Monday, June 21, 2004

The Indian Vote & Guate FEATURED ARTICLES - Indians of South Dakota, Let's Talk About Advantage, Indian Country Today Editorial, - Indian vote could decide Senate majority, presidential election, Indian Country Today - Guatemala and the Forgotten Anniversary, by Arnold J. Oliver, QUOTE OF THE DAY "We need indictments. We need perp walks and orange jump suits. We need trials both in the United States, and before the International Criminal Court. This we owe to Guatemala." - - Arnold J. Oliver (From today's BOTTOM LINE) KNOW YOUR HISTORY - JUNE 21st -2183 BCE -- First Druid summer Solstice festival held at Stonehenge. 1633 -- Galileo Galilei is forced by the Inquisition to "abjure, curse, & detest" his Copernican heliocentric views. Sentenced to walk around with his head up his ass, like the church. 1956 -- Playwright Arthur Miller, appearing before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), refuses to betray his left-wing associates. He will appear again in 1957 & be convicted for contempt, which is overturned on appeal in 1958. John Steinbeck eloquently defended Miller in the June 1957 Esquire. 1960 -- Nobel laureate Linus Pauling defies Congress by refusing to name signers of petitions calling for total halt of nuclear weapons testing. Pauling later wins a second Nobel: a Peace Prize for his work championing nuclear disarmament.  He shared a devotion to pacifism with his friend Albert Einstein. In 1958, he presented a petition, which was signed by 11,000 scientists, warning the public about the biological danger of radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing. RHINO HERE: Summer Solstice Greetings & Regards! Earlier this month, an election was held for a US Senatorial seat from South Dakota, this to full the seat of the long despised racist Republican Senator & former Republican Governor Bill Janklow. A Democrat was elected. Many savvy political activists say it was the American Indian vote in South Dakota that tipped the scales in that close election. Apparently Janklow was so disliked by Indian people that they came out to vote in record numbers to be sure his mandates weren't furthered by another Republican "representative. What especially interesting is that in many of the states considered "battleground" buy the presidential campaigns, the Indian vote could be decisive.  The following 2 articles tell the tale. Today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE is by Arnold J. Oliver, a professor of Political Science at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio. In this piece he calls America's attention to an important chapter in her history which has largely been swept under the proverbial rug. It time past due for Spring cleaning. Rhino sez, "Know Your History. " Indians of South Dakota, let's talk about advantage Indian Country Today Editorial,  June 11, 2004 Relatives: You have the national political base of the state of South Dakota within your grasp. You have a truly historic opportunity just now - in this political season and perhaps many others - to advocate very seriously for your national interests. Given a narrowly-divided electorate you hold the balance of statewide elections in your hands. This became even more clearly obvious last week when the American Indian vote was recognized, even by the losing party, as the decisive block that elected Democrat Stephanie Herseth to fill a seat in the House of Representatives. The single South Dakota House seat was vacated by former Republican Gov. Bill Janklow, who was convicted of second degree manslaughter earlier this year. Herseth beat out Republican Larry Diedrich. Counties with large percentages of Indian voters overwhelmingly supported Herseth, who won by a few thousand votes. MORE AT: http://www.indiancountry.com/?1086962251 Indian vote could decide Senate majority, presidential election by: Jerry Reynolds, Indian Country Today, June 21, 2004 ...events have fallen out in such a way as to position the Indian vote for decisive influence on Nov. 2. In fact, the Native vote has never been so crucial to the prospects of a president, nor to the majority party in the Senate... ...Among the current battleground states, where the candidates are concentrating a majority of their time and money, Indian people hold the "swing vote" - the key few percentage points of total popular votes that could swing electoral votes whichever way they are cast - in a handful of them. Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan … in each of these, the presidential race is expected to be exceedingly close, as they were in 2004 with Bush taking the electoral votes of Arizona and Nevada by 5 and 4 percent respectively, and Democratic candidate Al Gore landing the others, New Mexico, Oregon and Wisconsin by less than 1 percent, Minnesota by 2 percent, Washington by 4 percent and Michigan by 5. And in each, the Native population is positioned to provide the few percentage points of the total popular vote that would deliver electoral votes to the victor... http://www.indiancountry.com/index.php?1087567876 7:09:02 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - Guatemala and the Forgotten Anniversary Guatemala and the Forgotten Anniversary by Arnold J. Oliver, CommonDreams.org, June 18, 2004    Democracy has been much in the news of late. At the G-8 Summit in Georgia, one of the main items on the agenda was the democratization of the Middle East, and the recent commemoration of the D-Day anniversary and the passing of President Reagan both generated discussion concerning the defense and spread of democracy. But amidst all the hoopla, the anniversary of a decisive event in the modern history of democracy has somehow escaped notice. Fifty years ago, in June of 1954, the government of the United States overthrew the legitimate and democratically elected government of Guatemala. It was the Central Intelligence Agency's first major covert action in Latin America, and by leading to the rise to a series of military regimes across the region, it changed the course of history. What was done to Guatemala in 1954 was criminal, and because the U.S. government committed the dreadful deed, American citizens are obliged to remember... READ IT ALL AT: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0618-13.htm "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 6:18:56 AM    comment

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