McCain Chased Off Reservation By Pissed-Off Navajo Activists

[madamesilverspurs]

Last edited Sun Aug 16, 2015, 03:59 PM - Edit history (1)

In a stunning action that was long overdue, a group of native Navajo Americans chased Senator John McCain out of the Navajo Nation capital of Window Rock — making it perfectly clear he was unwelcome in the first place.

McCain was visiting the Nation in commemoration of Navajo Code Talker’s day, and perhaps for a moment thought he would get by listening to polite pleas from Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye and Vice-President Jonathan Nez to back a Congressional appropriation to fund the construction of a Navajo Code Talkers Museum. According to a report from Native News Online.Net, however, the Nation’s leaders chose the moment to focus on the EPA tragedy unfolding via the Gold King Mine spill into the Animas and San Juan Rivers. ...

more at link

http://reverbpress.com/news/mccain-chased-off-rez-pissed-off-navajo-activists-video/

[valerief]

1. That s/b done EVERY place he shows up. nt

[KarenS]

22. ^^ This ^^ n/t

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. Heh. Awkward moment, eh John?

Being chased away by constituents is kind of embarrassing.

[Gloria]

30. Did he skulk back to his place in SEDONA???

You know, all that natural beauty, just for John...
Who give a shit about the rest of the state...

[riderinthestorm]

3. Righteous and powerful. Well done. K&R nt

[fredamae]

4. Good!

I wonder if John even understood the significance?

[riversedge]

5. umm. They really did chase him! his white van.

[PatrickforO]

6. Well, we've exploited the Navajo people for centuries now,

and this bit with the EPA fouling the river they depend on really sucks.

It is very revealing of our political system that Sen. McCain was there to commemorate their WWII service as 'code talkers,' when he SHOULD have been there to promise them that he would do everything humanly possible to get massive federal money down there for a cleanup.

See....for McCain, WAR = important, FOULED RIVER = hope it doesn't come up

[haikugal]

10. ^^^^THIS^^^^

Kick!!

[brer cat]

11. +1

A real leader would have been there to talk about cleaning up the river. Glad they ran him off.

[City Lights]

15. Nailed it!

[Warpy]

28. Very true, he should have been there to tell them about water tanks

and water being trucked in for drinking and for their stock, not a bunch of mealy mouthed horseshit about people who were a thousand times more brave than he was.

The good news is that Animas river water has cleared in Durango and that clearing will proceed down to the first dam. They should be able to water their stock, at least, within a few weeks.

They need something to help them survive those weeks. Words about WWII from some old fart who wasn't there won't help.

[zeemike]

37. I kind of think it will take longer than that.

There is bound to be sediment that precipitated out of the water still in the river bed.
This will be a long lasting disaster, and they have cause to be pissed off. That water is the life blood of that land.

[Warpy]

40. That mine was leaking 250 gallons of contaminated water per minute

into the Animas before the EPA goofed up, that's why they were there in the first place.

Once the surface water clears, it will be OK for stock, at the very least.

The problem comes down river where the Colorado is dammed up to form Lake Powel and Lake Mead. That's where the cleanup will be most problematic and will likely take years.

[Nac Mac Feegle]

57. One thing that bothers me

Who exactly is responsible for the incident?

Were the people that let that crap loose government employees or contractors?

I've seen a LOT of stuff contracted out that used to be done by actual government employees. I wonder if this is really a result of "lowest bidder" incompetence.

I heard something partially on Thom Hartmann the other day about contractors being the actual ones doing the work. That opens up a lot of questions about the whole situation.

[jeff47]

79. The EPA's responsible.

A law from the 1800s lets mining companies abandon their mines without doing anything to control environmental damage. Leaving it up to the government to deal with.

If the contractor screwed up and spilled the water, the EPA could go after the contractor for failing to follow the contract. (Depending on how exactly the contract was written)

People outside that contractual relationship that were harmed by the spill would be suing the government/EPA, since they are the people responsible for cleaning up such mines.

[malaise]

45. Excellent post

[merrily]

63. +1

[brush]

69. And also to stop trying to give away their sacred lands to another copper mining conglomerate. nt

[RKP5637]

7. K&R! n/t

[haikugal]

8. That was wonderful...power to the people!

He should be hounded where ever he goes...worthless taint.

[progressoid]

9. Love it!

[BillZBubb]

12. They'd better watch out. McCain only has one diplomatic move: bombing.

[craigmatic]

13. All power and glory to the native people.

[saidsimplesimon]

14. Globe/Miami opening copper mines, again.

Gold mining in Bullhead City is in vogue as well. We can thank Senator McCain for his tireless efforts to boost the AZ economy by promoting pollution, deregulation and support for the MIC.

[kimbutgar]

16. They also need to do this to Flake since he and MCCain sold off their land to a foreign mining Co.

I wish though I could have seen McCain run back into the suv.

I am so proud of my native brothers and sisters.

[Omaha Steve]

17. PLEASE cross post in First Americans!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1191

K&R!

OS

[madamesilverspurs]

19. Done!

And thanks for the reminder!

