White man takes the Indians' resources once again
Jack Abramoff entrusted with the distribution of some $28 million paid him in tribal money, faces trial on a number of charges so threatening to his career that the man may soon be "singing."
By Lionel Van Deerlin
American Indians are back in the news. Indeed, if Longfellow were still on hand, we might start by chanting "On the shores of Gitche Gumee, by the shining Big Sea waters. ..."
Or more fittingly, on the shores of old Potomac. It's still a story of Indian abuse by the white man, but with a new twist. Sniffing the riches of gaming tables and slot machines, a number of tribal leaders made common cause with shady palefaces. Their subsequent generosity with political campaign money creates a scandal that could rank up there with Teapot Dome, or the Credit Mobilier shakedown of post-Civil War days.
It all revolves around the activities of a lobbyist who found new opportunity in the White Man's Burden. For considerable amounts of wampum, Jack Abramoff undertook to guide his Indian casino clients to people ready to help in Washington.
Like the president? Well, no -- in the world of Abramoff, their new Great White Father turned out to be the erstwhile Republican House leader Tom DeLay, regrettably under indictment just now.
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