June 23, 2005 /

A Game of Cowboys and Indians

Our childhood days of fun, running through the woods, hiding behind trees only to jump out and catch our enemy. We would take turns, one day I would be the cowboy, then the next day it was my turn to be an Indian. It was a great summer past time comprising of exercise and go […]

Our childhood days of fun, running through the woods, hiding behind trees
only to jump out and catch our enemy. We would take turns, one day I would be
the cowboy, then the next day it was my turn to be an Indian. It was a great
summer past time comprising of exercise and go old harmless fun.

For Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the fun never seemed to end. Instead
he changed the rules of the game and made it into something not so harmless and
with somewhat less exercise. Jack Abramoff’s idea of a good old game of cowboys
and Indians consists of a few key elements. The cowboys are comprised of Jack
Abramoff, Michael Scanlon, and for Christian Coalition executive director, now
running for Georgia lieutenant governor-Ralph Reed. Their enemies are none other
than the American Indians. This game has a prize for greater than ego. The booty
in this game exceeds $82 million.

A Senate panel yesterday, chaired by Republican John McCain, said the
lobbyist group has possibly committed mail and wire fraud and these allegations
should be pursued by the Justice Department. The Justice Department is already
looking into more than $82 million that has been defrauded from Indian tribes
around the nation. Allegations were also made into tax fraud, brining the
Internal Revenue Service into the bigger picture now. The Washington Post has an
excellent article on this which can be read

here
. Nightline also did a report on it this week, and they have great
resources including emails which can be viewed by visiting
Nightline’s website.

Now this is a horrible story, but it is only going to get worse. Last week in
the hearing on the Downing Street Memo chaired by Democrat Congressman John
Conyers, former CIA analysis Ray McGovern gave testimony into possible reasons
for going into Iraq. One of the key reasons he presented was in aide to Israel.
Opposition immediately latched onto this and has been working around the clock
to discredit this tie.

Now $82 million is a lot of money and what can be done with those kinds of
funds. Well Abramoff was selling his lobbying services to Indian tribes, saying
he would help them defeat legislation which would ultimately close down the
Indian’s casinos. The casino’s have taken such tribes as the Coushatta in Texas
from a poverty stricken area, and provide new hope to them. It has given their
children better schools and the family’s decent wages needed to survive. It has
provided a great help to these people, whose land we live on.

When the threat of them loosing their casino came up, Jack saw a nice chance
to make money. In an email to Scanlan, which was obtained by Nightline, Abramoff
says “Fire up the jet, we are heading to Texas for that moola”. The plan was in
play. They would go down and talk with the tribal leaders and sell them on their
service. Abramoff looked like a knight in shining armor coming in to save the
day. He was going to use his lobbying powers to save the casinos so the
Coushatta people could continue to survive.

Now Abramoff quickly explained to the people how lobbying works. The old “you
scratch my back and I will scratch yours” notion came into play. Abramoff
persuaded the tribe to donate monies to certain politically motivated
organizations. The only problem is these are not political organizations. In one
case, a lot of the money was being funneled through a phony organization and
being used to supply gear and training to snipers in Israel.

Now where does Mr. Reed play into this big game. It seems as though Reed was
getting paid by Abramoff to set up anti-gambling legislation. So Abramoff was
fighting to end this legislation, while his partner in crime was working to get
it passed. It is kind of like the tire store down the street. Business is slow
so they send an employee out to throw a box of nails into the street.

So after all was said and done, the Indians casino was closed down and
Abramoff was a lot richer, while Israel was gaining much more needed financial
support from America. What a fun day of cowboys and Indians.

Now the story does not end here. I promised you it would get worse, and I am
not one to break promises.

It seems that Abramoff’s sidekick Scanlon is the public relations executive
and former spokesman for good old Congressman Tom Delay. Delay is a man who the
Democrats have been out to get for sometime. Some neo-conservatives would refer
to it as a witch hunt, but I myself would never insult a witch in such a vile
way. Delay, who has been tied previously to worker abuses in Saipan which
include forced abortions and underage prostitution, is now tied to defrauding
American citizens. There was some scuffle at the beginning of the year about
Delay being brought before the House Ethics Committee and now it seems that
scuffle will once again be renewed.

The problem the Democrats face is that Congress is controlled by the right
and Delay is the House’s majority leader. This is more of a hurdle though than a
brick wall. Some Republican’s are already speaking out against Delay and think
an investigation is in order. Ironically, the right has been ridiculing Howard
Dean for his comments against Delay. Seems now the righteous, Christian based
Republican Party is supporting a person who may be doing some of the harshest
crimes that is preached about in the Bible, and in American law.

A recently released study has shown that since Bush took office in 2001, the
lobbyist population in Washington has more than doubled, along with their
salaries. This is a serious crime against the American people. While there is no
law against lobbying, they are paid millions in order to push for laws that
benefit big business and the rich elite of this country. They have effectively
silenced the people who elect the officials into office. They have also help
extinguish the American dream of being able to start a business and prosper off
of it.

A lot of harsh words are being said lately because of Hitler and Nazi
associations. If there is one group to associate to Nazi’s then it is the
corporate lobbyists. They are effectively strangling the American People and it
is time for us to break that stranglehold.

This is a further sign that our country needs to reform the way Washington
works. By nature man will fight to survive. These lobbyists are trying to crush
the men and women of this country and we will fight to survive. If changes are
not made soon, we will become a country in need of liberation!

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