From: Judy Folkenberg 

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--------------9E7F961B3F10B213F160D141
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit



Tanj wrote:

> < hostage (what law do you find allows a child to be taken from its parent
> because you think you might be able to give it more toys?), and it had to
> end.  They were hardly behaving pleasantly or showing signs of bargaining in
> good faith.  It was clear they had no intent to give up the child short of
> use of force, which bluff was called.
>

Thank you Tanj.  (BTW, this has been driving me crazy...your first name is
unusual.  I've been trying to guess its ethnic origin.)

I've never seen so many silly men (with the exception of a few of you) make
so many absurd statements.  I know this is sexest (and lord forgive me
), but come on.

Let's get some facts straight.  (1) Elian's Miami "family" were
in violation of a custody order.  Period.  In the United States if one mate
of divorced couple keeps a child or runs off with the child in violation of
the custody order, it's
called kidnapping and the police are sent to try and get the child back. 
In this case, we don't even have ex-mate vs. ex-mate, but family of ex-mate
vs. ex-mate.

(2) And how many of you know that Elian's father had primary custody of Elian in
Cuba?  I don't see any raised hands.  He had Elian five days of the week and his
ex-wife had him for only two--she in effect kidnapped the child.  BTW, it's very
unusual for a court in a hispanic country to award primary custody to the
father--unless there's something really amiss with the mother.

(3)  How many of you would want your child raised by a family whose members
have two felony charges against them, two DWI charges against the chief
paternal
figure, three hospitalizations for mental disorders for the chief maternal
figure BEFORE Elian's arrival, and who kept your child out of school and
away from playmates, and where there was constant circus of chanters and
media outside the home?

(4) And this point has not been raised.  Let's turn the tables.  Suppose
the wife of young Cuban-American couple (who were both born in this
country, but whose parents had left Cuba) who was separated from her
husband flew to Cuba with her young five-year-old daughter to visit her
maternal relatives.  Suppose the mother dropped dead of some medical
disorder and her relatives decided to keep the five-year old....DESPITE the
fact that the American husband had joint custory, DESPITE the fact that
both grandparents wanted the little US Citizen back in this country.   I
can see the uproar (and rightly so) that would ensue.

DId I flinch when I saw the photo of the masked gunman in the house?  Of
course.  But I glad Janet Reno didn't flinch.  And that masked gunman would
never have been necessary if Elian's Miami family had obeyed the law and
stopped
using the child as a political pawn.

Let's keep it straight.  Elian's mother died and he has an apparently
loving father to whom courts awarded him primary custody.  He deserves to
be his father.  We start enjecting politics into this we're all going to
lose in the long run.

Judy





--------------9E7F961B3F10B213F160D141
Content-Type: text/x-vcard; charset=us-ascii;
 name="folkenj.vcf"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Description: Card for Judy Folkenberg
Content-Disposition: attachment;
 filename="folkenj.vcf"

begin:vcard
n:Folkenberg;Judy
tel;work:301-435-3274
x-mozilla-html:FALSE
adr:;;;;;;
version:2.1
email;internet:folkenj{at}nlm.nih.gov
fn:Judy Folkenberg
end:vcard

--------------9E7F961B3F10B213F160D141--

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5