LEONARD PELTIER CLEMENCY

Advocates of a clemency or pardon for Leonard Peltier often raise the issue of the amount of time he has served-closing in on four decades.

That’s a long time, not a record, but nonetheless a long time.

What they seem to fail to grasp is that the passage of time is inclusive-that it doesn’t stop and remain fixed for any other than victims whose lives have been taken.

It stopped for Annie Mae Aquash, Ray Robinson, Buddy Lamont, Nogeeshik Aquash, Jack Coler, Ron Williams, Roque Duenas, Jancita  Eagle Deer, those who lay in hidden graves as the result of WK2, and others who may never be known.

The advocates will often talk of a complicity in these murders by the feds-if there is a value in that then they must likewise assert that as a member of AIM-more specifically one of Dennis Banks security grunts, then Peltier must likewise be complicit.  Begins to get a little murky and places an onus on the advocates doesn’t it?

Of those victims listed above no one to my knowledge has claimed that Peltier had a direct physical involvement in their deaths with the exception of Williams and Coler – despite the nagging time line, the exposed liesof hen he was in jail in Canada, and Peltier’s own admission that he was in and out of the country during pivotal dates.

Yet time or the memory of these murders hasn’t stopped for the families  and friends as each fell-there is no pardon or clemency that can be  sought that will release their loved ones from the graves they lay in.

No surcease of sorrow-nothing to fill the void in a child’s life, or the vacancy left in a family-something to consider with each new attempt by Peltier to portray himself as a victim worthy of release.

He wants to mentor youth? What he has done for the now adults who were the youthful children of his victims?

Did he teach them to paint or counsel them in the right and wrongs of life, remember them during Christmas toy drives, or contribute to college scholarships?

Has he ever done a single thing to alleviate their suffering?

Did he tell them of the value of being a “warrior” which he claims to be and will never truthfully ever be able to make such a claim?

What has he done for the children of Annie and Ray to assist in obtaining the justice they deserve other than to obstruct, lie, support the murders, and in the end say he wouldn’t help put another indigenous man in prison?

Even Banks and OJ went through the motions of offering a reward or conducting an “independent investigation”.

Often overlooked is the fact that family members of a perpetrator are in some ways a victim, and made to suffer as well-what has Peltier done for them other than to construct a prison where they also serve  each day and allowed to live only a half life?

BENEATH THE GROUND

Recognition of the following sites who have posted this:
 http://nativeamericannewstome.tumblr.com/

Leonard Peltier Still Guilty 

And attribution to the  site of origin and author:
http://www.noparolepeltier.com

All sites that warrant a visit.

Those who read the article who may be on the fence about Peltier or even an  advocate may find it difficult to explain or mount a defense -if so they should re examine their position.

A lot of things live beneath the ground-worms and grubs are two that come to mind.

