Whee – Me!

~ I don’t know much about professional golfer Rocco Mediate other than this: yesterday, playing in the third round of the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines outside San Diego, he wore a big peace sign belt buckle. Pretty cool.

Rocco and his Belt Buckle

Trying to determine if his belt buckle is indicative of any political or moral -isms, I googled Mediate-peace-belt-buckle. The very first site listed included a comment thread that described Mediate as a “pinko” who’s not on the he-man side of the sexual lifestyle divide. Here’s a typical comment: “45 years old and never been married, draw your own conclusions.” Mediate actually is married and has three kids. Sure, more than a few purportedly straight suburban daddyos have engaged in DL activities but the keen observers of the website apparently needed only to see the peace sign to know what kind of genitalia Mediate prefers.

Truth rarely stands in the way of a good character assassination. Another comment put the thing in clear perspective: “Rocco can now go to hell in my book.”

Whew! This golf gang is a tough crowd.

~ Remember Elian Gonzalez, the little Cuban kid who zealots turned into a pawn in the great chess match between the Good Guys (us) and the Bad Guys (Castro, commies, homos, etc.)?

It looks like the Bad Guys have scored a checkmate. Elian, not so little anymore, has joined the Young Communist Union in Cuba. Now 14 years old, Elian swore allegiance to the Castro brothers along with 18,000 other youngsters in a mass swearing-in ceremony Saturday.

Elian and His Dad

Back in November, 1999, some 14 people, including Elian and his mother, tried to cross the Straits of Florida in a tiny aluminum boat. Only two people, one of whom was Elian, survived the crossing. Fishermen discovered the kid floating on an inner tube off the shore of Ft. Lauderdale. Elian eventually was turned over to a great-uncle in Florida.

Meanwhile, Elian’s father and both grandmothers back in Cuba claimed he’d been taken off the island without their knowledge. Politicians and anti-Castro activists glommed onto Elian, calling for him to be granted asylum in the US despite the fact that his father wanted him back in Cuba. Elian became the biggest television star in two nations for the next six months. His every move was recorded, including a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando.

US Attorney General Janet Reno ordered Elian returned to his father and had to send in armed soldiers to get him in April, 2000. Some have suggested that the action might have cost Al Gore crucial Cuban-American votes in that fall’s presidential election.

Now, Elian is a card-carrying communist. I wonder if he wears a peace sign belt buckle. If he does, you know what else that makes him.