It was 18 years ago. The little boy, whose mother had died on the raft trip from Cuba. His Miami relatives wanted him to keep him, for freedom. His father, in Cuba, wanted him FUCKING BACK.
So Janet Reno -- was it Janet Reno? -- sent in a SWAT team to grab him up from his old uncles, to send him back to his father. The optics were terrible, the little boy screaming at what looked like the point of a gun. The Republicans were sure they had a winner on their hands.
But they weren't listening to the dads.
I was a single mother at the time, with my sweet little six-year-old of a buttercup of a son. I knew a lot of single dads, since I was dating them all. Fireman dads. Cop dads. Republican dads. And every one of them -- EVERY. ONE OF THEM -- was fucking furious .
Without fail, without exception, every one of them snarled, or shouted, "GIVE THAT MAN BACK HIS SON."
It's 18 years later, and the children are at the border. Here is the video the government gave out.
BREAKING: Border Patrol @CBP just gave us this video of the detention facility we toured yesterday in McAllen, Texa… https://t.co/gWKqIltn8s
— David Begnaud (@David Begnaud) 1529328908.0
And it's upsetting. Everyone except Ann Coulter is upset. (Breitbart is upset they're calling them "cages.") But Shy -- my husband -- is so incredibly more upset than I am. I feel a numbness in my gut, waiting for the next thing, which will surely be worse. But Shy is yelling. He's SO U MAD. He wants us to get in the Wonkebago and drive to the border, and put our bodies between the kids and ICE.
He just called our governor, yelling: WHAT IS STEVE BULLOCK GOING TO DO? He just called our Republican senator, Steve Daines, and told him he was going to hell.
Meanwhile, I'm just yelling at AP on Twitter like it's my job, because it is my job.
BREAKING: Homeland Security secretary won't apologize for enforcing laws that result in children being separated from parents.
— AP Politics (@AP Politics) 1529331773.0
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, AP. IT'S NOT THE LAW. IT'S NOT THE LAW. IT'S NOT THE LAW. KIRSTJEN NIELSEN'S A LIAR, AND IT'S NOT THE LAW.
Here's Kamala Harris, being as correct as my husband:
.@SenKamalaHarris calls for DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen @SecNielsen to resign
— Joe Garofoli (@Joe Garofoli) 1529346572.0
WHAT DO WE DO? Do we put the Democrat organizer who was going to stay in the housecar in our room instead, and hustle our asses down to Texas, or El Cajon, or fucking Elizabeth, New Jersey? Do we stay here, in Montana, and hold dumb signs in our town of 4000, calling the six women who've come canvassing to join us? Do we offer THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS? Or just tears and yells and angry phone calls?
Here's a Republican congressman in Texa s -- coincidentally, we're sure, a rare black Republican in the House! -- seeing that nothing good is coming:
While most Texas Republicans were not going out of their way to wade into the situation, one exception was [Will] Hurd, who represents a sprawling district that covers most of the Mexican border in Texas, including Tornillo. Hurd, regularly ranked as the most vulnerable Republican in the Texas delegation, visited the tent city Saturday and came back decrying it as an unacceptable way to combat illegal immigration.
Furthermore, Hurd rejected the argument that anyone but the Trump administration was responsible for the policy.
But the rest of them are too scared to do anything beyond "disagree." Like Susan Collins, and Paul Ryan, who both think, gee, we shouldn't take the kids away from their parents, but won't sign onto a bill to stop it.
The children reportedly aren't allowed to be physically comforted by staff -- and reportedly aren't allowed to even hug each other. The American Academy of Pediatrics is FREAKING OUT. Even Franklin Graham got some Jesus on him.
But here we are. So what do we do?
Remember Elian Gonzalez?
Ohhhh ok. So your point is that since, I’m your humble opinion, protesting the Vietnam War had no significant effect on ending it, we should not protest even when a fucking unabashed fascist con man is very publicly destroying the country? Lol. That’s your point? Well then the country is indeed fucked my friend. Thanks to logic like yours.
Yeah. Doubt that's a coincidence.