Schwarzenegger 'just got off the boat'

by First Nations

Fri, May 6, 2005 7:03PM

Retired Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colorado), a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, blasted California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) for trying to "literally extort" tribes, The Biloxi Sun Herald reported.

Campbell gave the keynote at the Southern Gaming Summit in Biloxi, Mississippi, yesterday. He criticized Schwarzenegger for accusing tribes of "not paying their fair share" and for "ripping us off."

"I would say that's a comment made by somebody who has just got off the boat and doesn't understand the history of what has happened to Indians in California," Campbell was quoted as saying. "They paid for their lifestyle in blood, lost relatives, millions of acres of lost land, untold billions of dollars in lost revenue from what's under the land - oil, gas, coal and so on... They've paid their dues, Mr. Schwarzenegger."

Since leaving the Senate to work for a law and lobbying firm, Campbell has made similar comments at other gaming-related conferences. But he kept quiet publicly about Schwarzenegger during the California recall campaign and during last year's election, when a tribal gaming initiative was on the ballot.

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Add Your Comments

§No Support for Gambling

by Socialist

Sat, May 7, 2005 12:38AM

Gambling is by definition transferring the wealth from the workingclass to the capitalist class. Those who claim to be Native American and are owners of gambling businesses are simply capitalists; their ancestry is irrelevant. Gambling is utterly reactionary and cannot be supported by anyone serious about radical change and supporting the workingclass, regardless of ancestry. These tribes promoting this despicable activity are nothing more than businesses maxmizing profits, by definition, at the expense of the workingclass. When they claim the gambling business is on "Indian" land, they then have an excuse to avoid labor and environmental laws, always to the detriment of the workingclass who do the work at these gambling businesses. Gambling certainly does not right the wrongs of any past. The future of the Native American workingclass is the same as the future of the rest of the workingclass, namely socialism, that is the elimination of capitalism and its profit motive, and can only be achieved with a labor movement of a united workingclass. The best thing one can do is eliminate gambling, along with all other capitalist businesses. It is the profit motive that is literally destroying the world. I always vote No on all gambling initiatives.

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§its not up to YOU to tell

by a native

Sat, May 7, 2005 9:38PM

... the landkeepers of this side of the Earth to how to go about their business, regardless of whether it is wrong or right. if the natives are taking up the business of gambling then it is because the white race has completely eradicated their original and true means of sustenance, and are therefore trying to get out of the ghetto rez life. I'll bet you've never stepped in one, and if you did you wouldn't be talking all the shit you do now. If you really want to smash capitalism then pack up, hop back on your Mayflower, or Santa Maria, or whatever boat your ancestors came on and go back to Europe. And take all your eurocentric kindred with you too.

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