One of the most despicable acts of the Clinton administration was the way it turned an innocent young boy over to the murderous dictator Fidel Castro. A lot of people pretended to uphold parental discretion in this matter, saying it should be up to the father where the kid should go. Of course, this is probably the only time in their lives that these people ever favored parental custody. When it comes to abortion, or sex education, school choice, or health care — they are usually in favor of the government’s prerogative over parental control.
There were also a few gullible conservatives who actually bought this line about parental rights, too. In their case, they probably thought they were being consistent in upholding their principles.
The problem is, we don’t have any way of knowing what Elián’s father really wanted. The Clinton administration took pains not to find out.
Here’s an example of how parents are not allowed to be parents when they live under the thumb of Fidel’s soulmates:
The KBG’s long war against Rudolf Nureyev
The KGB, however, wanted him back. His celebrated teacher, Alexander Pushkin, and his devoted student friend, Tamara Zakrzhevskaya, were ordered to write pleading letters; his father, a loyal communist, was pressed to fetch him; and Soviet sympathisers in Paris tried to destroy his confidence by pelting him with missiles and catcalls on stage.
When these efforts failed, the KGB made other plans, one of which was to break his legs. He was tried in his absence and sentenced to seven years in prison as a traitor.
Next, the KGB turned to his friends. Pushkin was repeatedly questioned, and suffered a heart attack.
The careers of Leonid Romankov and his twin sister Liuba, scientists whose interest in literature and art had stimulated Nureyev, were blighted because of their friendship with him. Tamara Zakrzhevskaya was expelled from university, and forbidden to travel even to Eastern Europe for 30 years, for the crime of knowing him.
and
In the weeks after his defection, Nureyev was lonely and depressed. He telephoned home: his father refused to speak to him, but his mother tugged at his heart-strings, with the KGB keenly listening in.
He called East Berlin to speak to the handsome German student, Teja Kremke, with whom he had had an affair in Leningrad. This time the Stasi were listening.
I suspect that many of those on the left knew very well that they were partners in a similar action against Elián. They certainly tried very hard not to show any glimmer of understanding when things such as this were described to them.