[merrily]

64. Excuse the OT, but I see we have another new donating goal already!

Go, Bernie Sanders Group!

[packman]

18. Loving it

[malaise]

20. Good

More politicians should be run out of towns

[Fred Sanders]

36. Would it be appropriate for First Nation citizens to use #RedLivesMatter?

[sendero]

21. No McCain fan at all..

...but WTF did he have to do with the EPA fuckup? I don't think he is a big EPA booster. Heads should roll, and I mean HEADS over this but again, what did McCain have to do with it?

[Zorra]

23. Greedy GOP Hypocrites Sell Sacred Apache Land To Mining Company

Earlier this week, Washington DC saw two days of demonstrations organized by Apache Stronghold a Native American advocacy group to protest a deal which handed 2400 acres of sacred lands belonging to the San Carlos Apache tribe to foreign mining company, Resolution Copper. The land deal was slipped at the last-minute into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last December by Arizona Republican Senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake where it sidestepped most of the usual scrutiny.

http://reverbpress.com/religion/apache-religious-rights-gop-sells-land/

Native Americans Against John McCain

https://www.facebook.com/NativesAgainstJohnMcCain

[former9thward]

35. The Tribe sold the land.

It was not taken from them. Details, details.

[Zorra]

43. Nice try. "In Arizona, a controversial federal land swap leaves Apaches

in the lurch."

Why is Congress giving federally protected Arizona land sacred to the Apache to a massive mining conglomerate?

(The Details, details).

SUPERIOR, Ariz. – A place of great natural beauty, popular among rock climbers and campers, a part of Tonto National Forest known as Oak Flat has been under federal protection from mining since 1955, by special order of President Eisenhower.
snip---
Year after year the bills failed to pass. But in December, the legislation was was quietly passed into law as part of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act. Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has long championed the deal, said the land exchange would “maintain the strength of the most technologically advanced military in the world” since copper is the second-most-utilized mineral by the Department of Defense.

As part of the deal, Resolution Copper will swap roughly 7.8 square miles of land scattered across Arizona for roughly 3.8 square miles of Tonto National Forest, which includes Oak Flat. The new legislation will open up Oak Flat for copper mining.

But critics say the move allows the company to privatize the land and make an end run around critical environmental and cultural protections. What’s more Resolution Copper can’t promise that any of the copper produced by the mine will remain in the United States – which raises the question: How does this help national defense?

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2015/2/20/in-arizona-the-governments-copper-grab-leaves-apaches-in-the-lurch.html

[former9thward]

44. You said the land was taken from the Apache Tribe.

It was not. This was NOT Apache land. I was in error when I said the Tribe sold it. I mixed up this dispute with another that is taking place in the Grand Canyon area. But you attempted to say the land was stolen from the Tribe. It was not their land. Nice try indeed.

[Zorra]

50. The land WAS taken from the Apache Tribe. While it is not part of the rez,

it was public land, and the Tribe still uses the land. It is ancestral Apache land, (and yes, it was stolen from them, just not recently) and McCain and Flake sold it out from under them in bad faith.

Democratic Representative Raul Grijalva:

“Congress shouldn’t be in the business of helping big corporations at others’ expense, and it certainly shouldn’t break faith with Native American communities. I’m proud to lead our bipartisan team in saying we should repeal this giveaway and stop treating corporate handouts as national defense priorities.”

But yes, technically, in lawyer world, the Apache did not "own" the land at the time this dirty deal by McCain and Flake went down.

[former9thward]

58. The Apaches claim all of Arizona.

So basically according to you there should be no development in the state except casinos of course.

[Zorra]

71. Good call. Honestly, no development at all would be perfect for me, casinos included.

The last thing I want to see is this land become Chicago.

But for now just keeping the major destroyers of the earth out would be a big plus.

[LanternWaste]

80. The consistency of your inaccuracies is nothing short of dramatic.

The consistency of your inaccuracies is nothing short of dramatic.

[former9thward]

81. Trying to follow your leadership.

[Geronimoe]

34. McCain has been Chariman of Indian Affairs in the Senate

Under his watch, treaties have not been honored, land and minerals rights continue to be stolen.

[sendero]

82. I was not aware of that..

.. thanks for the info. Makes a lot more sense now.

[merrily]

65. On the other hand, what has he proposed to fix it?

It's a huge deal in the state he represents in Congress. If something like that had happened in Massachusetts, Kennedy would have been all over it.

[Gigabear]

83. I looks more like general frustration at the entire governement and

he just happened to be a handy target.

“I keep saying when are we going to hear from the White House? Not a word,” Begaye said, according to Native News. “When somebody wins the Super Bowl or an NBA Championship, they get a call, right? And when something like this happens and people are suffering, nothing.”

[dorkzilla]

24. His scalp would have made a lovely trophy.

Actually Navajos didn’t scalp (they feared handling the dead) but I would think they’d make an exception in his case.