Dear Supporters:
“I’m a warrior that’s why I believe I should go out, & keep under-ground.”
Peltier’s first escape plan came to the attention of  Canadian authorities with little pressure on the “mentally disturbed” (according to Peltier), courier. The note, duly transcribed and reported caused the prison authorities to double-up their watchfulness of the American Indian accused of killing two federal agents. They didn’t want or need the embarrassment of losing such a valuable commodity that the U.S. Government and the FBI wanted desperately back in the lower forty-eight to stand trial for his alleged (at the time), crimes.
The extradition to the U.S., fought hard by Peltier and his court appointed and volunteer attorneys, was moving along, so formal charges of an escape plan were not filed, but duly noted.
Peltier was extradited and much has been said about the process, but the final word rests not with the occasional liberal politicians, Peltierites, the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee (which wasn’t formally created until his trial in March 1977), or Peltier himself, but with the ultimate Canadian law enforcement authority:
A four-page letter dated October 12, 1999 from A. Anne McLellan, Canadian Minister of Justice, to U.S. Attorney General, Janet Reno, reviewed the entire Peltier extradition matter and concluded, unambiguously:
“As I indicated above, I have concluded that Mr. Peltier was lawfully extradited to the United States.”
“The record demonstrates that the case was fully considered by the courts and by the then Minister of Justice. There is no evidence that has come to light since then that would justify a conclusion that the decisions of the Canadian courts and Minister of Justice should be interfered with.” http://www.noparolepeltier.com/canadaletter.html
So then, why is this first Escape Plan even relevant?
Because Peltier, perhaps for the very first time, unknown that other eyes would see it, admitted why an escape was necessary; his note contained an element of truth and undermined his later claims for his armed escape from Lompoc in July 1979. Lompoc was a totally fabricated lie of an assassination plot. This also provides the basis for negating all of Peltier’s claims of innocence and the polluted river of folklore that followed.
“I’m a warrior that’s why I believe I should go out, & keep under-ground.”
The alleged “assassination plot” was among the first of a long string of lies, disinformation and diversionary tactics unsupported by any reality or facts:
-He was in tent city when the shooting started.
-He didn’t shoot at the agents initially, but later admitted in a public interview that he did.
-He shot in self-defense, yet knowing that white guys in civilian clothes driving late model vehicles with antennas, were the Feds…no mystery there. Added to the fact that Norman Charles and Wish Draper told Peltier that they were interviewed by the same two agents just the day before, and they were looking, not for him, but Jimmy Eagle.
-“Self defense” translates, in the misshapen LPDOC world, to blasting away two wounded agents with point-blank shots to the face. Peltier’s actions was a hugely consequential act, so lets call it by its real name, murder.
-“This story is true” Peltier claimed in Incident at Oglala about the infamous red pickup truck and the phantom Mr. X. which was proven to be an outright lie by one of his own co-conspirators, Dino Butler, let alone recently from his own attorney, Michael Kuzma.
-He claims he was not provided a fair parole hearing in 2009 but steadfastly and predictably refuses to release the transcript from Lewisburg. (Or the transcript of Agents Williams’ radio transmissions.  Both of which have been repeatedly requested.)
-Another co-conspirator, Bob Robideau (1946-2009) who was there during those fatal moments with Peltier said the agents “died like worms.” It’s difficult for Peltierites to spin that in any other direction. But they try, by ignoring it and hoping it will be forgotten. Not likely.
http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#self
-He claimed that Jumping Bull was a set up, a pre-planned government assault on AIM, yet the infamous “Sanctioned Memo” he relies on proves just the opposite and demonstrates yet another disinformation tactic.  http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#critic
-During the escape from Pine Ridge Peltier admitted exactly what happened—to the dire detriment of one listener—Anna Mae Aquash, stating of the wounded agent, (Ron Williams), “the m….. f….. begged for his life but I shot him anyway.”
-How does Peltier’s disinformation tactics get beyond quoted statements like this (thanks to the reporting of Peter Matthiessen p.552); “I seen Joe when he pulled it out of the trunk and I looked at him when he put it on, and he gave me a smile.” (This seamlessly supports to the oft-made NPPA assertion that Peltier wasn’t in Seattle that day.)
Peltier was no AIM leader, just a thug and bodyguard, a tough guy, especially with women, but low enough to attack with others, and then when two mortally wounded agents couldn’t fight back, cowardly enough to shoot them in the face. No disinformation there, just the facts. Yes, we know no one admitted pulling the trigger, Robideau in his hallucinatory state of mind tried to take the blame and credit, Dino Butler, standing there when it happened, has remained mute, and that leaves only the would-be warrior, the incarcerated coward he’s always been.
-The critical witness, even with their faults, provided the jury with what they needed to understand the elements of Peltier’s guilt. http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#critical
Peltier’s lies and disinformation appeals to the lowest common denominator: Don’t be confused by the facts, but accept Jumping Bull at face value. Believe his lies, don’t ask for proof or push the hard questions…and just send more money.
He begs for mercy now, (unlike the mercy he showed Agents’ Coler and Williams), from the President and asks for a commutation of his sentence. But the President doesn’t have to be reminded that repentance, acceptance of responsibility, is a critical factor in the consideration of clemency
The President will not be dissuaded by these tactics but has been reminded of the most damming statement Peltier has made in nearly four decades after his cowardly act ; “And really, if necessary, I’d do it all over again because it was the right thing to do.”
The failed Oakalla first escape plan destroyed yet another element of the myth and folklore of Leonard Peltier. In other words, the alleged assassination attempt at Lompoc was just another fabrication, another deception in a series of frauds to garner sympathy that in some perverse way he has become a fictitious leader of his people while being at once a victim as well. He cannot have it both ways, because to even attempt to do so, the folklore fails on both counts.
“I’m a warrior that’s why I believe I should go out, & keep under-ground.”
A “warrior,” hardly, and only in his own mind, but he is at least keeping, if not under-ground, then permanently under wraps.

