Tennessee teabaggers want to rewrite textbooks

Tea parties issue demands to Tennessee legislators

Among 5 priorities, state group wants kinder treatment of Founding Fathers in history courses

By Richard LockerThe material calls for lawmakers to amend state laws governing school curriculums, and for textbook selection criteria to say that “No portrayal of minority experience in the history which actually occurred shall obscure the experience or contributions of the Founding Fathers, or the majority of citizens, including those who reached positions of leadership.”

Fayette County attorney Hal Rounds, the group’s lead spokesman during the news conference, said the group wants to address “an awful lot of made-up criticism about, for instance, the founders intruding on the Indians or having slaves or being hypocrites in one way or another.

“The thing we need to focus on about the founders is that, given the social structure of their time, they were revolutionaries who brought liberty into a world where it hadn’t existed, to everybody—not all equally instantly—and it was their progress that we need to look at,” said Rounds, whose website identifies him as a Vietnam War veteran of the Air Force and FedEx retiree who became a lawyer in 1995.ThinkProgess.org explains what's wrong with this effort:

Tennessee Tea Party Demands School Curriculum Not Focus Too Much On The ‘Minority Experience’

By Alex Seitz-WaldWhat “truth” do these conservative activists demand be taught? Apparently it doesn’t involve portrayals of the “minority experience” or anything else that might taint their mythical hagiographies of the Founding Fathers. At a press conference, the activists said they want a focus on the “progress” the Founders and “the majority of citizens” made, to the exclusion of supposedly “made-up criticism” about slavery and the treatment of Native Americans.

It’s unclear what these activists think is “made-up” about the very real history of slavery in America or the very real intrusion on Native American lands by early American settlers.

This effort could be dismissed as a the work of handful of obscure activists in Tennessee were it not part of a much larger conservative attempt to rewrite American history without all the unflattering bits. Like their supposed reverence for the Constitution, when conservatives speak warmly of American history, they tend to pick and choose only the parts which reflect their contemporary world-view—and they are equally eager to sanitize the parts that do not.Comment:  For more on rewriting textbooks, see Indians in Christian Textbooks and Conservatives Want Christian Textbooks. For more on the Tea Party version of history, see Tea Party Guide to American History and Teabaggers = Constitutional Hypocrites.

Otoe-Missouria death metal band

Otoe singer is a ‘screamer’

By Heather SarlesFast. Brutal, Violent . . . Entertaining. That is how Otoe-Missouria tribal member Kyle K. Williams describes the music he creates with his heavy metal/thrash band With Smoke They Gave Their Offering. Their latest album is set to drop in January.

Williams (vocals) and his band mates Kenny Higgins (drums), Nick Lehman (guitars) and Ian “Fitzy” Rogers (bass) have been performing in Oklahoma and surrounding states since 2002. He says that while today he has focused his talent on performing death metal, as a child he was exposed to a variety of musical genres.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Testament Frontman on Pomo Heritage and Kumeyaay Thrash Metal Band.

Below:  "Kenny Higgins/drums;Kyle K Williams/vocals; Ian Rogers/bass; Nick Lehman/guitar."

Conservatives attack "ugly" Native prayer

Unwilling to attack President Obama during the nonpartisan memorial to the shooting victims in Tucson, conservatives found something they could attack:



Memorial Service’s Native American Prayer Confuses Some

By Jonathon M. SeidlIt was an 8 minute prayer that referenced everything from Father Sky to things that “slither.”

Last night’s Tucson memorial service opening blessing from Native American Carlos Gonzalez had some raising their eyebrows and many scratching their heads. What exactly was it? A prayer, a blessing, a personal information session on Carlos Gonzalez? All of the above?The Attack on a Native American Blessing

By JasonYesterday, a memorial service was held in Tucson, Arizona for those killed and injured in the horrific shooting this past Saturday. While President Obama’s speech was almost universally praised for its heartfelt honoring of those involved, and “elevating the political debate,” other aspects of the evening were not received as warmly. Most notably, there’s been a wave of criticism regarding the opening invocation by Dr. Carlos Gonzales, a Pascua Yaqui Indian and associate professor at the University of Arizona, College of Medicine.Some of these attacks:Native American gives rambling speech while holding a feather. His remarks are frequently interrupted by whoops and cheers. He gives a shout-out to his son serving in Afghanistan. Brags about his ethnic Mexican background. Babbles about two-legged and four-legged creatures and the feminine energy that comes from Mother Earth. Mercy.

Michelle Malkin

As for the "ugly," I’m afraid I must cite the opening "prayer" by Native American Carlos Gonzales. It was apparently was some sort of Yaqui Indian tribal thing, with lots of references to "the creator" but no mention of God. [...] In any event, the invocation could have used more God, less Mexico, and less Carlos Gonzales.

Paul Meringoff

[N]o Catholic priest, Baptist minister or Jewish rabbi was included in the program. What was included was a rambling "Native American Blessing" at the outset of the program. This blessing provided a stark statement of pantheistic paganism, including forthright declarations concerning "Father Sky," "Mother Earth" and the "Creator."

Mark Tapscott, Washington Examiner

In fact, a whole weird vibe was set at the very beginning of the memorial with pseudo-Native American medicine man Carlos Gonzales. He began the off kilter scene with his pseudo-blessing of rocks and trees, northern doors, and--well, whatever he was blessing, anyway. His self-referential promotion was also quite off-putting.

Warner Todd Huston, Yahoo! Contributor NetworkConservative Media Attack Native American Blessing At AZ Memorial Service

Why a Native blessing?

More sensible people offered a rationale for Gonzales's blessing:Gonzales was a fitting choice for several reasons, says Patty Talahongva, who is Hopi and past president of the Native American Journalists Association. The tribal reservation is in the district of gravely injured U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. And he’s a symbol of Arizona’s diversity—part of the university president Robert Shelton’s ongoing campaign to bring all streams of thought, culture and tradition into the campuses. (Hence the title “Together we thrive” on the funeral programs).

Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA Today

It is fitting and proper that Dr. Carlos Gonzales offers a prayer at tonight’s memorial for the victims, survivors and their families of the shooting that left Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in critical condition. Dr. Gonzales is an associate professor at the University of Arizona, College of Medicine. He is a medical doctor. He is also a Pascua Yaqui Indian who embraces his culture and is learning the ways of traditional healing.

Dr. Gonzales will aid in the healing of this community, this state and indeed this nation in the wake of such violence.

Patty Talahongva for Youth RadioJason explains what's wrong with the protests:What’s troubling about this wave of criticism towards Dr. Carlos Gonzales is that it shows how little tolerance there is in some corners for any expression of religion that isn’t Christian or some flavor of ceremonial deism. Even during a memorial that many felt was uniting and uplifting, the wave of scare quotes, snide remarks, and insults against indigenous religions couldn’t be held back. This is the same impulse that led to the disruption of Rajan Zed’s Senante invocation, the ignorance and arrogance that only comes from almost total religious and cultural power and privilege. These hectoring voices darkly reinforce the attitudes that continually place Arizona’s recreation over the sacred land of its indigenous peoples. They are a sour note in what was, on the whole, a moment where our country, in all its diversity, came together.Comment:  The conservative crybabies actually have a couple of valid points:

1) Should there be any kind of religious ceremony at a government function? As an agnostic, I'd say no, in general.

2) Eight minutes of any prayer or blessing is about 7.5 minutes too long, as far as I'm concerned.

But these conservatives really weren't concerned with those points. They were offended because someone invoked the Native Creator rather than the Christian God--as if they're different entities.

Note the snide attacks on Native religion: putting "prayer" and "creator" in quotes, calling Gonzales a pseudo-Native, etc. What did they expect: Chief Sitting Bull in full regalia? Thanks for demonstrating your ignorance about Natives, conservatives.

Clearly these people wouldn't have been happy with anything except a Christian priest invoking the Great White Father in the Sky. And don't bother taking their talk about the First Amendment seriously. I'm confident the hypocrites have never denounced Christianity in government: prayers in Congress, "In God We Trust" on currency, "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, etc.

What it means

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Denigrating Native prayers = denouncing immigrants and Muslims for taking over America = massacring "savage" Indians. It's a historical continuum of thought and action.

Two hundred years ago it was "Kill the savages." One hundred years ago it was "Kill the Indian and save the man." Now it's attack and insult the Indians while encouraging people to bring guns.