[Hekate]

25. KnR

[CountAllVotes]

26. K&R for the Navajo people & their land

[red dog 1]

27. Too bad the Navajos can't chase McCain out of the US Senate

I wish Donald Trump would go visit those Navajos.

K&R

[Gloria]

29. On a more "local" level...the Repug commissioners don't think

that more land around the Grand Canyon should be off limits to mining and other sordid things...the Dem reps are all in favor of it.

One Rethug actually said that "we already have enough monuments." Yeah, like that matters...we're talking the Grand Canyon,
major source of tourist bucks, wonder of the world....but who cares? Let's just have rigs in sight of the canyon, on Indian Land, where it is not supposed to be...

I think the Navajo Nation should go after those AZ commissioners while they are at it...

[me b zola]

31. K&R

[lib87]

32. Yay!

I bet he didn't see that one coming.

[lpbk2713]

33. "Git off my damn grass" right back at him.

[Feeling the Bern]

38. Notice how many cops are there to protect one important old white person

And a lot of those cops are Navajo. "I have my orders." So did the Waffen-SS. Fucking cops.

[okasha]

51. I think those were tribal police.

What did you want to happen? McCain injured or killed? That would do exactly what for the Dine?

As it was, McCain got run off the rez, the Dine made their point graphically and effectively, and no one got hurt.

And look at those women in the lead. You go, sisters!

[Feeling the Bern]

52. Yes, very proud of the Dine standing their ground! Good job, fellow brothers from the west

This Haudenosaunee supports you!

[merrily]

66. What made you think the police in the video were tribal police?

The article says about 50 tribal police and county police.

I very much doubt that group was going to kill anyone. The police did not really contain them and no one died. They caught up to McCain and no one died. They wanted to confront him.

There were about 50 NN Police, as well as County Police. Protesters took off in cars and followed McCain to the airport. The bridge to the airport was closed off.

“Bye John McCain! There are a lot of things on the Navajo Nation that our groups large and small are going to tackle. We cannot trust our Government, so we will make things right, ourselves.”

[countryjake]

39. Excellent lesson on the way to deal with self-serving politicians!

Love that video!

[Caretha]

41. I really really enjoyed the video

I just wish it had been hundreds of thousands chasing his vehicle. Fuck McCain the traitor

[NightWatcher]

42. More of this please...everywhere

[zentrum]

47. He'll hurt them now

Anyway he knows how. Withhold funds.

But it's a wonderful moment. Thank you.

[ChazInAz]

75. Yup,

That's his normal behavior.
Vindictive guy.

[tclambert]

48. Now McCain is going to want to bomb the Navajo reservation.

[Helen Borg]

61. Yep, those terrorists...

[Liberal_in_LA]

49. good

[Marie Marie]

53. How dare they ruin his photo-op.

And good for them!

[Cha]

54. Kick for McCain getting Kicked off the Rez! Mahalo Madame

[Liberty Belle]

55. Good; he was also responsible for the bill language that turned over Apache lands to mining:

http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/defense-bill-allows-desecration-apache-land

[TygrBright]

56. Yah-ta-hey. Yah-ta-hey. n/t

[Ghost in the Machine]

59. Songbird has been "off the reservation" since he chose Palin without vetting her, IMHO...

Time for the old "Maverick" to retire, I'd say!

***For the sake of posterity***: I do not mean "off the reservation" in ANY derogatory way toward Native People, First Nations or, as I prefer, American Indians, seeing as I am part Cherokee on my Maternal side, and have learned that I am also part Blackfoot, also from Maternal side. My grandmother was full blood Cherokee and we found out that on my Maternal grandfather's side they are part Blackfoot/Blackfeet. No offense intended toward ANYONE, and I apologize in advance if anyone*was* offended. That was NOT my intention at all.

I could have said "nuttier than squirrel shit", or a hundred other things, but this just seemed appropriate given the thread title.***

Peace,

Ghost

[C Moon]

60. This is up there as one of the best things I've seen on DU!!!

[merrily]

62. The only context in which terms like "off the reservaton" are ok.

By what authority (quo warranto) did the armed people put their hands on unarmed demonstrators to prevent them from leaving a building or from running behind a car?

I don't know if they were tribal police or county police or what, but McCain was inside the car, the car never stopped and the people were unarmed. Are they not allowed to tell their Senator his visit offends them?

[Sunlei]

67. No one is more to blame for how crappy a state Az. has become then McCain.

[panader0]

68. That was beautiful!

Recommended.

[Oilwellian]

70. I love reading the title of this thread

over and over again.

[angel823]

72. k&r n/t

[ffr]

73. Figures! It takes true Americans to speak out.

We invaders from Europe just sit on our thumbs.

Every Republi should be protested and voted out of office on every level.

[lonestarnot]

74. Run gramps you nutwit.

[Cracklin Charlie]

76. That was fantastic!

Well done, Navaho!

[catbyte]

77. This Ojibwe says, "Well done" to my Navajo brothers and sisters, and

Chii megwetch for running that sorry POS off your land. Awesome.

[niyad]

78. excellent

[Enthusiast]

84. This action gives me a warm feeling.