“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods

P.S.
1) Peltier makes prime time:
The popular CBS crime show, “Criminal Minds,” gave Peltier an unwanted plug during their May 1, 2013 episode that related to crimes on a Reservation. One of the actors commented, “Peltier did kill two FBI agents looking for a robbery suspect. Hard to forget.” There it is, without the Peltier fable, spin and folklore, just the cold hard basic fact for millions of viewers to hear and understand; Peltier is a murderer and is where he belongs and will remain. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CM3OLXA/?tag=tvguideonli02-20
2) Topic of upcoming NPPA Blogs:
On December 19, 2012, Peltier engaged in a telephone interview from prison with National Public Radio’s, Amy Goodman. Peltier made a number of implausible statements about his own case that were either patently ignorant (that he actually may believe them) or blatantly deceiving (to continue to ferment the mold that grows on the Peltier folklore). In either case we’ll explore and explain some of them in upcoming No Parole Peltier Association Blogs.

DAMNING FLAWS

Featured today on the Tumlbr site of http://nativeamericannewstome.tumblr.com/ is an article written by Steve Hendricks, author of the Unquiet Grave,  entitled Hendricks: Manhandled By Russell Means and well worth taking a look at.

For all the citings of Hendrick’s and his book, The Unquiet Grave, it’s interesting that those who frequently quote or reference it as the definitive defense of AIM and indictment of the feds fail to mention that Hendricks categorically states AIM is responsible for the murder of Ray Robinson and also makes a case for Dave Hill being an informant.

Hendrick’s denounces the direction AIM took while characterizing it as violent and thuggish, filled with what he says were “damning flaws”.

Despite these admissions on Hendrick’s behalf he nonetheless feels compelled at various stages to adopt the position of AIM apologist, seguing often, and predictably, into the adolescent defense  of “they  made me do it” so heavily favored by the AIM/Peltierites.

A defense that has never withstood the cold hard light of day and fails equally as miserably when advanced by Hendrick’s, who apparently has yet to completely understand that it is the finger on the trigger and those who direct it that are responsible -that they made me do it is best left to school yard playgrounds.

The same individuals so willing to claim Hendricks book as part of the AIM pentateuch studiously avoid mentioning that Ray’s wife Cheryl accused Hendricks of absconding with various documents of her’s following an interview between them.

Part of their selective approach that makes much of Cheryl’s denouncing of the feds for what she terms lying to her and their lack of enthusiasm for justice in Ray’s murder, and yet make no mention of her accusations related to Hendricks.

I find common ground with Hendricks in some of the positions he has taken:

That Hill was an informant, though he claims Zigrossi has verified this and I haven’t as yet discovered any such verification,  that Russell Means was a basically a loud mouthed windbag, and AIM was a fatally flawed organization populated with it’s share of thugs.

Is the book worth a read? I’d say they basically all are as a means to note the contradictions one to the other, to understand the variances the passage of time has produced, and perhaps more importantly to become familiar with the lies and alibis once employed that have either been dropped or modified.

