Indian Giver

As you know I rarely wax political and I sound fake when I do, but some recent media articles about the Jack Abramoff debacle caught my attention. Several Indian tribes were quoted as being quite upset that every politician in Washington is unloading any lobby money connected to Jack Abramoff, including donations to charities and … back to the Indian tribes. This is quite upsetting to Native American Indians, who gave the money with the expectation something would be done in return. To throw that money away really gets their craw, doubly.

I entitled this blog “Indian Giver” which is not very fitting although most people know what it means. Few people know that several of its meanings (see Wikipedia) are really all about white people, not Indians, and how strangely white people act when they get mad money. I mean, to get almost 800 bucks an hour to lobby votes and projects is impressive, and to screw everyone in the process was quite a feat. But Jack Abramoff was no Indian Giver. No, it was the people who accepted the lobby booty, and most of the time it was perfectly legal booty – and will be until the bribery laws are changed.

Not many people know that the Indian reservations are “sovereign nations” within the United States. The laws are rather tangled from years of changes and abuse, but in theory each sovereign nation is answerable only to the Federal government. So when a sovereign nation gives a prominent lobbyist with direct ties to the White House gives millions of dollars in lobbying fees, it expected that the money would be put to good use, such as to better their tribe, bring in more jobs, and so forth.

So sure, Jack Abramoff was slime-scum of the Earth, and screwed the Indian sovereign nations at every possible occasion. However, the funds handed out from Jack Abramoff were mostly legal and should have been used for beneficial and not dumped like Boston Tea Party into the drink (another stupid historical thing).

It is embarrassing how some people react to such politics and dump tainted money. It is horrible insulting to others, so it seems.