"For my family it has always been, we always have the desire to say to the American people, to say to each household our gratitude, appreciation and love that we have.... Perhaps one day we could pay a visit to the United States. I could personally thank those people who helped us, who were there by our side. Because we're so grateful for what they did."ADDED: Back in May 2000, Steve Martin had a humor piece in The New Yorker, written in the voice of Elian Gonzales:
Yes, the photos were doctored. I was taken to a little room, where a photographer held me at gunpoint. Janet Reno came in and started into her irresistible shtick and I burst out laughing. The photo was snapped, and my head was Photoshopped onto another kid’s body. I was then taken to a play yard, where a man masquerading as my father threw a Nerf Ball that I was supposed to chase. My own father is quite fat, certainly not as attractive as the man who was chosen to pose as him... When I finally got back into Cuba, I was placed in a wooden box, which was then suspended from a scaffold in the town square while Castro himself held the ropes. I can still hear him saying, “Zees ees what happeeens to leettle boyz who sail acrozz zee sea.” ... All this just to make Castro look good. I think that this event was what made it possible for him to snag and marry Jennifer Lopez.... I guess blood is thicker than water.Maybe in 2000 that was funny. Here's the photograph that was taken on April 22, 2000:
Is it funny now?
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43 comments:
A truly despicable event in American history. Bill Clinton was a crap President. At no time did he, or anyone in his administration, say that life in America would be better for that boy.
I wonder how much he is given by the government to keep him there and whether he will ever be allowed to visit the US. What a fiasco it would be if he escaped !
Hillary should be peppered with questions about everything Bill Clinton did.
Even Free Range children are not free in Cuba so the USA was a better place. But Obama is changing that over sight so the USA is now catching up to Cuba and Venezuela. Who needs freedom when the State says it loves you.
How anyone could ever believe that photograph was real is beyond me.
You've got to believe that the guy with the camera is just waiting there, the officer completely ignores the person with the camera, and then somehow, while the cameraman isn't at all surprised, the people hiding in the closet are surprised?
I guess we have a gullible society.
Hillary should be peppered with questions about everything Bill Clinton did.
To the extent she ever takes any questions, she will not ever give a straight answer, especially about Bill.
"What difference, at this point, does it make?"
Eric, are you stupid? Who said anything about surprised? I don't see surprised, I see hysterical. Is THAT hard to believe?
At least the fearless warrior there observed Rule 3. Wonder if he wwent home and threw up.
Is it funny now?
It wasn't funny to some of us then. Between Waco, Ruby Ridge, and Elian Gonzalez, Janet Reno showed a herself quite ready to use violence against anyone who disagreed with her.
I'm from the left, I am here to help you. Don't worry, a few years of "proper education" and you will be saying all the right things!
Hillary should be peppered with questions about everything Bill Clinton did.
Questions about stuff she actually did will do fine, thanks for your concern trolling.
Liberalism. Is there anything it can't fuck up?
His beautiful mother Elizabeth Brotons Rodriguez, lost at sea. The current would have taken her bloated body to within sight of Miami beach, where she then sank to the bottom to feed the fish. Nibble by nibble, only her Rosary and bones remain scattered on the ocean floor.
Janet Reno had a thing about kids, didn't she?
Elian Gonzalez made George Bush president. Democrat operative knew how many votes they had to manufacture to steal Florida, as with Illinois in 1960.
Or they *thought* they knew. But they did not count on the 98% Cuban American turn-out to vote Republican, so even with the intentionally media suppression of Republican voting in west Florida, and the scrapping of thousands of military mail-in ballots ... they "mis-underestimated" the situation.
In the end every single full-state recount showed that Bush won Florida by more than the official 523 votes of SCOTUS fame. In fact most recount methods had Bush winning by just about the differential of Cuban-American voter turnout, compared to 1996.
Muchissimas gracias, Elian. You saved us from that psychotic idiot, Al Gore.
Janet Reno was worse than Eric Holder.
Eric tell us how much the cop was paid to stage the photo.
"Hillary should be peppered with questions about everything Bill Clinton did"
Waco is a biggie. Many sources say Hillary pressured for the raid that took the lives of 76, including 16 under the age of 10. If such an indisputably enormous blunder was purely Reno's call -- as Bill always claimed -- she would not have continued as AG for another seven years.
But for Waco there would not have been Oklahoma City, which killed 168 including 19 kids. (This is not to take away any blame from McVeigh -- but Waco was his motivation.)
I hold no illusions regarding the totalitarian prison that has been Cuba under the Castro brothers.
But it was the correct decision to send the boy back. I told my Cuban friends when the situation arose that the anti-Castro community was hitching their wagon to a dead mule, because no matter whether the boy stayed here or went back, Castro would win. If he went back Castro gets the benefits which he has obviously exploited since then. If he stayed in the USA, Castro would get a propoganda gift far beyond what he received from sending the boy back.
