The Try-Works

Russell Means explaining the Republic of Lakotah’s withdrawal from treaties made with the US.

Russell Means recently gave an interview with The Final Call about the Republic of Lakotah’s secession from US treaties.  (Thanks to my favorite BLM Whore Who Just Can’t Wean Himself Off The Public Tit.)

The Final Call (FC): Specifically, what does the Lakotah sovereignty declaration mean and what is it based on?

Russell Means (RM): We unilaterally withdrew from our treaties and agreement with the United States of America. That is backed by Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution along with other amendments and also backed by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties which the entire international community including the United States of America signed into effect in 1980. So legally, we have returned to the position we held prior to the signing of the treaties which makes us free and independent. According to national and international law, we are legally within our rights to be independent and free. Also, in the acts from Congress that enabled those five states to become states, those states expressly said they would not interfere with our affairs. Representatives of the freedom seeking Lakotah Nation signed and delivered the documents. We do not represent the tribal governments. The tribal governments are representatives of the United States and the colonial apartheid system of America. In order to save our people, our nation our language, our ways of life, our value systems, we have to withdraw.

FC: Geographically, how much land is covered by the Republic of Lakotah and how many people currently live in that territory?

RM: The area covers, two-thirds of northern Nebraska, one-half of South Dakota, about one-forth of North Dakota, twenty percent of Montana and twenty percent of Wyoming. Indians and non-Indians, about 1.5 million people live there.

FC: In your writings and speeches, you have drawn many parallels between the experiences of the indigenous people, the apartheid government in South Africa, and the occupied Palestinian territories. It appears that you are saying that wherever unjust land appropriation policies are found, they all have the same origins.

RM: Exactly! Hitler wrote that the American policy of creating reservations for the unclean and the unwanted was the perfect solution for race, and (using) that example he created the concentration camps for the gypsies, Jewish people and homosexuals. The Bantu Development Act of 1964 which institutionalized apartheid in South Africa is a copy of the Indian Reorganization Act of America which was passed thirty years before. What happened to us was the genesis and example for all land appropriations the world over—that includes Palestine. Our people are being exterminated, much like the African slaves were exterminated from their homeland and separated from their way of life. The apartheid system is the most lethal colonial policy ever created, and you have to hand it to the United States of America. They are very good at eradicating human beings in all ways physically, spiritually and economically.

FC: Are you expecting either mass migration into or out of the Lakotah territories as a result of this declaration?

RM: We know that there will not be a mass migration out of our territory. We’ve offered citizenship to anyone who wants to become Lakotah, provided they renounce their U.S. citizenship and apply for citizenship with our Nation. We know that all of those Americans and many of the Indian people in those states are not going to renounce their citizenship. We have no illusions about that, however, our nation will not have taxes and we will have individual liberty through community control.

FC: What will happen to those who live in the area but do not want to leave the land or their property they have purchased?

RM: The power we have is based on U.S. law. The negotiation tool that we will use with the city, county and state governments is the power to put a lien on any and all real estate transactions in that five-state region. What that does is that it puts the burden of proof on the seller of the real estate. They have to prove that the lien is invalid. Well, based on the U.S. Constitution, we own the land. Therefore, if we choose to do that, the real estate market in those five state areas will absolutely totally collapse. That is the power that we possess. They have a problem with their government because their government defrauded them. They bought property believing that the property was free and clear. It isn’t. We own it.

The rest.

Also, the website for Mr. Means’ total immersion school is up, and well worth a look.  (Thanks again to the Ballerina Welfare Queen.)

As noted last month, the always gullible anti-Churchill bloc has been spending its collective free time slobbering over the pages of the vanity press offering American Indian Mafia, penned by Joseph H. Trimbach. Mr. Trimbach is a former FBI Special Agent in Charge responsible in part for the carnage visited upon the Pine Ridge Indian reservation during the 1970s.

Now, I haven’t read the book — it’s a quirk of mine, I tend to eschew the vanity press dribblings of drooling lunatics — but our own Court Reporter has been providing a little backstory on Mr. Trimbach, here. Turns out that Mr. Trimbach’s got a well-deserved reputation for lying like Bill Clinton on Viagra night.

Court Reporter’s posts as follows, in full. (The Laurie who he’s addressing is one of the aforementioned anti-Churchill bloc. A remarkably — though not atypically — ditch-water dumb example thereof.)

I came across this while doing a little bedtime reading last night, Laurie. Since you profess such concern with lies and the lying liars who tell them, I thought you’d be interested. It’s based on the trial transcript for U.S. v. Dennis Banks and Russell Means (374 F. Supp. 321, 331 (S.D., Feb 12-Sept. 16, 1974), and will be found in Rex Wyler, Blood of the Land (1982) at pages 114-115. I’ve added emphasis at certain points, for what will be obvious reasons.

