A Third McCain Land Scandal

Following recent investigative articles by the New York Times and the Washington Post  which detail two separate instances in which Sen. McCain apparently used his influence to bring about federal land deals lucrative for his friends and campaign contributors, another such case is about to come to the forefront.

This new land swindle is far less benign than the other two.  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.

In this case, Sen. McCain's influence did more than just bring 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.

The Dineh Navajo people in northwest Arizona were forceably removed from their land and relocated, pursuant to legislation authored by Sen. John McCain  (Navajo Resettlement & Navajo Accommodation Agreement, Navajo Settlement, and amendments to PL 93-531, PL S.1003) in order to facilitate the acquisition of their Coal by Peabody Western Coal Company, and a related Coal Slurry Pipeline across their land to the Mohave Generating Station of Southern California Edison, operated by Bechtel.  Some of the Dineh people were relocated to a toxic waste dump, while the rest were separated and scattered around the state.

A brief documentary, "Vanishing Prayer" (Parts One and Two) details the terrible human cost of McCain's legislation.

Sen. McCain's role in the tragedy and its devastating cultural, health, and enviromental impact is documented not just by the local people directly involved but by an independent investigation by an agency of the United Nations.

We can leave it to others to calculate how much money Sen. McCain has received from Peabody, Bechtel, SCE and other players in this sordid scandal.  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 1972, America [re-] elected a corrupt President SIX MONTHS AFTER the Watergate Break-in, because the news story initially remained largely confined to Washington, and thereafter endured two years of scandal and chaos as a result.  In 2008, we have this medium (Internet), and vital information on public corruption no longer remains contained to one local media market.  If the media look into the plight of the Dineh Navajo, and Sen. McCain's role in their destruction for profit, perhaps we might avoid a similar national nightmare in the future.