Wampum

Thanks, this is sorely needed. We need abstracting of all this stuff, and yes, there going to find a way to drag in Clinton into it too. So complicated, the press no longer does, unless it involves 'semen stains'. But anything beyond basic arithmetic, and they're lost forever. Any turns beyond 2 from the main road, and they're gone. It's way beyond KISS, these folks really need to be blasted out of their complacency. We've yet to develop an effective formula to do this.

But as I was thinking in 2004, it would be worth all the gold left in Fort Knox, (OK pick your Fed Reserve bank, except NY) to retire Rummy, Condi & possibly Uncle Dick to a deserted island somewhere for the duration of the 2nd term. Of course Dick won't go, and we'd still be left with manifest evil at the top. But I'm willing to make the same offer for the entire Wash. Press corps. The whole lot of them. Replace them with college interns forthwith. They can't do any worse, and they might actually be interested in doing their jobs instead of preening & sucking up to power.

I've said it once, and I'll say it again. We now have the sort of Press corps that would cheer the sight of Brown shirts in the streets. They've managed to see that done now. Worthless, & utterly contemptuous of any real democracy they've ever encountered. And yeah, I'll hold it against them for as long as I live. So would Jefferson & Paine. Cheers, 'VJ'

You know, I really like it when someone knowledgeable and smart does a succinct post that sums up an issue for my readers, because no matter how well someone may have written a series of posts covering different aspects of the issue, it's much harder to direct readers to go read that whole series of posts so that they can get a glimpse of the depth of that issue. Most won't do it if I just say, "Go read x.blog everyday to keep up to date on Y issue."

So, am I blind, or did you not include a link to that post. (OK, I am half-blind, but my surgeon says they will be fixing that sometime soon....)

[Oops, sorry Avedon, I did forget that small detail ;D).

I've seen your posts on the Cobell case (via The Left Coaster) and the failure of the House of Representitives to order the court mandated accounting. I think there are two separate issues that require more effort for a satisfactory resolution:

1) getting the actual court-ordered accounting thru Congress
2) more reporting and wider circulation of the corruption scandal

I'll leave #2 aside for now but #1 is a basic problem common to all issues - how to get legislation introduced and passed. I believe that the Cobell accounting could be framed as a referendum on Congressional reform and the arrogance of GOP power. The accounting was ordered by a court and the GOP Congress (led by Pombo) pulled their support in the dark of night.

To get the legislation introduced you need one Senate sponsor and one House member to introduce a resolution as a stand alone measure. Once that is achieved then the blogosphere can rally around a piece of legislation and generate the phone calls and research on individual members actions that might actually get the Cobell accounting passed.

Can you distill out the accounting language to a stand alone amendment and resolution that can be introduced in both chambers of Congress? One member can get a discharge petition going in the House to overcome the obstruction of GOP leadership and it only takes one member in the Senate to support your position to get live legislation out in debate.

The entire Abramoff affair has gone stragely quiet in both the MSM and the blogosphere. The trust fund story is getting no play at all. Neither is the North Marianas Islands story. The NMI story is lurid enough to entice the media, one would think. On the other hand, the residents of NMI (and the victims) are non-white, which maybe explains the quiet on the trust fund story.

It seems almost a meme of Abramoff story that the stoopid injuns couldn't figure out what to do with their money unless they were directed by a white man (I hope no one takes offense at that statement, it just seems to me to be the assumption that underlies most of the MSM reporting).

The other thing the trust fund story has going against it is that it is very complicated. I wonder if there is some way to break it down into a series of "talking points." I hate to look at it that way, but I don't think the story is going to sink in for most people (including the MSM and congress) unless its components parts can be reduced to sound bites.

The hopeful side of the story is that Abramoff is going to be the gift that keeps on giving. I've been hugely impressed with Fitzgerald. I don't think he's going to give up as long as there are leads to follow. It is just going to take a long time.

I just finished reading the dkos diary. That was a nice summary. One minor point is that you mention CREA without comment. Most people aren't going to know what CREA is.

So, what strategy should be used to go after this? The lawsuit was the obvious start, but it is stalled now. Writing to congressmen is kind of obvious, but I doubt it will be successful. I'm betting the congressmen on the relevant committees are up to their eyeballs in this, and the rest of congress will look to them for guidance.

Are there any sympathetic congressmen we can write to? I'm from PA, so there's not much my elected assholes, er um, representatives are going to do about it in this congress. Is there a criminal angle? Should we be looking to run out the clock and hope that the next congress is better able to deal with it?

Frankly, I'm stumped. I hate feeling like there is nothing that can be done, though I have been feeling that way a lot lately.

Thanks for your summary on dKos (you got front-paged btw). I had quite frankly forgotten all about it, and I'm glad someone not only sees the bigger picture but can open my eyes to it. Well done.

I remember the bruhaha over the Cobell case during the Clinton years, but other than a few blips (like when the Judge essentially damned Norton for her behaviour in the case), I haven't seen anything on this in the mainstream media. I am wondering why.

Unrelated, but related, I am distressed at the manner in which the state of New York (which has treaties with several tribes which pre-date the revolution, and are therefore still binding) has been actively avoiding dealing with long-standing disputes with the tribes here. Basically Pataki's strategy has been to give various Seneca tribes casinos and hope the problem disappears.