TELL ME THE DIFFERENCE

The reservation system created a vacuum, and with each passing decade the distance between the past and the present became more pronounced.

Confusion increased due to this vacuum, and the sure knowledge of who we were and should be suffered as a result.

It is as though a mutant gene had been introduced , and the changes it would produce became increasingly evident as new generations arose.

We are a noticeably different than we were a century or two ago, lost ground that we may never make up.

Vacuums create voids, an emptiness that some will see as opportunity and eagerly seize upon.

People want and need someone to look up to, someone, something to believe in- a vulnerability exists in such a need that is easily exploited.

And the vehicle of choice is words-Castro knew this, Hitler knew it, Stalin knew it, and the AIM leadership knew it.

All rode the wave of populist rhetoric, and once having gained power resorted to intimidation and force to retain it.

All enriched themselves and lived above those in poverty and abuse they claimed to speak for.

All beat the drums of war and portrayed  themselves as liberators, soldiers in the war on poverty and oppression, even while usurping the original oppressors with their own version.

Who honors leaders that turn against their own people, who will rape and murder their own?

Do any think Assad is an honorable man as he kills his own people-or the Palestinian movement not without it’s own downside when it is controlled not by Palestinians but Hamas and Hezbollah as clients of Iran and Syria?

Is the Taliban worthy of honor as they subjugate women, bomb schools where children attend, and rule by fear?

If you have said no to these questions then tell me the difference between them and the AIM leadership.

 

 

 

 

PRINCIPLES

“Libertarians do not compromise. They do not sell out. In contrast Demopublicans insist that politics is the art of compromise. I believe politics should be the art of principles”. Russell Means

PRINCIPLES-Ultimately they are what defines positions taken and individuals.

a. A rule or standard, especially of good behavior: a man of principle.
b. The collectivity of moral or ethical standards or judgments: a decision based on principle rather than expediency.

A part of the definition, good behavior, morality, and ethics characterized by sound decisions and not expediency.

Definitions that seem to exclude not only Russell but the AIM leadership in the bargain as well.

Name a political party and Means probably claimed to belong to it at some point or another-as to the Libertarians I don’t claim to be all that familiar with their positions as I believe politicians regardless of their affiliations are poseurs lacking any real principles, and I have little inclination to listen to them.

A “principle” could rightly be said to be the commonly held desire of indigenous people to govern themselves and be dealt with equitably-something Means got a lot of mileage out of as he worked the crowds and the donations/media angles. Something the AIM leadership has as well.

Justice would be another principle they devote a lot of verbiage to, yet they as a collective have been noticeably short on principles when it comes to such things as justice for Annie, Ray, and the victims of WK2 both living and deceased.

Sort of a compromise you might say where principles are set aside, become secondary to their own interests.

Five plus centuries of death and destruction, of  blood and misery, as the result of adhering to the principle that we are a people who have the right to self determination, to controlling our own destiny, and being secure in our persons and our homes.

Yet it is AIM, the leadership, who placed a price tag on that and routinely bargained it away for their own greed-their own sense of entitlement and flagrant lack of principles long held by the nations while adorning themselves with laughable titles like warrior, liberator, patriot, and chief.

Those willing to subjugate these principles of justice and independence to a handful of frauds deserve neither, and need to get out of the way of those who do rather than hinder them.

Likewise those who in attending the AIM sponsored Kabuki promoted as ceremonies and contribute to the mockery would better serve the nations and traditions if they  purchased a crystal to wave around and had one of their new age friends paint a third eye on their forehead.

Look to the land you walk upon where the blood of your ancestors lays, where their voices and the voices of innocent victims can be heard, not to some wannabe amplifying lies through a microphone or bullhorn with their hand in your pocket.