Pity the poor, put-upon "real Americans." Won't the brown-skins ever stop picking on them and their god? It sure is getting hard to stay on top if you're a white male Christian. Boo-hoo!

Confirming the notion that white Christian conservatives can't stand the thought of being merely equal to others, these people also protested the "Together We Thrive" t-shirts handed out at the event:

Conservatives Criticize Free T-Shirts At Tucson Memorial Service

Thus justifying my mockery:

Conservatives protest liberal message of unity. "How dare you talk about togetherness when we're trying to take down this Nazi-style dictatorship?" said one madman brandishing a gun.

Conservatives denounce togetherness as a liberal political message. "We're trying to overthrow the Constitution," said one rabid rightist. "We're not interested in togetherness with the blacks, the Jews, and the liberals."

For more on the Giffords shooting, see Conservative Hatemongers Deny Responsibility and Political Vitriol in the Giffords Shooting.

Cache Girl Saves the World

Thirza Defoe Presents a Novel In Visions

By ndnmamaBold, provocative, and highly experimental, Cache Girl Saves the World introduces a new medium for literary fiction: the "novel in visions," which combines audio of the novel's text with still photographs of some of its action, packaged in DVD format. The novel tells the story of Ta'li, a young runaway whose Cherokee ancestors died on the Trail of Tears. Searching for peace for herself and the world, Ta'li finds herself in the swamps of Southern Illinois' Cache River, where, with the help of the Swamp Asp and the legendary Big Muddy Monster, she embarks on a daring quest to bring her vision of empathy, empowerment, unity, social justice and ecological wisdom to a humanity seemingly bent on self-destruction.

"Some of the visions of the piece are narrated by non-human characters, like the Swamp Asp, and the Earth itself," Stone says. "I think it is important, when you talk about issues related to sustainability, that you look at things not only from the perspective of humans, but from other perspectives as well."

"This is something no publisher has done before," Stone says. "I hope it will catch on. Whereas film has not always been kind to the novel–often requiring condensation of the original, as well as massive rewrites, even of dialogue–the novel in visions presents the complete text of the novel: kind of like an audio book, read by myself and the other actors involved, but with a visual element as well. It is a great way for novelists–and poets, for that matter–to reach new and larger audiences."Comment:  For another Native-themed book on the environment, see Whales vs. Ocean Pollution.

11 Native films at Sundance

Sundance Institute Announces Native Filmmaking Highlighted at 2011 Sundance Film Festival

Seven Short Films and Four Feature Films Mark Record Number of Screenings from Native FilmmakersSundance Institute announced today details for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival’s presentation of films by Native filmmakers and the annual Native Forum. A gathering of Indigenous filmmakers from around the world, the Native Forum provides a platform for artists to share their expertise and knowledge through an Indigenous ShortsLab, panels, networking events and special screenings. This year’s Festival will provide a world stage for Native filmmakers whose works include seven short films and four feature films from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. In all, 11 Native communities will be represented: Tsilhqot'in, Métis, Ngāti Rangi, Atihaunui a Paparangi, Navajo Nation, Hopi, Laguna Pueblo, Iñupiaq, Taranaki/Ngati Tama Ngati Mutunga, Native Hawaiian and Māori. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

“This year the Native Forum continues to raise the profile of Native Cinema and provides a stage for these talented filmmakers,” said N. Bird Runningwater, Associate Director, Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Initiative. “The Native Forum connects these filmmakers and their films with the marketplace of independent film. Through the Film Festival as well as the labs, workshops and other programs, Sundance Institute brings together the writers, directors and producers of Native and Indigenous Cinema as part of a global filmmaking community.”Comment:  For more on the subject, see The Rocket Boy at Sundance.

Cherokee rapper signs with Eminem's label

Cherokee Rapper Yelawolf Signs to Eminem's Shady Records

By RezX ChrisUnderground rapper and internet sensation Yelawolf has just been signed to Eminem's Shady Records, an imprint of Interscope Records, home of 50 Cent, Black Eyed Peas and Dr. Dre. What's even cooler is he is part Cherokee, making him the first Native American rapper to be signed to a major label in the U.S. (Sorry Litefoot, you signing to Roca-fela just didn't look like it actually happened).

Judging by his white skin complexion, crazy hair cut and numerous tattoos, you wouldn't guess Yelawolf, whose real name Michael Wayne Atha is part Cherokee, but he is and proud of it.Comment:  For more on Native rappers, see A Tribe Called Red and Hip-Hop Album for Leonard Peltier.

Inuit theme song for Flying Wild Alaska

Native Musicians on "Flying Wild Alaska"

By thundercloudradiThe Discovery Channel's new show "Flying Wild Alaska," is a show about pilots and the small villages in Alaska that they serve (http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/flying-wild-alaska-episode-1-videos/). Native Kalaallit rapper Peand-eL from Greenland is rapping the theme music, there will be Jana Mashonee & other Native musicians of all genres for their background music.

ThunderCloud Radio, a Native hip hop & Native urban music radio (www.thundercloudradio.com), was contacted by producer D.J. Nurre of the Discovery Channel, on June 17th 2010, to help them find an Inuit hip hop artist for a song sung either entirely or partially in the Inuit language. He was delighted with Peand-eL's music which is sung in Kalaallisut, to which Nurre then opened the invitation to other Native hip hop musicians. Very excited with the response from the Native hip hop community, D.J. Nurre opened the opportunity for all Native Music from all genres.Comment:  For more on Native rappers, see Cherokee Rapper Signs with Eminem's Label and A Tribe Called Red.

2011 Soboba Grand Prix

2011 Soboba Grand Prix

UTVUnderground & Daystar Sponsor Long Jump ContestThe UTV Grand Prix event of the year is back and bigger than ever! This years event is full of excitement from Micro Mini Race Classes all the way up to Pro ATV, MX, and UTV. Everyone is after their share of the $20,000.00 purse with over $10,000.00 going to UTV's alone!

In conjunction with the weekends full race schedule is a first of its kind UTV Long Jump Contest and Pit Challenge Sponsored by UTVUnderground.com & Daystar. Soboba Casino is putting up $1000.00 and event sponsor Daystar also kicked in $1000.00 making for a $2000.00 prize purse to the long jump winner!!!Comment:  For more on Native racing, see San Manuel's Motocross Team and Offroad Racetrack at Pala.

Conservative hatemongers deny responsibility

Let's Get This Straight

By Melissa McEwanThere's no call for accountability, no call for reflection, not among conservatives. Just the usual game of deflection and projection, as they desperately try to find a way to make this liberals' fault.

Bill Kristol took to the airwaves this morning to call criticism of Palin "a disgrace" and accuse liberals of "McCarthyism." Commentators on Fox News, meanwhile, blame President Obama for not changing the tone in Washington, like he promised. Which would be hilarious, were that redirection of blame not a key part of conservatives' strategy to dodge responsibility for the eliminationist rhetoric that certainly contributed to the tragic events of this weekend.

When, a few months ago, there was a spate of widely-publicized suicides of bullied teens, we had, briefly, a national conversation about the dangers of bullying. But in the wake of an ideologically-motivated assassination attempt of a sitting member of Congress, we aren't having a national conversation about the dangers of violent rhetoric—because the conversation about bullying children was started by adults, and there are seemingly no responsible grown-ups to be found among conservatives anymore.

Faced with the overwhelming evidence of the violent rhetoric absolutely permeating the discourse emanating from their side of the aisle, conservatives adopt the approach of a petulant child—deny, obfuscate, and lash out defensively.

And engage in the most breathtaking disingenuous hypocrisy: Conservatives, who vociferously argue against the language and legislation of social justice, on the basis that it all "normalizes" marginalized people and their lives and cultures (it does!), are suddenly nothing but blinking, wide-eyed naïveté when it comes to their own violent rhetoric.

They have a great grasp of cultural anthropology when they want to complain about progressive ideas, inclusion, diversity, and equality. But when it comes to being accountable for their own ideas, their anthropological prowess magically disappears.

Only progressives "infect" the culture, but conservative hate speech exists in a void.

That's what we're meant to believe, anyway. But we know it is not true. This culture, this habit, of eliminationist rhetoric is not happening in a vacuum. It's happening in a culture of widely-available guns (thanks to conservative policies), of underfunded and unavailable medical care, especially mental health care (thanks to conservative policies), of a widespread belief that government is the enemy of the people (thanks to conservative rhetoric), and of millions of increasingly desperate people (thanks to an economy totally fucked by conservative governance).

