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Post by BrokenSword on Dec 30, 2008 14:37:41 GMT -6
Diane,
If you can't rant here, who can? But... did you have to include a picture?
MY EYES! MY EYES!!
BS
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Post by Dark Cloud on Dec 30, 2008 18:11:53 GMT -6
Precisely what authority does a Senator have over an Indian reservation in his state, and what authority does the Senate have in such matters absent legislation rather more expansive than coats? Were the Cheyenne in need of children's coats during Daschle's term of office? (The Sioux always seem to be in need) Frankly, when did the Cheyenne first notice this lack for winter, and when would it have been appropriate to call attention to it?
Was federal money withheld? Received but misspent? What is the basis for that charge?
For the last four years, what have been the improvements made by Thune and Frist and Boehner regarding this matter? And why, coincidently of course, did this tragedy occur on their watch? And why do you blame Daschle, gone for four years?
Is this really a Senate issue at all?
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Post by Diane Merkel on Dec 30, 2008 21:17:21 GMT -6
My God, DC -- oops! I forgot. He doesn't exist in your world. My stars, DC -- I would expect better from a man who throws Ward Churchill into the mix every chance he gets. The problems at the reservations started long before Thune. The difference, and the reason I will continue to rant against him, is that Daschle rose to the highest slot in the United States Senate and was in a position to exert some influence on the federal agencies that could have made a difference. It's the same old story year after year, back beyond Daschle, back beyond (your saint, I'm sure) McGovern, back beyond Little Bighorn. It is a Senate issue because they have oversight over federal agencies and stick their noses into every other facet of our lives, especially if they can get a movie star or athlete to come testify. In case you haven't heard, the feds and the Indians have been battling over billions for years: In his testimony before Congress, John Echohawk, director of Native American Rights Fund, called it "yet another serious and continuing breach in a long history of dishonorable treatment of Indian tribes and individual Indians by the United States government."
Arizona Senator John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, bluntly called it "theft from Indian people."
These men were describing the single largest and longest-lasting financial scandal in history involving the federal government of the United States.
[a href="www.albionmonitor.net/free/biatrustfund.html"]www.albionmonitor.net/free/biatrustfund.html [/a][/blockquote] The Cheyenne aren't the first to go hungry/cold/neglected by any means. There is no excuse for any child in this country to be cold or hungry. I'm sure there's plenty of blame to go around, but nothing ever happens. Those who donate their hard-earned money are to be admired. I just hope it's not being funneled in the wrong direction. {Sorry about the photo, BS! I hope you didn't stare deeply into his eyes. If you find yourself eating insects, seek medical attention immediately.}
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Post by Dark Cloud on Dec 30, 2008 22:32:44 GMT -6
No, there's no god in my world. An actual god wouldn't provide morbidly obese clerics in a world of want AND also provide starving children or cancer ridden infants in inconsolable pain for the joy of inconsolable parents. Or children with no garb for school. If I ever notice church goers (actual believers or affected social climbers, either) produce, per capita, less pedophiles, less rapists, less thieves or murderers, fewer hypocrites, or are actually better people doing more good, I remain open to change my mind. Till then, no. George McGovern is not my hero because I have none. He was one of Bob Dole's, though, if I recall Dole's resignation speech correctly. I used him as an example of how history can mislabel people too proud to correct it. I'd bet he's mostly considered a defeatist peacenik if he's recalled at all. I don't throw Ward Churchill in every chance I get, and believe it was limited solely to comparison with Donovan's note padding, which is fully appropriate. In any case, Churchill has no more enthused critic than I, and that long before the firing issue. He was not qualified for his post and I don't get the point of Ethnic Studies anyway, and think it counter productive. That he lies and manipulates didn't improve my opinion. But again, what is the Senate's jurisdiction in this matter? The article you provided - from here in Boulder where the plaintif organization is headquartered - does not mention the name Daschle and says the trusts have been a perpetual horror from the very beginning. The issue of note goes back decades previous to the article, over eight years old based upon the people sued. Were there other Senate majority leaders during that political eon concerning the trusts before and after? Why, yes. Mostly Republican in fact. But you haul out the Democrat to be pelted. Would seem they all would deserve it, he no more than the others. And, somehow you missed the update: www.albionmonitor.net/0209a/0209a-404.html That's the one where Gail Norton is sued. Arthur Anderson is no longer viewed as the go-to team for fiscal info, and I think dissolved. Apparently, these were bad years for them. But all of this doesn't explain what we're to believe are slapped foreheads in November or December about this clothing issue. It's revolting and embarrassing, but I find it hard to blame on the damned Senate, for heaven's sake. Surely there were many layers before that having little to do with money, nearly all in the BIA and executive branch and that after tribal leadership lacks. It's like it was a surprise. Not at all denying the Cheyenne and Sioux get screwed - it's almost a touching national tradition to rob and screw them over, it's gone on so long - but the whole system has to be burned out and started again. It's not a Democratic or Republican fiasco, it's all of us.
