A mighty woman with a torch

"...Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..." Emma Lazarus wrote the poem "The New Colassus" but never lived to see it engraved at the foot of the Statue of Liberty in 1901. Elian Gonzalez mother didn't live to see him reach the shores of America, where she hoped they could live a life of freedom.

Elian's mother lost her life to give her son the chance to live what I live everyday and what I am ashamed to say I rarely give a second thought. This freedom that I take for granted was so vital to Elian's mother she boarded a rickety boat and battled the ravages of nature seeking it. The thought is awe-inspiring and at the same time - humbling.

Some of the pundits have tried to shame those who support keeping the child here, on the premise that we think Disney World and shiny new toys are superior to paternal ties. Maureen Dowd wrote, "Elian vindicates our culture: celebrity status, play dates with Diane Sawyer and a free pass to Disney World outweigh blood ties." Yes that's it. We're so vain and materialistic we think that simply because we can give him Disney World he should stay. Those of us who hope he will be able to stay think he'd be better off because he can ride the flying elephants rather than live with his father.

That's like saying the 12 million immigrants who came through Ellis Island in the early 1900s did so just to get a peek at the Statue of Liberty. It's not the flying elephant ride at Disney, it's what it represents. It represents a country that is prosperous and free and I refuse to apologize for the fact this country recognizes and emphasizes that economic and political freedom are symbiotic. Like a pair of scissors - one side can't function properly without the other.

Is it that Dowd and others like her are embarrassed by this country's wealth? Why should we apologize for having so much when others have so little? Shouldn't we instead be grateful and work to assist others who want to obtain the wealth that we have? Instead we often try to take wealth away from those who have it - as if they should be ashamed for working hard. As the communists leaders (and others of socialist ilk) believe - you work hard, I sit around on my ass - you give me your money. What a bargain!

In PJ O'Rourke's Eat The Rich chapter on Cuba he points out how the only area in Havana, which is not crawling with tired, poor and huddled masses, is the area where they have the BMWs, beautiful mansions and royal palms. This also happens to be where the government officials live. The lessons from the previous century should have taught us that dictatorships - communist or otherwise - have strewn human carnage wherever they have been instituted.

Because of our riches people with debilitating and fatal diseases are cured at increasing rates. Growing numbers of people can obtain a higher education. More people are able to contribute money to 401(k) plans and IRAs ensuring themselves a brighter future when they reach retirement. And as for our political freedom we can rant and rave on the Internet, TV, radio and newspapers about our dislike of government and never fear a "knock on our door at night." Try that one in Cuba.

According to a recent Gallup Poll, 2/3 of those polled think Elian should be sent back to Cuba and 50% think the Clinton administration "...is making the decision based on what it feels is in the best interest of U.S. relations with Cuba." It's in our best interest to make nice to a scum sucking communist dictator who imprisons and kills people who disagree with his philosophy of totalitarianism? When did that happen?

This great nation once welcomed those, who in an effort to escape tyranny and oppression, washed up on its shores "yearning to breathe free." How many of the 66% of you who think he should be sent back, have considered where you'd be today if the U.S. government had taken that same position with your grandparents and your great-grandparents?

Dr. Marta Molina, a Cuban-born psychologist, told the Associated Press that if returned "...the boy would be taken into seclusion in order to be reindoctrinated in communist ideology. He would be pressured to erase any positive memories of his stay in the United States...he also will be told that his mother was a traitor... because she left Cuba illegally."

"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Thomas Jefferson