In the tragedy of the Dineh-Navajo federal land swindle engineered by Sen. McCain (PL 93-531), we have a human drama writ large of political corruption and influence peddling to wealthy corporate special interests. The Dineh Navajo people were forceably relocated to Church's Hill - a radioactive toxic waste dump (recognized by Superfund) - in order to steal their land for strip mining by Peabody Western Coal Company, polluting the entire region's water table with Coal mine effluent in the process.
This didnt begin as a political issue, but it certainly deserves to become one later this year. Here is one clip from the indie documentary "Vanishing Prayer", which details the situation:
Part One:
For a clip from Part Two and the background, keep reading below the fold...
John McCain's Environmental Policy has something for everyone. Aspiring Cancer victims, those living on Coal-deficient diets, and elderly homeowners who "need to get up and move around some"....Even an agency of the United Nations has recognized the environmental horrors of McCain's legislative action.
This new land swindle is far less benign than the other two which have recently received national attention. (See New York Times and the Washington Post) It involves wealthy corporate mining interests, electric utilities, and a Coal slurry pipeline through the homeland of Native Americans, which took not only their land but their precious water along the way as well. If that werent enough, the project contaminated the tribe's remaining groundwater and farmland with toxic effluent. For more information on the effects of Coal mining on the local population, please see "Burning the Future: Coal in America"
In this case, Sen. McCain's influence did more than just bring huge profits to campagin contributors, it dispossessed thousands of indigenous people from lands they had occupied since before Columbus, not in the 19th Century, but in the 21st. A story similar to that of many tribes sold out and taken advantage of by ruthless politicians, this wasnt the work of some banana republic dictator, but of the Republican candidate for President of the United States.
We can leave it to others to calculate how much money Sen. McCain may have received from Peabody, Bechtel, SCE and other players in this sordid scandal. It has been suggested that 'street name' contributions from Las Vegas, and casino beer concessions to the family business were the payoff. What we do know is that some of the poorest Native Americans were swindled out of vast Coal wealth and their ancestral lands, for the benefit of politically well-connected corporations. We know that it had horrendous consequences for both public health and the environment. And, we know that Sen. McCain made it happen.
It is possible - however unlikely - that no money changed hands, to buy the Senator's participation in ripping off the Dineh Navajo. If that's the case, then it nevertheless represents monumentally bad judgement, callous disregard for his most vulnerable constituents, and an ignorance of both environmental and public health issues that would have grand reprecussions if broadly applied to national policy. We know that Bechtel has a long time interest in the Senator; perhaps this was a payoff for some defense contract he was unable to secure for them.
In any event, there can be no doubt that this is the most rancid skeleton in McCain's closet; its difficult to imagine one worse. It has clearly defined aspects of "good" vs. "evil", which any public servant, with half a brain and one good eye should have been able to recognize. The fact that Sen. McCain so completely failed to do so, and comfortably settled into the role of "villian", should give any thinking American serious pause in electing him POTUS.
Sen. Barak Obama needs to GO THERE; into the Lion's Den, ARIZONA, to see the Dineh Navajo, to meet the survivors and hear their story firsthand, with the entire national press corps in tow. Undoubtedly, this will trigger new media attention to the four other federal land deals (with David Diamond, Steve Betts, Del Web, and Carl Lindner) involving Sen. McCain which probably also have their hairier aspects.
No other legitimate issue will tear as effectively into the [manufactured] McCain image of 'Integrity', with such a vivid video narrative. This is Kryptonite for the Republican candidate. Please spread the word and use it wisely.
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