CLIFF JUMPING

All was born with common sense, that’s why they call it “common sense.” You know, you have common sense; you just gotta use it, that’s all. You’ve just got to evaluate what somebody tells you. You know, to use your common sense you say, “Why that doesn’t work. No, I don’t think so.” I mean, I remember when one of our chiefs – we had a group of boys and who had done something bad and they were sitting in front of the chief’s council – and they were talking about, you know, “who is the leader?” And I remember one old chief who said, “You know, it’s not good sense to follow somebody just because – why? – you can’t give me a reason why you follow him, but if you were going to do something like jumping off a cliff, would you follow him? Use your sense. Use your common sense.” And then he said, “Everybody should be their own leader.” In other words, do your thinking for yourself.

-Oren Lyons

Lot of people willing to leave the thinking and the decision making process to others, willing to just follow along-something I’ve never understood.

Never understood what is lacking in those who do.

Common sense is instinctual,it’s something I believe we are born with and can be cultivated-that little voice that asks why, or  says wait a minute, think about this.

It’s what keeps us from sticking our hand in a fire, or understanding that something that sounds too good to be true probably isn’t.

It’s what raises the red flag, tells us if we don’t want water pouring through the roof when it rains it needs to be fixed.

Common sense sounds mundane, too ordinary, too common for some, and they will replace it with the term critical thinking believing it sounds more lofty, and in describing themselves as critical thinkers it adds value to their words or opinions.

But I believe in the end they are one and the same-though I’m pretty sure that in saying so the critical thinkers would take issue with it as they seem to believe the ability is derived from having been to college or owning a piece of paper that says they are a series of initials like B.A. or Phd and somehow sets them apart, elevates them.

Kind of funny in a way because common sense knows that the ability  to reason isn’t dependent on a piece of paper.

Critical thinking will write a treatise to give a response to a simple question-common sense will cover the same ground with a nod of the head or a few words.

Common sense has been the vehicle that’s asked the hard questions when it’s come to AIM and Peltier, served to expose the truth and rout the lies……that’s common sense, not common lies.

Common lies are what caused the Lemming like procession of believers to hurl themselves over the precipice of the Mr. X lie, to follow along accepting the hero warrior myth of both AIM and Peltier, to ignore the reality of AIM’s  guilt for the murder of Annie, Ray, and victims laying in unmarked graves.

Be your own person, not someone willing to jump off a cliff- in doing so you’ll find a lot of common ground to share with others based on common sense.

IS THAT WHAT BLIND JUSTICE MEANS ?

I was reading earlier that Lauryn Hill was just sent to prison for failing to pay taxes-I didn’t know who she was but learned she is a singer of some repute.

Made me think about Wesley Snipes being convicted for and sentenced to prison for the same thing-I’m not familiar with the statistics but I kind of wonder how many high profile people have found themselves in the same situation?

Willie Nelson seems to get busted for pot on almost a regular basis, also had his own issues with the IRS.

I understand that income tax evasion and possession of marijuana  are against the law, but I wonder if any think the severity of such crimes is more than say murder for instance?

No? Then how about arson, is that worse? Or taking hostages and razing a village while murdering a few people and burying them in unmarked graves?

How about abducting a woman, beating her, and then shooting her in the back of the head-is that worse?

Both murder and arson have been committed by AIM -yet they haven’t received so much as a citation for either.

We know that blowing through a stop sign at seventy miles an hour, running over someone in a drunken stupor and killing them can be reduced all the way down to a mere hundred days, and after the first thirty days be allowed to leave jail periodically to “perform community service” if you’re a politician by the name of Bill Janklow, we also know it wouldn’t be that way for either you or I….in addition that the victim Randolph E. Scott’s life was worth only a hundred days to the presiding judge.

We know as well the name Bill Janklow is apparently venerable enough to allow him  to withstand not one, but two, rape accusations and be characterized as a candidate for  foster parent of the year.

Depending on who you are you can apparently take over a government building like the BIA and be financially rewarded for doing so.

Sounds hard to believe? Ask AIM- they did.

If you have “elk medicine” like Dennis Banks you can bed underage girls, impregnate them or do what you will, and that isn’t a problem.

