Friday, June 17, 2005 This is just freaky Drudge says:
Barbara Bush Calls Bill Clinton 'Son' Fri Jun 17 2005 09:43:00 ET
Former President Bill Clinton discussed his relationship with President Bush's father last night on CBS LATE SHOW.
Clinton: "I think we're good friends. I like him very much. I've always liked him. When he was vice president, I was still a governor. We worked together on a number of things. He hosted the governors, in 1983...at Kennebunkport."
When they made an announcement about raising funds for Tsunami relief in Houston former First Lady Barbara Bush "announced us. And she said she has started to call me son. I told the Republicans there, I said don't worry, every family has one, you know, the black sheep. I told them, this just shows you the lengths the Bushes would go to get another president in the family. I wish I could get them to adopt Hillary."
Posted by Timothy,
11:43 AM
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Thursday, June 16, 2005 Republican Racketeering
The New York Times has an article today about allegations of fraud and racketeering on the part of the U.S. Associate Attorney General Robert McCallum (a 2001 Bush appointee). It turns out that Robert McCallum was put in charge of overseeing the prosecution of the tobacco industry despite his long time role as a lawyer defending key players in the tobacco industry. Then just when the legal team was about to win $130 billion from the industry, he suddenly pulled the plug on the case by forcing them to reduce their demands to $10 billion. He also seems to have ordered witnesses to alter their testimony in ways that weaken the prosecution (I thought tampering with witnesses was illegal, but I guess not).
This is a classic example of why there's too much money in politics: Political donations are a very effective form of financial leveraging available to any industry corrupt enough to use them. For instance, in this case, they've managed to convert a $2.7 million "investment" in the republican party into a $120 billion dollar reward. That's a 444000% return. Bravo, tobacco! Granted, there's never any direct proof of a link between the donation and the reward because that would be illegal, but in cases like this, it couldn't be more obvious. Fortunately, the democrats aren't playing along.
At the close of a major trial that dozens of Justice Department lawyers spent more than five years preparing, the department stunned a federal courtroom last week by reducing the penalties sought against the industry, from $130 billion to $10 billion, over accusations of fraud and racketeering...
Mr. McCallum, No. 3 at the department, is a close friend of President Bush from their days as Skull & Bones members at Yale, and he was also a partner at an Atlanta law firm, Alston & Bird, that has done legal work for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, part of Reynolds American, a defendant in the case...
In saying the decision was politically motivated, critics have pointed not only to Mr. McCallum's role at a law firm tied to the industry, a role that a Justice Department ethics office ruled did not prevent him from overseeing the case, but also to the industry's political contributions to the Republican Party. The industry gave $2.7 million to Republicans last year and $938,000 to Democrats...
The memorandum also questioned the handling of some government witnesses who were asked to alter their written testimony to reflect the department's concerns...
The explanations have not quieted complaints from Democrats. A group of 50 lawmakers sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on Wednesday urging him not to agree to an accord with the tobacco industry "based on the unreasonably weak demands made by the government last week."
Posted by Justin Sarma,
11:17 AM
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Wednesday, June 15, 2005 The Natives are going to Raid P. Diddy's Mansion
In a few hours, the Shinnecock tribe of eastern Long Island is going to introduce a lawsuit in state court in Islip. Basically, according to tribal trustee James Eleazer, the suit says they want the Hamptons back. The thing is, they haven't had the Hamptons in a while (even if it is undeniably their historical stomping grounds) and besides, its not exactly unused land. Houses in the Hamptons sell for tens of millions of dollars.
It's a little bit more complex than that though. So lets go into who the Shinnecock are. They've been settled on Long Island for a really long time, roaming most of the Island freely, settling mostly on the East End. They were part of the Metoac group of tribes that probably numbered around 10,000 at the time of settlement, and participated in the Wampum and fur trades, fighting the Delaware, Mahican, and Pequot occasionally, and then the Pequot more intensely, in order to prevent war with the British. As a result of the ensuing wars, most were pushed west of the Hudson river. One group was led by none other than Samson Occom to Wisconsin, a few stayed on Long Island. The tribe that still exists on Long Island is legitimate. Unlike the Mashantucket Pequot, the "Foxwoods" Tribe, the Shinnecock have always lived on this reservation. The tribe was not recently pieced together, in fact, they have been running on the same tribal governing system established in 1792, the first of its kind. When the Foxwoods tribe was reorganized in the 1980s, from the descendents of one woman who lived on the reservation in the 1960s, it was somewhat suspect. This isn't the case with the Shinnecock. I highly recommend watching this short video. Not that its really a fair marker of "Indianness," but these aren't people who have 'reclaimed their roots' - their heritage is visibly apparent. Approximately 500 people live on the reservation, 90% of whom self-identified on the most recent Census as Indian, and there is some intermarriage among other races (mostly other tribes, but also black and Hispanic.) But the Shinnecock don't have Federal Recognition, and 66% live under the poverty line. Historically, they've done just about everything to stay afloat. From fishing and whaling, to attempts at industry (like the hatchery shown in that video). But for various reasons, there really not much left, and living conditions on the reservation are appalling. Especially when you consider that within spitting distance of these crumbling shacks are luxurious beachfront estates.
