Bad Eagle.com on Indian Gaming

For anyone interested in the discussion Dr. Yeagley and I have been having here at Webster's, Dr. Yeagley has taken the issue up over at his website Bad Eagle.com in this entry where he writes:

If white people want to gamble away their money at Indian casinos, Indians have every right to accept.

Then in the next paragraph he states the following:

It is most unbecoming for a Christian to decry ill-gotten gain of Indian casinos on the basis of apparent business advantage. That's practically irrelevant. Let the Christian denounce the evil profits on the basis of the immorality of gambling.

Dr. Yeagley seems to want to have it both ways. While he agrees with me that gambling is morally wrong; that the money Indians make from their casinos is "ill-gotten," somehow he justifies Indian gaming on the basis that Whites are stupid enough to gamble away their money at Indian casinos. It's on the order of saying something like "I think stealing is immoral, but if the teller at the bank is stupid enough to be distracted by my antics and gives me $500. for a $400. check, that's her mistake, she should have been more attentive to her business."

Now, I realize that that's not a completely accurate analogy, but they never are. The point, however, is this, gambling casinos use all kinds of enticements to get people to literally throw their money away. What it boils down to is taking advantage of peoples' weaknesses in order to rob them of their substance. But as an advocate of the Indian people who believes that gambling is morally wrong and therefore gaming is an illegitimate business, you'd think that Dr. Yeagley would be concerned about preserving and improving upon the morality of his own people, which is to say that you'd think he'd denounce Indian involvement in the corrupt business of gaming. But all Dr. Yeagley can do is justify the immorality of Indian involvement in the gaming industry by saying that Whites have it coming because they're stupid enough to gamble, and Indians are well justified in preying on White stupidity. You know, payback.

As I've said so many times before, people can quite literally justify anything irrespective of how immoral or self-destructive it is.

Update:

The discussion continues over at Dr. Yeagley's place, but I seem to be having some difficulty getting past Dr. Yeagley's firewall again.

I'm really just seeking the answer to a couple of questions. (1) Does Dr. Yeagley support Indian involvement in the corrupt gaming industry or not? He's never answered that question directly. And (2) on what basis does he say that white Christians have no right to condemn Indian casinos politically? I assert that I have every right to oppose casinos both morally and politically, whether they're run by Indians or not.

Also, there's another issue that I think I mentioned in my comments that haven't gotten through. Dr. Yeagley seems to be giving the Indian Nations a free pass on gambling in his reply to me when he says that Indians don't see gambling as a sin. Ok, I think I can make a pretty strong case that the vast majority of whites involved in gaming, whether they be financiers or simple everyday gamblers or whatever, don't see anything morally wrong with gambling either. Does this mean that I'm to give them a free pass as well? Does this mean that I can only oppose white gambling morally, but not politically?...

Additionally, there's some confusion over the issue of Indian sovereignty. Yeagley seems to believe that Indian sovereignty and dual citizenship for Indians are like a matching set; you don't get the one without the other. I strongly disagree with this view. Indeed, I'm more apt to believe that the Indian Nations cannot truly ever be "sovereign" political entities so long as their people have dual citizenship both in the U.S. and their respective Indian Nations. Where am I going wrong?

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Oklahoma Indians, here's your man

Attention uninformed conservative Okies: The advertisement you see to the left is merely a temporary thing. You needn't worry with it any more.

Here's Dr. David Yeagley endorsing Republican Jason Nelson for District 87 House. Now, I don't live in Dr. Yeagley's district so I have no say in who's elected to that seat. And I haven't read anything on our candidate outside Dr. Yeagley's endorsement. What concerns me are the grounds on which Yeagley endorses our Indian-friendly candidate, Mr. Nelson:

If you're an Indian, and you live in District 87 (central Oklahoma City), you must vote for Jason Nelson for your state representative. I ran into Jason yesterday evening, while walking through my neighborhood. He was campaigning, house to house. I spoke a good while with him. I'm convinced, he's the best man for Indians.

No, he doesn't say a word about Indians in any of his campaign material or on his web site. But, I'm telling you, I spoke with him personally, at length. I know what he believes, feels, and thinks about Oklahoma Indians. He's our man! (Also told me his wife was part Chickasaw!)

Now, Dr. Yeagley, how many otherwise white-looking folks in Oklahoma have a bit of Chickasaw or Choctaw or Cherokee running through their veins? This fact Mr. Nelson reveals about his wife surprises you and delights you? I don't get it.

Well, I could go on and on and on about why Dr. Yeagley's encounter with Mr. Nelson on the streets of his neighborhood in OKC cannot possibly have been enough to convince him of all that ... unless he's an utter fool. One single (lengthy) encounter with a candidate selling his candidacy (to an Indian) in his neighborhood and Dr. Yeagley's ready to grab up his megaphone and announce to the world "I know all there is to know about him Indian-wise, he's our man!"? C'mon!