“The first government lie was not discovered until a year after the trial, but was suspected throughout: because of apparent government knowledge of supposedly secret defense strategy, the defense began to suspect that one or more of the volunteer defense aides was an FBI informer. On March 24, 1974 lawyer Mark Lane asked witness JOSEPH TRIMBACH, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI for Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, if…FBI…informers had infiltrated the defense camp, TRIMBACH said: ‘The answer is no.’ Judge Nichol ordered that prosecutor [Richard] Hurd check FBI informer files against a list of defense team personnel, and to report any material that might indicate government infiltration of the Banks/Means defense. On March 28, Hurd met with Attorney General William, Saxbe and FBI Director Clarence Kelley, and then submitted an affidavit to the court claiming that FBI files contained no material ‘which would arguably be considered as evidence of an invasion of the Legal Defense Camp.’ Both TRIMBACH and Hurd had lied to the court, although the truth was concealed behind FBI ‘top secret’ status, not to be revealed until [February 1975].”

What was the lie, you ask? That the FBI had not infiltrated the Banks/Means defense team, when in fact Trimbach’s office was paying Douglass Durham—Dennis’s Banks’s personal bodyguard and AIM’s nominal “Security Director”—$1,000 per month as a “key informant.” Durham attended every defense strategy meeting before and during the Banks/Means trial, and met regularly with Trimbach’s agents to report what he’d heard.

It’s marginally possible that Hurd was not deliberately providing false to Judge Nichol in his affidavit, but this would be true only if Trimbach had lied to him as well as the court about Durham.

Either way, Trimbach himself unquestionably lied under oath.

Okay, Laurie, that’s one very well-documented example of Trimbach’s dishonesty. There’s more, but I find it appropriate to follow your lead and dribble the examples out, one post at a time.

. . .

Round 2, Laurie, using the same citations and with the same emphasis as last time.

“Other lies…were discovered by the defense. On March 12, [1974] TRIMBACH assured Judge Nichol that there had been no illegal FBI wiretaps during the Wounded Knee occupation or investigation. On March 20 he testified on the stand that no such wiretap interceptions had taken place. But on March 29 the defense obtained from FBI agents Gerald Bertinot and Susan Rolley-Malone an affidavit signed by TRIMBACH which outlined conversations illegally monitored by Bertinot and Rolley-Malone. It was further discovered that prosecutor Hurd’s secretary had notarized a wiretap affidavit signed by TRIMBACH…”

There’s a legal term for this sort of lie, Laurie. It’s called perjury.

. . .

Round 3, Laurie, again relying on the same sources.

“Following TRIMBACK’s lies…the court learned that the FBI had worded a teletype to its agents warning them to tailor responses to court questions so as not to provide a basis for a motion to dismiss. Nichol considered this a green light to the agents to shade the truth. The court also discovered that the prosecution and the FBI had mislead the court by earlier denials that there were paid informers assigned to AIM prior to the Wounded Knee seige, and that there was a general FBI Wounded Knee File” (facts which TRIMBACH, for one, had denied under oath—although, once again, at least some of the paid informants reported to Trimbach’s Minneapolis Field Office).

Having fun yet, Laurie?

. . . .

Hi, Laurie, ready for Round 4?

Bearing in mind that there’s more than one way of lying, consider the fact that the FBI, as the Justice Department’s investigative arm, is responsible for locating and vetting the credibility of witnesses whose sworn testimony is then elicited by federal prosecutors before a jury. Remember as well that, in the Wounded Knee cases, the FBI’s responsibilities were carried out under the direct authority of Joseph Trimbach.

With those things in mind, it is quite revealing to discover that, “a sixteen-year-old youth, Alexander Richards, was given immunity from prosecution on Wounded Knee charges in exchange for testimony against Banks and Means. Under cross-examination, Richards admitted that he had lied on the stand, and documents surfaced showing that he had been in jail during the time of events which he claimed to have witnessed at Wounded Knee. It was later revealed that Richards had signed three affidavits for the FBI prior to his release from prison,” only one of which was introduced at trial, mainly because the other two directly contradicted it (and each other, for that matter).

This is called subornation of perjury, Laurie, and, like perjury itself, it’s a crime. It is, moreover, hardly the only time Trimbach and his agents resorted to such tactics during the Banks/Means trial.

“By late August, six months into the trial, the prosecution had yet to connect either Banks or Means to any of the alleged crimes. Hurd, however, produced a surprise witness, Louis Moves Camp, who testified that he’d witnessed virtually every crime with which the defendants had been charged… If Moves Camp’s testimony was true, the defendants could be found guilty of every charge contained in the eleven-point indictment presented by the government” (Weyler, Blood of the Land, p. 118).

Rather convenient, wouldn’t you say? Here’s the reason.

“The witness’s mother, Ellen Moves Camp…told the court that her son Louis had left Wounded Knee about March 12, 1973, not on May 1 as he had testified. She said he had traveled to California, had not returned, and could not have witnessed some of the events which he had described to the court. Further investigation revealed that a BIA employee had seen Moves Camp in California from March 17 through the end of June. Records from the Monterey Peninsula Cable Television Company revealed that Moves Camp had appeared on a television show there on April 23 and 26, days that he supposedly witnessed events at Wounded Knee. Other witnesses testified that he had been on the San Jose State College campus in April.” (Weyler, pages 119-119).

