Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

More on the Abramoff connection

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Gagnon continues:

Never major political donors before then, the Mashpee and their lobbyists started giving generously to select congressmen. Following Abramoff’s lead, they donated at least $20,000 to California Congressman Richard Pombo, who had taken over the committee charged with managing tribal issues. They also secured some face time with North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan, who, in his capacity as vice chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, pressed the Interior Department in the fall of 2003 to finally rule on the long-delayed status of the Mashpees’ application.

Abramoff is now serving time in federal prison for bilking other tribes and corrupting public officials. (The Mashpee were never implicated in any wrongdoing.) And though Abramoff himself became political kryptonite for the lawmakers and organizations he did business with, a couple of his lieutenants, Kevin Ring and Michael Smith, still work with the Mashpee.

Fortunately for Ring and Smith, they get a good character reference — from, uh, Marshall. “Kevin and Michael are very bright young men,” he tells Gagnon. “If they had done anything wrong, they would have been indicted — they wouldn’t be working for us. These are good guys.”

Of course, Ring’s and Smith’s reputations shouldn’t be smeared just because of their former association with Abramoff. But the Abramoff connection is something that needs to be thoroughly investigated before anyone breaks ground on a casino in Middleborough.

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  1. Money will certainly ease such concerns. It will also reveal priorities. As the floorboards of the tribal council offices squeak overhead with the ceaseless foot traffic of those imagining the Mashpee’s future, Mills admits to pestering Marshall about those priorities now. “We’re at the apex of change,” he says. “I want the fine print of this deal to demand that we maintain a sense of who the hell we are. I’m not talking about making sure they build a museum down the road. A museum tells visitors that there used to be a people here. If we forget who we are-?if we forget the songs and the stories, and the dances-?if we do that, are we even who we say we are anymore?”

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    At the risk of being melodramatic, I couldn’t have said it better myself!

  2. After reading that BostonMag article, and getting a glimpse at some of the big money players pushing for the Mashpee, it only makes sense that the tribe would employ Abramoff. He was thisclose  to Bush, had unfettered access to the White House, Rove,  DeLay, you name it. One of my favorite stories that came out of the Abrahmoff investigation was how he shook down the President of Gabon for $9 Million to get him face time with GW in 2004.

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    I also love Marshall’s blunt assessment of his reason for hiring Abramoff:

    It was a move in keeping with Marshall?s then emerging belief that Indian groups must make themselves matter in the political process. ?We don?t have a strong enough lobby. Do you think George Bush gives two shits about a tribe? ?Hell, how much they gonna give me?? That?s all they want to know. It?s a question of priorities within the Congress,? Marshall says. ?We have to be a player in the overall scheme of things. If you can change an election, and you can help elect people, that person has to listen to you.?

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    I give him points there for his honesty. It just shows how corrupt our system is, that this kind of revelation doesn’t even raise an eyebrow.

        • at least in Firefox anyway. Hey, my paid BMG membership didn’t include formatting.

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          If we all get onboard with the Mashpee casino, maybe we can get some of that $weet green for BMG. Blue astroturf baby! Better still, if the big money really wants to get that casino through, they should start greasing Dan Kennedy.

          • I had lots of trouble with Firefox on my eMac at home. Characters ghosted when I hit Backspace, which I do fairly frequently.

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            If the casinos start greasing, yes, Dan gets the most, but you, me, and sabutai should get some too!

            • that’s being spread around, but this is the real deal. If you wanted Abramoff on your team, you had better have deep pockets. The money at stake here is incredible, never mind all the ancestral lands BS.

              • Abramoff sold access to DeLay, and he could promise it, in part, through DeLay’s insistence on lobbying firms donating only to Republicans, and in fact only hiring Republicans. Thus an industry (gambling) that should not have attracted Christian Coalition types (like Ralph Reed) DID draw Christian Coalition types (like Ralph Reed) through the GOP connections. Pretty ugly.

    • …truly I would.  Sad to say, Bill Delahunt’s paw prints circle this, too. Gee, I wonder why We The People have less respect for Congress than they have for the embarrassment in the Whitehouse?

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      How fast will the State Legislature and the Governor take to circle in?  Something has to take the public’s attention away from the sleaziness first.  Will they wait the passage of time?  Too slow?  Wait for a long holiday Friday? 

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      Anyway, the casino is a done deal.  Already bought and paid for.

      • I haven’t followed the Mashpee casino development nearly as closely as many who post here, but I’ve appreciated reading the recent blow by blow postings. Obviously getting to the point of a vote took years, and lots of ‘lobbying’. In a state under Democratic control, that means paying the Dems.

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        The Abramoff connection caught me by surprise, because I thought of it as more of a local issue. That merely shows my ignorance on the subject, even though I’m well aware that gambling is big business.  But I’m still amazed at how openly a guy like Marshall would talk about using Abramoff to influence the process, since Abramoff is a convicted felon.

  3. A fascinating development at WBZ. The television station reports that Gov. Patrick has decided to endorse casino gambling. The radio station comes back with a story  saying that Patrick’s office denies the governor has made a decision. Stay tuned!

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