Ghosts of the Past
Anyone remember the Elian Gonzales to-do several years back? Well, if you’re a bit fuzzy on the details, never fear, because the same Senate Republicans who just told the American middle class to drop dead have decided that an even better use of their time is revisiting the whole over-the-top Gonzales fiasco. Via McClatchey:
Elian Gonzalez could play a role in the upcoming confirmation hearings for Barack Obama’s nominee for attorney general, with Senate Republicans requesting details from the Clinton presidential library and the Department of Justice of Eric Holder’s role in the 2000 seizure of the Cuban boy in Miami.
Eight Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee fired off letters last week to the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum in Little Rock, Ark., and to Attorney General Michael Mukasey seeking any documents prepared for or sent to Holder or his staff on a variety of Clinton-era controversies, including “the April 22, 2000, raid in Miami, Fla., by Border Patrol agents to take Elian Gonzalez into custody.”
Any time there’s a new administration riding into Washington, it seems like at least one appointee has to be the sacrificial lamb, having their nomination scuttled by something or other, usually something lacking any grand significance. Looks like this time it’s going to be Holder who gets either vigorously defended or thrown to the wolves, whichever the current script calls for.
And for all I know there may be valid reasons to oppose Holder. For starters, his role in the Mark Rich pardon, one of the seamier presidential pardons ever issued, sticks in my craw a bit.
But Elian Gonzales? Seriously? Can’t they do any better than that? Is this really their “A” material, dredging up memories of the constantly-fainting Marisleysis and the creepy fisherman who wasn’t really a fisherman? I mean, it certainly made for great spectacle (as I’m sure Moue’s Florida natives could attest), but as a reason to hold up the nomination of a U.S. Attorney General it’s beyond thin.
Maybe it’s a Hail Mary pass to try to find something to go along with the Rich pardon, or maybe it’s a sop to the hard-right portion of the Cuban-American community, regardless of the fact that both the numbers and influence of said community are dwindling. Whatever it is, it’s ridiculous. The only place the saga of Elian Gonzales has in American life is as a three-minute segment on one of those VH-1, D-list celebrity-infested “I Love the [insert past decade here]” shows, the ones constantly interrupted by commercials for the Shamwow.
If I recall correctly, the rallying cry for Operation Take Down Holder came from Karl Rove. So they obviously haven’t learned their lesson on that front.
Holder’s involvement in the Rich case isn’t sensational enough to grab headlines and whatnot. More concerning would be his involvement in that Chiquita case but that’s not really going to hit out at the Fox News audience, either.
So Elian it is.
True enough. Plus, I’m sure Marisleysis can still faint on cue.
“The only place the saga of Elian Gonzales has in American life is as a three-minute segment on one of those VH-1, D-list celebrity-infested “I Love the [insert past decade here]” shows, the ones constantly interrupted by commercials for the Shamwow.”
I hate to disagree (actually I love it) but I think the Elian Gonzales case deserves to be treated with more seriousness and scrutiny than mention on VH-1. The whole case illustrated a ridiculous abuse of power and fear of immigrants. Its not every day we actually get to see pictures of heavily armed government stormtroopers breaking down doors in order to deport one child.
P.S. Love the plug for the Shamwow; did you know it can hold 20x its weight in water?
I hate to disagree (actually I love it) but I think the Elian Gonzales case deserves to be treated with more seriousness and scrutiny than mention on VH-1.
Um… which Elian Gonzales case are you remembering? The one I remember had nothing to do with fear of immigrants and everything to do with the radically outsized influence of one political faction that claims to speak for an entire ethnic population but has, in reality, entirely sacrificed their interests for the sake of an untenable vendetta against Castro.
I’ll agree on the use-of-force overkill, but that’s the only governmental abuse of power that took place. Legally, logically, morally, the kid belonged in Cuba with his father. The only reason he hadn’t already been repatriated was that a few folks who really, really miss Fulgencio Batista were trying to score political points.
Regarding the Shamwow, I actually stand corrected. The proper capitalization is ShamWow. Gotta give the “wow” its equal weight.
[...] Will: Any time there’s a new administration riding into Washington, it seems like at least one appointee has to be the sacrificial lamb, having their nomination scuttled by something or other, usually something lacking any grand significance. Looks like this time it’s going to be Holder who gets either vigorously defended or thrown to the wolves, whichever the current script calls for. [...]
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