Ready for the best part?

“Investigation further revealed that legal aides for the proosecution had suggested that, prior to his court appearance, Moves Camp be given a polygraph (lie detector) test, but that FBI Special Agent TRIMBACH hard ordered that the test not be given.” (Weyler, p. 119).

Getting the picture yet, Laurie?

All right, the “motherfuckers” was all mine. But it added a certain, y’know, je ne sais quoi. (Thanks to Brenda Norrell.)

A month after the Republic of Lakotah reasserted its sovereignty, the United States and its state and municipal governments are still present and operating in the Republic. These foreign governments are being invited to meet with the provisional government of the Republic of Lakotah.

In order to recognize Lakotah sovereignty, the United States might have to admit it breached its treaties with the Lakotah people. While the breaches are numerous and obvious, governments do not like to admit that they ever do anything wrong.

History has shown that colonizers withdraw from their colonized territories and return sovereignty to the indigenous people. Even the United States has done this. The Republic of the Philippines, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau were all colonized by United States but are now all sovereign nations.

The Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau obtained their sovereignty through a Compact of Free Association, The Republic of Lakotah see this Compact as a legitimate model for dialog with the United States.

The Republic of Lakotah is now putting special focus on the Black Hills, The Black Hills are Holy lands of the Lakotah people. In 1980, the United States Supreme Court awarded money damages to the Sioux Nation for the unlawful taking of the Black Hills which now total over $1.2 billion. The Lakotah people refuse to take the money.

Russell Means, Chief Facilitator for the Provisional Government of the Republic of Lakotah said, “Would Catholic people take money and give up the Vatican? Would Muslim people take money and give up Mecca? Lakotah people want our sovereignty of the Black Hills restored and recognized by the world.”

Means made it clear that the focus on the Black Hills does not mean that the Republic is waiving its claims to other traditional Lakotah lands.

For more information about the Republic of Lakotah, visit http://republicoflakotah.com.

You’ve probably heard this elsewhere, but the fucking idjits at the Denver DA’s office have dropped the ball again, failing to produce evidence against key defendants. God love their ample incompetent asses.

Meanwhile, according to a recent press release from the TCD alliance, the consolidated trial of defenders Julie Todd, Koreena Montoya, Glenn Morris and possibly Russell Means begins next Wednesday, January 16, 8:30 AM, in Courtroom 117M at the Denver City and County Building. The first day will be taken up with jury selection and the prosecution’s opening.

And, if Patricia Calhoun can be believed — always a tenuous prospect – Try-Works favorite David Lane’s already been having a ball.

Friday was David Lane’s birthday, and the criminal defense attorney gave himself a present by wreaking some legal havoc. When Claudia Jordan, the Denver County Court judge presiding over a hearing for some of the 83 Columbus Day protesters, announced that potential witnesses should be sequestered, Lane asked which potential witnesses she meant, exactly, since there were some fifty people in the courtroom — including Jared Jacang Maher, the Westword staffer who’d covered the Columbus Day protest (”Taking It to the Streets,” October 25, 2007). If she needed to, Jordan responded, she’d take attendance.

“So I stand up and start the revolution,” Lane says. After arguing that the judge did not have the authority to do that — that recording names would violate the Constitution — he proceeded to exercise more constitutional rights by calling Maher to the stand, throwing the First Amendment into the mix.

“Do you believe that as a reporter you have a constitutional right to sit here in this courtroom and listen to the testimony in this hearing?” Lane asked.

“As a reporter and this being a public hearing, I do.”

“You also understand that as a citizen, you are subject to subpoena just like anyone else?”

“Yes…”

“So you just heard the judge tell everyone in this courtroom that if you are going to be called as a witness at this trial, then you are going to have to get up and leave the proceedings today.”

“I did…”

“Do you think Westword magazine would have a First Amendment interest in getting counsel over here right now to see if their reporter can be constitutionally thrown out of the courtroom or not?”

Prosecution: “Objection, your honor. That calls for legal conclusion.”

Judge: “Sustained.”

“Do you know whether or not Patty Calhoun, who is the editor of Westword…has expressed to you in the past a concern about maintaining Westword’s rights under the First Amendment?”

Prosecution: “Objection. It calls for speculation.”

Judge: “I wasn’t trying to preclude Westword from being in the courtroom. I’m only precluding witnesses.”

And so it went for a few more minutes (you can read the full transcript at blogs.westword.com). After Maher left the stand — and the courtroom, since by now he’d been officially designated as a witness — Lane called Rocky Mountain News reporter Sue Lindsay.

At that point, the judge decided the day’s hearing was done — but the case is far from over. While charges have been dismissed against three of the protesters, including Russell Means, eighty defendants are still awaiting their day in court. One, perpetual protester Glenn Morris, is set for trial on January 16.

The rest.

