Abramoff, Grand Ronde, Saxton, Kulongoski

It is ironic that The Oregonian ran this story about the Grand Ronde Tribe on the same day that the Washington Post ran this story about Jack Abramoff.

In the Post story we see how Abramoff took advantage of Indian tribes and conservative stalwarts like Grover Norquist and Amy Ridenour. Abramoff pled guilty to conspiring to ply lawmakers with gifts in exchange for favors. In the story we see how Abramoff was attempting to hide his motives from among others, the folks at Americans for Tax Reform. In an email correspondence to others inside his lobbying firm he had this to say.

"What is most important however is that this matter is kept discreet," Abramoff said in an e-mail on Oct. 24, 1995. "We do not want the opponents to think that we are trying to buy the taxpayer movement."

Of course liberals will continue to try to paint folks like Norquist and Ridenour as culprits yet conveniently overlook the role that the aggressive politics of the gaming tribe (Choctaws). Conservatives such as Norquist and Ridenour maintain, basically, that they were played by Abramoff. In fact Ridenour testified to a Senate panel:

that she thought the DeLay trip she agreed to sponsor in 2000 was "an educational trip" to Britain, not a golfing junket to Scotland. "The trip I believed I was approving -- and indeed the trip that I invited the member of Congress on . . . was simply to be a trip to London, meet with some members of Parliament and fly home," she said.

Norquist and Ridenour appear to be innocent political operatives taken advantage of by Abramoff who seemed to dig himself deeper and deeper into trouble. However even in innocence we see how liberals, and their willing cohorts in the MSM, can't help but try to portray conservatives as guilty of something. We know that liberals have never let the truth get in the way of good political spin.

Which brings us to the Grand Ronde tribe in Oregon. While I don't think the Grand Ronde's are doing anything illegal, just as the Choctaw's were not, the amount of money involved can create an atmosphere that almost begs for someone to trip up. Or get tripped up. As we have seen in the case with Abramoff, all it takes is one bad actor to taint a whole passle of folks.

The Grand Ronde's probably don't really care a whit about any of Ron Saxton's other positions. Heck they may not even care that he would or would not actively oppose the gorge casino project. Yet they can conveniently use this campaign to bring attention to their pet issue.

Of course the Grand Ronde's got their new allotment of gaming machines that increased their gaming operation by 33%. They received the green light to ad more machines by governor Kulongoski. Then subsequently spanked him for coming up with bi-partisan plan to protect the beauty of the gorge.

There is nothing new with regard to Indian tribes fighting. That has been going on for centuries. We have just always, one way or another, worked things out. What is uncomfortable for most tribes is that the Grand Ronde's have taken the fight to the public. Usually differences between tribes are handled like a family thing. Virtually everyone in Indian country are upset that the Grand Ronde's have adopted the new aggressive political strategy.

Trouble for Republicans
The trouble for Republicans is that the Republican nominee, while used as a tool to advance the cause of the GR's, can get sucked into some uncomfortable stereotypes. One stereotype is that the government has a history of reneging on promises to Indians over the last couple hundred years. If Saxton takes on aggressive opposition to the promise made to the Warm Springs it could hurt future relations between Republicans and Indian tribes.

Taking the Grand Ronde gamble would be like flooding a hungry body with candy bars. You will get an immediate benefit and rush from the sugar, yet in the long run you are hit with sugar depression. What would ad to the bad blood is that the potential betrayal would come on the heels of the Abramoff scandal.

While the details are much more complicated than simply the "bad-ol-Republicans" attacking Indians, the reality is that those details will get lost on future tribal leaders. Because we know that in the future the Democrats will certainly try to use this issue to drive a wedge between Oregon Indian tribes and the Republican party. Much like the liberals are trying to drive a wedge between Indian tribes and conservatives on the national scene in the Abramoff scandal.

The correct position for Saxton, if he personally is opposed to the Cascade Locks casino, would be to say that he thinks it is a bad idea yet agree that the state should keep it's promises to Oregon Indian tribes. There are certainly more important issues for Saxton to tackle. Issues that are much more cut and dried.

Also lost in the dust up is the fact that if the Warm Springs tribe does not build in Cascade Locks then they will build on a VERY visible location in Hood River. Land that the Warm Springs already has as allotted property and land that is up on a hill where everyone can see. So there is a conservationist angle here as well. If Saxton goes "all in" in the Grand Ronde gamble he runs the risk of also perpetuating the "anti-environment" stereotype of Republicans.

Put yourself in the shoes of candidate Kulongoski's campaign manager. Or any Democratic strategist for that matter. Imagine the material you could come up with if you are a Democratic strategist with no scruples.


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