Babalú and Stuck on the Palmetto: Birds of a Feather

Cuba to me is that defenseless 4-year old refugee girl named Elenita, not "Eliana," who has been fighting for her life virtually from the day that she was born. She represents the innocence and the suffering of our country. Abused by her mother and father, preyed upon by the despoilers of our country and even abandoned by Cuban exiles too weary or jaded to fight for her life, she is the personification of our belovèd homeland. To save her is the duty of every Cuban. Whoever turns her back on her is unworthy to call himself a Cuban or, indeed, a natural human being. It is that simple. By their reaction to her the patriots and the traitors sort themselves.

You don't have to guess, then, what I think about Henry Gómez or Alex of SotP, who are not only clamoring to drop her down Castro's well but who also advocated — both of them — the return of Elián to Cuba. They are to me the polarities of evil, the Damon and Pythias of "Cuban/'American-Cuban'" bloggers, one trying to destroy the eternal Cuba from the right and the other from the left.

Then we have Val and Rick. I used to think that despite his ignorance, obtuseness and insincerity, Val Prieto at least had a heart and that it would lead him right at times even when all else failed him. I based this opinion on the fact that he did express his desire once that this little girl be allowed to remain in the U.S., whereas Henry adamantly and indignantly refused to even say that much, more concerned with not being "used" by The Miami Herald than with saving the little girl's life. Now I know, by Val's own confession, that he is no better than Henry or Alex; worst, perhaps, because at least they had the conviction to avow their craven position from the first. On the Wednesday before last week's Balabú [Faux] Radio Hour, in a dismissive tone that would do justice to any executioner, Val said that if the little girl were ordered returned to Cuba, then so be it, because the guy, after all, is her father! And if her father wanted to rape her physically as he is doing spiritually, would that also be alright with Val, because, after all, he is her father? Val said something else that disturbed me — that he had never written a word on behalf of Elián because the subject was too "painful" for him. I bet it was a lot more painful for Elián.

So what do we have here: three Cubans and three moral reprobates, who have at least this in common — an absolute indifference to the life and future of defenseless children who happen to be also Castro's quarry. What should we make of this? For starters, that they have absolutely no human empathy or fellow feeling for our countrymen; and if they cannot even summon some degree of compassion for these helpless abused children, what may other Cubans who are not children expect from them?

Then there is Rick of SotP, the professional unCuban. I don't care what Rick thinks about Elián or this abused little girl. Anglos are not my judges as they are Henry's. This particular Anglo hates all Cubans who ever ventured outside of Cuba, including, we suspect, his houseboy at SotP. His racism and bigotry are as American and as disgusting as apple pie. He is undoubtedly the biggest basher of Cuban exiles on the blogosphere (other than those who are actually paid for the service). Although his disdain for Cubans is real and known to everybody, he is forever denying it. What he cannot deny, however, is his obsession with them. Indeed, his blog depends on Cuban exiles for its very existence because it is only posts about Cuba or Cubans that evoke the attention of SotP's readers. The other posts on SotP are virtual ghost towns, erected and maintained for the purpose of not seeming to be a Cuban-themed blog since the New Times requires "diversity" — even Rick's strange take on it — in order to bestow its worthless imprimatur as "Best Local Blog."

Val's ignorance is more dangerous than Rick's bigotry, which is also better contained in narrower bounds; but Val's ignorance could be remedied some day, perhaps by reading a book; Rick's bigotry, never.

And there you have them all in all their "glory" — the major players in the "Babalú-SotP" flame war, which I have dubbed the "War of the T-Shirts." They deserve one another and are more incestuously bound than anyone suspects.

How, then, could I choose between them now that they have ostensibly declared war on each other? All that I can say is that whatever the outcome, I, for one, will rejoice at the defeat of one while at the same time lamenting the victory of the other.

POSTSCRIPT:

Mambo Watch is in complete agreement with Val, Henry, Alex & Rick on "Elenita" and has come to roost with them.