Beyond that, it was the right thing to do. Imagine, if you will, a Chinese-American woman scientist going back with her young son to visit China, where she unexpectedly dies. The father in the US petitions the ChiComs to return his son to him. "Why, of course not" they reply. "We'll be happy to raise the boy with his relatives in our workers paradise. Surely it's not in his best interest to grow up in your corrupt capatlistic society."
Shoe, meet other foot.
The courts here had ruled the father was a fit parent and that Elian must be returned to him. End of story.
Bart Hall, you are right on!
Wilbur -
Elian was not "visiting" relatives in Miami and his mother was not travelling to the US on a sabbatical. Your analogy is poor.
Remember when Al Gore said he thought the dispute should be handled in family court, with Elian's dad present? That was a much better approach to the problem than George Bush's give-the-boy-citizenship campaign quip. And certainly better than what happened.
Hillary should be peppered with questions about everything Bill Clinton did.
I normally don't ask people to defend their spouse's actions, but since her campaign is
1) "Dude, I have a vagina!"
and
2) Hey, my husband was President when times were good.
It seems fair.
I'd also ask about why enforcement of securities and accounting laws were so completely lax under her husband.
It wasn't funny to some of us then. Between Waco, Ruby Ridge, and Elian Gonzalez, Janet Reno showed a herself quite ready to use violence against anyone who disagreed with her.
Never mind her travesties of justice in FL.
Her prosecutions that brought her fame were utter bullshit and her treatment of the falsely accused should've led to prison time.
The courts here had ruled the father was a fit parent and that Elian must be returned to him. End of story.
It's the gusto with which they carried out the order, the photo above was Reno's great gift to the cause.
Unknown said...
Eric, are you stupid?
Yes, of course.
Who said anything about surprised? I don't see surprised, I see hysterical. Is THAT hard to believe?
You are correct - the kid's relative called in the photographer:
"In the confusion, Armando Gutierrez called in Alan Diaz, of the Associated Press, to enter the house and entered a room with Elián, .... They waited in the room listening to agents searching the house. Diaz took a widely publicized photograph of a border patrol agent confronting Dalrymple and the boy."
The Steve Martin piece was never funny. But this was. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc0TVQfRuYM
I don't see surprised, I see hysterical. Is THAT hard to believe?
I see it as staged as well. The LEO is completely vulnerable. The rifle is not secure. He's pointing the rifle at an unarmed man.
Why was there a photographer?
He did manage to keep his booger hook off the boom switch.
Scott said...
Janet Reno was worse than Eric Holder.
Re, Waco bikers: "In my nearly 35 years of law enforcement experience," he said, "this is the most violent and gruesome scene that I have dealt with."
I guess he missed the 76 people that Reno had murdered in/near the same town.
Wilbur must have followed a totally different account of the Elian mess than I did.
What I saw was a woman who was so desperate to leave that commie hellhole that she took a chance on her own life, and her son's, for the opportunity for her and her son to live free. A decision that, according to all available reports, the boy's father had no issue with. It wasn't until Castro knew he could get some free propaganda, a job the media and a shadowy leftist organization called the "National Council of Churches" had no issue helping with, that the father "decided" he wanted his son back in Cuba. Which I called bullshit on then, and still do to this day.
I'm glad that the folks on this page still have an issue with how all of this played out. As I remember, most Americans had no problem with using armed force to separate a kid from his closest family. It was then that I knew our country was going down the toilet. The conclusion I drew from all of this: a too-high percentage of Americans are too selfish to be vigilant about freedom.
Except, Wilber, Elian's family in Cuba was the State.
Basically we sent a kid to prison.
"Jack Wayne said...
Janet Reno had a thing about kids, didn't she?"
Maybe because she never fathered any.
damikesc said...
Never mind her travesties of justice in FL.
I first read that as transvestites of justice, and was about to point out that those rumors were never definitively proven.
That photo HAS to be fake! Because as every "liberal" State-fellator can tell you, nothing even remotely like that ever happens when statists are in charge!
Also, it was the Clinton administration. Attorney General "Jackboots Janet" Reno (the Clintonista answer to Rosa Klebb) would never have had a gun pointed at a child. She would have just caused a "mysterious" fire to break out and incinerate the kid.
"Why was there a photographer?"
Maybe to make sure the serfs would get the message about what happens when you screw with Big Brother? Not sure that actually worked, but I remember when State-fellators such as "conservative" Garry Wills pretty much had an orgasm over that photo. They were like Stewie on FAMILY GUY when he put the hurt on Brian for reneging on a bet. "This is what happens, man!" he said while beating Brian to a pulp. "This is what happens!"
It might be said that Elian's mother fleeing Cuba with Elian was a win-win for Elian, regardless of how things turned out. If Elian remained in the US, that would have been a win for him: more freedom and better material conditions. Elian's being returned to Cuba was a win for Elian when one compares the changed conditions for Elian in Cuba.
