Renewed Insincerity

Our Senate recently took time out from fighting about health care, Afghanistan, the economy and numerous other critical issues to pass a resolution that apparently has the sole significance of making them feel better about themselves. Once again, the people that we elected to travel to Washington and represent us have decided that it was time to offer an olive branch to Native Americans. Ironically, perfectly timed with Columbus Day where we celebrate a European “discovering” a country where millions of people already lived using a map that showed both the Bahamas and the Florida coast. A rather liberal definition of discovering.

What left me shaking my head were the words that our over-educated under-thinking representatives used in their resolution. For example:

# “Symbolic” Interpretation - we aren’t actually going to do anything, again. At least we are consistent.

# “Renewed Commitment” Apparently renewing that we aren’t actually going to do anything, again.

# Apologizing for “Ill-Conceived Policies.” Can’t say that I have ever heard of mass killings, forced relocation, slavery and loss of all civil liberties described quite so eloquently.

Considering the shallow feel of this renewed commitment, it seems fitting that it wasn’t a stand alone resolution. Rather, it was tacked onto a larger bill where it slid through the Senate largely unnoticed, eventually finding its way to the back pages of the few papers that picked it up. The final irony - the apology was added to a bill for military spending. Would it be possible for this action to be less sincere?

The fitting end to this piece of legislation will likely come when the bill goes to the House, where a similar resolution was defeated last year. I suspect that this is all too familiar to the Native American population.


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