printer friendly version
Commentary: Tribal lobbyist scandal is familiar tale
Thursday, January 13, 2005
"Ever since Columbus waded ashore, say the elders beside the Knife and the Little Big Horn, white men in funny hats have been asking, "Where did that Indian go?" In this context, the latest scandal — involving Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon, the Republican operatives who allegedly fleeced six casino tribes out of $80 million by promising them, well, a little slice of heaven in Washington — is an old story come full circle.
Sure, editorial boards at the New York Times and the Washington Post, among others, are right to call for their heads. The practice of mocking tribal leaders as "morons" and "monkeys" while allegedly stealing them blind gives off a foul odor, even in the nation's capital.
Tribes have grown so accustomed to this sort of treatment from Bible-thumping politicians in "the party of values," though, that when the Scanlon/Abramoff story broke, it didn't prompt enough reaction in Shiprock or Lame Deer to bump the girls basketball team off Page 1. Out there in the Big Empty, where silence has always been as bold a statement as any, the Republican Party's stone-faced vigil amid mounting outrage is as clear an indictment as any headline.
Tribal leaders' collective shrug over the scandal is their way of asking: Where was your outrage when Mike Whalen, then assistant attorney general for the state of South Dakota, declared in the '90s: "The Native American culture is a culture of hopelessness, godlessness, joblessness and lawlessness, a mongrelized people living on the outskirts of Western civilization"? Where, they ask, was your outrage in August 2000, when delegates to the Republican Party's convention in Washington state asked the federal government to expel native people from their homelands and declare all Indian treaties null and void?
Eighty million dollars? Heck, that's chump change, say tribal attorneys. What about the billions of dollars in mineral royalties owed to native people that went missing over the last century?"
Get the Story:
Paul VanDevelder: Just One More Tribal Tale of Abuse
(The Los Angeles Times 1/13) Username: indianz, Password: indianzcom
Related Stories: Probe sought of Congressman linked to
lobbyists (01/07) Editorial: 'Shameful'
dealings of Washington lobbyists (1/6) Abramoff and Scanlon scandal won't go away
(12/20) Editorial: Ney's judgment
'clouded' by Abramoff (12/20) Ney to
meet with ethics panel over Abramoff ties (12/16) Congressman subject of inquiry for Abramoff ties
(12/15) Lobbyists say Abramoff probe has
run its course (12/13) Congressman
questioned during lobbyist probe (12/10) Editorial: Ney not exactly a victim in Tigua
case (12/03) Abramoff 'totally in bed'
with anti-gaming forces (11/29) McCain
eyes reform of lobbying disclosure laws (11/24) Order freezing Abramoff's assets lifted in lawsuit
(11/24) Mississippi Choctaw lawyer
referred Abramoff (11/22) Former Ney
chief of staff worked with Abramoff (11/19) Coushatta Tribe sues ex-lobbyists for $32M
(11/17) Tigua Tribe to testify at Senate
lobbying hearing (11/16) Abramoff's
assets frozen in employee case (11/15) Vitter 'conned' by group opposing tribe (11/12)
GOP critic of McCain received tribal
donations (11/08) Author: Abramoff,
Scanlon likely to be indicted (10/28) Senate
panel asks Coushatta Tribe for tapes (10/27) Ralph Reed paid $4.1M to oppose tribes (10/26)
Two more lawyers linked to lobbyist scandal
(10/21) Online Chat: Abramoff 'close
friend' of DeLay (10/20) Christian
Coalition still after Poarch Creeks (10/19) Congressman denies knowing of tribe's backing
(10/18) Opinion: Lobbyist scandal goes
all the way to Bush (10/15) Congressman's
anti-gaming push backed by tribe (10/15) Tigua Tribe mum on Washington lobbyists (10/12)
House Resources asked to investigate
lobbyists (10/8) Another tribe considers
lawsuit against lobbyists (10/7) DeLay
rebuked yet again for flaunting influence (10/7) Coushatta Tribe to sue lobbyists for $32M
(10/4) Lobbyist scandal reaches to top
levels of GOP (10/4) Choctaw Tribe's
lobbying documents kept secret (10/4) Documents detail lobbyists' role in tribal
elections (10/4) Salon: Tom DeLay allowed
tribes to be 'slickered' (10/4) Pueblo
leader says lobbyists' high fees not worth it (10/1) Texas AG asked to investigate Abramoff, Scanlon
(10/1) DeLay rebuked for trading
influence on House floor (10/1) DeLay
rebuked for trading influence on House floor (10/1) Ex-tribal lobbyists slammed in Senate hearing
(9/30) Abramoff mum at hearing while
Scanlon a no-show (9/30) Column:
Lobbyists lurked in 'cesspool of greed' (9/30) Washington lobbyists called before Senate panel
(9/29) Editorial: Send lobbyist hogs to
the slaughterhouse (9/29) Tigua Tribe
outraged over being played as 'moronic' (9/28) Tribes told to donate to lobbyists' foundation
(9/28) Editorial: Actions of tribal
lobbyists 'loathsome' (9/28) Lobbyists
worked for, against 'moronic' Tiguas (9/27) Group opposing Poarch Creeks tied to tribal
lobbyists (09/16) Coushattas used
lobbyists to spy on tribes, critics (09/13) Bush strategist now knows source of tribal
funds (09/01) Bush strategist claims no
knowledge of funds (8/31) Bush-GOP
strategist admits taking tribal money (8/30) Senate hearing on tribal lobbying probe set
(8/26) Coushatta member threatened over
recall effort (08/09) Coushatta Tribe's
lobbying records subpoenaed (07/23) Hearing on high lobbying fees expected in
September (07/16) GOP strategist denies
secretly taking tribal money (7/15) Tribal money secretly funneled to GOP
strategist (06/25) Busy Indian Affairs
Committee hits snag on big issues (06/17) Indian Affairs Committee activity this week
(6/15) Saginaw Chippewa leader who paid
lobbyists ousted (06/04) Indian Country
awaits outcome of lobbying probe (05/18) Tribal chairman says $120K fee to Abramoff worth
it (05/18) Republican governors
report biggest donor in 2002 (05/04) Saginaw Chippewa Tribe wonders where $14M
went (04/20) McCain demands documents
from lobbyist, PR exec (04/12) Coushatta treasurer accuses NIGC of lax
oversight (04/12) Choctaw chief
Martin defends embattled GOP lobbyist (04/09) McCain pushing Choctaw tribe to cooperate with
probe (4/8) Coushatta leaders used
tribal money to pay lobbyists (4/8) Coushatta Tribe paid $32M to lobbyist Jack
Abramoff (4/6) McCain aggressive in
pursuing lobbyist records (4/5) McCain demands documents for tribal lobbyist's
work (3/30) Embattled lobbyist signs
deal with another firm (03/25) Embattled tribal lobbyist gave to Conn.
Congressman (03/10) Saginaw Chippewa
Tribe hires new lobbying firm (3/9) McCain begins investigation into high tribal
fees (3/4) Pueblo governor says $1M
fee to PR firm not worth it (3/3) McCain calls for investigation into tribal
spending (2/27) Four tribes spent
$45M on lobbying and PR firms (2/23) GOP lobbyist scores big with tribes
(04/03) Embattled tribe gets has
new lobbyist (12/13)
Copyright © 2000-2004 Indianz.Com
|
|
|