If you aren’t of the AIM leadership or have your head stuck up their ass like Peltier and others then you’d be going to jail for doing likewise.

I wonder, is that what blind justice means?

A DEFENSE ATTORNEY’S WORST NIGHTMARE

Peltier has said people are “jealous”about the “symbol” he’s become. And predictably Peltier indicts himself once again in saying “and all that evidence that we uncovered from that time is what these people are going around the country using”.

That’s right Leonard-uncovered evidence that squarely points the finger at those responsible.

An additional bit of information is  that Leonard wasn’t in jail at the time he specifies and wouldn’t be for several more weeks.

“I think it was around that December when I heard that Anna Mae was dead. I was in that jail over there in Canada right around whenever they exposed who she really was and what she died from, but I believe I didn’t hear about it until December. When people say that she tried to contact me, that’s a lie. If she’d have tried to contact me then she would have been with me, and there’s no doubt in my mind because the Indian people knew where I was; certain people knew where I was at. She would not; I mean, I know she didn’t try to contact me. This is something that has to get out, out there: some of these people are just outright lying. I know it because how in the hell, all of a sudden, are they involved in this twenty-five years later? ‘Oh, I know this. I know that.’ Well, they didn’t know shit before and all of a sudden twenty-five years later they know something? All of this information that these people are going around this country with is the same information that we had through our investigation back in the seventies. Right after it was revealed that the body they buried as ‘Jane Doe’ was Anna Mae Aquash we immediately began organizing and trying to get an investigation going, and all of the evidence that we uncovered from that time is what these people are going around the country using.”….Peltier

Yup, all that evidence that has led to two convictions-and that Freudian slip where Peltier says “she would not” in reference to Annie contacting him, and then attempts to correct it by saying what he means is that he knows she didn’t try to contact him.

We can thank Peltier for making that point, and I think we all know what he meant-after all why would Annie attempt to contact a thug who interrogated her at gunpoint and went on to say he would like to subject her to “truth serum”?

We should ask Peltier if the same information that convicted Graham and Arlo is the same information that AIM’s “investigation” uncovered and is being used to secure convictions? If it is why didn’t AIM ever present their findings? Why didn’t they testify during the trials?

Peltier’s disconnect between his brain and his mouth- a defense attorneys worst nightmare.

AIM “investigating” itself would be like Nazi war criminals presiding over the Nuremburg trials.

OLD LIES DIE HARD

Old lies die hard, and the recent admission by Peltier’s current attorney Kuzma that the Mr. X story was a lie amounted to a quantum leap forward in the direction of the truth.

It’s kind of got me wondering though what Antoinette Nora  Claypoole meant when she melodramatically labelled Kuzma and associates the Buffalo Bravado Boys?  And so I took a couple of moments to look up the definition of the word bravado thinking maybe my understanding of it was incorrect.

Below are the definitions I found:

From the Free Online Dictionary-
1.
a. Defiant or swaggering behavior: strove to prevent our courage from turning into bravado.
b. A pretense of courage; a false show of bravery.
2. A disposition toward showy defiance or false expressions of courage.
vaunted display of courage or self-confidence; swagger

From Webster’s-

1
a : blustering swaggering conduct
b : a pretense of bravery
2
: the quality or state of being foolhardy

I fail to see any swagger or bluster in having to “officially” admit a  lie-I’d say it had become a necessity, was something that had become  unavoidable, an attempt to turn the page and add a new coat of paint.

But there’s been a lot of lies over the years in what is referred to as the defense of Peltier -a lot of bluster and swagger on his part.

Like the way he went on about how “his people” know who the “hero” was, know who “fought hard”, how he was “laying down fire”.

But then who can forget Peltier’s taped interview where he stumbles around saying no one was “shot, hit, hurt” where he was shooting?

An implication that he wasn’t “fighting hard” to shoot anyone, just kind of, sort of, aiming in a general direction more for show than anything else while making sure no one was “shot, hit, hurt”.