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Post by bc on Dec 30, 2008 22:49:07 GMT -6
Diane, Kansas had a similar issue with Bob Dole. Great politician and majority leader, but.....to be a leader you have to be a great compromiser. Too busy cutting deals for the country to worry about anything more than throwing an occasional scrap to Kansas. Just ask the Kansas farmers how much of an advocate for them he was with those extremely lacking and watered down farm programs coming from Washington. We have a couple more senators about the same; either haven't really ever lived in Kansas and is just on a Washington power trip or else spending their time running for president instead of being an advocate. We don't even rate a bridge to nowhere.
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Post by Dark Cloud on Dec 30, 2008 23:05:33 GMT -6
I don't think Ethanol and other farm subsidies qualify as "scraps." The Farm Lobby is huge and powerful and has almost zippo to do with small farmers, anymore.
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Post by Diane Merkel on Jan 2, 2009 11:33:54 GMT -6
bc, the people of North Carolina had the same complaint about Mrs. Dole. She was more concerned with Washington politics than NC, and they gave her the boot. I never understood why she was elected there in the first place, just as I've never understood why New York elects people who don't have a solid connection there.
DC, I admit to having extreme dislike of Daschle, so that's why I picked on him. All I remember of him is his (seems like) daily bitching in front of the cameras about something or other against the administration. Nothing positive. Harry Reid has continued that. The elephants don't have the balls for it, so Obama should have a nice ride. I replied to an editorial on the Indian Country website years ago. The guy was bitching about politics against the Indians, so I asked him what Daschle (then majority leader) had done for South Dakota Indians. He correctly predicted that Daschle would not win reelection.
Let's hope for something positive out of Washington. I'm sick of the moaning and complaining. Let me live my life as I choose, keep your hands out of my wallet, and stick to the Constitution!
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Post by Dark Cloud on Jan 3, 2009 12:40:01 GMT -6
....on top of which you also didn't send my annual Spanish moss garnished road-kill armadillo from Florida for this year's New Year's dinner, as specifically required in the contract. Hurtful, woman. Hurtful. It's not the money, it's the emotional devastation. Although, mostly the money, having no emotions.
They never taste the same from King Soopers, you know, and you have to bribe the butcher to contort the face into a rigid scream of agony that Floridians just do by instinct. It was as if I'd not put a star on the tree. Tradition means nothing to you.
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Post by Diane Merkel on Jan 3, 2009 22:37:24 GMT -6
Darn! I was hoping you'd forgotten about the armadillo. I had one for you -- ready for Spanish moss garnishing -- but it committed suicide in our pool in mid-December. I considered sending it to you, but I didn't think the chlorine marinade would taste very good. I netted it out and cast it outside the fence in hopes that a few days of sun would cure it properly. As you can tell, I had your best interest at heart.
As it turned out, the chlorine marinade was apparently quite tasty because all that was left after a few days was the skin.
