Republican sleazebags called tribal leaders "monkeys"

[quaoar]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/02/opinion/02sun2.html?hp

Sleaze in the Capitol

One of the sorriest chapters of American history, the gulling of native Indian tribes, is continuing apace in Washington, where two Capitol insiders close to the House majority leader, Tom DeLay, are being investigated for allegedly fleecing six tribes of more than $80 million with inflated promises of V.I.P. access. The shameful dealings of Jack Abramoff, a Republican power lobbyist, and Michael Scanlon, Mr. DeLay's former spokesman, are coming to light as Senate and Justice Department investigators follow leads from nouveau-riche tribes whose casino profits spurred a new category of lucre and greed in the hyperkinetic world of Washington lobbying.

Even as the two fast-talking political brokers banked large profits for three years of minimal labor, it was found, they were exchanging gleeful private messages mocking tribal leaders as "morons," "troglodytes" and "monkeys." "I want all their MONEY!!!" Mr. Scanlon exuberantly e-mailed in the midst of one deal.

The outrageous affair includes evidence that the two sought to manipulate tribal elections to ensure their lobbying boondoggles, while dropping the names of Mr. DeLay and other leaders and urging tribal contributions to Republican political funds. In the latest high-roller abuses laid bare by The Washington Post, Mr. Abramoff was found to have prodded the tribes to pay for his luxury skyboxes at Washington sports arenas - yes, even at the home of the football Redskins - so he could impress Capitol politicians, staff members and fund-raisers with swank perches to push causes unrelated to tribal issues. A colleague pronounced Mr. Abramoff a master of schmooze, but sleaze seems a far better word.

While the Senate Indian Affairs Committee is continuing its inquiry, the Republican House leadership remains mute. The gulling of the casino tribes is a blot on Congress and the lobbying industry that cries out for a thorough public vetting. But no one is taking any bets, particularly at tribal casinos, that Capitol politicians can fully face the task.

[Wabbajack]

1. They named TOm Coburn

to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. That says it all.

[JI7]

2. i think it has to do with Oklahoma having a significant Native American

population.

[0007]

21. I don't think Texas have any Indians or a reservation do they?

[WorseBeforeBetter]

22. I would imagine the "significant Native American"...

population in OK would rather have Carson representing them since Coburn declared that "Cherokees aren't real Indians" and that tribal sovereignty is "a joke." The real joke is Dumbya trying to define "tribal sovereignty," but that's another thread...

[Wabbajack]

27. and his anti-indian record

[Nothing Without Hope]

3. Are you suprised that they said that, or just that it came out? n/t

[quaoar]

4. Actually, I am most surprised

that anyone is investigating it.

[Nothing Without Hope]

7. Yeah, me too. Those guys had good reason to feel invulnerable.

I am encouraged that this is coming out at all.

[rogue emissary]

18. NOW with Bill Moyers covered

. . . this story a few weeks ago. Of course they also mentioned that one of them is connected to Bush.

From Now:www.pbs.org/now/printable/transcript347_full_print.html
MITCHELL: Simply put, these two men appear to have taken a system ripe for abuse and abused it. And just look at the circles they moved in. Abramoff was a Bush pioneer, meaning he raised over $100,000 for the campaign. His former assistant now works for Karl Rove. That's Michael Scanlon next to his former boss Tom DeLay, the man who's turned fundraising into an art form. And remember, Abramoff also had close ties to the majority leader.

[thebigdonkey]

5. those guys are ass holes

[Acryliccalico]

6. They are not only ass holes

but they are scarrrrry.:scared:

[thebigdonkey]

8. i think the word ass hole can embody scariness among other traits so i

just called them assholes.

[davidwhite0570]

26. Just assholes!....they don't scare me.....

[newyawker99]

14. Hi thebigdonkey!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[gnorville]

9. Jail 'em

for a long time. Oh wait, they've got enough money for good lawyers, they'll probably walk.