But it does get worse, believe it or not...

As I said, he's not campaigning on this. He also knows the prejudice and fears of many uninformed conservatives toward the subject of Indian casinos. But he knows this casino binge is a temporary thing. Wise Indian leaders, like Chickasaw Governor Bill Anoatubby for instance, know that the tribes must diversify. They cannot afford to put all their eggs in one basket. They must invest in other businesses besides the entertainment business.

The "prejudice and fears of many uninformed conservatives" toward the subject of Indian Casinos? Well now, that's about all this prejudiced, fearful, uninformed conservative needs to know right there.

But because this "casino binge" is a "temporary thing," Nelson understands that Indians have to diversify. In other words, this casino thing is not a temporary thing at all, it is, quite to the contrary, and if "wise" Indian leaders have anything to do with it, a long term business venture which the Indian nations have no plans to abandon, only to build upon. Mr. Nelson has secretly confided to Dr. Yeagley (but doesn't say anything about his plans on his campaign website) that he believes Oklahoma has to work with the Indian nations on diversifying in get-rich-quick money making schemes -- you know, cut backdoor deals with them (reduced taxes and whatnot). Look out Oklahoma, if this Republican is elected Pyramid schemes may, for the first time in Oklahoma's history, become legal (Indian) means for making money. And of course it's essential to our State's economic growth that Oklahoma's government work with the Indian nations to make these business schemes legal, at least for Indians.

One last word about "Indian money." I've written about this before, but when I was in Alaska in the early 1990s, there was a push for "homosexual rights" in the state, and more locally in Anchorage. One of the things that homosexuals (and their advocates) engaged in at the time was to attempt to show what a great economic contribution homosexuals were making to the local economy. One way in which they did this was to deface any money that came into their possession by whatever means with a stamp that read "gay money." Indeed, for a time it seemed that virtually all paper currency circulating in the Anchorage area was "gay money," if you were to take what was stamped on it at "face value." That in itself should be enough to illustrate the stupidity of using the term "Indian money." But perhaps Dr. Yeagley would like to start a similar campaign with his Indian brethren and their casino money?

Sorry dad. The more Indians speak, the more I dislike them, notwithstanding all that Chickasaw, Choctaw and Cherokee blood that runs through these veins. I know, I know, my Indian ancestors bought and paid for all this ... stuff. Right.

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A Win for Traditionalism in the Great State of Kansas

Here's a story that traditionalists oughta derive some measure of encouragement from “Kansans Keep Gambling out of County.” I've been highly critical of my own State for allowing these gambling Casinos to crop up all over the place. It is my position that gambling is corrupt at its roots; that it must involve corruption in order to operate, period. I've also said numerous times in the past that its just a matter of time before our own casinos get nationwide exposure for their corrupt 'gaming' practices. And it'll happen, mark my words...

But this story is, as I said, an encouraging one for traditionalists and for counties and States still holding to traditional values on this question of gambling:

Sedgwick County voters showed gambling to the door Tuesday, voting against ballot measures for a resort casino and slot machines at Wichita Greyhound Park. The track reportedly will close within three months.
"The Gambling Goliath can be defeated, and Kansas citizens just proved it," said Chad Hills, analyst for gambling research and policy at Focus on the Family Action. "I hope other states and counties are paying attention — you can defeat gambling in your community!...

Here's a lesson we need to learn in my state. I'll grant that we may be in something of a different situation given that our casinos are owned and operated by native American tribes such as the Choctaws who probably operate the most casinos in this State. Other tribes are catching on quickly though, getting into the 'gaming' business themselves.

In the State of Oklahoma it is illegal to gamble, but the tribes get around this law by asserting their 'independent nationhood.' This is a question that we need to take up in this country on whether or not tribal entities may be considered national sovereignties within a sovereign nation. There is a conflict of interests in the policy that needs to be addressed, and personally I'm totally opposed to any form of 'dual citizenship.' Either you're a citizen of this country exclusive to all others, or you're not. No-one is forcing you to become a citizen, nor is anyone forcing you to renounce it. But this policy of dual citizenship is just plain hogwash!, and there needs to be a stop put to it.

But once again there's a great deal of encouragement we oughta take from the example laid down in the county of Sedgwick in my State's northern neighboring State of Kansas. I'm greatly encouraged that we still have people across this nation who haven't been corrupted by the enticing lure of how much money they stand to gain at the expense of their morals. Nor are some intimidated by the tactics these folks are known to engage. Indeed, Sedgwick County, Kansas, presents us with a fine example of traditionalist folks saying NO to the corruption that they know comes right along with the establishment of 'gaming' in their area. May other traditional counties in this country follow this good example! Thank you, Sedgwick County, for standing up for your tradition!

-DW

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