Why have the tribes been so silent in the Abramoff affair?

[SoCalDem]

It would seem to me that this would be the PERFECT opportunity to speak out. The democrats are their ONLY chance of getting any redress for the scamming that Abramoff did to them. Why are their representatives not out front TELLING how he scammed them and perhaps even convinced them to NOT donate to the dems any more..or at least as much as before.. This would not opnly shut down the ninnies who are on every show they can get on, blathering.. "The dems got money from his clients too".

Have they been told to shut up? are they scared ?

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. I don't think the American Indian has had much luck appealing

to America's conscience. I mean, didn't New York, a democratic city, get bailed out of bankruptcy because someone diverted money from the Indian's trust fund? Didn't Babcock, who served under Clinton, drag his feet on cleaning up the mess when they had the chance?

I just think that it's a bit naive to expect the American Indian to trust the system.

[quiet.american]

2. Perhaps they still have lawsuits pending against Abramoff?

If that's the case, perhaps their legal counsel has advised them not to publicly comment.

[SoCalDem]

4. That's probably IT,. but without public outcry, their case

probably won;t even make it to court, and by then his "fortune' will be owed to "the government" as fines and legal fees. He won;t have any "gettable" cash left. The bulk of his loot is probably safely stashed in the Caymans under his kid's names.

[quiet.american]

6. Good points, all. n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. Yes, that is what started these investigations

a tribe in Texas got screwed by Bush when he shut downt their casino for 'religous' reasons, only to turn around and allow a different tribe to open up a casino in TX, making them the only casino in the state.

http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1151784,00.html

[rurallib]

3. Some have spoken out, but since the RW owns the megaphone

what they have to say doesn't get heard. Like a lot of other things. In my locality the tribe that has a casino came out and said that they have supported our Democratic senator fo a long, long time. Long before any Abramoff was around.

[elfin]

5. The corruption and political infighting amongst

tribes over casinos is something they do not want exposed - they have no political allegience to either party - just whoever gets them what they want.

Just as they were getting revunue from their occupiers and thinking they were playing by "rules" which could get them what they feel they deserve in redress --- the whole thing could blow up.

Best to be silent and "work the system" that remains.

[Mnemosyne]

8. The US Government has never

faithfully honored a single treaty made with Native Americans, that I am aware of. They have no reason to trust the gov to be honorable in this either.

In peace and waning hope,
V

[graywarrior]

9. That about nails it.

[Mnemosyne]

24. Disgusting and heartbreaking. n/t

[Iktomiwicasa]

11. The bottom line.....

...is that a large percentage of us do not trust democrats either. From the native standpoint, dems and repubs are two sides of the same very rusty worthless coin. Indian people know that democrats are NOT our friends. As I pointed out over in the N.A. group, the only difference between dems and repubs from the indian standpoint is that repubs are up front that they will take from us, while dems smile and claim friendship, then steal when our backs are turned. From my view as a traditional native man, I can say that nothing good has come from either the left or the right. Fortunately, your system is a doomed one....and indian people will still be here long after Duhmerica is a faded memory.

[Selatius]

12. I have to agree with your assessment

Republicans rape you. Democrats drug you and then rape you...with a smile on their face. I speak as an observer of the big picture. The one thing that kills me about Democratic leaders is that they claim to represent the working man, but they don't, and they haven't.

[Mnemosyne]

23. Truth spoken. Thank you Iktomiwicasa.

As a N.A. you are in a good position to correct me if my assertion is wrong, the US gov has never honored a single treaty, correct? I did some research in the past and never found any evidence to the contrary. Someone had challenged me that the US was honorable in their treaty dealings and I knew they were wrong and proved it.

"Break a Treaty, Break the Law" means nothing to the US Government. Betrayal and deception are their very essence.

It is fortunate that this system is doomed, hopefully sooner rather than later so as to limit the devastation.

In regards to the repukes being upfront in their thievery, I believe that Abramhoff was a bit of a trickster in that matter, nothing upfront about his ilk.

In peace and hope,
V

[peacetalksforall]

10. Indian bad. White man good. For how many years? Centuries?

[SoCalDem]

15. Nope.. not at all..

I am concerned that there never seems to be a representative of their interests even mentioned. If I were in charge of an organization that had been ripped off and the media was telling lies about who I donated to and who I didn;t, I would want the air time.. I think the Dems who will ultimately have to be the ones to unravel this ball of worms should approach some of these chiefs and ask for their support and help to get Abramoff..

Two parallel investigations are not going to be as effective as a unified single group rebutting the bogus claims of crooks.

[rainbow4321]

13. Worried they will get penalized in the “reform measures"

Here is a good webpage that has frequent Indian/Abramoff/chimp news articles...some of the stuff has been in the MSM but alot has not.

http://www.indianz.com/News/Headlines/
---------------------------------------

http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/012262.asp

"Some Indian tribes are understandably concerned that the political taint in Washington surrounding the Jack Abramoff bribery and influence-peddling case could harm their own ability to participate in the political process. And the attempt by establishment media organizations to spin the Abramoff scandal, in line with Republican talking points, is increasing the chances that tribes may be penalized as a result of “reform” measures passed to limit Abramoff’s political fallout.

To hear the big news organizations tell the story, any political contributions by any tribe that had hired Abramoff at any time for any reason are linked to this scandal and are part of the overall “corruption” he has come to symbolize in Washington. In essence, the major media is arguing that tribal money is somehow suspect, and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have been returning tribal contributions, regardless of any link to Abramoff or possible influence-peddling.

Not surprisingly, tribes are worried that Congress may now set new rules that could limit their ability to contribute to candidates of their choosing. In other words, tribes could be unfairly penalized for a scandal in which they were unwitting victims of Abramoff and his partners."

[blogslut]

16. I was just gonna

post a link to them. Great site!

[submerged99]

14. Mainstream media ignores us

Most of the outrcry and criticism only gets covered in Tribal newspapers. There you will find editorials. LTTTE, and op-ed pieces in which Abrahamoff is called out for what he is.

But none of this ever gets published in the mainstream press.

[librechik]

17. Media never talks to the Indians anyway.

and they don't want to talk to these tribes, just becasue it will tend to make the Pukkkes look bad. So not much motivation there...

[swhisper1]

18. No one is giving them airtime

[Iktomiwicasa]

19. It is...

... in the interests of the Democrats as well as the repubs that we remain out of sight.

[madrchsod]

20. shame

[Canuckistanian]

21. The Chief of the Coushata tribe...

Should release his picture of himself, Shrub and Abramoff.

[NVMojo]

22. listen, I work for a tribe, non-gaming, most don't really understand how

the gaming tribes are being hosed. It is really a scary situation.