Means is a witless buffoon; his little cybercoup is taken seriously by no one but moonbats and the DBAB.

So sayeth anti-Churchill bloc leader Jim Paine, who, as Try-Works commenters Metroplex and Rama Lama Fa-Fa-Fa have pointed out, seems to be moonbat numero uno.

Why? Well, because Mr. Paine, in one of his innumerable apoplectic fits, has recently devoted his blog entirely to Russell Means and the Republic of Lakotah’s withdrawal from all treaties made with the US.

Leading some of us to wonder exactly what he’s so fucking frantic about.

Is it that Russell Means takes the US Constitution more seriously than Mr. Paine? After all, Mr. Paine’s stance seems to be that one should be willing to wipe their ass with the venerated document, as long as the only people suffering from said ass-wiping are fucking wogs.

Or is it that Russell Means takes property rights more seriously than Mr. Paine? Since, y’know, for all his rambling about rugged individualism and those who spend their lives at the government teat, it turns out that Mr. Paine’s been doing a bit of his own suckling over there on his semen farm.

And you can take that any way you want it.

Russell Means is declaring a withdrawal of the Lakota nation from treaties made with the United States. Which has all the usual assorted bigots and idiots alternately grinding their teeth and guffawing.

Leading one to wonder: given the fact that the US has refused to honor a single treaty it made with the Lakota nation — in indisputable violation of not only every professed property right principle of all ye so-called conservatives, but also the US Constitution — how long should the Lakota wait for said treaties to actually be honored?

Just a question.

And is the argument from said assorted bigots and idiots that all treaties made with the Lakota should be honored? Y’know, considering that to do so would be to actually, gasp, honor the Constitution. Which is, after all, what I thought was meant by being a fucking conservative in the first place?

Or, in this case, are the so-called conservatives — meaning bigots and idiots — in question only concerned with those property rights that, well, they and people who look like them happen to enjoy. Making them more than willing to consign the wogs to a sub-Saharan Africa life-expectancy for their own gain.

See, that’s kind of my take.

Which is why I’m calling ‘em fucking bigots.

The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States, leaders said Wednesday.

“We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us,” long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means told a handful of reporters and a delegation from the Bolivian embassy, gathered in a church in a run-down neighborhood of Washington for a news conference.

A delegation of Lakota leaders delivered a message to the State Department on Monday, announcing they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the United States, some of them more than 150 years old.

They also visited the Bolivian, Chilean, South African and Venezuelan embassies, and will continue on their diplomatic mission and take it overseas in the coming weeks and months, they told the news conference.

Lakota country includes parts of the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.

The new country would issue its own passports and driving licences, and living there would be tax-free — provided residents renounce their US citizenship, Means said.

The treaties signed with the United States are merely “worthless words on worthless paper,” the Lakota freedom activists say on their website.

The treaties have been “repeatedly violated in order to steal our culture, our land and our ability to maintain our way of life,” the reborn freedom movement says.

Withdrawing from the treaties was entirely legal, Means said.

“This is according to the laws of the United States, specifically article six of the constitution,” which states that treaties are the supreme law of the land, he said.

“It is also within the laws on treaties passed at the Vienna Convention and put into effect by the US and the rest of the international community in 1980. We are legally within our rights to be free and independent,” said Means.

The rest.

By the way, you probably know this, but bigot and long-time Ballerina commenter William T. Sherman gets his name from General William Tecumseh Sherman, who negotiated the last treaty ratified with the Lakota. And then, when the US violated said treaty, lead the army against the Lakota in the infamous winter campaigns, attacking Lakota villages when the Lakota were least mobile and most prone to decimation by the elements. The intent of these campaigns was to force the Lakota to accept the US’s absolute right to violate its own treaties at will.

Sherman was never shy about expressing his final solution to the so-called Indian problem. In his own prophetic words after Captain Fetterman’s dunce-work, “we must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women and children. Nothing else will reach the root of this case.”

Bigot is rather the nicest thing one could call most of these racist motherfuckers.

Anyway, though Russell Means seems to be the spokesperson, at least in the above article, he is by no means the sole originator of the movement. For more, see the Lakota Freedom Delegation’s website.

All right, so somehow I seemed to have blundered into some fantastic dreamscape wherein Denver actually has an alternative media source.

And even more fantastic, it’s fucking Westword.

Not only do they include a fairly relevant — albeit a little light on analysis — piece providing a local angle on the usage of trigger-happy mercenaries in Iraq this week, they lead with a profile of two of my favorite people: Glenn Spagnuolo and Glenn Morris. Even though it contains some really, really stupid errors — such as calling Colorado AIM “a tiny, and disavowed, splinter of that original organization [AIM]” — it ain’t a hatchet job. In fact, overall, it’s a fairly fucking impressive bit of journalism, especially compared what’s usually churned out in our backwater burg.

Did I mention I’m talking about Westword?

They even mention anarchism without the obligatory middle-brow, cowtown sneer.