Sorry! I'll try to make up for it next year. How about an armadillo AND a squirrel? We had a couple of weeks of kamikaze mammals this December; perhaps I'll be so lucky next year. AND I can throw in a couple of frogs because they sometimes get stuck in the filter.
Begging your forgiveness (which I'm sure will be granted because you had a tree AND a star),
Merkel
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Post by clw on Jan 15, 2009 12:55:26 GMT -6
I'm convinced there will never be any justice. Cobell v Norton proves it. If the goverment is loosing, they just ask for a new judge. The events precipitating Lamberth’s removal (after 10 years presiding over the case) stem from this July 2005 decision. On appeal, the government sought reversal of that order and asked the appellate court to remove Lamberth from the case. The D.C. Circuit granted both requests. The following is from the NARF press release on the 2005 decision that precipitated Lamberth's removal...
FEDERAL JUDGE SAYS GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO MISTREAT INDIAN
WASHINGTON, July 12 --U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth has excoriated the Interior Department for its continuing mistreatment of Native Americans.
In 34-page ruling the judge used some of the sharpest language he has invoked in his nearly 10 years overseeing a class action lawsuit over the government's acknowledged problems in handling individual Indian Trust accounts.
The history of the lawsuit is "a story shot through with bureaucratic blunders, flubs, goofs and foul-ups, and peppered with scandals, deception, dirty tricks and outright villainy--the end of which is nowhere in sight," the judge wrote. "Despite the breadth and clarity of this record, Interior continues to litigate and relitigate, in excruciating fashion, every minor, technical legal issue."
The judge's ruling came a week in advance of a July 20 hearing by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee into proposals for resolving the Cobell versus Norton lawsuit. In his ruling, the judge accused the department of forgetting what the case is all about and praised the Indians who brought the lawsuit.
The Cobell lawsuit may seem complex, the judge wrote. "But when one strips away the convoluted statutes, the technical legal complexities, the elaborate collateral proceedings, and the layers upon layers of interrelated orders and opinions from this Court and the Court of Appeals, what remains is the raw, shocking, humiliating truth at the bottom: After all these years, our government still treats Native American Indians as if they were somehow less than deserving of the respect that should be afforded to everyone in a society where all people are supposed to be equal."
The judge, a Texas native, also reached back into the history of the American West and the treatment of Native people in his ruling.
"For those harboring hope that the stories of murder, dispossession, forced marches, assimilationist policy programs, and other incidents of cultural genocide against the Indians are merely the echoes of a horrible, bigoted government-past that has been sanitized by the good deeds of more recent history , this case serves as an appalling reminder of the evils that result when large numbers of the politically powerless are placed at the mercy of institutions engendered and controlled bya politically powerful few ," he wrote.
"It reminds us that even today our great democratic enterprise remains unfinished, And it reminds us, finally, that the terrible power of government, and the frailty of the restraints on the exercise of that power, are never fully revealed until government turns against the people,"
Interior's failure to carry out its duty to properly care for Native Americans is illustrated by the department's continuing resistance to the lawsuit, the judge said.
"This is yet another factor forestalling the final resolution of the issues in this case and delaying the relief the Indians so desperately need," Lamberth said. "...It is against this background of mismanagement, falsification, spite, and obstinate litigiousness that this Court is to evaluate the general reliability of the information Interior distributes to IIM [Individual Indian money] account holders."
The judge declared while it was "undeniable" that the Interior Department has failed in its duties as a trustee-delegate for Native Americans, "it is nevertheless difficult to conjure plausible hypotheses to explain Interior's default. Perhaps Interior's past and present leaders have been evil people, deriving their pleasure from inflicting harm on society's most vulnerable.
"Interior may be consistently populated with apathetic people who just cannot muster the necessary energy or emotion to avoid complicity in the Department's grossly negligent administration of the Indian trust," he said. "Or maybe Interior's officials are cowardly people who dodge their responsibilities out of a childish fear of the magnitude of effort involved in reforming a degenerate system. Perhaps Interior as an institution is so badly broken that even the most well-intentioned initiatives are polluted and warped by the processes of implementation."
