|
Cubanismo Stay Home
Commentary by Scott
Shelby
Thank
you John Ashcroft! The UIS community missed out on a rare
cultural opportunity when the performers of Cubanismo were
denied visas and entry to the United States. Surely these artists
are no great threat to national security, but they are instead
victims of the xenophobic mania that threatens our cherished (and
constitutionally protected) civil rights.
As US,
Iraqi, Afghani, and coalition casualties mount, we at home mourn
the loss of our civil liberties. The American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) filed suit recently to challenge the total absence of
any procedure for citizens to examine and challenge the records
that are used to deny freedom of movement to those who have not
been convicted of any crime.
We are
further reminded that no real progress has been achieved in the
so-called “War on Terror”, but the costs in terms of human life,
tax dollars, and international goodwill have been enormous. Sure,
Saddam Hussein was deposed, but in favor of what, exactly? And am
I the only one who remembers that Osama bin Laden, and not
Hussein, was the criminal mastermind behind the attack that
prompted this misguided “war”?
 I
know where the weapons of mass destruction are: at this very
moment they sit in plush offices, in the White House and its
outbuildings, congratulating each other on a successful parlor
trick accomplished through misdirection and obfuscation. They
have done nothing to make us safer, but they have made it risky
for Americans to travel, at home and abroad. At least they are
successfully protecting us from militant Cuban dancers.
When I
called the Transportation Security Administration recently to
inquire about the much-hyped do-not-fly list, I was told that such
a list did not exist. However, the call-center employee added, if
I or a loved one is on the list (that does not exist) we would
have no way of finding this out until we showed up at the airport,
ticket in hand, and were denied a boarding pass.
I do
not deny that terrorists exist, or that many terrorist groups
target US interests whenever possible. I do not agree with the
tactics of terrorists that target the innocent. I do, however,
take issue with the assertion made by our president that the
terrorists are motivated by hatred of American freedoms.
These
desperate men and women who see themselves as champions of the
powerless have a very different worldview than the pampered
usurper who currently occupies our nation’s highest office. We
are targets for terrorists because of the freedom of American
corporations to pillage the world’s resources for selfish gain
with impunity, not because of the revolutionary freedoms enshrined
in our constitution.
This
distinction fails to impress the most powerful frat boy on earth,
but it is vitally important for those of us who truly value the
liberties on which our nation was founded. Ashcroft may have led
the assault on our constitutional protections, but his battle plan
was dictated from above. It will take more than a lawsuit from
the ACLU to undue the damage he has done.
Ashcroft made it clear from the start that he was willing to bow
to the demands of the junta to whom he owed his position, and soon
he, too, will be sacrificed. The Bush administration covets
plausible deniability for its failure to act to prevent legitimate
threats to national security, and Ashcroft will be the whipping
boy.
Those
who support the Bush cult are not any more protected from the
unilateral strategy of the administration than its detractors, or
for that matter a musical and dance act from Cuba seeking only the
chance to perform in the “sweet land of liberty”. But sadly, for
the Cubans, for their audience, and for our nation, we are afraid
to let freedom ring.
|