The shooting in Tucson was not an anomaly. It was an inevitability.Comment:  Excellent essay by Melissa McEwan. This portion echoes the point I made in Words Don't Trigger Actions?!

To reiterate the point, compare two cases. Conservatives say Jared Lee Loughner wasn't influenced by conservative extremism when he shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, but Major Nidal Malik Hasan was influenced by Islamic extremism when he shot soldiers at Ft. Hood? I'd love to hear how they figure that one.

In reality, conservatives denounce pure rhetoric when it comes from Muslim extremists. Or from minorities demanding "inclusion, diversity, and equality," as McEwan put it. These ideas are somehow a threat to our values and our way of life. So we have to shut down ethnic studies programs and American mosques before they infect our children with dangerous thoughts.

But conservative political and religious vitriol is somehow different. It doesn't seem to matter how often conservatives target anyone who isn't a white Christian male...say they're inferior, un-American, or unholy...or try to eliminate their rights. By the power of conservative magic-wishing, this kind of speech doesn't affect anyone.

"When we talk about guns and posses and revolutions," they seem to be saying, "that's just rhetoric. But when liberals talk about Thanksgiving or Sitting Bull, these are covert attempts to brainwash our children. Our hate- and violence-filled speech is harmless, but their tolerance and diversity speech isn't.

Nice try to get away with "murder," conservatives. Too bad we're watching you like a hawk. We'll continue to denounce your lies and hypocrisies as long as you continue to utter them. if you don't like it, stop.

For more on the subject, see Political Vitriol in the Giffords Shooting and A History of Conservative Hate Speech.

Kiesha Crowther exposed as fraud

Here's a typical New Age wannabe posing as a Native "shaman." Hundreds or thousands of these people are pretending to be Indians and making false claims to fleece gullible customers. They're like flies: individually insignificant but collectively annoying.

Normally, I wouldn't bother with one New Ager like Kiesha Crowther. But she's noteworthy because activists have been campaigning against her for the last few months on the Internet. They've forced her to back way off her claims of being Native or having Native approval.

Now Al Carroll, an occasional correspondent of mine, dissects her background and shows what a fraud she is.

Tribe of Many Colors or Tribe of Many Dollars?

By Dr. Al CarrollKiesha Crowther AKA “Little Grandmother” has garnered a lot of attention, over a thousand followers, perhaps millions in cash, and even more controversy in less than two years. Falsely claiming to be the “shaman” for the “Sioux Salish tribe,” Crowther has gathered an all white, mostly European “Tribe of Many Colors” around her with bizarre claims. Native activists and former followers have vowed to oppose her and expose her.

From Santa Fe to Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands, and soon to that most “American Indian” of places, Palm Springs, Kiesha Crowther draws crowds of hundreds with each gathering of ceremony selling, charging from several hundred to up to $6,000 a person. Crowther is a small red haired woman of 33, yet looks young enough to be a teenager. Adding to the strangeness, Crowther calls herself “Little Grandmother” (she is not one) and often talks in a little girl voice with fanciful (and largely false) stories about her childhood.

Crowther mixes in stories of vulnerability with dire prophecies of doom and fantastic claims, none of which are true. She claims to be the “shaman” for the “Sioux Salish tribe.” She claims to be the descendant of famous Lakota and Salish leaders, with a “fullblood Indian mother” and a grandmother supposedly on the reservation. Crowther claims to be made “shaman” by an alleged Salish elder named Falling Feathers. She claims to be recognized by dozens of tribes from New Zealand to United States to the Arctic Circle to Scandinavia to Central America. She claims to have been recognized by Native tribes at as young as age eight and to be the fulfillment of a supposed prophecy about a “fair haired girl.” She even suggests in one video that she is the returned White Buffalo Calf Woman of Lakota prophecy, a claim sure to outrage the Plains Indian tribes that hold the prophecy sacred.

Yet not a single one of these claims are true. Most are extremely obvious lies.Comment:  Carroll goes on to challenge and refute these lies in great detail. It's a masterful job of shredding a New Age fraud's defenses. If we had the time and energy to do this for every New Ager and wannabe, there wouldn't be any left.

For more on New Agers, see Business Off for New Age Sweat Lodges and Indian Wannabes = Celebrity Wannabes.

Below:  Alleged "shaman for the Sioux Salish" wielding a crystal.

Native women binge and purge

American Indians suffer eating disordersAmerican Indian populations experience eating disorders to the same degree Caucasians do, U.S. researchers say.

Study leader Ruth Striegel-Moore of Wesleyan University in Connecticut finds the prevalence of binge eating, purging or being "diagnosed for an eating disorder" among American Indian women parallels ethnically white women.

"This commonality between American Indian and white women refutes the myth that eating disorders are problems that only affect white girls and women," Striegel-Moore says in a statement.Comment:  These days Native and non-Native probably feel the same pressure to match Hollywood's ideal. I.e., to be young and beautiful like a model, actress, sex symbol, or princess.

This wasn't part of traditional Native cultures. Alas, it's part of them now.

For more on how society pressures girls, see Disney's Princesses Grow Up, a Little, Lovely Indian Girl Make Up Game, and Male Warriors and Female Princesses.

Below:  Who wants to be a squaw?



When she could be a princess?



Women, you too can be a Lovely Indian Girl like Pocahontas if you just binge and purge.

Guitar honors Navajo codetalkers

Navajo artist creates guitar to honor Navajo Code TalkersTo honor the Navajo Code Talkers, Shonie De La Rosa has created and dedicated a very special, custom made guitar to the Navajo Code Talkers. A limited run of only four Navajo Code Talker guitars will be built, one for each of the four traditional Navajo cardinal directions. De La Rosa was inspired by these local heroes--farmers and sheep herders--on the Navajo Nation who used the Navajo language as an unbreakable code during the most intense days of conflict during World War II.

Navajo Code Talker guitar serial No. CT001 will grace the floor of the Native American Pavilion at NAMM 2011 in Anaheim, Calif. At 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 15, Holiday will make a very special appearance to sign the Navajo Code Talker guitar.Comment:  For more on the codetalkers, see Only Codetalkers Can Stop Wikileaks? and Navajo Codetalker Writes Memoir.

Below:  "Navajo Code Talker Samuel Tom Holiday holds up a one-of-a-kind guitar created by Navajo artist Shonie De La Rosa in honor of the Navajo Code Talkers and their distinguished military service during WWII. The guitar, which will be signed by all surviving Navajo Code Talkers, will be placed on display at the Navajo Code Talkers Museum in Window Rock."

Two Spirits documentary on PBS

Two Spirits, Native American gender tradition on PBSTWO SPIRITS, a film documenting the brutal hate-crime murder of Cortez, Colo. teen Fred Martinez, was today announced as the final film to air as part of PBS' Independent Lens series for spring 2011. The film will air on PBS affiliates nationwide on June 14, 2011. TWO SPIRITS, by filmmaker Lydia Nibley, explores the life and death of Martinez, who was Two-Spirit, someone who embodies the essence of both male and female, a special gift according to his ancient Navajo culture. By interweaving the tragic story of a mother's loss of her son with the broader historical context of the two-spirit tradition, TWO SPIRITS raises provocative questions about whether a fundamental shift in cultural attitudes could save lives, families, and Native traditions.

Said Nibley: "I am thrilled that TWO SPIRITS will reach an audience as broad and diverse as PBS'. At a time when the debate over gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights is as prominent as ever, Fred Martinez's inspiring life, his tragic death, and the two-spirit tradition have much to teach us about equality and acceptance for those who do not fit into modern gender roles."Comment:  For more on the subject, see Queer Native Women's Films and Two Spirits Documentary Reviewed.

Guns in the Giffords shooting

America's love of guns is another important issue in Saturday's Giffords shooting.

Arizona Gun Law:  Concealed Weapons Allowed Without Permit Under New Law

By Paul Davenport and Jonathan J. CooperFavoring the constitutional right to bear arms over others' concerns about gun safety, Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday signed into law a bill making Arizona the third state allowing people to carry a concealed weapon without requiring a permit.

The measure takes effect 90 days after the current legislative session ends, which likely puts the effective date in July or August.