[quaoar]

10. Welcome to DU

[gratuitous]

11. "The Republican House leadership remains mute"

All those moralistic House leaders, so up in arms over abortion and gay marriage, but some crime happens right under their noses, and all of a sudden they have a caucus-wide case of lockjaw.

[OneTwentyoNine]

17. damn... that's shocking isn't it ??

I thought they might really want the truth and the WHOLE truth. Maybe if a blowjob would have occured.....

[Old and In the Way]

12. When Tom DeLay is elected to the leadership position in Congress,

you know ethics has no meaning there anymore. A more corrupt bunch of criminals, I've never seen. Public service? More like public self-service.

[mikehiggins]

13. Pols fuck with the Native Americans?

Is this like a newsbreak or something?

Three hundred years of slow-motion genocide sort of leaves one numb to sudden flashes of revelation about the relationship between the people who run the government--both GOPukes AND Democrats--and the single most oppressed minority in this nation.

Ever since George Washington betrayed his Native American allies after the Revolutionary War, the entire race has been seen as fair game for every evil perpetrated by one group upon another.

But hey! After November I guess we're all Indians now.

[Kipepeo]

25. Just a newsbreak that it's even covered

Delay...what else does the populace need on this guy? Oh, I forgot that the populace doesn't follow the news.

[oneold1-4u]

15. Casinos for Natives only

Too bad the American Indian doesn't have more casinos! The whole country can look like Las Vegas and the Indians can buy back all the forests and rivers and mountains and put others into NY city type of reservations. Of course politicians will be placed in padded sound chambers for 6 hours each day to listen to themselves and 6 hours to listen to their compatriots.
Not much Indian heritage to my dismay, but certainly glad they kept this nation as long as they did, so that I was able to see some of the best of it!

[OneTwentyoNine]

16. Repukes TOTALLY against gambling,unless you can use as a campaign tool...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26015-2004Dec25.html

"Doolittle, a Mormon, is an ardent opponent of casino gambling, so it is somewhat ironic that he would invite supporters to watch the Wizards play the Sacramento Kings from an MCI Center suite paid for by casino-rich Indian tribes. But the plaque at the door to Suite 204 did not say Chitimacha or Choctaw. It said "Jack Abramoff," a name synonymous with largesse and influence in the GOP-controlled Congress."


Gawd...the hyprocrisy goes on and on and on.......

[msmcghee]

19. What is "gulling"?

I never heard the word and neither has Webster. "Gull" is a noun, not a verb.

[Redstone]

20. "gulling" means, roughly,

the same as "fleecing." Don't know why it's not in Webster's; this isn't the first time I've seen it used.

Hope this helps.

Redstone

[msmcghee]

24. Thanks, never heard it before. n/t

[NoQuarter]

23. A noun-based verb

is a gerund.
Pronunciation: ?jer-?nd, ?je-r?nd Function: noun Etymology: Late Latin gerundium, from Latin gerundus, gerundive of gerere to bear, carry on Date: 1513

1 : a verbal noun in Latin that expresses generalized or uncompleted action

2 : any of several linguistic forms analogous to the Latin gerund in languages other than Latin? especially : the English verbal noun ending in -ing that has the function of a substantive and at the same time shows the verbal features of tense, voice, and capacity to take adverbial qualifiers and to govern objects

I learned about gerunds in Latin back in high school. Had to take Latin to learn English grammar. The schools just assume you know what stuff is simply because you speak the language.

[vkobaya]

28. What is gulling?

From Dictionary.com

gull Audio pronunciation of gull ( P ) Pronunciation Key (gl)
n.

A person who is easily tricked or cheated; a dupe.

tr.v. gulled, gulling, gulls

To deceive or cheat.



*****

That is a term that should be far, far better known on any forum discussing politics. It is a term used by swindlers, conmen and flim-flam artists for the suckers that they swindle or are potentially victms of a swindle. In my mind, it comes from similar terms used by the carnival conmen or the carny, terms such as mark, pigeon, sucker, etc. To me that the ultimate swindlers and con artists are politicians. Is there any necessity to name the ultimate con artist, and swindler of this age?

Vicki