printer friendly version
Mark Trahant: Abramoff turning into blame the Indians
Monday, January 23, 2006
"A century ago, the show was called Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World. The 21st century theater of the absurd is just called "Congress." But some elements of the plot are the same -- a twisted narrative about America's native peoples and Washington corruption. Jack Abramoff plays an economic version of Gen. George Armstrong Custer, an obscene caricature that abuses national policy. He's the corrupt agent stealing Indian lands all over again (this time in the guise of lobbying Congress).
Newspapers fall into the old story line, too, reducing a complicated plot into a simple yarn, making it easy for readers to conclude that American Indians and their governments are to blame for the whole mess.
It's like Buffalo Bill Cody's show because so much of the real history is replaced by basic misunderstandings about tribal communities -- and especially confusion about Indian gaming.
Columnist Star Parker says, "The Indian gambling industry is another grotesque product of ill-conceived social engineering. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act passed by Congress in 1988 was supposedly going to generate new economic opportunities for American Indians by staking out a piece of regulatory- and tax-protected turf for casinos operated by tribes."
Rich Lowry of the National Review writes that this scandal is an example of how the "Indian casino business is flagrantly detached from its original justification of letting supposedly sovereign nations govern themselves on their own land.""
Get the Story:
Mark Trahant: Today's Custer wears a different hat
(The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 1/22)
More Mark Trahant:
Mark Trahant: Cultural changes come, some slowly
(1/9)
Mark Trahant: Starting new
year off with correction (1/4)
Mark
Trahant: How about a coin for Vine Deloria? (12/19)
Mark Trahant: The really great state of the economy
(12/12)
Mark Trahant: America's numbers
don't add up (12/5)
Mark Trahant: Few
writers as powerful as Deloria (11/21)
Mark Trahant: Media sometimes isn't fair
(11/14)
Mark Trahant: No one wants to talk
about immigration (11/7)
Mark Trahant:
The ultimate power of the Fed (10/31)
Mark Trahant: Is there no trust in the government?
(10/24)
Mark Trahant: The next pick for
Federal Reserve job (10/10)
Mark
Trahant: I was wrong about voting by mail (9/26)
Mark Trahant: Rebuilding New Orleans, a unique city
(9/19)
Mark Trahant: Katrina testing
limits of charity (9/12)
Mark Trahant:
Democracy an unfinished experiment (08/29)
Mark Trahant: You write the news, you pick it
(8/15)
Mark Trahant: Tribal stories
don't matter to science (8/8)
Mark
Trahant: Congress focuses on real issues (8/1)
Mark Trahant: Judicial debate conceals big issue
(7/25)
Mark Trahant: Wasting time at
work can be productive (7/18)
Mark
Trahant: Appoint Indian to U.S. Supreme Court (7/11)
Mark Trahant: Readers offer junk mail solutions
(06/20)
Mark Trahant: Junk mail invades
home, office (6/13)
Mark Trahant: Social
Security needs new compact (6/6)
Mark
Trahant: Readers upset over military cartoon (5/30)
Mark Trahant: Healing the world with totem poles
(5/23)
Mark Trahant: We're all as young
as we feel (5/16)
Mark Trahant: Social
Security debate masks failures (5/9)
Mark Trahant: Public sees bias in the news media
(5/2)
Mark Trahant: Few salmon left for
tribal ceremonies (4/25)
Mark Trahant:
Tax system unfair and complicated (4/18)
Mark Trahant: Our nation must pay its own tax bill
(4/11)
Mark Trahant: Latest numbers on
economy scare me (4/4)
Mark Trahant:
C-SPAN just as important today (3/28)
Mark Trahant: Does democracy mean supporting Bush?
(3/21)
Mark Trahant: Academic freedom
for Churchill too? (03/07)
Mark Trahant:
Journalism more interactive than before (2/28)
Mark Trahant: Social Security debate all about 'me'
(2/21)
Mark Trahant: Social Security
push ignores big issue (2/14)
Mark
Trahant: Human beings only react during crisis (2/7)
Mark Trahant: Election tales usually one-sided
(1/31)
Trahant: Public school system not
good enough (01/24)
Mark Trahant: Three
cheers for the First Amendment (01/10)
Mark Trahant: Did my vote count? Did yours?
(12/20)
Mark Trahant: Bush plan leaves no
room for salmon (12/13)
Mark Trahant:
Two friendly faces on the news (11/29)
Mark Trahant: Mainstream media doesn't matter
(11/22)
Mark Trahant: Do political
endorsements matter? (11/8)
Mark
Trahant: So what happens after the election? (11/1)
Mark Trahant: Vote early and avoid campaign sleaze
(10/25)
Mark Trahant: Congress should
abide by laws too (10/18)
Mark Trahant:
Election changing as we speak (10/11)
Mark Trahant: NMAI must change the story
(09/27)
Mark Trahant: Media's view of
elections should change (09/20)
Mark
Trahant: What happened to Pakistan? bin Laden? (09/13)
Mark Trahant: Payroll tax not fair to all Americans
(8/23)
Mark Trahant: Bush's answer was
slightly better (8/9)
Audio: Bush
explains meaning of tribal sovereignty (8/6)
Mark Trahant: The one that didn't get away
(08/02)
Mark Trahant: Living in a world of
easy credit (7/26)
Mark Trahant:
Congress still stealing Indian land (07/12)
Mark Trahant: Raising the next peace generation
(7/6)
Mark Trahant: How far does
'terrorist' definition go? (6/28)
Mark
Trahant: The big five-oh a good time to reflect (6/21)
Mark Trahant: Ordinary Reagan was extraordinary
(06/14)
Mark Trahant: Indian girls team had
game back in 1900s (06/07)
Mark Trahant:
Voice mail filled with views on Iraqi war (05/17)
Mark Trahant: A familiar story of cultural
change (03/22)
Mark Trahant: One
Indian in Senate is wrong number (03/08)
Mark Trahant: Division marked another major war
too (2/23)
Mark Trahant: We're still
fighting the Cold War (01/26)
Trahant: Selling democracy to Indian
Country (11/17)
Trahant: Can't trust
Uncle Sam with Indian money (11/10)
Mark Trahant: Bush needs to note success and
failure (10/20)
Mark Trahant:
Technology and the news world (09/29)
Mark Trahant: Preparing for the unthinkable
(09/22)
Trahant: When tribes succeed,
someone changes rules (09/1)
Copyright © 2000-2005 Indianz.Com