"I believe this legislation not only protects the Second Amendment rights of Arizona citizens, but restores those rights as well," Brewer, a Republican, said in a statement.Serious Guns and White Terrorism:  Two Unasked Questions in Tucson Mass Murder

By Bill QuigleyQuestion: How does a mentally unstable man who was kicked out of school and had run-ins with the law buy such a serious weapon?

The weapon reportedly used in the mass murders in Tucson was a serious weapon--a Glock 19, semi-automatic pistol, with an extended magazine. Some weapons like that were illegal to sell in the US from 1994 to 2004 under the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. It is now legal to sell and own them. The National Rifle Association reports there are tens of millions of assault weapons in private hands in the US.

The federal background check for people purchasing such weapons only prohibits selling such weapons to people who have been legally determined to be mentally defective or found insane or convicted of crimes. This man had not been found legally mentally defective or convicted so he was legally entitled to purchase an assault weapon. In Arizona he was legally entitled to carry the weapon in a concealed manner.How can a gun-crazed society lead the world?

By David RothkopfAccording to a 2007 survey, the United States leads the world in gun ownership: 90 guns per 100 people. We are a country with five percent of the world's people and between 35 and 50 percent of its civilian-owned guns. That's something like 270 million weapons.

Repeated studies have shown that the United States is far and away the leader among the world's developed countries in gun violence and gun deaths. There is no other developed country that is even close. Over 30,000 Americans die every year from gun violence. Most of these are suicides but in excess of 12,000 a year are homicides. Another 200,000 Americans are estimated to be injured each year due to guns.

In 2009, Bob Herbert of the New York Times wrote a compelling column noting that since 9/11 over 120,000 people have died in the United States as a result of gun violence. By now, the number is in excess of 140,000.

For those in the world who are mystified by this, the legal explanation associated with it by gun rights defenders is that the right to own guns is protected by the U.S. Constitution. The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

This statement has taken on quasi-theological importance for many in the United States even though it is clearly being misinterpreted by those who believe it provides every individual the right to own such guns--including advanced, highly-destructive automatic weapons. The misinterpretation begins with the deliberate ignoring of the first half of the sentence associating the right with the need for a "well-regulated militia." This is a clear qualifier associated with the so-called right to bear arms and had it not been important to the sentence, one can only conclude it would not have been included in the famously sparely written document. If militias don't exist, one can therefore conclude this "right" should be reconsidered if not eliminated.America's history of violence

Charles Trimble:  Assassination attempt highlights gun mentalityI’m not one to say, “I told you so”; at least not in one of my columns. For, fortunately for the world, most of my predictions have come to naught anyway.

But a year ago I posted a column on indianz.com and in other Native journals about my concern over the soaring sales of weapons in this country, and about the mentality of fear and hatred being spread in a nation “gone rogue,” as Sarah Palin and her followers describe the movement. They tout the Constitutional right to bear arms, or as I’ve seen on one tee-shirt “The right to arm bears--Mama Grizzlies.”

Now with the assassination attempt on Congresswoman Giffords (D-AZ) and the shooting of eighteen others at her “Congress on the Corner” gathering in Tucson, we’re seeing some of the fruits of the great harvest being reaped by gun makers and weapons sellers.And:I would like to quote from that earlier column extensively, for I think I was right on the money with my concern:

“Guns have always had a good market here in America. It’s a market driven by hunters, frontier re-enactors and collectors. Certainly the underworld and youth gangs in most of the inner cities and increasingly in Indian reservations make up a huge subterranean market that is not even measured in the economy. But the most frightful and dangerous market is represented by paranoid yahoos who see national enemies around every corner and behind every tree. These are people who are driven by fear--mostly fear of minorities whose rights they have trampled over the years, and fear of their own government’s every action to secure human and civil rights and opportunity for those minorities and for the poor in general.

“In the early American colonies and later the ever-expanding frontier, hunting was important to survival; but it was fear of Indians mostly that there was at least one blunderbuss in every home. And this persisted down through the years. Even as late as 1973 when the American Indian Movement occupied the village of Wounded Knee, many whites in a wide area surrounding Pine Ridge and other reservations drove around in their pickup trucks displaying racks of weaponry in the rear windows. Although it has always been in manly vogue to carry hunting rifles in their pickups, some of the guns were assault rifles that wouldn’t have left much of a carcass for dinner.”Comment:  As I said to someone who's trying to play up Jared Lee Loughner's mental problems:

If Loughner made previous threats but was allowed to buy and own a gun, it's a further indictment of Arizona's loose gun culture. Perhaps that was your point: that conservatives let gun nuts own guns.

If so...yes, I agree that conservatives are to blame for that reason too. Stupid conservative gun nuts, that is, who can't read the words "well-regulated" in the 2nd Amendment.

To sum it up, conservatives slash mental health budgets. Conservatives let nuts carry guns. And conservatives tell the crazies whom to shoot at.

What to do about it

Here's what should happen but probably won't:

A Flood Tide of Murder

By Bob HerbertIf we were serious, if we really wanted to cut down on the killings, we’d have to do two things. We’d have to radically restrict the availability of guns while at the same time beginning the very hard work of trying to change a culture that glorifies and embraces violence as entertainment, and views violence as an appropriate and effective response to the things that bother us.

Ordinary citizens interested in a more sane and civilized society would have to insist that their elected representatives take meaningful steps to stem the violence. And they would have to demand, as well, that the government bring an end to the wars overseas, with their terrible human toll, because the wars are part of the same crippling pathology.

Without those very tough steps, the murder of the innocents by the tens of thousands will most assuredly continue.

I wouldn’t hold my breath. The Gabrielle Giffords story is big for the time being, but so were Columbine and Oklahoma City. And so was the anti-white killing spree of John Muhammad and Lee Malvo that took 10 lives in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., in October 2002. But no amount of killing has prompted any real remedial action.

For whatever reasons, neither the public nor the politicians seem to really care how many Americans are murdered—unless it’s in a terror attack by foreigners. The two most common responses to violence in the U.S. are to ignore it or be entertained by it. The horror prompted by the attack in Tucson on Saturday will pass. The outrage will fade. The murders will continue.I'm not sure what individuals like me can do about these problems, but I try my best. As someone who reports and disseminates the news, I spread the word about violence and its links to guns, hate speech, racism, stereotyping, and "entertainment." As someone who works on creative projects, I emphasize intelligent alternatives to violent "solutions." We should all do that much, if not much more.

For more on media violence, see The Evidence Against Media Violence and Highlights of the FTC Report on Media Violence. For more on guns, see Why Americans Keep Killing and Gun Nuts vs. Indians. For more on the Giffords shooting, see Loughner Echoes Right-Wing Extremists and Debating Loughner's Influences.

Political vitriol in the Giffords shooting

Toxic U.S. political climate blamed in Tucson killing spree

By Calvin Woodward and Charles BabingtonSen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democratic leader in the Senate, on Sunday cited imagery of crosshairs on political opponents and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s combative rallying cry, “Don’t retreat; reload.”

“These sorts of things, I think, invite the kind of toxic rhetoric that can lead unstable people to believe this is an acceptable response,” Durbin said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

The attack might be the work of “a single nut,” Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva, whose Arizona district shares Tucson with Giffords’ district, said Saturday, the day Giffords was shot. But he said the nation must assess the fallout of “an atmosphere where the political discourse is about hate, anger and bitterness.”

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, who is teamed with federal authorities in a joint investigation, emerged as a particularly outspoken figure after warning Saturday that “freedom of speech does not come without consequences” and describing Arizona as “the capital, the mecca, for prejudice and bigotry.”

On Sunday Dupnik expanded on the warning, saying, “when the rhetoric about hatred, about mistrust of government, about paranoia of how government operates” reaches a fever pitch, it “has impact on people, especially (those) who are unbalanced personalities to begin with.”A Turning Point in the Discourse, but in Which Direction?

By Matt BaiIt wasn’t clear Saturday whether the alleged shooter in Tucson was motivated by any real political philosophy or by voices in his head, or perhaps by both. But it’s hard not to think he was at least partly influenced by a debate that often seems to conflate philosophical disagreement with some kind of political Armageddon.

The problem here doesn’t lie with the activists like most of those who populate the Tea Parties, ordinary citizens who are doing what citizens are supposed to do—engaging in a conversation about the direction of the country. Rather, the problem would seem to rest with the political leaders who pander to the margins of the margins, employing whatever words seem likely to win them contributions or TV time, with little regard for the consequences.

