Last Updated on October 6, 2013
In my recent editorials about the abuse of federal authority by the U.S. Department of Treasury against American Indian tribes, I noted that there was good reason to suspect Treasury of exercising political payback on behalf of the U.S. Department of Interior that was excoriated in federal court for colluding with oil and gas companies to steal $47 billion from tribal trust fund accounts.
In another abuse of federal authority — this time by the U.S. Department of Justice — young people who oppose the 1% police state under President Obama are now in federal detention facilities for the crime of reading and writing about abuse of federal authority. While most of us will never have our doors kicked in by federal SWAT teams because of the books we read, the fact that the United States Government is conducting a witch hunt against young people who no longer believe in our political or economic system should be of concern.
Allowing the Department of Justice to treat young people as criminals because they accuse the federal government of systematic criminal enterprise, or allowing the Department of Treasury to treat American Indian tribes as criminals because they do the same, is a neglect of our duties as citizens we can ill afford. Allowing Attorney General Holder or Treasury Secretary Geithner to abuse federal authority against segments of society outside the mainstream now, is prelude to tyranny later.
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
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barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
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