I ain’t gonna start buying stock or anything, but how fucking cool would it be to have an actual, well, alternative to the non-stop, greasy, callous-fisted handjob provided by our local papers?

The throng of demonstrators — 500 according to police, 1,500 according to protest organizers — had taken over the intersection of 15th and Stout streets, unfurling banners and emptying a bucket filled with fake blood and dismembered baby dolls. As dozens of officers in full riot gear approached and camera crews jockeyed for shots, drums and Native American chants steeled the resolve of the protesters. Glenn Morris, who’s been leading efforts against Denver’s annual Columbus Day Parade for almost twenty years, urged everyone who was “prepared to be arrested” to stay close, while supporters cheered from the sidewalks.

But this direct action wasn’t going quite the way the other lead organizer, Glenn Spagnuolo, had envisioned. The original Transform Columbus Day plan had called for as many as a hundred protesters to burst through barricades along the parade route. After this first group of less-resistant individuals — the elderly, the handicapped, people not as willing to risk bodily harm — was swept up by police, a second wave of activists would enter the street and use what Spagnuolo had described as “more hard-core sitting lockdown maneuvers” to stall the parade even longer. But the demonstrators had moved too early; the parade was still three blocks away. Anticipating such a display, officers quickly sealed off a one-block radius and surrounded the protesters with a wall of uniforms.

Now about fifty activists sank to the street in three sit-down circles, using the proper hand grips and leg locks they’d been taught in training sessions. Earlier in the week, Spagnuolo had declared that “the time to talk is over,” since many Native Americans and their supporters consider a celebration of Columbus deeply, unredeemably offensive. But his expression changed from determined to strained as he watched police efficiently dismantle each of the circles and haul the demonstrators off to nearby Denver County Sheriff’s Department buses. If this kept up, their blockade would be over before it even started. Standing near the police, Morris and Spagnuolo — or “the Glenns,” as they’re often referred to by associates — consulted with Russell Means. Even at 68, Means still commands attention as the man who led the American Indian Movement’s militant occupation of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1973. But AIM of Colorado is just a tiny, and disavowed, splinter of that original organization.

“What should we do?” Morris asked. They tried to speak softly, but the screams of a female protester whose leg was in a police pressure hold made talking difficult.

“I say we just rush them,” said Means. “All of us at once. Just like we did back in the old days.”

The Glenns looked at the three-deep line of police, some of them armed with black paintball guns loaded with pellets that release pepper spray. Designing a large protest is never an exact science, and this is especially true among radical groups whose general distrust of centralized authority often makes such efforts an exercise in guided chaos. There are advantages to this model, including adaptability and quick recovery from law-enforcement responses. But it also makes it difficult for those involved in the action to know what the hell is going on.

“What the hell is going on?” one protester, a young woman, shouted at Spagnuolo.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he moved to the sidewalk. “Don’t stand near me,” he whispered to his wife, Barbara. A police sergeant had pointed Spagnuolo out to other officers, who were keeping a close watch on a group of young men who’d wrapped their faces in bandannas. Spagnuolo had a white bandanna hanging around his neck, ready for tear gas. This was one of the precautions he’d urged at a planning meeting; other suggestions including packing a granola bar for a snack during arrest-processing and a credit card to secure bond quickly. He paced nervously along the sidelines. The second wave couldn’t make it into the street without pushing through some cops.

From the 2004 Columbus Day Parade protest, Spagnuolo knew that anyone who instigated contact with an officer, even a bump with a shoulder, would be looking at a much more serious charge than a misdemeanor for refusing to vacate. That year, he and 238 others were taken into custody as part of the orchestrated arrests they’d worked out beforehand with the Denver Police Department. As they peacefully entered the parade right-of-way, they were escorted off and given a citation. The deal was designed to walk the thin line between free speech and illegal behavior. If you scream “Columbus was a murderer!” from the sidewalk, you’re protected under the First Amendment. But if you scream it in the street, are you breaking the law? That was the question that led to Spagnuolo and seven others being acquitted at trial, after which charges were dropped in the 231 other cases. Protesters declared it a major victory. Denver City Council responded by closing the loophole, passing an ordinance that makes it illegal to obstruct lawful events after a police order to move.

This year, the Transform Columbus Day Alliance skipped the advance meeting with police, and the rhetoric was much more aggressive.

As Morris began unbraiding his hair, Spagnuolo told fellow activists to head into the street on his cue. “We’re going to break that tape and take the assault charges,” he said. “That way you guys can follow and take up to the other side and go on lockdown.”

The rest.

Vernon Bellecourt is dead.

We’ve been tracking Mr. Bellecourt and his series of lies since the Ward Churchill scandal broke. He’s been behind the most pervasive of the lies about Ward Churchill. Including that Ward Churchill ain’t a real Indian and that Ward Churchill, Glenn Morris, and Russell Means were expelled from the National American Indian Movement. For details, see here.

No matter what the Colorado Daily says in their caption (.pdf of the front page here, just in case it disappears) the blood is real. I don’t know if they’re lying intentionally, or if they’re just hacks, but there’s no way they should have mistaken this.

