Cal Thomas
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
UNTIL RECENTLY, the knock on the door in the middle of the night by armed agents of the state was the
history of Jews in Nazi Germany, or Russians in the old Soviet Union. It was the stuff of novels by
Arthur Koestler and Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. Then came Ruby Ridge and Waco and now Miami. No
wonder Fidel Castro praises Janet Reno and Bill Clinton. They performed as he would.
The frightening pictures tell the story of a 6-year-old boy seized by heavily armed and masked agents of the Clinton-Reno dictatorship. Reno claimed there were "reports'' of guns in the Gonzalez home. One recalls the "reports'' of child abuse at Waco to justify the assault that Reno turned into a crematorium. Beijing can't wait for the next American challenge to China's human rights record or a mention of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
There was a controlling legal authority in this case -- the courts. But Clinton and Reno couldn't wait. Family court was the place to settle the custody issue as well as determine what is in Elian's best interest.
The picture of that armed officer pointing his gun at Elian Gonzalez and the fisherman who plucked him from the Atlantic Ocean last Thanksgiving, has already burned into the minds of most people -- no matter what kind of head job the Clinton-Reno mind twisters do on the child or the public. The administration can't spin itself out of this. Our eyes can see what they did. We have the photographic equivalent of the stained dress.
This is America, not some third-world dictatorship where the wishes of top government officials are carried out by force. This wasn't a hostage situation or a crack house in need of raiding.
We are led to believe by those inside the administration that if Elian had not been seized, Castro would have released thousands of Cubans to flood Florida shores in this election year. So it would appear that Clinton-Reno were not acting in the best interests of Elian, but rather in the interests of the respective candidacies of Al Gore and Hillary Clinton.
This administration would not order attacks on Afghanistan during Ramadan. It has honored Jewish holidays. But for the mostly Catholic neighborhood of Little Havana in Miami, it didn't mind disrespecting the holiest weekend on the Christian calendar.
According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was ratified by the United States in 1992, the views of children must be respected. Elian Gonzalez gave notice in a signed
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This child will be returned to Cuba. Thus saith the Clinton Administration and Castro's religious agent, the National Council of Churches. Once America was a safe haven from communism.
Where are the Republicans in this? What happened to the pledge by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott to pass legislation granting citizenship to Elian Gonzalez? All we get from them are worthless after-the-fact condemnations.
Sen. Bob Graham, Florida Democrat, says President Clinton lied to him when he promised the boy would not be taken at night. Welcome to the legions of those lied to by this president, Senator.
If this is to be the policy of the U.S. government, let's take the torch from Lady Liberty's hand and
replace it with an automatic weapon, cover up the Emma Lazarus poem about sending your tired and
poor to our shores and post a "no trespassing'' sign instead. Padlock the Golden Door, because this is
not our parents' America. It does no good to cry "shame'' at this administration. They have none. The
shame will be on us if we don't cleanse ourselves from them and the one they would like to be their
heir in