Consider the comments of Sharron Angle, the Tea Party favorite who unsuccessfully ran against Harry Reid for the Senate in Nevada last year. She talked about “domestic enemies” in the Congress and said, “I hope we’re not getting to Second Amendment remedies.” Then there’s Rick Barber, a Republican who lost his primary in a Congressional race in Alabama, but not before airing an ad in which someone dressed as George Washington listened to an attack on the Obama agenda and gravely proclaimed, “Gather your armies.”

In fact, much of the message among Republicans last year, as they sought to exploit the Tea Party phenomenon, centered—like the Tea Party moniker itself—on this imagery of armed revolution. Popular spokespeople like Ms. Palin routinely drop words like “tyranny” and “socialism” when describing the president and his allies, as if blind to the idea that Americans legitimately faced with either enemy would almost certainly take up arms.Pointing fingers at the right

A columnist puts the blame where it belongs:

The Wrath of Fools:  An Open Letter to the Far Right

By William Rivers PittI just thought you should know a few things about the people you helped into their graves and hospital beds this weekend.

Yes, you.

You false patriots who bring assault rifles to political rallies, you hack politicians and media personalities who lied through your stinking teeth about "death panels" and "Obama is coming for your guns" and "He isn't a citizen" and "He's a secret Muslim" and "Sharia Law is coming to America," you who spread this bastard gospel and you who swallowed it whole, I am talking to you, because this was your doing just as surely as it was the doing of the deranged damned soul who pulled the trigger. The poison you injected into our culture is deeply culpable for this carnage.

You who worship Jesus at the top of your lungs (in defiance of Christ's own teachings on the matter of worship, by the way) helped put several churchgoers into their graves and into the hospital. You who shriek about the sanctity of marriage helped cut down a man who was about to be married. You who crow with ceaseless abandon about military service and the nobility of our fighting forces helped to critically wound the wife of a Naval aviator who fought for you in a war. You who hold September 11 as your sword and shield helped put a little girl born on that day into the ground.

You helped. Yes, damn you, you helped.

The "mainstream" media is already working overtime playing up the "Disturbed loner" angle with all their might. There is no doubt, from the available evidence, of Mr. Loughner's transformation into a disturbed individual. But here's the funny part: all the crazy crap he spewed, about the gold standard (a favorite of Glenn Beck, the master of Fox "News" fearmongering...so he can sell his gold scam to suckers) and government mind control and everything else before going on his rampage, is straight out of the Right-Wing Insanity Handbook. His personal YouTube ramblings were a mishmash of right-wing anti-government nonsense...the kind that attracts sick minds like Loughner, the kind that only reinforces their paranoia, the kind that finally pushes them over the brink and into the frenzy of violence that took place on Saturday. The kind that the likes of you have been happily spreading by the day.

He did not act alone. You were right there with him. You helped.Conservative crybabies can't take it

It's hilarious to hear conservatives crybabies whine about liberals pointing out their hate speech. Boo-hoo, you big babies! And to hear moderates whine about the political vitriol on both sides. News flash: It's ridiculous to equate hate speech with pointing out hate speech. One is the problem and the other is the solution.

Here's a good critique of the false equivalence conservatives are drawing between the right and the left:

When It Comes to the Rhetoric of Rage, the Right Has the Edge

By David CornThere is indeed over-the-top talk on the left. During the Bush years, far-left protesters at anti-war rallies referred to Bush and Dick Cheney as fascists. Conspiracy theorists on the left claimed the Bush-Cheney crew had started the Afghanistan and Iraq wars to enrich their pals in the oil and contracting industries. Some lefties (and righties) accused the president of having staged 9/11--or of allowing it to happen--so he'd have a pretext for war. It was hateful stuff. But this rhetoric tended not to imply violence or insurrection. More to the point, such excessive rhetoric was not adopted and/or accepted by Democratic leaders.Right. When liberals hate the president, they talk about impeachment. When conservatives hate the president, they talk about violence.

While we're at it, spare me talk about Loughner's "personal responsibility" for his actions. These pundits have taken that into consideration. They didn't say the conservative rhetoric compelled him to act.

Rather, they're talking about the "toxic rhetoric" and hate-filled "atmosphere" that can "lead unstable people to believe this is an acceptable response." "[T]he kind that attracts sick minds like Loughner, the kind that only reinforces their paranoia, the kind that finally pushes them over the brink." Unless you can prove Loughner never heard this political vitriol and wasn't influenced by it, don't bother arguing the point.

For more on the subject, see Loughner Echoes Right-Wing Extremists and Words Don't Trigger Actions?!

A history of conservative hate speech

Are the examples of conservative vitriol noted in Political Vitriol in the Giffords Shooting, Debating Loughner's Influences, and Shooter Hits Palin's Target some sort of unusual or unplanned happenstance? No.

Preliminary report finds extensive use of hate speech on conservative talk radio

By Letisia MarquezThe study found that:

* Dehumanizing metaphors were used in 185 statements. Such metaphors evoked warfare, heroism, enemies, biblical characters, criminality, persecution and other representations.

* There were 77 instances of flawed argumentation, including ad hominem statements, guilt by association, and hidden assumptions or missing premises.

* Divisive language was used in 79 instances, in which individuals were presented in an "us versus them" framework as either supporting or opposing the show's worldview.

* 33 false statements were used to validate the hosts' points and to promote public opinion. A false statement is a simple falsehood, exaggerated statement or decontextualized fact that renders a statement misleading.A list of 116 examples of conservatives promoting violence against political opponents since 2008:

Insurrectionism TimelineOn June 26, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court embraced the National Rifle Association's contention that the Second Amendment provides individuals with the right to take violent action against our government should it become "tyrannical." The following timeline catalogues incidents of insurrectionist violence (or the promotion of such violence) that have occurred since that decision was issued.A dozen examples from conservative campaigns in 2010:

Before Shooting, A Campaign Season Rife With Gun Rhetoric

Examples from Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, and other leading voices in the right-wing media:

Let's Get This Straight

Conservative cheerleader Ann Coulter alone has issued a plethora of hate-filled threats and wishes, as noted here:

Exclusive:  Conservative Group Denounces Ann Coulter!

Nor is this kind of vitriol anything new. Another seven examples from 1995 to 2002:

The Wrath of Fools:  An Open Letter to the Far Right

Of course, we've seen many examples of conservatives advocating hate and violence since 9/11: against Arabs, Muslims, terrorist suspects, anti-war activists, political dissenters, Julian Assange and Wikileaks, and others. The list goes on and on.

Hate speech is conservative strategy

Nor is all this political vitriol just the random workings of the political marketplace. Rather, it's an intentional, calculated strategy by conservatives to demonize their opponents.

Hate Speech:  The Right’s Magic Bullet

By Michael WinshipThe fact is, it has been the right's goal to poison our political discourse for years. Remember the notorious “GOPAC Memo” back in the 1990’s, created for the Republicans’ leadership training institute and endorsed by Newt Gingrich? Titled "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control,” in it, candidates are instructed in what words to use when defining their opponents (i.e., liberals). "These are powerful words that can create a clear and easily understood contract,” the memo said. “Apply these to the opponent, their record, proposals, and their party” (in other words, demonize them).

Among them: intolerant… lie… pathetic… radical… sick… steal… traitors. Gingrich and his allies deliberately set out to employ toxic language against their opponents, and are still doing it. They will say anything to get a vote, especially now that the angriest and most irrational so often make up a majority of those who bother to go to the polls. This kind of talk is part and parcel of their strategy, and no matter what motivated the Tucson killings, it needs to stop.

Their lock and load rhetoric is reinforced by the rambling ranks of those who go on the Internet to spout any conspiracy theory, distortion of history or outright lie that helps them make it through the night. Add, too, the men and women of radio and television, the Limbaugh’s, Beck’s, and their ilk who use the airwaves as a cudgel, battering viewers and listeners with the certainty of their illogic, their thinly veiled messages of bigotry and meretricious embrace of Constitution, religion, flag and family.