The blood is real. That’s demonstrable, that’s fact.

More to come.

Update: For all those doubting whether the blood in the above picture is real, the Colorado Daily offered the following in today’s edition.

The caption of the front-page photograph of yesterday’s Colorado Daily was inaccurate. The source of the caption revealed later that, while the protester depicted had contact with the fake blood poured on the street in front of the parade in Denver on Oct. 6, the blood on his face was, unfortunately, his own. The Colorado Daily regrets the incompleteness of the information provided to readers.

Update II: As I’m sure most of our readers know, Colorado AIM held a press conference today, announcing several civil lawsuits against the Denver Police. The allegations include straight brutality, sure: kicking protesters in the genitals, yanking American Indian men around by their hair, taking batons to protesters’ faces, using pain holds on a female Methodist clergyperson while addressing sexual slurs at her, dropping a female protester on her head and then refusing her medical treatment, keeping Russell Means in isolation without his heart medication for 14 hours after he’d posted bond. Y’know, the usual. But they also include the, well, piggish sublime: stealing $1,100 one protester brought for bond, and, better, taking a blind man’s cane, refusing him a sight guide, and then mocking him as he tried to make his way around the station.

Update III: Rocky Mountain News hack Berny Morson already has a piece up on the AIM press conference, doing his best to minimize the allegations. Perhaps, had Mr. Morson not stepped outside for half to three-quarters of the press conference to chat on his cell phone, he might’ve caught a little more of what was actually being alleged. Hell, he might’ve even pulled his notebook out of his pants and cracked the thing. I understand journalists are notoriously a couple of knights short of a Crusade, but good Christ, one does expect them to at least fucking pretend to pay attention to the news events they’re covering.

Update IV: Oops, forgot one of the allegations of police brutality: using batons to choke protesters into unconsciousness. Don’t wanna forget that one.

Update V: Super-attorney Walter Gerash was on Caplis and Silverman, discussing the Columbus Day protest trials. You can get the .mp3 here. Don’t miss, at 6:03, when Mr. Gerash mentions both video and photographs of the police brutality. Can’t wait for the trial, kids.

The title coming from a line at the Columbus Day protest that seemed to piss Caplis and Silverman off to no end.

You can listen to their recap of events here. Part of it’s a response to the actual protest, part of it’s a response to their interview with Russell Means and Glenn Morris I posted about here.

My favorite bits as follows.

At 1:28, when Craig Silverman goes on a tear, claiming we’re celebrating Columbus as an explorer, like an Astronaut, “who takes a risk on behalf of civilization,” but that we’re not celebrating Columbus as a “racist or a colonizer.”

Just an emissary of civilization. Who presumably brought civilization to where there was none. Right? I mean, to claim Columbus is acting on “behalf of civilization” during his exploration necessitates there ain’t already civilization in place inthe areas he explores. Or am I missing something?

And how the fuck is that not celebrating colonization again?

At 2:50, when Mr. Silverman rants about some of my favorite folks who were out, as always, protesting vigorously and offending the hell out of all squeamish liberals on one hand, as well as, and much more importantly, the opposing side.

Leading one to wonder why said squeamish liberals were so upset. I witnessed a couple of fashionable-activist types dressing them down for their, er, racist language. (One of them was shouting “go home, wetbacks” at the parade-goers, which I thought was hysterical.)

I submit that if you wanna make life uncomfortable for those in the parade, you’ve gotta hit ‘em where they live. The parade ends when it gets so uncomfortable for the city and the parade-goers that they’d rather end it than deal with the protests. This ain’t a fucking bridge party.

Besides which, I’m of the opinion that anything done to piss off Caplis and Silverman is self-validating.

At 7:45, when Mr. Silverman claims there were anarchists in the crowd. Anarchists! And, they were sizing up the Denver police response for the Democratic National Convention!

Furthermore, Mr. Caplis would have us know that they’re just losers. Oh, and Russell Means and Glenn Morris are losers too. Wallowing in past offenses and all that. (This just before Dan Caplis begs them to come back on. Regularly.)

Speaking of which, is there anything quite as grotesque as a couple of ambulance chasing lawyers cum radio shock-jocks maligning others for not doing enough with their lives? Given their role in the world, their greatest contribution would come with their downing a quart of Drano.

At 10:05, when a blind protester who was arrested calls in to relate his story. Including that the cop who arrested him refused to give him his name or badge number. Not that he should feel singled out; word has it that many of the cops were wearing tape over their badges to conceal that information.

At 17:47, when Mr. Silverman continues to voice his outrage over the profanity used at the event.

At 31:45, when Dan Caplis trots out one of his favorite balf-faced lies: that Russell Means, Glen Morris, and Ward Churchill were expelled from the National American Indian Movement.

Yeah, Dan Caplis is a liar. I’ll try to keep from tearing my hair out in shock and outrage if you do the same.

Update: Craig Silverman was outraged. He wants you to know his outrage. He will not abide profanity.

