[Vision2020] Obama to Return Manhattan to Native Americans?

[Paul Rumelhart]

That helps, but the clincher will be in The Onion picks it up.

Paul

Tom Hansen wrote:
> Nope.
>
> This is FOR REAL, Roger.
>
> The World Net Daily is reporting this, as well.
>
> http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/Native-Americans-Our-New-Overlords-6366/
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> On Mon, January 3, 2011 12:42 pm, lfalen wrote:
>   
>> 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
>>>
>>>
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>
>
> "The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
> and the Realist adjusts his sails."
>
> - Unknown
>
>
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>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
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