All of them will huff and puff that this is an isolated incident by a madman that cannot be blamed on their bombast and bluster. But let’s call it out for what it is, let’s debate what in our gut we know to be true: even if it was not their intent, it’s likely the words of the right on radio and TV and in the books they publish spurred on the man who killed two and wounded six in a Knoxville, Kentucky, church in July 2008, and the murderer of George Tiller, one of the few doctors in America who still performed late-term abortions for women with problem pregnancies whose health was at stake from life-threatening complications, or whose infants would be born dead or dying. Their invective, whether inadvertently or not, has encouraged the vandalism and threats faced by so many of our candidates and elected officials, including the now desperately wounded Congresswoman Giffords. Her shooting, and the death and wounding of so many who came to meet with her are just the latest example of ideologically-motivated bloodshed.Nor did the vitriol begin with Gingrich's memo, alas. It goes back to Nixon's Southern strategy--painting Democrats as race traitors--and McCarthy-era witch hunts questioning the patriotism of liberals.

Conclusion

Conservatives are already arguing that their hate speech is no different from what liberals say about them. Great. I look forward to seeing the evidence of the violence and death threats issued by major Democratic politicians and pundits against Republicans and their families.

Repeat: major Democratic politicians and pundits, not random cranks and bloggers like me. Go through the writings of Michael Moore, Arianna Huffington, Paul Krugman, Al Franken, et al. and find the instances where these people wished or threatened physical violence against their opponents.

I imagine conservatives already have collected and posted this evidence. So let's see the links, good buddies. I can take it if you can.

For more on the subject, see Sherrod Incident Shows Conservative Tactics and Any Excuse to Hate Obama.

What reservations are really like

Here's what one of the poorest reservations in the US is like according to a resident:

Vi Waln:  Don't believe everything in the media aboutI live on the Rosebud Reservation. I see many things that happen here on a daily basis. There are many problems our people are faced with every single day of their lives. Many people will not come to the reservations because of awful things they read in the newspapers.

Still, I feel my home is one of the safest places in the world to live. Does it seem strange to you that I think an Indian Reservation is a safe place to live? If so, then you might be like one of those bitter sounding writers who do not live on the reservation and therefore do not have a clue.

Not all of us living on the reservation are unemployed and languishing at home with a bottle of booze. Many of us are actually gainfully employed. We pay our own bills on time with the money we earn from a real job. And many of us have learned how to prepare delicious meals with the commodities we receive from our tribal warehouses each month.

Not all of our children drop out of school. There are a number of young people who work very hard to earn high grade point averages in preparation for study at a college or university. Many organizations have been established to serve the young people living on reservations and they are staffed by educated, sober adults who have the best interest of our children at heart.

Not all of us are subjecting our families to an ocean of alcohol in our homes. Many Lakota people are sober and pray every day, sometimes several times a day. Prayers are offered for many things, including other human beings who we don’t even know personally. Many of the ceremonial people living right here on my Indian Reservation offered prayers after the weekend shooting in Arizona which killed several people, including a child.Comment:  Non-Natives keep trying to promote a negative view of reservation life and Natives keep trying to correct it. These false or stereotypical views come up in the media regularly--for instance, in Mines Minister Blames the Victim and Cameron:   Lakota = "Dead-End Society."

I don't think SCALPED writer Jason Aaron is bitter, but he's one of the writers who doesn't live on a reservation and therefore doesn't have a clue. Nor do his readers because of people who claim Aaron is exploring reservation life, showing readers what it's like, or educating them. He isn't doing any of those things. He's presenting a false and stereotypical portrait of reservations and passing it off as honest and real.

For more on the subject, see Native Women = Whores in SCALPED and Okay to Stereotype in Noir Comics?

Below:  I wonder what the average body count per issue is in SCALPED?

Danny Lightfoot in Hey Dude

Nickelodeon Gets Diversity Points, But Still Overlooks RaceNickelodeon, along with Sesame Street workshop which produces “Sesame Street,” has been at the forefront of diverse and responsible storytelling on television. Nickelodeon’s first original live action television series “Hey Dude” included Joe Torres as Danny Lightfoot, a Hopi Indian who was cast after auditioning in Tucson for the role. When the show premiered in 1989 there were no other representation of young American Indians. Even today, twenty-two years after “Hey Dude” premiered there are only a handful of American Indians on television.

“The Cosby Show” was the first show on prime time television to feature a positive portrayal of an African-American family, but critics have said that it didn’t reflect any serious issues facing black Americans at the time. The same could be said about Nickelodeon’s characters because race and class issues are often not addressed. And it’s possible to have a commercially viable television show that addresses race head-on. ABC’s popular show “Ugly Betty” proved that deportations, access to jobs, education and race can be a compelling part of prime time storylines.Joe Torres:  Where Is He Now?

Comment:  IMDB.com says Torres is Mexican American. Although he played a Hopi boy, he wasn't one.

For more on the subject, see TV Shows Featuring Indians.

Below:  I presume Joe Torres is second from the right.

Loughner echoes right-wing extremists

As the Giffords shooting story unfolded, it soon became apparent that this was an assassination attempt, not a random killing spree. Alleged killer Jared Lee Loughner knew Giffords's record and targeted her for it.

Here are some hints of Loughner's political "thinking." His YouTube videos:

ClassItUp10's Channel

Summing up Loughner's self-description: He's a military recruit, doesn't trust government officials, criticizes currency not backed by gold, says current laws are "treasonous," and admits he may fit definition of "terrorist."

But wait, there's more:

Suspect’s Odd Behavior Caused Growing Alarm

By Kirk Johnson, Serge F. Kovaleski, Dan Frosch, and Eric LiptonSome people who study right-wing militia groups and those who align themselves with the so-called Patriot movement said Mr. Loughner’s comments on subjects like the American currency and the Constitution, which he posted online in various video clips, were strikingly similar in language and tone to the voices of the Internet’s more paranoid, extremist corners.

In the text on one of the videos, for example, Mr. Loughner states, “No! I won’t pay debt with a currency that’s not backed by gold and silver.” He also argues that “the current government officials are in power for their currency” and he uses his videos to display text about becoming a treasurer of “a new money system.”

The position, for instance, that currency not backed by a gold or silver standard is worthless is a hallmark of the far right and the militia movement, said Mark Potok, who directs research on hate groups for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

“That idea is linked closely to the belief among militia supporters that the Federal Reserve is a completely private entity engaged in ripping off the American people,” Mr. Potok said.

But Mr. Loughner also posits in his Web postings the idea that the government is seeking to control people through rules and structure of grammar and language.

This is similar to the position of David Wynn Miller, 62, a former tool-and-die welder from Milwaukee who describes himself as a “Plenipotentiary-judge” seeking to correct, through a mathematical formula, what he sees as the erroneous and manipulative use of grammar and language worldwide. The Southern Poverty Law Center considers Mr. Miller a conspiracy theorist, some of whose positions have been adopted by militias in general.

“The government is implying mind control and brainwash on the people by controlling grammar,” Mr. Loughner said in a video. He also defiantly asserted, “You control your English grammar structure.”

Mr. Miller, in an interview, said the argument sounded familiar. “He’s probably been on my Web site, which has been up for about 11 years,” Mr. Miller said. “The government does control the schools, and the schools determine the grammar and language we use. And then it is all reinforced by newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and everything we do in society.”

Law enforcement officials said they suspected that Mr. Loughner also might have been influenced by things like American Renaissance, a conservative magazine that describes itself as “America’s premiere publication of racial-realist thought.”

“We think that white Americans have an entirely legitimate reason to want to remain a majority in the United States because when a neighborhood or a school or an organization changes in demographics and becomes majority black or Hispanic, it is no longer the same institution or neighborhood,” said Jared Taylor, its editor.

He added, “It may be shocking to hear something stated so bluntly.”DHS Memo Suggests Shooter May Be Linked To Racist Organization

By Jennifer GriffinAccording to a law enforcement memo based on information provided by DHS and obtained by Fox News, Jared Loughner, the alleged shooter of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, may have been influenced by a pro-white racist organization that publishes an anti-immigration newsletter.

No direct connection, but strong suspicion is being directed at American Renaissance, an organization that Loughner mentioned in some of his internet postings and federal law enforcement officials are investigating Loughner's possible links to the organization. The organization is a monthly publication that promotes a variety of white racial positions.

