[Vision2020] Obama to Return Manhattan to Native Americans?

[lfalen]

Joe, Darrell and Cobert all were making attempts at humor. I suspect this is in the same vain.
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "Tom Hansen" thansen at moscow.com
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:14:45 -0800
To: "Moscow Vision 2020" vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Obama to Return Manhattan to Native Americans?

> The latest right-wing freakout . . .
> 
> Courtesy of Talking Points Memo at:
> 
> http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/latest_right-wing_freak-out_obama_wants_to_give_ma.php
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Latest Right-Wing Freak-Out: Obama Wants To Give Manhattan Back To Native
> Americans
> 
> The good news is that the right-wing isn't talking about President Obama
> being a secret Muslim right now. The bad news is that they're now
> concerned that he's going to use his honorary status as a Crow Tribe
> Indian to return the United States to Native Americans.
> 
> The outrage began after the President announced on December 16 that the
> U.S. would reverse course and support the United Nations Declaration on
> the Rights of Indigenous People. The Declaration was adopted by the U.N.
> General Assembly in 2007, but the U.S., under President Bush, opposed it.
> 
> "The aspirations it affirms -- including the respect for the institutions
> and rich cultures of Native peoples -- are ones we must always seek to
> fulfill," the President said of the Declaration at White House Tribal
> Nations Conference where he announced the reversal. He went on to describe
> efforts to improve health care, education, and unemployment rates in
> tribal areas.
> 
> "While the declaration is not legally binding, it carries considerable
> moral and political force," the State Department wrote of the Declaration,
> "and complements the President's ongoing efforts to address historical
> inequities faced by indigenous communities in the United States."
> 
> Despite this, the right has seized onto some of the language to attack the
> President -- including Article 26, which says:
> 
> "1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and
> resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used
> or acquired.
> 
> 2. Indigenous peoples have the right to own, use, develop and control the
> lands, territories and resources that they possess by reason of
> traditional ownership or other traditional occupation or use, as well as
> those which they have otherwise acquired.
> 
> 3. States shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands,
> territories and resources. Such recognition shall be conducted with due
> respect to the customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the
> indigenous peoples concerned.Obama was adopted as an honorary member of
> the Crow tribe during the 2008 campaign, and was even given the name "One
> who helps people throughout the land." Most of the outrage lobbed at the
> President in the wake of the announcement, naturally, references that
> fact."
> 
> Last week, the "Director of Issues Analysis" for the Christian
> conservative American Family Association, Brian Fischer, wrote a blog post
> claiming that "President Obama wants to give the entire land mass of the
> United States of America back to the Indians. He wants Indian tribes to be
> our new overlords."
> 
> "Perhaps he figures that, as an adopted Crow Indian, he will be the new
> chief over this revived Indian empire," Fischer wrote. "But for the other
> 312 million of us, I think we'll settle for our constitutional 'We the
> people' form of government, thank you very much."
> 
> Yesterday, the right-wing blog World Net Daily took it a step further in a
> post called "Obama to give Manhattan back to Native Americans? President
> believes nation can spare some sovereignty." The article describes how
> "President Obama is voicing support for a U.N. resolution that could
> accomplish something as radical as relinquishing some U.S. sovereignty and
> opening a path for the return of ancient tribal lands to American Indians,
> including even parts of Manhattan."
> 
> The article continues: "Obama's interest is personal. He noted during the
> 2008 presidential campaign he was officially adopted by the Crow Nation,
> an Indian tribe in Montana, and he was given an Indian name."
> 
> Joseph Farah, the founder and editor of WND, followed up on the article
> today with a facetious column called "I'll Take Manhattan." He writes:
> "Truth be told, I have a fair amount of Indian heritage on my mother's
> side. So this proposed redistribution of wealth is welcome news for me.
> Where do I apply? I want to return wampum for Manhattan."
> 
> "Anyway, what do we have to lose?" he writes. "The U.S. economy is in
> shambles. What harm could it do to redistribute lands based on nothing
> more than the racial and ethnic heritage of Americans?"
> 
> "I suspect Obama himself plans to cash in on this action," he wrote.
> 
> Former Ambassador John Bolton was more concerned that the resolution would
> result in new legal claims. "It's a kind of feel-good document that has so
> many unclear phrases in it that nobody's really sure what it means when
> you agree to it," he told FoxNews.com. "It's wrong and potentially
> dangerous to sign onto a document that you don't fully understand the
> implications of."
> 
> "Hopefully most judges will say it's not binding," Bolton added. "But
> there are enough judges who couldn't care less about strictly applying the
> law."
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
> 
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
> 
> "The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
> and the Realist adjusts his sails."
> 
> - Unknown
> 
> 
> =======================================================
>  List services made available by First Step Internet, 
>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
>                http://www.fsr.net                       
>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================