Before Elian and his mother left Cuba, they lived under the "everyone is equally poor" conditions of the average Cuban, where an egg is a luxury item. When Elian was returned to Cuba, he and his father were given access to material goods the average Cuban doesn't have. Compared to living in the US, Elian was worse off being returned to Cuba. But compared to the material conditions he and his mother lived under before going to Florida, Elian was better off after his return to Cuba.
Life is better for the Nomenklatura, who do not live under the "everyone is equally poor" conditions of the average Cuban. By virtue of being a propaganda coup for Fidel, Elian and his father were given privileges normally accruing only to the Nomenklatura.
Which brings forth another point. All of the Fidelista PSF [Pendejos Sin Fronteras can apply to Cuba as well as Venezuela.] who preach to us about the "equality" of Cuba conveniently leave out the comfortable conditions of the Nomenklatura in the "equality" claim.
Scratch a lefties, and you'll find a tyrant scah-reeming to come out.
- Krumhorn
It's a lot harder for lefties to airbrush photos than it used to be, so now they just push hair-brained conspiracy theories. Sorry, but modern Photoshop quality fakes were not possible at the time, any more than kerning typewriters that could predict MS Word layout to the pixel existed in 1972.
These details are not at all bothersome to lefties, who are, after all, "comfortable with ambiguity."
Which brings forth another point. All of the Fidelista PSF [Pendejos Sin Fronteras can apply to Cuba as well as Venezuela.] who preach to us about the "equality" of Cuba conveniently leave out the comfortable conditions of the Nomenklatura in the "equality" claim.
It's a shithole.
That's all you have to say, "It's a shithole."
The Cuban coast guard throws grenades at Cubans trying to swim to Guantanamo to escape. Whaddacuntry!
As for claims now that the picture is fake, that is pretty funny, but it reminded me of the whole Dan Rather thing, and you know what? Those forgeries were planted by Karl Rove! Just ask a Democrat!
Some Democratic critics of Bush suggested that the memos were produced by the Bush campaign to discredit the media's reporting on Bush's National Guard service. The chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Terry McAuliffe, suggested that the memos might have originated with long-time Bush strategist Karl Rove. McAuliffe told reporters on September 10, "I can tell you that nobody at the Democratic National Committee or groups associated with us were involved in any way with these documents," he said. "I'm just saying that I would ask Karl Rove the same question."[135][136] McAuliffe later pointed out that Rove and another Republican operative, Ralph E. Reed, Jr., had "a known history of dirty tricks," and he asked whether Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie would rule out any involvement by GOP consultant Roger Stone.[137][138] At a community forum in Utica, New York in 2005, U.S. Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) pointed out that the controversy served Rove's objectives: "Once they did that, then it undermined everything else about Bush's draft dodging. ... That had the effect of taking the whole issue away."
And yet they come back again and again. I think Flannery O'Conner said about ducks that they "wake up to a brand new world each day." Lefties are like that. No-one is saying that it is not an attractive ideology, all about fairness, justice, fix all the economic problems, etc. It just never seems to work.
Janet Reno was worse than Eric Holder.
I don't disagree.
But talk about a low bar to clear.
Big Mike said...
"Is it funny now?
It wasn't funny to some of us then. Between Waco, Ruby Ridge, and Elian Gonzalez, Janet Reno showed a herself quite ready to use violence against anyone who disagreed with her."
One small disagreement. George HW Bush was still president during Ruby Ridge. I remember it because I happened to be visiting Sandpoint ID one afternoon while the event was unfolding.
Next to Reno, Holder is a saint. In addition to immolating children as AG, she helped kick-off the day care sex abuse hysteria back when she was a FL state's attorney. She had to kill and destroy children in order to "save them".
"George HW Bush was still president during Ruby Ridge. I remember it because I happened to be visiting Sandpoint ID one afternoon while the event was unfolding. "
I was there shortly after. The anger at the FBI and the BATF was still at a high pitch. That FBI sniper should stay away from Idaho since they probably still remember him.
Janet Reno had something big on Clinton. Or Clintons. I have always assumed it had something to do with Waco. Bill skated away from that one like everything else. He had to have been involved, very involved, in the decision to attack, and Janet saved his ass.
The fact that it happened on his watch does not seem to matter at all to anyone. Imagine if it had been Reagan or Bush as President when that occurred.
Or it could have been something else. Worse than Waco? How does it get worse than that?
The fact that it happened on his watch does not seem to matter at all to anyone. Imagine if it had been Reagan or Bush as President when that occurred.
Hell, Bush is still blamed for 9/11 which was planned long before he entered office.
Waco was even worse because it was not needed. Koresh was known to LEAVE THE COMPOUND AND GO TO THE CITY regularly. All they had to do was wait.
No, it's not funny now. It wasn't funny in 2000, either. The only reason the boy was returned to the island prison known as Cuba is that the President of the United States at the time was another Democrat Castro boot licker. It is almost certain that Elian would be a U.S. citizen today were a Republican in the White House at the time.
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