OK, I admit it: I listened to 70s pop along with just about everybody else in my generation who wasn't living under a rock [obtuse pun: a rock, Iraq, get it?].
OK, bad puns aside, yes, I spent more than my share of my misspent youth listening to the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens. I even had a Cat Stevens t-shirt. (I think I might even still have it somewhere).
Well, imagine my surprise when I read the headlines, to find out that the Bush Administration--which is trying very hard make up for its failure to catch Osama Bin-Laden--just showed us that it really, really IS doing something to keep us safe from terrorists: it denied Cat Stevens entry into this country.
As I understand it, Stevens, who now goes by the name Yusef Islam, gave some money to a handful of Muslim charities, and, according to the Bush Administration, some of that money fell into the wrong hands, namely, to terrorist groups.
Well, did Cat Stevens give money to terrorists? If so, why did the gents at Homeland Security let him in before? He was in the United States as recently as May of this year. Why is he on a watch list now, six weeks before the presidential election?
On Cat Stevens' fan website, www.catstevens.com, they're denying that that Stevens gave money to organizations affiliated with terrorists. In fact, Mr. Stevens has repeatedly denounced terrorism in general and the September 11 attacks, in particular. (You can read all about it in Yusef Islam's official website, www.yusufislam.org.uk).
He also came out against the war in Iraq.
For those who do not buy the argument that the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism are one and the same, this move by the Bush Administration appears to be keeping out not terrorists, but those who dare question administration policy. And yes, the timing of it strikes me a little funny.
In short, keeping the guy who wrote "Peace Train" out of this country is going too far. At this point, I see no good reason not to let Cat Stevens into the US.
Moreover, some of the donors to some of Cat Stevens' charities include Paul McCartney and David Bowie. Are we going to keep Paul McCartney and David Bowie out of the country, too? Of course not! They're not Muslims!
I don't know if a Kerry administration would let Cat Stevens back into the country. However, I do think a Kerry administration might, just might, give us a more common-sense approach to immigration/entry policy. Or so one would hope.
Child of the 70s that I am, I can't help but think of that song Neil Sedaka wrote for John Lennon that went, "There was a time when strangers were welcome here." OK, I'm not sure how, or if, Mohammed Atta and his ilk should be welcome here. But Cat Stevens? Come on!
Posted by gina at September 30, 2004 02:51 PM