Reparations by any other name are still reparations.
I was curious, so I looked up the dictionary definition of reparations. They are, “…something done or given as amends or satisfaction; the payment of damages: INDEMNIFICATION. Specifically, compensation in money or materials payable by a defeated nation for damages to or expenditures sustained by another nation as a result of hostilities with the defeated nation —usually used in plural.”
Hmm. Even with the dictionary definition in hand it’s still not clear why vice president Kamala Harris last week spoke in favor of passing her party’s $3.5 trillion welfare bill as a means to compensate for past wrongs done to American Indians. Without going into details on what the Democrat proposal would do -- it’s been hashed over for weeks -- isn’t the ruling party’s legislation primarily intended to transform the future of the United States into a “woke” European-style socialist womb-to-tomb government state?
It isn’t supposed to make someone whole again. That wouldn’t make sense.
With the avalanche of bad economic news of late -- sky-high inflation, energy production concerns, supply-chain issues (the disruption of Christmas?) -- coming on the heels of other Biden administration snafus, you know, like the Afghanistan thing, it’s clear Democrats are reaching the desperation level if they’re sending air-brain Harris to try and win people over.
It’s really getting cringe-worthy, folks.
“Vice President Kamala Harris pitched the administration’s massive spending plans to American Indian leaders by saying it would help the nation own up for its ‘shameful past’ in which European explorers ‘ushered in a wave of devastation for Native Americans.’... Speaking remotely to the National Congress of American Indians 78th Annual Convention in Portland, Oregon, [last week], Ms. Harris said that Columbus Day, recognized by President Biden as Indigenous Peoples Day, is an occasion to ‘speak truth about our nation’s history.’
“’The nation for decades had used the holiday to celebrate the explorers. But that is not the whole story. It has never been the whole story,’ she said. ‘Those explorers ushered in a wave of devastation for tribal nations, perpetrating violence, stealing land and spreading disease,’ Ms. Harris said. ‘We must not shy away from this shameful past.’
“Ms. Harris said the spending packages would build bridges and increase broadband service on American Indian lands. ‘This bill represents the largest infrastructure investment our nation has made since before World War II and presents, right now, an important opportunity to strengthen Indian Country,’ she said. ‘And as Native communities have led for generations upon generation on protecting our environment, I should also mention that this bill would also put millions of dollars toward making sure our communities are resilient in the face of climate change.’”
Sure, and maybe the Great Spirit will rise from the ashes of ancient village fires and fill all the peace pipes for a good smoke between Kamala, Senile Joe and every non-white native or other minority voter who Democrats hope to use -- again -- for their political gains.
I’ve said, more times than I can count, that these people -- Kamala and company -- have no shame, but this particular incident is truly scary. Democrats can’t seem to convince the very white Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to get onboard with their pipedream wish-list of massive welfare spending and “climate change” crapola, so now they’re couching the ideas in terms of reparations to make up for past injustices.
In the traditional understanding of the “reparations” term, the losing nation pays the victors for initiating the whole conflict in the first place and the damage inflicted by said war. That’s not what’s happening here. Kamala is advocating for the winning side -- a.k.a. the United States -- to instead dump hundreds of billions or trillions into new technology goodies for the folks who ended up getting pushed off their original lands. Otherwise known as the ones who got the short end of the stick.
Not only that, should we all be like “woke” Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and replace Columbus Day with “Indigenous People’s Day” to make the biologically “indigenous” believe what Democrats are doing makes up for the fact some European descendants forced native tribes to suffer hundreds of years ago? Well, some of those natives chose to join the United States and assimilate, while others opted to keep their traditional culture and still receive massive government subsidies for their trouble.
It's rarely mentioned, but the different Indian tribes themselves were in a constant state of war with each other before they were subjugated by the evil European-DNA conquerors. In the French and Indian War as well as the American Revolution, for example, some tribes allied with the French and others with the British. Then some maintained loyalties to the British while others fought with the colonists in the latter conflict. Which way should the reparations be flowing?
It's often said that Colonel George Washington, commander of the Virginia militia, started the French and Indian War (it’s a long story, but mostly not true). Washington was frustrated with his command because his unit was undermanned with low morale, but also because he couldn’t adequately protect Virginia’s frontier settlers from Indian attacks. The savagery went both ways. Where’s Kamala in presenting the truth?
Democrats would have everyone believe that all U.S./Indian relations involved invasive U.S. cavalry forces kicking Indians off their lands at the point of a gun. That’s the popular misconception from Hollywood westerns and games of cowboys and Indians, isn’t it? While we know who ended up losing in the end, tell that to the descendants of General George Custer and his troopers at Little Big Horn.
At the very least, the atrocities were mutual. The American side won because it had more soldiers, guns and resources, just like in other armed conflicts throughout history. The European descendants were simply better at war than the Indians. That’s the way it was back then. Besides, Americans always help vanquished enemies rebuild. That’s what we do. Japan and Germany received a lot of assistance in reconstructing their economies after the American military destroyed them in WW II. Are the Indians really so different?
We may not be delivering the Black Hills back to the Sioux, but various tribes seem to be doing well for themselves by living a federal-law exempt existence in the twenty-first century. You can hardly go anywhere without stumbling onto some sort of tribal business venture such as gambling casinos or resort properties. Many of them are heavily involved in politics as well, contributing mostly to Democrat candidates and lobbying for the benefits of political patronage.
Do the Indian tribes deserve extra largesse in the form of reparations now? Apparently, Kamala n’ Joe think so!
Democrats don’t appear content to merely apologize to African-Americans alone, even though not all black people in this country are descended from slaves, and many African tribes were complicit in the slave trade by selling their captured enemies to the European slave traders. Inconvenient facts don’t fit the liberal oppression narrative, however. And the truth won’t help generate support for big government spending programs in 2021, either. So, if you’re a Democrat, you have to tell ‘em how bad off they are because of what was done generations ago.
Wasn’t it good enough for the “feel sorry for me” crowd to pressure the Cleveland Indians to become the Cleveland “Guardians” or to have the Washington Redskins renounce their moniker in favor of the aptly named “Washington Football Team”? The Atlanta Braves earned their way to this year’s National League Championship Series. If they win, should they feel guilty?
Aside from the obvious pandering and condescension at play here, it seems clear that Kamala Harris’s image makeover isn’t working. Recall it was reported a couple weeks back that the White House was bringing in messaging professionals to try and refabricate the vice president so she’d be more acceptable to the voters. The move was necessary because whenever the woman shows her giggling face in public, people are instantly turned off by her lack of professionalism and political gravitas.
Assuming they’ve tried to give Kamala an image redo, she must not be a very good student. Last week, video was released of a contrived “meeting” she had with five youths to talk about NASA and space exploration. It turned out that the quintet of anxious but well-behaved kids were child actors who applied for and were presumably paid to sit there and have Harris patronize them. She treated them like they were in kindergarten sitting on a rug for story-time. It should’ve been called, “Kamala Harris, Lost in Space (between her ears)”.
Phony is one way to describe her. I feel sorry for those Democrats attempting to make her likeable. Talk about an impossible task!
Democrats are so desperate to sell their lousy agenda that they’ve stooped to all-but offering reparations to American Indian tribes and concocting fake videos starring Kamala Harris and paid-to-behave school kids. It’s a good thing for conservatives that these actions are so blatantly insincere that they couldn’t possibly succeed. When will the torture end?
Kamala Harris
Indian Tribes
reparations
Build Back Better
$3.5 trillion bill
Joe Biden administration
2020 Election
Donald Trump
Kamala Harris NASA
paid child actors