This page ©1999 Chip Brown.

Let The Looting Begin

I want to make one somewhat humorous point and then my editorial on this whole Elian affair.

Is this kid's first name Little? Is anyone besides me sick of hearing him refered to as "Little" Elian?

The following is Chip's thoughts on this whole mess as it played out on TV this morning. It no way reflects anyone's opinion other than Chip's. You are all invited to post your thoughts on our new message board. To post your thoughts Click Here.

Begin Editorial:

"Please, don't do this I'll let you have the boy!" She screamed as the INS came into the house.

In my opinion and only that, I say if she wanted to avoid this she should have turned the boy over three weeks ago when the boy's father came to America.

This isn't a race issue, this isn't a Cuban issue, this isn't an American issue. This is an issue of the most basic rights of man, the right of a father and a child of being together. This is no different than your second cousin holding your kid and refusing to let you have him.

What we had is a small band of Cuban supposedly Americans trying to hold onto their 15 minutes of fame.

This shouldn't have happened. I can not be accused of being pro-government. Anyone that reads my articles can see that I am usually at odds with them. But in this case they had no choice.

How many of you fathers and mothers would like to have you child kept from you for five months?

Why the guns?
Because there is always a crowd around the house. This crowd has openly said they will block the authorities from taking this kid. The mayor of the town says he won't allow the police to help. There have even been reports of the family arming themselves. Lazzaro Gonzales this morning when asked if there were guns in the house, says if he had been armed the outcome this morning would have been different. That's why the agents had guns and that's why they should have.

Why at 5 in the morning?
The same reason. If you are going into an unknown situation, you go when there is the least resistance. This you do to protect the boy from violence no matter who initiates it.

Why a gun at the boys head?
The gun isn't pointed at anything and the finger wasn't on the trigger. She started out saying they came in screaming, then they came in screaming curse words, then they came in screaming curse words and waving guns, then they came in screaming curse words, waving guns, and hitting people over the head. She keeps adding to her story.

Why all of a sudden?
Sudden my rear, this has gone on for five months. The father has been in America for three weeks. How many of you fathers and mothers would like to have your child kept from you for five months?

Why traumatize the boy?
Who added trauma to the child? The agents who had to come for the kid that this family refused to give up or the family who kept him in a closet?

She said all they had to do was ask for the boy.
Oh my goodness, what have they been doing? Last week on CNN Lazzoro Gonzales was quoted as saying he will never give up the boy.

Why was the kid in the closet?
At 6:51 am the family said they had been keeping him there for his protection. At 8:28 am they say thats where he ran.

No person can say that there wasn't negotiations in this. For weeks the government has begged these people to give the child to his father.

What happens now?
Looting will begin. And whose fault is this? Is it the fault of the INS for taking the kid? Or is it the fault of a band of Cuban supposedly Americans who promote a band of people to stand outside their house. This man who goes outside and addresses the crowd every day. This man who everytime there is a mob takes this kid out and parades around with him on his shoulders. If I were this kid's dad you better believe I'd want this stopped! What if someone in this mob started throwing rocks or shooting? They say they were protecting this kid, is parading him up and down the street with a mob protecting him?

How about the news media in this?
I am actually surprised that they seem to be supporting the government in it's actions. I applaud that. What I would like to see is the news media leave the inside of the house and quit giving this family a platform to incite riots and encourage violence.

Why was the Miami Police not informed?
The Mayor had already said he wouldn't help, and had taken the side of the family. In Miami, the Mayor is also the head of the Miami Police department. There is no doubt in my mind if he had been informed, he would have told the family and the child, officers and family all would have been in more danger.

Who was the man in the closet?
Surprise! He isn't even a family member. He  is Denado Delrimple and was one of the two fishermen how supposedly rescued Elian from the ocean. How many of you know the two fishermen no longer speak to each other? One sides with the father, the other with the family.

Why did the negotiations break down?
I hold that there should have been no negotiations to start with. But there were and this is why they broke down. Reno wanted the family to bring the kid to Washington and live until the outcome of the trial. This she said was because they could secure the site. The government was willing to house and support all family members who wanted to travel with the child as long as it took. They felt that the crowds and media in Miami would not provide the most secure environment. The family stated they would never take the kid to Washington. Surprisingly now that the kid was taken the whole family intends to go this afternoon to Washington to protest. Maybe if they had done that three weeks ago none of this would have happened.

The Gonzales family say they are second generation American. Why then is there only one in the house that speaks English?

I fault the government for letting this drag out. The first day the father was in the country and this family refused to turn over the kid the government should have acted. I fault the family for sucking this for every minute of fame they can get. I fault the mayor for his lack of support of the legal authorities.

Now I understand the mayor, he has to get re-elected in a overwhelmingly Cuban community. Well, surprise, he's out of office anyway. Fame is a hard thing to give up. This family will latch onto the bandwagon. Watch what I'm telling you, next term a Gonzales will be the mayor of Miami.

Who says the kid wants asylum in this country? To get asylum you must prove you are likely to be persecuted if you return to your homeland. This kid will be a national hero. He is not entitled to asylum under our law. I have never heard the kid say he wanted it. So we're in court trying to decide if the kid can decide for himself. What if the kid, now that he's in his father's care simply says "I want to go to Cuba"? The lawsuit is a mute point and the kid then falls under his father's consent and off they go to Cuba.

Now, if I were President, of course you know I'm a nut, I'd start deporting people right and left. I'd deport the Cuban supposedly American who burnt our flag on TV this morning. I'd deport the Maislaysis girl who got on TV saying how bad America is. If they've decided they hate America now, I'd make sure they got a free trip back to Cuba.

I'd start deporting people who tried to incite a riot. The Maislaysis girl gets on TV and says Janet Reno is to blame for what happens now is openly asking the crowd to commit violence. This is inciting a riot and she deserves to be arrested.

Shoot, I'd deport people people whether they came from Cuba or not. I'd start with the mayor of Miami.

All Cubans aren't bad, don't get me wrong. Look at the ages of these hooligans who keep getting on TV spouting how bad America is. All in their thirties and early forties. Where are the old people? The elderly Cubans who came to this country legally or in boats in the 50's and 60's remember the freedom they received here and the conditions they came from.

The family should have quit calling the kid "Little" Elian and started calling him Juan's son some time ago.

I say the kid is now where he belongs, with his father. I say what you saw from this family is a grasp at 15 minutes of fame. I say the emotions you see on TV from them is a realization that their fifteen minutes of fame are over.

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