"The group's ideology is anti government, anti immigration, anti ZOG (Zionist Occupational Government), anti Semitic," according to the memo which goes on to point out that Congressman Giffords is the first Jewish female elected to high office in Arizona. A recent posting on American Renaissance's website on January 7 begins with an article entitled: "Exit poll: Whites are Different." The site goes on to list anti-immigration articles. Investigators are also pursuing Loughner's alleged anti-Semitism.Comment:  What a shock to learn the alleged killer is a right-wing nut. That he's babbling about US currency and the gold standard exactly like Glenn Beck and other right-wing extremists. That's he's probably anti-government and anti-immigration like so many of today's right-wing bigots and hypocrites.

For more thinking like Loughner's, see Only Property Owners Should Vote?, Conservatives Hate Wikileaks and Indians, and Islamophobia Just Like Stephen's.

Debating Loughner's influences

To get the ball rolling on Facebook, I wrote:Who will be the first conservative to pin the blame on Obama, liberals, big government, or illegal immigrants? Any bets?This led to the following debate with Tom:As opposed to the first Huff Post blogger to pin it on Sarah Palin?Given that Palin posted a gunsight pointing at Giffords's district, that connection was easy to make. And rightly so. When Palin stokes "lock and load" hatred, we're going to call her on it. If you don't like, lump it.I guess you have a point. Besides being goaded by a gunsight metaphor political ad from months ago reading America by Heart and Going Rogue probably put him over the edge.

No, wait, it was Tea Party propaganda like The Communist Manifesto that he was reading. Never mind.

http://www.businessinsider.com/jared-lee-loughner-2011-1Palin's gunsight hatemongering is one of about a dozen examples of hypocrisy rampant among conservative Christians. They all contribute to the climate of fear and intimidation promoted by you and your fellow teabagger extremists.

Your stupid attempts to excuse Loughner are getting more pathetic by the minute. Why didn't you quote his entire reading list?I had favorite books: Animal Farm, Brave New World, The Wizard Of OZ, Aesop Fables, The Odyssey, Alice Adventures Into Wonderland, Fahrenheit 451, Peter Pan, To Kill A Mockingbird, We The Living, Phantom Toll Booth, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Pulp, Through The Looking Glass, The Communist Manifesto, Siddhartha, The Old Man And The Sea, Gulliver's Travels, Mein Kampf, The Republic, and Meno.So he's well-read. So the hell what? There's no evidence of statist leanings in this list. Rather, there's evidence of anti-statist leanings. Which would put him squarely in the "I hate big government (except when conservatives make it bigger)" camp.

Okay for Christians to hate?

Better luck next time with your defense of un-Jesus-like hatemongering. I suggest you try reading the Bible and learning its message before you pretend to be a Christian.Where am I excusing Loughner? I would like to see that mass murderer's head on a pike. He may be crazy but he isn't insane. He could control his actions and he knew they were illegal (and if he knows to plead the Fifth, he's competent to stand trial). All I am saying is that if you HAVE to blame his capital murders on outside influences, you MIGHT want to start with the ones he ADMITS he has, NOT the ones you WISH he has.

Besides, whenever you call Tea Party activists "teabaggers" you just sound like a pathetic, out-of-tune rusty trombone.I summarized what we know of his views in Loughner Echoes Right-Wing Extremists. If you're ignorant of the facts, that's your problem, not mine. And I still couldn't care less that you don't like the term "teabagger."

Where have you excused Loughner? In this comment:Besides being goaded by a gunsight metaphor political ad from months ago reading America by Heart and Going Rogue probably put him over the edge.among others. And your silence on the issue of your party's hate rhetoric is telling.

Singling out The Communist Manifesto as if that were representative of Loughner's readings is another attempt to excuse his apparent dislike of government and government officials.

Now that you've ducked the religious issue I raised, why don't you address it? What do you think Jesus's position would be on the conservative gunsights and "reload" imagery? Take a guess.

More speculation

About the only major question left to answer is whether Loughner is a conservative Christian who hates Jews like Giffords. Judging by Loughner's reading of Mein Kampf, I'm guessing the answer is yes. His talk of the government's controlling the currency sounds suspiciously anti-Semitic.

Let's note that he also enjoyed the anti-Indian racism of Peter Pan and Brave New World. I think it's time for a reminder that all bigotries are similar. If you're prejudiced against one group, you're probably prejudiced against others.

For more on white conservative hate, see Teabaggers = Hatemongers and Klansmen, Militias, and Teabaggers.

Words don't trigger actions?!

Facebook friend John wrote a typical defense of conservative hatemongering:I'm not a fan of the left and most of my Constitutional views fall closer in line with the TEA party than with the GOP, but I don't want anyone gunned down in the street. I think it was a tragic opportunity for the extreme left to associate a horrible act of violence with the extreme right.Right, and no one ever acted because of something he read in the Bible or the Koran, either. Antisocial behavior materializes out of thin air and is totally unrelated to external sources.

Fact is that antisocial behavior always happens on the margins, so how you or I would respond isn't relevant. What's relevant is how external sources affect people who are intellectually or emotionally challenged.

The Giffords shooting provides a good opportunity to apply the thesis of "Such-and-Such Is Fiction" to a real-world example. Therefore, I continued with these sarcastic comments:

Neither the Bible nor the Koran ever influenced anyone. Same with speeches by Lincoln, Churchill, FDR, JFK, MLK, Reagan, et al. Same with right-wing hate speech. People's beliefs and actions materialize out of thin air for no discernible reason and are totally unconnected to external sources.

The 9/11 terrorists weren't influenced by hate speech similar to, but worse than, the hate speech used by today's conservatives. No, they killed 3,000 Americans for reasons unrelated to what they were programmed to believe by relentless hate-filled lies and propaganda.

Discuss.

"America = den of Zionists" and "Obama = Kenyan/Muslim/socialist/terrorist." Two examples of false propaganda designed to stoke fear and hate.

Rightist vs. leftist hate speech

John responded:I noticed you curiously left out "leftist hate speech" Do you not believe it exists or is it just more subtle since the NRA and most 2nd Amendment proponents lean to the right?There's a lot less of it than rightist hate speech. And it's more subtle, which means it's more like passionate political advocacy than hate speech.

Can you imagine Reagan saying Democrats such as Tip O'Neil threatened the American way of life or were a danger to the country? I can't.

P.S. My list included FDR, JFK, and MLK, so clearly I think liberal speech can affect people as much as conservative speech.

Someone named Windy chimed in:John, I'd love to hear an example of "leftist hate speech"...about the worst I've heard is name-calling, from the lefties. But...nothing like "take them out" or "second amendment remedies." As a moderate, I get annoyed with some of the rhetoric on the Left but I've never heard the type of hate-filled, violent, rhetoric that I've heard from the Right. :-\ Quite the chasm between violent and annoying.To preempt DMarks before he inevitably recycles his isolated and irrelevant "Bush = Hitler" counterexample, I added:

George W. Bush launched an illegal war based on false intelligence that has killed thousands of innocent people. When any Democratic politician does that, you have my permission to say nasty things about him or her. Until then, no.

For more on the subject, see Loughner Echoes Right-Wing Extremists and Debating Loughner's Influences.

"Such-and-such is fiction"

Here's a diatribe I wrote in response to the typical claim that the racism or stereotyping in a book or comic book is irrelevant:

The Bible and the Quran are just fiction, yet look how many billions of lives they've changed. Other collections of words that have had a profound influence include the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, Karl Marx's Das Kapital, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, John Maynard Keynes's economic theories, FDR's fireside chats, the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Ayn Rand's Fountainhead, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Is anyone seriously going to claim that sticks and stones may break our bones, but words have no power whatsoever? Given the evidence in front of your face, what's the basis for this claim?

You can apply this to other forms of media--movies, TV shows, cartoons, video games, plays, songs, etc.--as well. Much of the culture we absorb comes from narratives such as stories and lessons. From The Hare and the Tortoise to The Cat in the Hat, practically everything has a message.

The message may be that greed and sloth are bad. Or that preparation and sharing are good. It also may be that stereotyping is acceptable or unacceptable. People, especially children, will absorb one lesson as readily as another. All these lessons are attempts to educate and enlighten in fictional contexts.

For more on the subject, see Okay to Stereotype in "Satires"? and Educating Russ About Criticism.

All about Tatanka Means

Not a fighter

Man of many talents hitting the big screen

By Jan-Mikael PattersonAt only 25 years old, Tatanka Means has experienced quite a bit in his young life. So far, he's been a boxer, bull rider, horseback rider, actor, comedian, motivational speaker, model and grass dancer.

