Scandal, Thy Root is Lucre

     Hey, just because there is no god doesn't mean you can't agree that lust for money is a root of evil.  So, I read TBogg who linked me to James Wolcott who linked me to Bull Moose and I thought "Hey! I know something about the organized crime in Indian Casino Gambling!"

     First though, Wolcott mentions that the election was a victory for Grover Norquist, Loser David Hanson, David Brooks and the like.  Mr. Wolcott, I believe you are wrong.  These tinseltown nitwits are, in fact, like Christmas tree baubles.  The tree grows and, sure, as a result they are raised higher, but are they anything more than decoration?  Aren't there a thousand willing David Brooks, who simply lack the impratur of "on-high?"  I suppose many neo-cons are going to get away for it for a while, but maybe not Grover Norquist!  According to neo-con flunky Frank Gaffney, as published on super-loony David "Bad Press Loses Wars" Horowitz, Grover Norquist was taking dirty/terrorist/Islamist money.  Ach, it's a really long article.  The gist is that Norquist received tens of thousands of dollars since 1998 from a guy who is a Hamas and Hezbollah supporter (Hezbollah in Lebanon is not a threat to me, only to occupying forces and their local political enemies, Hamas is, practically, counter-Irgun) and who got the money, in 1997, from Libya's Qaddafi; money which happens to be "illegal."

     Now for Native American Casino Gaming, which is coming up in the next week in Congress.  According to research done by Alt magazine (Word document), an independent Buffalo-based publication, and some research by myself, the Republican Party of New York State (Governor Pataki and Senate Majority Leader Bruno) are hip-deep in Indian Casino Gambling, and all of the ones operating in New York are mob connected.

     Now, oddly enough, this whole problem has its roots in the very origins of the American Republic(we'll miss you).  The Mohawk tribe of the Iroquois(Haudenosaunee) Confederacy straddles the US-Canadian border.  Rather than deal with the old council of Elders, both the American and Canadian governments hand-picked compliant leadership factions.  The old council of elders still exists, but without any real recognition.  During the 1970s, as part of the (CoIntelPro targetted) Red Power movement, young, militant Mohawk, the self-titled "Warrior Society," asserted that they would be taking the place of the moribund elders.  In the past, these forces have seized land, set up illegal bingo parlors, shot down a helicopter owned by NY State, and smuggled guns, alcohol, drugs, and, with the complicity of Big Tobacco, cigarettes.

     After Red Power enthusiasm died down, as one might imagine, they found themselves with gun and drug connections, and the Native American birthright which America has equated with the right to own-and-operate a Casino, and organized crime got interested.  Having pushed the Elders aside, the newly empowered, and greedy, Warrior Society types, with their mob connections, only needed one thing, government approval.  The article from the Buffalo paper Alt, linked here again, has a good rundown.  Jim McMahon, an investigator at Alt, has a number of relevant links here.  Another site with a smattering of info, some of which is very "in" (i.e. you might need to google some of the names to find that they are mob-connected) is No Casino Erie.  For reference, a link about gaming laws in the US.