Their self-importance is their most obnoxious quality. It was on exhibit today in Val Prieto's refusal to express even one word of support for Posada Carriles' release or outrage over his treatment, lamenting, instead, the outrage which his excarceration might cause among the media. The media are Val's judges and the prospect of their outrage (at him and other Cubans) shakes every fiber of his sensitive being. He cannot live without their approval, or, failing that, their indifference.
Henry Gómez is not much better but thinks himself immensely better than Val at maneuvering the road that lies between principles and interests. In the Posada case, Henry believes that this path lies in agreeing to have the much-acquitted Posada tried yet again as Castro and Chávez are demanding, just so long as Posada's trial follows Castro's. This is Henry's idea of justice: everybody into the pyre and let God sort the guilty from the just. Worse even than his position on Posada Carriles is Henry's vile refusal to utter even one word in support of the claims to asylum of that 4-year old Cuban refugee girl, Elian's spiritual sister, whose custody the Castro regime is contesting in a Florida Family Court presided over by a judge who is on record as supporting the deportation of all Cubans to Cuba. Henry even accused me on another blog of being the only one who was stirring the pot on this case as if that were some kind of reproach.
Charlie Bravo has likened Val and Henry's condition to that of house slaves in the ante-bellum South, but I think this is a far too generous appraisal. Slaves, whether house or field, lived at the mercy of their masters and were obliged to satisfy their every whim and never to incur their wrath (if possible). If the house slaves were more obsequious than other slaves, it is because they had more to lose. No such justification exists for Val and Henry's cowering before the media, nor their habit of throwing any and all of their compatriots to the wolves to curry the wolf's favor.
Henry Gómez is not much better but thinks himself immensely better than Val at maneuvering the road that lies between principles and interests. In the Posada case, Henry believes that this path lies in agreeing to have the much-acquitted Posada tried yet again as Castro and Chávez are demanding, just so long as Posada's trial follows Castro's. This is Henry's idea of justice: everybody into the pyre and let God sort the guilty from the just. Worse even than his position on Posada Carriles is Henry's vile refusal to utter even one word in support of the claims to asylum of that 4-year old Cuban refugee girl, Elian's spiritual sister, whose custody the Castro regime is contesting in a Florida Family Court presided over by a judge who is on record as supporting the deportation of all Cubans to Cuba. Henry even accused me on another blog of being the only one who was stirring the pot on this case as if that were some kind of reproach.
Charlie Bravo has likened Val and Henry's condition to that of house slaves in the ante-bellum South, but I think this is a far too generous appraisal. Slaves, whether house or field, lived at the mercy of their masters and were obliged to satisfy their every whim and never to incur their wrath (if possible). If the house slaves were more obsequious than other slaves, it is because they had more to lose. No such justification exists for Val and Henry's cowering before the media, nor their habit of throwing any and all of their compatriots to the wolves to curry the wolf's favor.
1 comment:
Invariably I find that no comments are ever left on posts that expose the foibles of Val and Henry, although these, judging by page views, are the most popular. The explanation is that their "friends" love to see them taken down a peg or two, but are too afraid of breaking ranks with them to express their own opinions. Such a situation bespeaks more than it says.
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