Morning, Michael,
I never view anything with certainty- you know that!
But I do think that you;'re confusing the issue of Elian's custody with the issue of abuse of government power.
This isn't a custody case- it was dismissed in Family Court, preemepted by the feds and the INS. The first ruling was in question anyway, because of a conflict of interest on the part of the judge. As far as custody goes, the temporary assignment to the relatives had been terminated.
This is why when you say the government can't order citzens to hand over a child I think you are wrong.
He wasn't THEIR child to keep. He IS Juan's. Our representative had gone to Cuba in Dec. to verify this. The relatives had no legal rights to Elian. They had been ordered to turn him over and refused.(oh- and wherever you read that Juan wasn't the father, which sounds like National INquirer stuff- goodness! there are PICTURES of him at birthday parties and with both Elian and Elizabet at the birth and beyond. The family had met him on a visit to Cuba. The family never alleged that garbage. They wanted JUan HERE.)
Whether the Miami relatives are the greatest people in the world or whether they are slime is irrelevant. Elian has a father. When Lazaro decided to ignore the order to return Elian and began making demands, he placed the government in an adversarial position. What did he think would happen? When the crowd swore to keep the government out- to form a human chain around the house,what did they think would happen?
I am baffled by why we don't hold everyone accountable for their roles in further provoking this situation. The government may have been acting politically, but so was everyone else. And I am very confused about the actual legal justification you say was missing for the raid because I understand there were warrants issued. I'm not qualified to comment on the legality of all this and believe that it will be dissected for a long time to come.
I am angry at the government, as are you, for the absurd position we are in now. Last night, I started thinking about the ridiculous amount of money we are spending keeping Elian in this country and pacifying Castro with these insane actions like flying children and teachers in when we have children watching relatives get shot right and left in the projects, children who see their mothers overdose and die, children's whose lives are far more severely limited than Juan's when it comes to healthcare, education, and possibility.
We SHOULD be asking for answers. I don't disagree with you at all. Some of the answers will satisfy some of us, and some not, but I don't think anyone here is convinced that this was handled WELL. |
