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In The Hoop
TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2002

Welcome to In The Hoop, Indianz.Com's occasional column about assorted Indian issues.

But What About The Catholic Church?
A state-recognized tribe wanting to open a bingo hall in the Catskills region of New York is running into some trouble.

According to Steve Israel of The Middletown Times Herald-Record, the tribe will face criminal charges if it tries to go through with the plan. Gov. George Pataki's office said gaming is only allowed by federally recognized tribes.

"The fact that the Unkechaug are not a federally recognized tribe does not aid them in being able to set up unlicensed bingo operations in this state," the office told Casino Confidential.

Blame It on the Lame
When in doubt, blame the Clinton administration for everything. That seems to be the operating line at the Department of Interior.

"Had the previous administration done a more thorough job, we wouldn't be in this situation, which leaves us sweeping up after the donkeys," department communications director Eric Ruff told The New York Times in regards to three drilling leases deemed illegal.

Of course, the "donkeys" responsible for the transgression could still be working for the department. Ken Rossman anyone?

But these technicalities don't seem to concern some members of the Bush administration. Or some GOP members of Congress, who are now saying "I told you so" regarding the potential removal of the bald eagle from the endangered species list, which Clinton pre-announced on the Fourth of July in 1999.

"It is now quite clear that President Clinton's bald eagle announcement was nothing more than a politically motivated photo opportunity —- props and all," Rep. George P. Radanovich (R-Calif.) told The Washington Times.

Fun with Ted Olson
When Ted Olson was nominated as solicitor general, Indianz.Com reported on some of his legal work, including helping a white rancher fight programs for Native Hawaiians.

What we didn't know at the time was that Olson, a former partner of the law firm of Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher, is also an experienced land surveyor. According to former right-wing Clinton-hater turned who knows what David Brock, Olson displayed his abilities one evening during a covert mission to a gated community in Washington, D.C.

Turns out Olson and a group of others, including Brock, went to the home of David Watkins, a Clinton White House aide being investigated by a Republican congressional committee, presumably to catch the man in some sort of compromising position. There, Olson engaged in some interesting behavior of his own.

"When we arrived at our destination, Olson giddily leapt from the truck, trespassed onto Watkin's property, and hopped down from a steep cliff that abutted his home," Brock writes in his book Blinded by the Right.

So what was Watkins doing? He wasn't recognizing some tribe, in case you were wondering.

He was watching TV.

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