The Wake

Imagine your grandmother sporting an AK-47 automatic machine gun with bullet belts slung over both her shoulders and a Bowie knife clenched between her teeth. With grenades strapped to her waistline and a rocket-launcher adorning her back, she’s a picture of pure evil…right? I mean, aren’t all gray-haired old ladies the living end of Western civilization?

Well, I hate to spoil the headlines (”Wrath of Angry Senior Citizens Destroys L.A.” would be darkly comical), but unless dear old granny is Joan Rivers, than you’re probably safe and sound. That is, assuming that your average run-of-the-mill grandma these days can barely walk up a flight of stairs, much less lead a cut-throat, armed rebellion against the United States of America. That said, however, I’m not the one in charge of this country.

The man, who is, George W. Bush, seems to think otherwise. Weeks prior to this year’s February 8th Grammy Awards, he decided to ban aging Cuban musicians Ibrahim Ferrer and Guillermo Gubalcaba, along with five others, from appearing at the prestigious ceremony, branding the elderly minstrels “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”

Ordinarily, this may be a rather understandable and forgettable action. With global tensions running high all over the world — especially here in the U.S. — the government has of late, been exercising extreme caution over who it allows into the country. Accordingly, given the history of United States / Cuban relations, inspecting who may be traveling to this country from the Caribbean Island is surely a legitimate cause.

However, what makes this latest upchuck of constitutional ignorance all the more putrid is that it involves two Cuban band mates who are each old enough to be living in a nursing home, drinking Salisbury steak out of a straw.

According to the Bush Administration, Ferrer, a 77-year-old member of the acclaimed group, the Buena Vista Social Club, along with 75-year-old salsa pianist, Rubalcaba, posed a legitimate safety threat to the United States on Grammy night. Using a little-known presidential proclamation, Bush denied the artists visas, thus preventing them from attending the ceremonies.

Ferrer, nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album for “Buenos Hermanos,” responded to this unfortunate refusal in an interview with MSNBC, stating, “I am not a terrorist. I couldn’t be one. I am a musician, and have always been well-received by American audiences.”

Abel Acosta, head of the Cuba Music Institute, posed a more direct critical inquiry: “How can these musicians be considered terrorists?”

He’s right! After being discovered by Ry Cooder in his 1997 revivalist folk-epic, The Buena Vista Social Club, Ferrer, along with a multitude of other “lost” Cuban musicians, were deemed statesmen of forgotten Cuban history and rose to immense popularity in America. The album took home a Grammy, and was a launch-pad for the Latin music crazes of the past few years. And yet, now, these are the same men who would surely reap endless destruction on American soil?

Give it up, Mr. President.