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Political child abuse
Miami's Cuban-American community is playing out the trauma of its exile by exploiting 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez.
By Bruce Shapiro
[01/13/00]

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A lawsuit against the FDA reveals documents that show even the agency's own scientists have doubts about the safety of genetically modified foods.
By Kristi Coale
[01/12/00]

Brain drain
A bill that would give visas to high-tech foreign students will exploit the greatest minds of the third world for the sake of American industry.
By Sarita Sarvate
[01/10/00]

Money can buy you love
Peter Eisner of the Center for Public Integrity talks about "The Buying of the President 2000."
By Alicia Montgomery
[01/10/00]

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Burton's current drive to keep the Gonzalez boy in the U.S. is not necessarily playing well with the public. A CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll indicates only 36 percent of Americans support keeping Elián in the U.S.; 56 percent believe he should be returned to Cuba. And a Gallup poll in May placed support for lifting the embargo against Cuba at 51 percent; and an overwhelming 71 percent would like to see the restoration of political ties with Havana.

To an increasing number of Americans, apparently, Fidel Castro seems more like Dr. Evil of Austin Powers infamy than the menacing potentate feared by previous generations. He's elderly, his revolution is fraying and people no longer see him as a credible threat. Instead, Cuba is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination for Mojito-swilling young Americans (who are more than willing to circumvent the current travel ban by booking flights through Canada or Mexico to bring back a few contraband cigars).

Many in the generation that came of age at the end of the Cold War have come to think of Cuba as a sort of Disneyland of communism, a must-visit for those who missed the Berlin Wall Experience and are confident that Cuba's jig will be up just as soon as the next massive wave of Western investment clears Old Havana's sea wall. And Burton will hardly be able to claim victory if Cuban communism collapses once Castro, who is reportedly losing his health, dies in office -- which seems highly likely .

Beyond his antipathy for Castro and his dependence on Cuban exile funds, Burton says he has yet another motive for advocating on behalf Elián Gonzáles. He explained on ABC's "This Week" that he was also compelled to intervene on the boy's behalf because of his own troubled youth.

"I came from an abusive home. My father went to prison for it. What would have happened if my mother had died and the courts awarded custody?" he asked a network interviewer. "These decisions must be the right ones. It is the right decision to delay this thing and study it for now."

Indeed, as Salon reported in 1998, Burton is the product of a broken home. But to those familiar with Burton's own widely reported shortcomings as a father, it was hard to interpret the newfound passion he seemed to find for parenting last week. In August, 1998, Burton admitted in an Indianapolis Star interview that he had an illegitimate son and had payed child support, but was unwilling to meet with the boy.

So, in the end, Burton's motives are nothing if not multi-layered. He seems to be trying to refurbish his paternal image, while seeking a way to keep the lucrative flow of Miami's "government in exile" cash pouring into his campaign coffers. And, regardless of whether the public cares or not, he's one of the last diehard anti-communists.

What his erstwhile constituents back in Indiana think of all this, and whether it will affec t his re-election chances, won't be known until November.

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