". ..The government as a whole may be inherently incapable of serving as an adequate fiduciary because of some structural flaw. Perhaps the Indians were doomed the moment the first European set foot on American soil. Who can say? It may be that the opacity of the cause renders the Indian trust problem insoluble."
"On numerous occasions over the last nine years, the Court has wanted to simply wash its hands of Interior and its iniquities once and for all," Lamberth said. "The plaintiffs have invited the Court to declare that Interior has repudiated the Indian trust, appoint a receiver to liquidate the trust assets, and finally relieve the Indians of the heavy yoke of government stewardship.
"The Court may eventually do all these things--but not yet. Giving up on rehabilitating Interior would signal more than the downfall of a single administrative agency. It would constitute an announcement that negligence and incompetence in government are beyond judicial remedy, that bureaucratic recalcitrance has outpaced and rendered obsolete our vaunted system of checks and balances, and that people are simply at the mercy of governmental whim with no chance for salvation.
"The Court clings to a slim and quickly receding hope that future progress may vitiate the need for such a grim declaration. This hope is sustained in part by the fact that the Indians who brought this case found it in themselves to stand up, draw a line in the sand, and tell the government: Enough is enough--this far and no further.
"Perhaps they regret having done so now, nine years later, beset on all sides by the costs of protracted litigation and the possibility that their efforts may ultimately prove futile; but still they continue. The notice requirement established by the Court today represents a significant victory for the plaintiffs. For the first time in the history of this case, the majority of Indian beneficiaries will be aware of the lawsuit, the plaintiffs' efforts, and the danger involved in placing any further confidence in the Department of the Interior .
"Perhaps more importantly, the Indians will be advised that they may contact class counsel for guidance on their trust-related concerns. This likely will bring to light a wealth of new evidence concerning Interior's mismanagement of the trust; it will also open an avenue to relief for individuals throughout Indian country whose suffering might otherwise be buried forever in a bureaucratic tomb.
"Real justice for these Indians may still lie in the distant future; it may never come at all.
This reality makes a statement about our society and our form of government that we should be unwilling to let stand. But perhaps the best that can be hoped for is that people never forget what the plaintiffs have done here, and that other marginalized people will learn about this case and follow the Indians' example." .......The plaintiff's lawyers welcomed the judge's ruling, saying it would help Indians learn more about their property rights and the lawsuit. In addition, the lawyers said it should give them a wealth of information from Indians about how the government has misled them about the litigation and its impact on their lands and their trust accounts.
Many Indians remain unaware of the suit and the problems it has exposed about the of government-run trust system, said both the judge and the lawyers. In the ruling, Judge Lamberth noted that "despite Interior's near wholesale abdication of its trust duties, the vast majority of the Indian [trust] beneficiaries remain unaware that anything is out of order."
"This ruling is unprecedented and it is very, very helpful to Indian people," said Keith Harper, plaintiffs counsel and an attorney with the Native American Rights Fund. "It will ensure that Indian landowners will have basic and critical information about their lands. It is obvious that when people are wrongfully deprived of such information, they cannot possibly make appropriate decisions about their property. This groundbreaking order ameliorates that problem."
"This is information they should have had all along, but Interior has been determined to taint information about this case and our clients' property with misinformation about the Cobell lawsuit and fears of what it would do to Indian land holdings," he said.
Elliott Levitas, another of the Indians' lawyers, said the ruling will force the government to make its first formal notice to all members of the class action suit, "This will be a notice that has been approved by the court and it will be devoid of all the twists and misstatements that have been contained in Interior's communications to Indians," he said.
Yeah, right.
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Post by biggordie on Jan 15, 2009 13:20:10 GMT -6
I wish some people would learn to say what they think.
Gordie
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