hither Elian? In certain ways, when it comes to the latest American obsession, I’ve been there. I was a one-year old (or Elian "-5") when my mother, a nurse, picked up and moved us to the England. While there, I lived for several years with a foster family and saw Mom on the weekends. I was eight (Elian "+2") when my mother applied for a job with a New York City hospital. The two of us "hopped across the pond," as the saying goes. Neither Trinidad nor the UK are comparable to Cuba in terms of oppression. But still a mother and her young son decided to leave an island home for opportunity across the sea. It was a decision on my mother's part for which I've forever been grateful.

At the same time, there is always that "what if?" What if she had, God forbid, become ill or worse? What would have been my fate? Back to Trinidad to live with my father? With relatives in the UK? Who can say?

On the face of it, then, one would think I should instinctively be supportive of Elian staying here. And, early on, I did — to a point. But I have also worked with many conservatives (and liberals too, for that matter) who have worked tirelessly on issues involving fathers and their children. It seemed to me that this was not as cut and dried as I first thought. A trip to visit Mom outside Miami around Christmas forced even more considerations.

And so, call me deeply conflicted. I’m not thrilled to be seen as making strange bedfellows with the Left on this issue. On the other hand, I am profoundly disturbed by the actions of Elian’s Miami relatives and how they demonstrate what they feel is in the "best interests" of the boy.

NR's John Derbyshire observes the "inversions" that this case has created, including the fact that the Left has suddenly discovered "family values" and Janet Reno seems to reject charges of child abuse she would have once accepted blindly. Unfortunately, my colleague trains his eye on only one side of the "inversion" wall. While the hypocrisy of the Left is on full display, the inconsistency on the right is a little disturbing as well. The "family values" issue extends to far more than just disagreeing with whether a young boy should be reunited with his father (albeit in a Communist country). The right is currently rejecting many of the strongest arguments it has made in the area of family social policy over the last decade.

In a previous column, I mentioned how Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) brought up the abuse he and other family members endured at the hands of his father. The point then was Burton’s readiness to use the "victim" card to make a political point. But Burton's example highlighted a far more troublesome issue. He said, basically, that his experience made him sympathetic to the unsupported charge that Juan Miguel Gonzalez was an abusive father and, therefore, "unfit."

This is the story that the Miami family's latest lawyer, Jose Garcia-Pedrosia tells NRO: "Elián’s father and mother divorced even before he was born because he used to beat her up in front of the child." Huh? This statement is contradictory on its face. Garcia-Pedrosia goes on to say that the family was not previously "permitted" to talk about this abuse and Gonzalez's history of beating Elian up. He doesn't explain why. The lawyer cites Gonzalez's statement that he wanted to take up arms against the people who had taken his son as evidence that the father is unstable. Would Garcia-Pedrosia then suggest that the Miamians chanting "War! War! War!" at the thought of Janet Reno taking Elian are advocating insurrection? Furthermore, it is puzzling that the family was pained to explain previously that Elian's father had called ahead to let everyone know that the boy and mother were on their way. Odd that a father allegedly so abusive and controlling that he beat his former wife and his son, was yet concerned enough to let his relatives know that his son and ex-wife were making a break for freedom.

Of course, that story in itself is strange. Gonzalez's call to his relatives proves nothing. It could, as the family contends, mean that Gonzalez approved of Elian leaving Cuba. It could just as well suggest that he might not have been thrilled about the trip, but that he wanted to get word out that his ex-wife was about to make the trip anyway and give the relatives an estimated time to be on the lookout for them. Besides, if Gonzalez is the Communist apparatchik that he is purported to be, would he dare make a call to Miami on this issue without fear that his conversation would be heard — thus tipping off the Cuban government that there were people trying to flee?

In the name of "freedom," the Miami family is employing tactics to discredit Juan Miguel Gonzalez in ways completely separate from the issue of whether he is "speaking for himself." The family has chosen to vilify the father in ways that many American fathers are regularly slandered in custody cases: He is considered "unfit"; he has a violent temper; there is a "history" of abuse. How strange that this "history" was not brought up until it seemed that the Miami family was losing public support. Conservatives are usually a bit more outraged at such blatant manipulation of the abuse culture. Of course, there is the great irony that the person most roundly criticized for seeing abuse when there is none is Janet Reno -- both when she was a Florida state attorney and at Waco.

The incursion of Clinton impeachment lawyer Greg Craig into this matter does make it easier to despise the administration’s position on this issue. More than a few people have asked who is paying his bills (the implication is that it is being laundered from Cuba through the National Council of Churches). But, surely, no one is saying that Juan Gonzalez should have no representation? Considering the never-ending parade of lawyers at the disposal of the Miami family? What is it, five, six, seven? I’ve lost count.

While there is no doubt that the Miami family loves this boy, conservatives must admit that Elian is not just merely a symbol to the Cuban-American community, he is being used as a tool in the rankest possible ways. Sticking a six-year old boy in front of the cameras every single day doesn’t exactly convey concern for that child’s well-being. Yes, it is legitimate to question whether Juan Gonzalez speaks for himself. But, are we supposed to assume that Elian knows what he is talking about when he is placed in front of a camcorder and asked to say, " Dad, I do not want to go to Cuba. If you want to, stay here. I am not going to Cuba. Dad, you saw that older woman that came to the Sister's house. She wants to see me back in Cuba. I tell them — I am telling you — you are saying that I want to return to Cuba. But I am telling you now that I do not want to go to Cuba." The family says that it is cruel to send Elian back when he has just now bonded with his new surrogate mother, his cousin Marisleysis. Of course, this bonding is happening because the family is raising as many roadblocks as possible to expand the amount of time that Elian is away from his natural father. And the people doing this to him believe they are protecting his "best interests"?

So do conservatives now accept the concept of "children’s rights"? So do conservatives now support last-minute, unsupported, abuse allegations? The Miami Herald survey had 64% of white Floridians and 92% of blacks saying Elian should go home. Perhaps this antipathy toward Elian staying here is driven by the media. But I don’t think that’s completely the case. It's something I noticed upon visiting my mother around Christmas. At that time, the Elian story was still somewhat fresh and, though a topic of discussion, it had not become the current national media obsession. But even then, among my mother's West Indian friends, the consensus was that he should be returned to his father. The feeling had as much to do with the particulars of the case as it did to a sentiment regarding what is seen as the separatist, exclusive, nature of Miami Cubans.

That community’s anti-Castro/anti-Communist fervor is demonstrably clear and admirable but, for many other Miamians, pro-American sentiment is less evident. Looking at the huge rally in Little Havana Thursday, the few American flags were swallowed in a sea of Cuban banners. Perhaps it is unfair, but whether you speak to a non-Cuban just visiting Miami or a current resident, the muttered reaction is the same: It is the sense that Miami is anti-Castro Cuba East. English has become the second language.

No one doubts that the Miami family’s intentions are good, but its tactics are seriously questionable and, at times, deplorable. Whither Elian? Good question. To think that this young boy will ever have anything approaching a "normal" existence, regardless of where he ends up, one must have a profoundly deep optimism that events so far have not engendered within this writer.