Things you don't know from the world around you: there was a Deaniac feud with Indians? My diaries about the Sioux GOTV effort were fairly well received.

I guess I was too busy trying to slap down Rovian talking points that Clark murdered Serbian preschoolers with his own hands.

MB, thank you for putting it all together and settling my mind about what was, and is, going on here.

Especially with the latest round of hate being brewed up (This year's installment: "it's the injuns fault for 'them ev'l casinos").

One more technorati link, for additional truth and justice, coming up shortly.

From the Indianz.com article you quoted in your dKos diary:
"The issues of budget and the resources for the Cobell case will considered in the upcoming weeks. On February 14, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee holds a hearing on President Bush's fiscal year 2007 budget request. On March 1, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and the House Resources Committee will hold a joint hearing on the settlement of Cobell."

I think there is an opportunity to coordinate between blogs a campaign to get these hearings more attention and identify tactics in advance to best achieve a positive result from the 2/14 and 3/1 hearings. Maybe if you brainstorm some ideas and tactics with your fellow bloggers you can come up with some clear and simple action items for average blog readers to follow. There are lots of very smart and expert people (Steve Soto, Digby, ReddHedd, Jeralyn Meritt, Armando, Kos) that might welcome a collective battle that can generate a positive result.

From the House Committee on Resources website (see URL):
"There has been growing concern with the duration and cost of the litigation. Indian account holders have not received a full accounting of their IIM accounts as they are entitled to, nor any money they may be owed as a result of the government’s historic mismanagement of record-keeping. Spending on this matter threatens to displace funding for other Interior programs and services.

On September 25, 2003, District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth issued a decision on one phase of the litigation. His decision requires the Department of the Interior to provide a full accounting by 2007 of all Indian money trusts dating back to 1887 (the year Indian lands were first allotted). Some have estimated this could cost $4 billion to $10 billion on an accounting that cannot be sufficiently performed. Meanwhile, IIM account holders will be unable to receive any money they may be owed until the litigation is resolved.

Some believe an Act of Congress is necessary to facilitate a resolution to the Cobell litigation. In 2003, the House Committee on Resources held three hearings on this matter, one of which was held in Montana accessible to several tribes of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, and one of which was in Arizona on an Indian reservation."

My quick read on this summary:
1) the cost of the accounting is not relevant, it's been ordered by a Federal Judge and should be completed in the same manner as all government operations, in a timely manner at an affordable cost. Can the GAO do an audit of Interior under special funding? What are the options?

2)the cost of legislation relative to other Interior funds is not at issue. It is the cost to Indians of poor and possibly corrupt accounting that is at issue in Cobell. The Interior appropriations are a matter for Congress independent of the findings of Cobell or the cost of the court ordered Cobell accounting

3)The summary cites that "some believe an Act of Congress is necessary to facilitate a resolution to the Cobell litigation". Resolution of Cobell is not currently an issue, merely the court-ordered accounting procedure. Only after a fair accounting can any Congressional accounting be contemplated - how else could any Congressional resolution (apart from the continuing District Court action) possibly be fair? Get the accounting done in an open and fair manner first - there is no reason for delay.

Damn. I picked up on this at Digby and followed it to Kos. Came here and read the rest. All of it. Damn. I have a Blog that I just recently started and I will put something in it with links to this story. It really need to grow some legs, hell wings. Bless Cobell. A warrior indeed.

Dear MB Williams,
As an outsider (middle aged white lady), and fellow Kossac, I found your post extremely compelling, interesting, heartbreaking, excellent, necessary. I am writing you to encourage you to continue posting on this subject. Yes, our interests do change frequently, but some issues are core. Alito took over the spotlight last week in a big way, but Abramoff and government corruption is still in the backs of our minds. I have a suggestion for getting your whole story out, for I do believe that the background is extremely important: break it up into a series. Please tell the whole story. The time is right. Abramoff and his government pals have raped this country of its resources. The complete picture of how they have done so to the poorest and most vulnerable among is is the key to understanding the picture of what they've done to all of us. Break it into an historical series and post it daily. If you need to borrow a diary, I will gladly lend you mine (hardly use it except to rant; I'd love to see it put to good use).
You've an audience of 75,000+ at Kos. Please use it.

MB

Might I suggest you put together a post that works the other direction. Start with the names of the people we know to be heavily implicated in the Abramoff scandal: DeLay, Ney, Burns, Doolittle, Pombo (I'm missing some congressmen), Reed, Safavian, Griles, Frederici, Norton. To be witty, call it the 10 most wanted, make it a poker hand or something Bush can understand. Then explain how these people we KNOW to be involved with Abramoff are tied to it and why.

Ideally, it could be something blog readers could send out to local newspapers, particularly in places that would put some pressure on these people.

The idea is, if you can show that the murky guilt of these people is really crystal clear guilt associated with stealing gas from Indians, it may even get through to the MSM. In effect, you'd be providing these reporters the "key" to a puzzle that they just can't figure out how to solve. There're a lot of reporters who are hungry for a narrative for the Abramoff scandal; I think you've provided it.

Count me late to the party, but I'm in now:

http://mainstusa.blogspot.com/2006/02/abramoff-backstory.html

linking to your summary post at dailykos.

There's an excellent summary of this over here at SavageMinds, the anthropology group blog.