Joel Achenbach and Marjorie Williams
Marjorie:
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StumbleUponDid you see Reno at noon? I thought she was great, very strong, vintage Reno. I loved the unscripted speech about the beauty of Miami, and her comment about showing Castro how a democracy can solve a problem without violence, and her unusual personal aside about her father working 43 years as a cops reporter for the Miami Herald. She clearly is taking this case personally. This is a big moment for her; maybe she winds up looking like a hero.
But what happens now, Marjorie? It almost seems as though Reno is prepared to back down, temporarily at least. She essentially put off the 2 p.m. deadline for handing over Elián by saying it wouldn't be enforced with marshals. She probably has no choice but to sit on her hands, since there are, to judge from aerial views, roughly 20,000 Cuban exiles standing between the federal government and the boy.
Now that I've seen it a second time, the video of Elián seems really outrageous, since he's obviously being coached by someone off-screen. Did you catch Elián's reference to Reno as the "older woman" who came to town and wants to send him back to Cuba? I'm surprised the relatives didn't help Elián understand the situation by showing him one of the many posters of Reno right outside the house that depicts her with horns. ("Elián, this is the bad lady who wants to put you on the raft again.")
Reno probably could write an amazing tell-all about her career in Washington, but it wouldn't be her style; she's more likely to keep it all to herself even in retirement. Historians, years from now, will ask her about the fund-raising scandals and Monica and Waco and Elián, and she'll say, "The matter is still under investigation, and any further comment would be inappropriate at this time." You might be right, Marjorie, that a more distant and magisterial posture would have been appropriate for the current situation, but this is so unusual--there aren't any formulas to follow, so my guess is everyone's making up the rules and tactics as they go. I think Reno at noon really didn't know what she was going to do two hours later.
I wonder what the Dad will do when he finally gets his son back. I'm hoping he doesn't take off his belt and declare that it's time for a serious whipping. (How do you say "You're grounded" in Spanish?)
Thanks for the citation of Chuck.E. Cheese, giving me an opening for my big insight of the week: You know those playpens filled with little rubber balls? And how all these little kids dive into the balls and squirm around and laugh and scream? Not only are such playpens perfectly designed to spread germs among small children; they also could easily serve as a medical illustration for disease vectors, with the little balls representing individual cells, and the children representing viruses. That was the one feeble thought that survived a birthday party this past weekend.
By the way, the Nasdaq is rebounding. I haven't checked MicroStrategy yet to see whether Saylor has been able to restore the indoor Olympic-size pool or the polo fields to his blueprints. The problem with keeping track of the stock market is that there are now 95 billion different publicly traded companies. Most are companies no one's ever heard of. One of the big gainers on Nasdaq this week was "NrthldCrnbr." That's exactly what it said in the stock table. What the heck is "NrthldCrnbr"? Northland Cornbread?? Hello? Is there a sudden rush to cornbread stocks? I need a broker.
We've had a great week, Marjorie, it went by so fast! Thanks much.
Best regards,
Joel
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Reader Response from The Fray--to be read after the final entry:
Let me get this straight: they give out Pulitzer's for criticism [Monday]? Please--my heart is pounding, my blood pressure is rocketing, my hands now shake, please dear, please, please tell me, where do I sign up?
--Old Timer [who is well-known in The Fray for his expertise in this area.]
(To reply, click here.)
Re: Elian Gonzales. I believe that immigration laws should be as open and welcoming as possible. But at the same time we need to look at the long-term situation of the country the people are fleeing. There is not always a whole lot we can do, and we also run the risk of becoming control freak America with it's thumb in every pie--oh, hang on, we already are that. Well, anyway, my point is that instead of trying to pass a bill to make Elian a citizen, why don't we lift the embargo and make life a little better for all Cubans?
--Anne
(To reply, click here.)
"That's exactly what Castro wants us to do", I believe, is the stock response to either ending or continuing the embargo.
--Steve Dowling
(To reply, click here.)
[This response almost silenced David Edelstein, but not quite:]
The embargo is a 40-year hissy fit, and it's time to give it a rest. Say what you will against Castro (I can say plenty), he'd have been long gone if the embargo had been lifted 25 years ago and Disney and all the other U.S. corporations had moved in with their sundry inducements to free (sic) enterprise.
--David Edelstein
(To reply, click here.)
The question of why people hate Janet Reno [Thursday] is a bit intricate and since I do hate her, I'd like to take a stab at it--the question, not her (I don't hate anybody that much). Reno reminds me of the Greek tragedy Antigone which shows us that strict enforcement of the law, by the book, isn't always the best thing. The Waco invasion wasn't the best thing, for example. I believe the law justified her actions, that the operation was by the book. But that doesn't mean it was a good thing. With Elian, there's that potential again that Reno will embark on the legal course, but that it won't be the morally right course.
Reno does not respect people who defy her. She assumes they are wrong and she acts on that and she has a tremendous amount of power to enforce her interpretation of law. This is the crux of my anti-Renoism: She doesn't talk to people, she barks orders at them. When people ignore the lectures they get punished. Hey, that's her job. But it'd be nice to have a more philosophical sort wielding all that power--someone with a better sense of proportion who realizes that every act of defiance is unique and deserves unique treatment.
--Michael Maiello
(To reply, click here.)
Don Porges writes in The Fray about Thursday's entry:
The definition and connotations of "dice" are much more precise in naming the objects in question. My old TI-99 had a "random number generator" command in its BASIC programming. Since it was just code, it resembled nothing that would help baby get a new pair of shoes. Besides "dice" fits into a headline nicely.
--Charles
(To reply, click here.)
[No proposals this week. But that doesn't mean the Breakfast Table went unappreciated:]
These guys were the best. And that's granting that there were some close competitors. But Joel and Marjorie are the BT gold standard. The King and Queen are dead! Bring on next week's random number generators!
--Mike
(To reply, click here.)
(4/14)