In a bonafide legitimate fight against a real threat anyone taking that course would be labelled a coward. But then what occurred at Jumping Bull wasn’t a legitimate fight, it was cold blooded murder based on Peltier’s belief the agents were coming to get him for that Wisconsin warrant and the fact that Peltier was the shooter at Jumping Bull is indisputable.

The Mr. X lie was known to be bs for years, and to admit it wasn’t bravado,  amounts to more of a humbled admission with a side dish of crow to force down.

Not long ago I saw actor Peter Coyote on Democracy Now I believe it was where  another reference was made to a stale moldy staple-that being the “old boots” version of why Williams and Coler were looking for Jimmy Eagle-another bs fairytale employed over the years to flesh out the myth.

I’m thinking Kuzma should lay that one to rest as well-update the script so everyone is on the same page, and hopefully avoid further embarrassment for the team- to not do so would be foolhardy.

Now I don’t think the “Buffalo Bravado Boys” are about “showy defiance”, “bluster”, or false expressions of courage and bravery, maybe Claypoole  knows more than we do though, if so maybe she would be willing to share.

Maybe she would be willing to  admit Mr.X and the old boots tale are both lies.

INDIFFERENCE OR COMPLICITY ?

A good friend who follows the blog laughingly told me I’ve been on the warpath of late and not taking any prisoners, but also allowed that sometimes that’s what it takes.

Maybe I have been-but if so I offer no apology and think I’m going to stay mounted up a while longer.

Some people will point to an event and ask if the FBI isn’t complicit in this why didn’t they investigate or prosecute?

Depending on the circumstances and the motivation of the individual asking it can be a valid question, or an attempt to deflect attention away from those who committed the crimes-other times times it may have to do with indifference rather than complicity.

The historical lack of prosecutions in rape cases where indigenous women are the victim is in my opinion a prime example of indifference-as if to  say well it wasn’t a white woman so no big deal.

But one could argue as well that indifference is a form of complicity.

The existence of off rez liqour stores like those in Whiteclay and others in close proximity to every rez is in this country is another example of indifference, and perhaps complicity on the part of alcohol licensing boards.

Russell Means desire to open his own liquor store in Whiteclay took indifference and complicity to an entirely new level.

The indifference to the value of a human life as demonstrated by the AIM leadership does as well.

The lack of prosecution after decades of an “ongoing investigation” by it’s very nature narrows the field to either indifference, complicity, or both on some level.

Complicity as in immunity granted to members and leaders of an organization noted for it’s criminal activities.

Literally millions of dollars can and have been spent in high profile cases, I doubt it would take that much to drag them all in as Trudell said, but the problem may well be in doing so if even one begins to talk both would be princes and knaves could begin to fall.

The recent results in the Boston bombing speak to how efficiently and rapidly authority can respond, how it can leave no stone unturned and produce results in days or a couple of short weeks-and they should be applauded for their efforts.

Does anyone think if this were to drag on for four plus decades there wouldn’t be a public hue and cry? Does anyone think the same resources and technology couldn’t be applied elsewhere, to other investigations, and  undoubtedly produce the same results?

What exactly does it take to deploy a team of cadaver dogs at PR other than a search warrant? Does it require an act of Congress, a presidential order, or a referendum for the public to vote on?

Does “probable cause” not exist-when search warrants have been issued on the strength of a single “snitches” word in untold numbers of cases?

There are no legal hurdles, no technicalities to overcome, and that leaves either indifference or the complicity of granted immunity.

As long as there are crimes committed and criminals there will be deals made granting immunity-that’s just the way it works. But if it is to be a tool then the public has a right to know why and how-after all the story line is that public servants are just that isn’t it-that they serve the  public? And it is the public that in the final analysis is the employer and foots the bill.

Every employer, every citizen, has the right to know what those who claim to serve them do, where the money is spent, and by what process decisions are arrived at.

National Security and ongoing investigations have become little more than trite cliches- the fall back excuse of choice.