Child molesters, sure.

But not profanity.

Fucking hypocrite.

Update II: And since we’re on about fucking hypocrites, we really don’t wanna forget Dan Caplis.

Tomorrow. I’ll see y’all there. Don’t be shy, stop by and say hello, trolls.

If you need to get fired up, check out Glenn Morris and Russell Means, who I’m stealing the holocaust denial tag from, on Caplis and Silverman. You can download an .mp3 here. My two favorite bits are:

1. When Glenn Morris points out that ain’t nobody quashing anybody’s First Amendment rights; we’re just exercising ours. If you don’t like it, tough. Two Denver juries have decided otherwise, and there’s precedent. It starts about 11:20.

2. When Russell Means decides he’s had enough of bigot ignoramus (his wonderful word) George Vendegnia and the pair of ignoramus bigots sitting in the studio, Caplis and SIlverman. It starts about 31:10. Do not fucking miss Mr. Means calling Craig Silverman Goebbels.

See you tomorrow. This is a protest against holocaust denial. Bring your ego and your stomping boots. I have it on good authority it’s gonna be about as much fun as fun gets.

If that don’t get your heart working, check this out from Shubel Morgan.

Poor ol’ John Martin has worked himself into something of a dither today, fretting that he can’t seem to find anything with which to corroborate the proposition that Ward Churchill was among those targeted for assassination by the “Bellacourts” (sic: it’s spelled “Bellecourt,” Johnny).

Now we do have to admit that such material is really, really, really tough to find. So, in the spirit of being ever so helpful—blogger to blogger, so to speak—we thought we’d lend him a hand.

As in, try the front-page story by Amy Herdy and Carol Krech which appeared under the title “‘Spy file’ target seeks scrutiny of cops: Plot didn’t tell activist of rival’s plot to kill him” in the DENVER POST on December 19, 2002, Mr. Martin (it’s available, or was, at http://www.ccmep.org/2002_articles/Civil_Rights/121902_spy_file.htm).

Hell, given the extent of your obvious cognative impairments, Johnny, we’ll even come as close as we can to reading you the first 3 paragraphs. Here goes:

“Among the 20 pages that detail his height, weight and profession, Glenn Morris found something alarming in his Denver police ’spy file’: a report that the department knew of a plot to kill him…. ‘Information was given that Glenn Morris and Ward Churchill were to be killed, and Russell Means would only be injured’ by a rival political faction, read the Nov. 22, 1994, entry, marked as ‘confirmed’ and received from the FBI…. Entries in the intelligence files of Churchill and Means show the same information, yet all three men say police never told them they were in danger.”

Clear enough?

We can make it even clearer. The FBI office where the “confirmed” report was generated, and from which it was transmitted to the Denver PD, is located in Minneapolis, home of Vernon Bellecourt, his little brother Clyde, and “National AIM,” Colorado AIM’s primary movement “rivals” (and, as has been repeatedly noted on this blog, linked quite heavily to—among a number of other things—the kidnap/rape/murder of AIM activist Anna Mae Aquash in 1976).

Even you can follow this one without a power-point presentation, right Johnnie?

Just for the record, though: The cop who received the report, but failed to meet his legal obligation to warn the intended targets, was detective Dave Ponterelli, then-head of the Denver PD’s political intelligence unit.

There y’go, dimwit. Anything else we might do to be of service?

The second interview from the Denver local Fox affiliate, here. Like the first interview with Mr. Zappolo, it’s the best bit of coverage to come out of the lynching. And that includes the so-called alternative press, and, yes, leftist sacred cow, Democracy Now.

The line about Hank Brown getting all a’twitter with some celebrity thing and sniffing around Russell Means is classic Ward Churchill.

You’ll recall me asking if anyone spotted the whopper in this post by Mr. Martin. Well, you ought to know what it is, but if you don’t, you’ll recall him talking about AIM’s support for Mr. Churchill: “the tiny Colorado American Indian Movement, of course; national AIM hates his guts.”

The problem is there ain’t no National AIM. There are two entities out there: (1) Autonomous AIM, which includes chapters all over the United States, one of which is Colorado AIM, and has in no way repudiated Churchill or his writings — quite the opposite, in fact; and (2) AIM Incorporated, a weird little offshoot consisting of about 14 members, who, it’s true, don’t like Ward Churchill.

Why?

Well, it could have something to do with Ward Churchill, along with Russell Means, John Trudell, Bob Robideau and etc. contending that the leaders of AIM Inc. were responsible for the rape and murder of a young American Indian activist by the name of Anna Mae Aquash.

A contention which seems borne out by the fact that one of the members of AIM Inc. is already in prison, and another, as John Martin just noted, has just been extradited from Canada to face charges.

So, why no backstory, Mr. Martin? Have I been AWOL too long and you just figured you could start unloading whatever slippery concoction that managed to squirt through your salty little paws? Or were you just assuming your readership was too asshole stupid to catch onto the fact that you were up to your old tricks of, well, fucking lying?

