By Eric W. Dolan
No, nevermind. That one's new.
The wild claim comes by way of the American Family Association (AFA), a conservative non-profit focused on anti-gay initiatives.
They were reacting to a Thursday announcement by President Obama, that the US would sign a non-binding United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, which has been endorsed by 145 countries.
The declaration states that "indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired," and nations "shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands, territories and resources."
This means President Obama "wants Indian tribes to be our new overlords," according to Bryan Fischer, AFA's "director of issue analysis."
"We will no longer be able to bail out these other emasculated armies because ours will now be feminized and neutered beyond repair, and there is no one left to bail us out," he said. "We have been permanently weakened as a military and as a nation by these misguided and treasonous Republican senators, and the world is now a more dangerous place for us all."
It goes without saying that Fischer's position is asinine and idiotic. Does he seriously think Congress or the courts are going to take a United Nations declaration seriously? One that the US voted against? I'm not sure Obama's statement of "support" has any legal validity. What happens if a future president says he or she doesn't support the UN declaration?
Congress and the courts have ignored the constitutional clause that says Indian tribes are equivalent to foreign nations--i.e., sovereign entities. They've ignored hundreds of treaties and the constitutional clause that says treaties are the supreme law of the land. After 200 years of ignoring the Constitution and several hundred treaties, Fischer thinks a badly divided government will follow a non-binding UN declaration to the letter? You can't get much stupider than that.
Conservatives = liars
A few points worth noting:
1) Conservatives continue their policy of lying outrageously about anything Obama says or does. From Obama's birth certificate to his healthcare plans, conservatives have told most of biggest lies of 2009 and 2010.
They've admitted that their no. 1 goal isn't to help Americans or to govern the country effectively. It's to make Obama a one-term president. Hence the constant lies about Indians, Muslims, and illegal immigrants as well as global warming, terrorism, and the economy. Anything that helps them win the next election--no matter how false or hypocritical it is.
2) We see once again that all bigotries are similar and interrelated. Fischer seems about equally prejudiced against Indians and gays. Both his fears take the same form: "they" (Indians, gays, foreigners) are threatening our white privilege and power. "They" are coming to take us over.
I'd be amazed if a single conservative ever said, "I hate [blacks, Latinos, Indians, Muslims, or gays] but I love every other minority." These people hate everyone who isn't a white Christian heterosexual like them. They hate precisely because some people are different from "the norm."
For more on the subject, see Conservatives Think They're "Natives," What "I Want My Country Back" Means, and Culture War Over Who's American.
