Thursday, June 08, 2006
Remembering Guantánamo Bay
As we know, apparently our nation's guests at the Guantánamo Bay resort in Cuba were treated very well. They were served rice pilaf, for instance -- a dish that I had actually never heard of before learning that those who were temporarily relocated to a lawless no-man's-land on the territory of one of America's greatest enemies were enjoying it, presumably even as I watched the news report.I get the impression that it was something like a very long summer camp, and according to some reports, the detainees are responding to the end of their tropical vacation in a typically American way: through t-shirt creation. Several of the more artistically-inclined guests put together a series of patterns bearing the following messages:
For their children, they came up with this little number:I SURVIVED
Guantánamo Bay
2002-2006
Red Team 4-EVA!
Camp Softball Champions
Guantánamo Bay '05
Pass the Pilaf!
One of the guards took their designs to a Cuban screen printing shop, but unfortunately, due to the embargo, they hadn't had t-shirts in stock for six years.My father was indefinitely detained at Guantánamo Bay...
and all I got was this stupid t-shirt!
It occurs to me that although our resort appears to be stepping down its operations, it might be a good idea to officially incorporate Guantánamo Bay into the territory of the United States, somewhat along the lines of the District of Columbia -- just so we never forget how we showed those terrorists what it really means to respect human dignity, even in the very worst circumstances. And of course, no non-state territorial entity in the United States would be complete without a clever lisence plate motto like that of Washington, D.C.: "Taxation without representation."
Oh, the wry wit! So characteristically American! I wonder what the future residents of the Guantánamo Bay district would put on their lisence plates.