Federal recognition is kind of a sticky wicket. The Ramapo of northern New Jersey will never get it, its a risk to Trump and his Atlantic City Casinos, and he'll always lobby against it. Both the Schaghticokes and the Eastern Pequots of Connecticut, in the face of strong political opposition, had their recognition denied/revoked in the past month. Its really all about gaming nowadays, and recognition never mattered before. This is what they spend millions on, hiring lobbyists and lawyers, sometimes sleazy lobbyists like Jack Abramoff. That's why the Shinnecock are going to court. The majority of Long Island residents (63%) now approve granting them gaming rights, but they need federal recognition first, and then a state deal. The state's process of granting the Oneida gaming rights in the north has been pretty slow and tortuous already. So, in the wake of recent rulings that have made federal recognition more and more difficult to acquire, but have also shown a growing tendency towards respecting Indian claims (especially note Cobell v. Norton), the Shinnecock have a new strategy. Scare the state, force a settlement, get gaming rights. And part of the Hamptons claim, in proving their right to the land, will satisfy most of the BIA's 7 conditions for recognition. Gaming could be a great thing for the Shinnecock. You cons should love this, its all about screwing dependence on the government (or the lack of support from the government) and becoming self-sufficient. And if you're a strict constructionist, I'm pretty sure this abides by all those sovereign nation rulings made way back when. Indian gaming has its problems. It helps tribes closer to cities, but not the truly impoverished ones out in the middle of nowhere. It encourages all sorts of fiscal chaos, from overpaying lobbyists and badly apportioning profits, to blocking enrollment of new tribal members to hog dividends, not to mention the moral dilemmas that arise when gambling conflicts with Christian/Traditional beliefs. But, the Shinnecock have tried everything else, and they've got a legitimate claim for recognition. In fact, they've been petitioning for recognition for 29 years, far longer than the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act has been in place, and the tribe is "one of the best documented and organized Native American tribes in the country" and has been for centuries. The Shinnecock founded and pioneered the American whaling industry. The people who live on the reservation are the direct descendants of those who signed pre-Revolution era treaties. This truly could help them quite a bit, and the local economy too. And honestly, if they win back the Hamptons by some fluke, and kick all those bastards out, I'm not really gonna cry about it.
The vast majority of us politico-nerds, who consider ourselves extremely well-versed on all manner of foreign policy issues (and in many cases we are), regardless of political affiliation, are largely ignorant of the conflicts that plague Africa.
This Economist article talks about the shaky peace in the Congo, after a brutal war that killed millions.
I admit, it's kind of daunting. There are so many wars, and, like that article notes, half of Africa's modern wars have reignited within a decade of some peace settlement. The reasons go back and forth, back and forth, between one party that accuses another and exacts its revenge. It takes a lot of effort, I'm sure, to understand it. Yet for some reason, we don't put in the effort.
At the time of the Kosovo conflict, someone explained to me, and I took the pain to understand, the long and troubled history of Balkan violence, stretching all the way back to something since forgotten that has to do with a Field, maybe Crows (or was it Ravens, or Blackbirds), in 1398. I'm not saying there is deliberate ethnocentrism (PC-bonus word) afoot, but I think there is a tendency to focus more either on European conflicts (maybe because we're already partially aware of the history there....because of our ethnocentric educations?), or conflicts that we are directly embroiled in.
So, I'm going to make the effort to learn more about Africa, its wars and battles, and it general current geopolitical deal. If anyone wants to pitch in, a book or some resource, I'd be more than happy to try to read it. And, if I follow through with this whole plan, I'll try to regularly relay the enlightment via blog.
Its not that I'm completely ignorant. Since I started working with Darfur Action Group, I've learned a lot more. But the depth and scope of my knowledge is relatively paltry, even if it surpasses the norm. So, where do I start?
Posted by Niral Shah,
3:22 AM
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Sunday, June 12, 2005 Now That The Genocide Is Over
In a series of exchanges, mostly between myself and the Review's Nick Desai, we debated the point of activism. I'm going to assert that even the most kooky of stupid activist activites (I don't know, a fucking drum circle of justice) still does a part in preventing this:
I was pretty worried a year or so ago when the news came out that thousands of people had been indiscriminately slaughtered in Darfur. It was unsettling to hear that citizens of one ethnicity (Arab, maybe?) were systematically mass-murdering the population of some other ethnicity (Was it the Ganjaweeds? It's been so long since I've read their names!) But lately, the main stories in the news seem to be about Deep Throat, the new summer blockbusters, and something about stem cells. Since I'm sure I would have remembered if the U.S. had intervened in some way to stop it, I can only assume that the whole genocide-in-Darfur thing has somehow worked itself out. Well, that's good news then, isn't it? I also seem to recall that this genocide was causing a massive exodus of displaced refugees, with millions starving to death while attempting to flee to neighboring nations. Since I haven't seen any petitions or heard any emotional entreaties for somebody—anybody—to please, for God's sake, do something... Well, I'm gonna guess that the major humanitarian crisis must be over. And thank God, too! The whole situation sounded really awful..... (click for full text)
