embarrasment to this forum, and people like yourself are the reason why Democrats find it so easy to play the race card against conservatives.

417 posted on 05/05/2003 5:29:55 AM PDT by Luis Gonzalez (The Ever So Humble Banana Republican)
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To: Luis Gonzalez; Jim Robinson
Please Luis spare me the bigot tyrade!!! You sending your tyrade to Jim Robinson to get me banned is not going to work. I have in no way used a racial epitath to describe a group of people and have not used a racial slur to describe anyone in particular. Please read from links above I have provided in reference to TB. Those were not from anti-immigration sites. Please spare me the labels and the attacks. Find for me where I have used a racial word. Stop pulling out the racist card you have done this in the past so this comes as no surprise except that cat aint gonna hunt here pal!!!
418 posted on 05/05/2003 6:02:56 AM PDT by AbsoluteJustice (Pounding the world like a battering ram. Forging the furnace for the final grand slam!!)
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To: AbsoluteJustice
Being a racist and a bigot have nothing to do with using racist words, it's your resorting to lies and misinformation to paint an entire community as spreaders of disease when the fats don't hold up to light, then dismissing the pertinent facts when provided by attacking my nationality, that makes you a bigot, and a racist.

I'm not trying to get you banned, I'm just exposing you for what you are, if you weren't any of those things that I accused you of being, then why would you be concerned and stage a defense?

419 posted on 05/05/2003 6:08:02 AM PDT by Luis Gonzalez (The Ever So Humble Banana Republican)
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To: Luis Gonzalez
Luis,
I have served with all walks of life having being a Marine veteran. I will not allow you to play Jesse Jackson politics and label me a bigot and racist I am a patriot plain and simple. You are doing no more than exposing yourself. Of course I am going to stage a defense from someone of the likes of you who is trying to smear me to quiet my voice.
420 posted on 05/05/2003 6:17:40 AM PDT by AbsoluteJustice (Pounding the world like a battering ram. Forging the furnace for the final grand slam!!)
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