I’m strong enough to say “No” to Democrats

Politics makes strange bedfellows. So too does survival. Those two little boys up there need to be able to survive. With the level of hate and racism in the US today their survival is in question. With politicians pretending ignorance of things which impact their survival, their survival is in question.  Just like every other “Mixed race” child in the United States.

Looking at the two little boys in the pics you’d never know they are not what they appear – a couple of little Caucasian children running wild and discovering bugs.  They aren’t though – their mom is African American and Caucasian, their dad is Native American, Jewish (ethnic as opposed to religious) and Caucasian.  Those two little boys have faced a LOT of racism in their lives and the oldest will be a mere EIGHT years old – tomorrow.

Their mom is, very obviously, not Caucasian or not entirely Caucasian. This has led to kids at school calling the almost 8 year old “N*****” and that bleeds down and his younger brother’s classmates at school call HIM that vile name too. Their dad is, very obviously, Native American.  This has led to the term “Redskin” being used by the boys’ classmates too.  NEITHER term is acceptable to me but, sadly, I understand children LEARN racism from their families first and their peers second… and this country has both a racism problem and an ignorance problem.

I cannot do much about the racism unless I start beating people to death with my cane BUT I can do something about the ignorance problem as it relates to politics and candidates running for President.  The ONE thing I am certain of though is that Mango Mussolini CANNOT remain in the Whitehouse. The survival of children like those two up there depends on him not remaining in office, though I have my doubts he will go if he loses the 2020 election.

We’ve got quite the crop of candidates for President in 2020 on the Democrats side. Some will fall by the wayside due to lack of support others will run out of money to campaign and still others may well change their mind before we get to that convention next year.  Whatever happens I’m pretty sure we aren’t going to arrive at the convention with a total of 20 candidates.

My current feelings related to the candidates running: NONE of them, including some who have held public office for years understand what are called “Treaty Rights”. If you’ve held office for years, especially at a Congressional and/or Senate level, you should have at least a basic understanding about Treaty Rights. Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have ALL demonstrated a distinct lack of understanding about what Treaty Rights ARE and that’s why what they claim they want to do is not going to happen.

First I am going to explain Treaty Rights and then I’ll tell you why one of those much talked about plans of candidates is a non-starter.  “Treaty Rights” are rights to specific things guaranteed to Native Americans by Treaties with the Federal Government. The Constitution states in Article VI that Treaties have the same legal standing as the Constitution.  Not all treaties with the tribes are the same.  For instance treaties with the tribes in Alaska include the Right to harvest whales and walruses but the treaties with other tribes do not include that provision.  Tribes around the Great Lakes can gill net fish but tribes elsewhere cannot.  Some tribes can harvest wild rice without state-issued permits, but most in the US cannot. Each treaty is different however; one thing that every one contains is, among other things, healthcare provided by the Indian Health Service.

I have written about IHS medical care before but to make the point here, IHS medical care is worse than you would find in a tent in Borneo or somewhere equally remote. It is however; what we are legally entitled to and was all we were legally entitled to outside of military service until 1994, when most of us became eligible for Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, etc….

Those two little boys up there have the same treaty rights that I do. One of those two little boys has required, to date, a couple million dollars in surgery with a few million more in the offing due to needing to correct birth “defects” that included a hole in his heart, three kidneys, a cleft lip and palate and, finally, no eustachian tubes. He’s a happy little guy though, and he takes his appointments in stride along with the assortment of surgeries and the recovery times that come with his surgeries.  Those needed surgeries could easily disappear under any plan that includes “Medicare for all”.  Why? Treaty Rights.  With the signing of an international contract regarding the human rights of Indigenous People called UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People) the United States government cannot unilaterally change the ‘terms and conditions’ of the Treaties with the Tribes. The tribes would haul the government into international human rights court so fast it will make your head spin. There are, approximately, 575 recognized tribes in the United States and every treaty is different.  That means the US Government is going to have to renegotiate all 575 of those treaties – and no, they will not be able to do it in a collective manner.

Most of the tribes are not going to be willing to renegotiate without major concessions from the federal government and the state governments. I can tell you right now that the Lakota will not renegotiate them at all without the unconditional return of the He Sapa (Black Hills) being part of what the federal government is required to give up. I can tell you that the Lakota will not renegotiate them without the state of North Dakota being required to return the voting rights they stripped from Native Americans in 2018 or the state of South Dakota being required to return the thousands of Lakota children that a federal court already ordered them to return.  Why will the Lakota demand (and most likely get) the unconditional return of the He Sapa? Because the Supreme Court ruled years ago that the He Sapa belongs to the Lakota by treaty and the US Government demanded the Lakota sell the He Sapa to them for pennies on the dollar. It’s been an ongoing battle for 40 years now.  Sorry, that’s not happening. Other tribes are going to have different demands which the US government is going to be reluctant to comply with and most tribes will not give in so they can “receive” something we already have – and that’s the right to health care.

Sure, there are limits on said health care however; you wouldn’t give up something without a guarantee you will receive equal value for it. Nor would you negotiate with people who have a 0% track record of honest dealings.  The US Government has a 200+ year history of not honoring the treaties so why should the tribes negotiate with the US government when there’s no benefit to the tribes?

Joe Biden knows, or should know, this. Bernie Sanders knows, or should know, this. Elizabeth Warren knows, or should know, this. Ignorance is not an acceptable excuse from any of them given they’ve dealt with Tribal Issues on an federal level for years.

I’m a moderate on this subject however; hardliners outnumber moderates by about 10 to 1.  Hardliners are willing to hold the Nation hostage to the demand Native Americans be treated in compliance with the terms of the original treaties. And those hardliners will hold the nation hostage until the earth is not fit to live on if that’s what it takes.  Biden, Sanders and Warren know that too.

The proverbial chickens may be coming home to roost and I don’t think most are going to like the sht they are going to have to shovel in order to clean up the mess made by a government with a 100% history of failure to comply with the conditions of treaties negotiated in good faith by the tribes and bad faith by the US Government.  Shrugs* “As you sow, so shall you reap”