"Those are things that I've done," he said in a Dec. 18 interview backstage at a 49 Laughs Comedy Show. "I don't ride bulls anymore or box. I've been doing comedy, which I love doing now with Pax Harvey, James Junes and Ernie Tsosie III, and Adrienne Chalapah now."

Means took on stand-up comedy in full stride along with Harvey, Junes, Tsosie and Chalapah as part of the "49 Laughs Comedy: Laugh Now, Cry Later Tour."And:In addition to being a comedian on the 49 Laugh Comedy team, he also does show production and booking, like the other comedians.

"49 Laughs has been pumping shows left and right and with us producing shows, it's going strong," he said. "We're getting calls to do shows and it seems like the casinos are really picking up on it and I'm glad to be a part of it."

Comedy and public engagements have not slowed him down from acting at all. He landed the lead role in a movie called "Tiger Eyes." The movie is based on a book written by author Judy Blume with the same title.

The book is about a teenager named Davey, who is dealing with the death of her father.And:Means has concentrated on acting since 2005 when he was a double stuntman for Rick Schroeder's "Black Cloud" which was filmed on the Navajo Nation and surrounding area.

"I've been doing this for five years, since 2005," he said. "I started off doing stuntwork in my hometown Chinle, doubling up for Black Cloud. It's funny because it took place in my own gym, my own boxing gym in Chinle. I was thinking, 'Man, I could've played this character.'

"The role went to a non-Navajo. It was like, 'Dang, bummer,'" he chuckled. "My dad (Russell Means) was in there playing a coach. It's been going good with acting. It's a hard business. There's so much competition and it's hard to get your foot into the door and actually get some good roles."

Although his father is well known for his political activism with the American Indian Movement and notable acting roles, Means does not use his father's fame to land acting jobs.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Cahuilla Indians in Scoundrels and "Commodity Comedy Show."

Below:  "Stand-up comic Tatanka Means, pictured backstage at the Orpheum Theater on Dec. 18, 2010, is ready to grace the movie screen with the film-adaptation of Judy Blume's teen novel Tiger Eyes, where he plays Wolf-Martin Ortiz." (Jan-Mikael Patterson)

Shooter hits Palin's target

The story that dominated the news Saturday was the murderous attack by suspect Jared Lee Loughner on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Tucson). Not coincidentally, he targeted one of the liberal politicians on Sarah Palin's hit list:

Sarah Palin's PAC Puts Gun Sights On Democrats She's Targeting In 2010Sarah Palin is targeting--yes, with gun sights--House Democrats facing tough reelection fights who voted for health care reform.

Palin's Facebook page now carries a map featuring 20 gun sights, one for each of the Democrats targeted this year by her political action committee SarahPAC. Three of the gun sights, those where incumbent Democrats have already announced their retirement, are colored red.

Comment:  There's no truth to the rumor that Sarah Palin updated her website to say: "One down, 16 more to go."

Palin to Giffords: "We meant to target and shoot you only with rhetorical bullets. We want you to die and rot in hell only rhetorically."

No, what Palin actually said was this:

Sarah Palin issues statement on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords shooting

What she probably meant to say was this:When I showed Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in a gun sight, I meant it metaphorically. But if real Americans exercise their right to bear and fire guns, that's okay too. Anyone who isn't carrying a concealed weapon runs the risk of getting shot.Hilarious that Palin took the offending graphic down immediately but there's supposedly nothing wrong with it. The hypocritical party of "taking personal responsibility" strikes again.



For more on Palin's hatemongering, see Racist Rhetoric Fuels Hate Crimes and Palin:  Racism Is a Ploy.

Here Comes Sayn-Day

Exhibit brings Kiowa tales to life

By Keith Vasquez“He’s a liar and a cheat. When he’s coming along with his raggedy appearance and hungry expression, look out: he’s always tricking someone into giving him what he wants.”

That description is included in the book “Sayn-Day Was Coming Along.”

Those words are also a part of an exhibit, “Here Comes Sayn-Day,” that has found a home in the Kiowa Museum in Carnegie, Okla.

The piece was a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., but will be kept in Carnegie from now on.Comment:  For more on Native tricksters, see Coyote-Loki Mash-Up and Dembicki Explains TRICKSTER's origin.

Below:  "Kiowa Tribe Public Relations Office Acting Kiowa Museum Director, Jame Eskew, with the Here Comes Sayn-Day exhibit on display through Feb. 28.

Reclaim land "by any means necessary"?

FBI asks about Dakota activist's controversial speech

By Laura YuenA Minnesota American Indian scholar's remarks that the Dakota people might have to reclaim lost tribal lands "by any means necessary" has drawn the scrutiny of federal authorities.

The Dakota historian who goes by the name Waziyatawin said she received a call this week from the FBI to discuss remarks she made in November at Winona State University.

Waziyatawin, a professor of indigenous history at the University of Victoria in British Columbia who used to go by the name Angela Cavender Wilson, told students that it's time for American Indians to abandon symbolic demonstrations. Truth-telling efforts haven't achieved anything, she said, according to a recording of the speech obtained by the Winona Post.

"We're going to need to take a different kind of action," said Waziyatawin, who grew up on the Upper Sioux Reservation in southwestern Minnesota. "All of you are going to have to figure out your role. For Dakota people, I know we're going to need to recover our land base, by any means necessary."

In an interview, Waziyatawin said her lecture was not a threat to commit violence as some have suggested. But she admits she's no pacifist. An author of books on Minnesota's history of oppressing, and then exiling, the Dakota people, she said removing people from their comfort zone is her job.

But in Winona, some students were shocked when Waziyatawin told them that anyone committed to achieving true justice might have to go on attack.

When someone in the audience asked whether that could happen without violence, Waziyatawin said she was doubtful.

"Right now, for Dakota people, we're going to need to reclaim land. We need to strategize about how we're going to do that, whatever it takes, and those are conversations we have that are internal to Dakota communities," she said. "But in terms of dismantling industrial civilization, I think that can happen in any variety of ways, and I think that's going to be about attacking infrastructure."Comment:  Initially this story was about freedom of speech and journalistic ethics. The sole source of info about Waziyatawin's lecture was a student's letter to the editor. Several tribal leaders denounced her and the Winona Post published an article based on nothing more than the letter.

But now the FBI is investigating her based on the phrase "by any means necessary"? Really? I see liberal activists saying things like that almost every day.

It's called an "idle threat." It doesn't mean anything unless someone acts on it. It's not something the FBI should be investigating.

"Truth-telling" useless?

Waziyatawin claims that truth-telling efforts haven't achieved anything. Really? Seems to me we see cause and effect in the media constantly. For instance, you reveal a scandal about someone and the person suffers the consequences.

And we've just begun the era of constant information flow via texting, tweeting, and Facebook. It's ridiculous to suggest Indians or others have exhausted all nonviolent strategies at this point. Indeed, I don't think anyone can predict the future of activism accurately. Let's see what the situation is like in 10 years. By then we may have several ways of translating online chatter into on-the-ground action.

Of course, this presupposes that you have a cause worth fighting for. If your plan is to reclaim Indian land by proclaiming yourself the Republic of Lakotah, don't expect anyone to take you seriously. If Waziyatawin has taken reasonable steps to reclaim Dakota territory, let's hear about them. Then we can judge whether "attacks" are needed to achieve her goals.

Violence justified?

As for Waziyatawin's claim that violence may be necessary, longtime readers know I've addressed that several times. My position remains unchanged. I'd say the steps one should take to protest injustice are:

1) Work through the political or legal system.
2) Acts of nonviolent civil disobedience.
3) Attacks against property.
4) Attacks against people.

One should exhaust each step before proceeding to the next one. The last step is acceptable only in a self-defense, kill-or-be-killed situation. You know, like when someone launches a war against you with guns and bombs.

"Dismantling industrial civilization" doesn't count as one of those situations. That probably won't happen unless profound physical, political, or philosophical cataclysms rock the world. And unless the majority of Americans and Westerners support the change democratically. It probably won't happen at gunpoint.

For more on the subject, see Violence Against Elected Government Justified? and Should Natives Kill to Save Trees?

Below:  "Dakota historian and activist Waziyatawin says a presentation she gave at Winona State University in November has attracted the attention of the FBI."