Recently Discovered

I came across this blog, dealing mostly with Indian affairs, from a link in a comment on another blog. I like the wry style as much as the content.

The Supremes didn't comment on why they declined to review the removal of Judge Royce Lamberth from the Indian Trust Fund lawsuit. So that's a dead end. On the up side, at least the troublesome Judge wasn't cut down in church by gentlemen friends of the King.

  Wampum post

Nicely done. And here's a Wampum link to an old post rendering a clever accounting of the rats abandoning ship.

Down the Rabbit Hole

[B]oth houses voted overwhelmingly to ensure Senate confirmation for U.S. attorneys. What a difference a scandal can make.

  TPM Muckraker post

And how deep does the rabbit hole go anyway?

The former No. 2 official in the Interior Department yesterday admitted lying to the Senate about his relationship with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who gained the official's intervention at the agency for his Indian tribal clients.

J. Steven Griles pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to a felony for making false statements in testimony before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in November 2005 and in an earlier interview with panel investigators. He is the 10th person -- and the second high-level Bush administration official -- to face criminal charges in the continuing Justice Department investigation into Abramoff's lobbying activities.

  WaPo article

The scope of the Griles, Federici and Abramoff scheme was not limited to a few casinos. It included defrauding the Federal Minerals Management Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and of course, Tribal Governments.

For reasons that either pass understanding, or are patently obvious, the media and its non-tribal alternatives construe Abramoff et alia as a morality play in which Indian Gaming alone occupies the central stage.

Similarly, the political control of US Attorneys, manifested in the Gonzales Eight, is construed as partisan voting rights, overlooking the peculiarity that six of the eight fired US Attorneys had significant MMS and Tribal lease prosecution responsibilities.

  Wampum post

So, has anyone in our government or media raised the question as to why it took John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee (at least from January, 2005, though previously still the lead Senator on the Abramoff investigation for the ten months prior) from March, 2004, when he first received emails and other documents implicating Steve Griles, until late October, 2005 - a full eighteen months, until Senate investigators even "informally" questioned him?

  Wampum post

I do believe there are a lot of dots to connect for some diligent investigator somewhere.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Nukes for India

President George W. Bush signed an agreement Monday with the Prime Minister of India to help the nuclear armed country develop its civilian nuclear power capability. But a measure passed by members of the House of Representatives Tuesday disapproves that arrangement for India, which is not a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

  Environment News Service article

Oh, those pesky details.

President Bush told the Indian leader that he will seek agreement from Congress to adjust U.S. laws and policies to allow the export of nuclear technology to India.

[...]

[...] Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said, “Selling nuclear materials to India is a dangerous proposition and bad nonproliferation policy."

“Why should the United States sell controlled nuclear goods to India? asked Markey. "We cannot play favorites, breaking the rules of the non-proliferation treaty, to favor one nation at the risk of undermining critical international treaties on nuclear weapons.”

“Now that Russia and China have agreed to adhere to the Nuclear Supplier Groups requirements, the United States is going to ignore the rules?" Markey asked. "What will Russia say when they want to supply more nuclear materials or technology to Iran? You can be sure that Pakistan will demand equal treatment. Will the Bush administration soon be announcing nuclear cooperation with them?"

Markey forgets....Buttie has told us before: He is commander in chief, and while some people may have to explain their decisions, he does not.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.