Just curious.

So, we’re just a wee bit tardy on this, but in The Churchill Smear you will find a new addition entitled Now, About Ward Churchill’s Cherokee Enrollment…. It includes clips of video shot during the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee enrollment of Ward Churchill, along with a breakdown by the mighty Charley Arthur, refuting several long-standing lies about Ward Churchill, including, but not limited to:

1. That his membership was honorary. As you’ll see, both Vernon Bellecourt crony David Cornsilk and UKB council member Ernestine Berry make it very clear that an associate membership legitimizes Churchill as a member of the UKB.

2. That associate memberships were only around during John Ross’ reign and have been discontinued. As is made clear, associate memberships have been around as long as the Keetoowah.

3. That Churchill begged the Keetoowah to provide him with a membership, making several quid-pro-quo promises. In fact, it’s quite the opposite: A UKB member approached Churchill and asked him to apply.

4. That because his membership was honorary, there was no application process, nor checking of his genealogy. Actually, as is shown, his application, necessarily including a genealogy, was vetted not once, but twice, by the UKB enrollment committee. It’s also worth pointing out that unlike the Rocky Mountain News’ genealogical panel — two anti-Churchill bloggers and a New Jersey cop — UKB genealogists are actually experts at verifying claims of Indian ancestry.

When watching the video, do bear in mind that several members of the local media had access to it, viewed it and still continued to regurgitate the above lies. As I’ve said a few thousand times now, the local media’s coverage has never been about journalism, it’s been about smearing Ward Churchill for actually exercising his right to freedom of speech. Its been vicious, stupid, and so shot through with outright lies one wonders that those involved — in this case, Rocky hack Kevin Flynn — can even walk upright under the weight of their accumulated horseshit.

Enjoy.

Update: The Painenites would have you know that the video means nothing. Even though they’ve spent the last two years claiming Ward Churchill’s associate membership in the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee was an honorary membership only; that said associate memberships were only around during the reign of John Ross; that Churchill begged the UKB to even receive that; and that because said memberships were honorary, there was no application process. (http://tinyurl.com/2a7bz4)

Sure.

And, hey, Vigil and Paine, what exactly do you think the UKB’s enrollment committee was vetting when they went through Churchill’s application not once, but twice? Y’know, especially after they spent the entire meeting discussing genealogy and Cornsilk’s contention that Churchill wasn’t a real Indian?

His credit rating?

Keep fiddling with the rope, gentlemen. I’ll be happy to keep giving it to you.

Update II: It’s worth pointing out that Paine has a vested interest in disputing this video. He, after all, was one of the two anti-Churchill bloggers hired by the Rocky Mountain News to serve as their, ahem, genealogical experts.

Update III: For the hell of it I sent the following email to pretty much everyone I could think of. I’ll keep you updated on any responses. And, when I get bored, I’ll follow up with a second round.

Hello,

I’m co-host of a Denver media watchblog called the Try-Works, which, I’m proud to say has drawn a little blood here and there amongst our locals. One of our primary foci has been the Denver media’s neo-Stalinist smear of CU Professor Ward Churchill. You’re getting this email because you’ve shown some interest in either the Try-Works or Ward Churchill. If I’ve misjudged and you’re interested in neither — my apologies.

As you know, though Ward Churchill drew the right-wing’s ire for questioning American exceptionalism, it was understood that attacking him for exercising his right to free speech might raise some uncomfortable questions. As such, the local media’s coverage immediately took on a viciously personal bent, the main charge being that Professor Churchill wasn’t a “real Indian.”

Only two pieces of evidence have ever been offered that Churchill is an “ethnic fraud” — whatever that means.

1. A genealogical study in a June 8 Rocky Mountain News article, performed by an incredibly unqualified team made up of two anti-Churchill bloggers and a New Jersey cop. (http://tinyurl.com/byp32)

2. The word of several people affiliated with a splinter offshoot of the American Indian Movement — primarily Suzan Shown Harjo, Vernon Bellecourt and Carole Standing Elk — who have a longstanding feud with Professor Churchill. Professor Churchill (along with Russell Means, John Trudell, Robert Robideau, Glenn Morris, George Tinker and others) have earned their lifelong enmity by contending that members of this group brutally raped and murdered a young American Indian activist. (http://tinyurl.com/3av3sp)

Professor Churchill, on the other hand, has videotape of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee council discussing his membership application and affirming his every word. Videotape tape the UKB mailed Professor Churchill along with his enrollment card. Videotape which the Denver media knows of, and has chosen to ignore as inconvenient.

But we have made a copy. And we have posted relevant clips to the Internet, accompanied by a breakdown penned by Try-Works member Charley Arthur.

Just click here: http://tinyurl.com/36uat6

For those of you who support Professor Churchill (or who just have a passing interest in journalistic integrity), enjoy.

For the inveterate liars among you — especially among the Denver local media — we’re going to be having a lot of fun at your expense. Do drop by.

Sincerely,
Benjamin Whitmer
www.tryworks.org