Neither security or service should ever trump truth and rights-if they do the battle is half lost already. And once this is the way of it who should anyone trust?

More to the point-with the accompanying history we drag around with us who should the nations trust?

Who comes to us with open hand and heart and asks what can I do, how can I help? Who comes to us with no other motivation than a selfish or personal one?

Who comes to us looking not to conceal but to reveal-to conceal nothing and reveal everything? Who comes to us devoid of vested interest?

Williams and Coler, don’t look there look here-Leonard Peltier, don’t look here look there-the murder of Annie and Ray, don’t look there look here-the AIM leadership and events WITHIN WK2, don’t look there look here-the BIA takeover and the tens of thousands in ransom the AIM leadership partied and absconded with, don’t look there look here- the Abourezks, Janklow, Yellow Thunder Camp, Hill, uranium and water rights deals,decades of lies and scams, don’t look there look here-grave diggers and grave keepers, don’t look there look here-immunity and deals made, don’t look there look here.

A lot of places not to look, and in doing so what is left? Half truths, if even that?

There are people who attempt to make it all about complicity-if the feds knew they are complicit and therefore ultimately guilty, where the buck stops.

This is a very narrow and self serving approach-complicity as defined by Webster means:  “association or participation in or as if in a wrongful act”

By that definition or any other I can think of it means if the feds are complicit then AIM is also-that the person who issues the orders, the person whose finger pulls the trigger,the person who strikes the match or makes and tosses the bomb, the person or persons who dig unmarked graves to bury their victims in and then do all in their power to coverup and obstruct justice are complicit-but those who distort the meaning of this word never mention that.

What they attempt is to say that complicity and guilt are  selective, exclusive and cannot be shared, that the actual shooters, arsonists, and murderers have no guilt to bear.

That’s not only asinine but blatantly stupid and agenda driven as well.

An agenda that seeks to protect the criminals among us.

Apparently what everyone has forgotten or chosen to ignore is that I have stated repeatedly over the course of various blogs is that I want EVERYONE with any measure of COMPLICITY held to account-whether they’ve forgotten or chosen to ignore that doesn’t make a damn bit of difference to me, for as I’ve also stated I belong to the nations, those I care about and who care about me, whether family, loved ones, or friends…..and no one else.

The words of a wannabe sundancing firekeeper mean no more to me than a game of musical chairs about whether Hill was “exonerated” on the word of a lone individual making an “official” statement, or that a politician twice accused of rape and convicted of taking a persons life while driving drunk was actually a caring foster parent.

What everyone has also apparently forgotten or chosen to ignore is that my focus is on those shooters, rapists, arsonists, con men and liars in our midst- believing as I do that  when they are exposed it will reverberate up the food chain, and AIM won’t be the only ones to wind up in the frying pan.

Anybody doesn’t like that-again I don’t give a damn-for the only worthwhile goal is a shared one to own what belongs to us, and that is the truth.

:The man’s body is sacred, and the woman’s body is sacred;    
No matter who it is, it is sacred;    
Is it a slave? Is it one of the dull-faced immigrants just landed on the wharf?    
Each belongs here or anywhere, just as much as the well-off—just as much as you;    
Each has his or her place in the procession.    
 
(All is a procession;    
The universe is a procession, with measured and beautiful motion.)    
 
Do you know so much yourself, that you call the slave or the dull-face ignorant?    
Do you suppose you have a right to a good sight, and he or she has no right to a sight?    
Do you think matter has cohered together from its diffuse float—and the soil is on the surface, and water runs, and vegetation sprouts,    
For you only, and not for him and her?” ….Walt Whitman from Leaves of Grass

The only ignorance is one that is nurtured and embraced, one that results from the lack of openness and honesty-a thing crafted and disseminated by those who think that they own a proprietary good sight and the truth as they say it to be.

What some have may have forgotten is that nations are no longer slaves to anyone, nor are we dull faced ignorant immigrants.