Can't get much hotter in Aruba. That is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo." Four judges have now ruled that Joran van der Sloot (search) is somehow involved in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway (search), the 18-year-old from Alabama who vanished in Aruba on May 30th.
Now today, three judges ruled that van der Sloot will be kept in prison until at least mid September, but two other young men involved in this case, the Kalpoe brothers, are to remain free.
Miss Holloway's case has captured the attention of the world, as you know, because it's a very simple situation. She leaves a bar with van der Sloot, she disappears, her family demands answers. No answers are forthcoming. Doesn't get much simpler than that.
At this point, Aruba (search) owes an explanation to the Holloway family whether privately or publicly. The government there must tell the family what it knows.
Now the Arubans can do this informally by using a private attorney or even an off the record conversation, but it must be done. Just imagine yourself losing a child, not knowing what's going on for months. That is cruel and unusual punishment. I don't care what Dutch law says. There are ways to get around that, ways to get things done. It is on the Arubans to level with the Holloway family.
If the Aruban government does not do that, then all Americans should take it personally. That means thinking not twice, but many times about traveling to Aruba. No family should be treated this way. The Holloways have a right to know where the investigation stands.
"Talking Points" understands the legal eagles will pick apart this memo, citing Dutch law, blah, blah, blah. Again, there are ways to comfort the suffering family without violating the law.
The Aruban government is now on notice. You better figure this one out fast. And that's “The Memo."
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
FOX News correspondent Jonathan Hunt reports from London that the BBC (search) opened its nightly newscast this evening saying, quote, "A terrorist on the move." Since we chided the BBC for removing the word "terrorist" and replacing it with the word "bomber," we're glad that the accurate description of these London killers is back.
Ridiculous? Not at all. When the BBC does the right thing, we applaud it.
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