Perspectives: Sam’s Perspective-What a Summer

What a grand summer we’ve had. Oh, I know it was a hot one, but the heat was offset by Porter peaches, Stillwell strawberries, sweet corn from the eastern part of the state and of course, Vidalia onions from Georgia along with plenty of home-grown tomatoes and okra. There were also county fairs and baseball and festivals of all stripes. That was the up side. The down side was the usual suspects, all the politics and that was business as usual except for the shootings and stabbings and the name calling and racism. This is of course election campaign season but that didn’t explain away the steps backward that the current occupant of the White House seemed to be enjoying. Those squeals and tweets backed up by more than enough rumbling that could be heard across the land. Those sounds came from such former leaders as Abe Lincoln and Martin Luther King spinning in their graves. There was also an eerie silence of voices from the same political party as the current West Wing occupant, that should have been standing up to those outlandish and representable and deplorable statements and actions.
Meaning they agreed with what he said or were too worried about holding on their jobs to stand up and do the right thing. The Oklahoma delegation was especially quiet about it all. In Oklahoma, a little battle is brewing between the state administration and the Indian Tribes. Now I need to point out that when the white man first stepped off the boat with the gift of small pox to the folks already here, they started stealing land from the red men right away and would go on to kill most of the buffalo for sport. Additionally, virtually all of the of the treaties that were carved out between the Indian tribes across the country, and the non-Indians in Washington, would be broken by the great white fathers that designed them in the first place.
Oh, and don’t forget the forced removal, when Indians were driven from their home lands like cattle to areas that held little promise of a future just so the white man could grab the lands where the Indians once lived. Indians in Oklahoma knew it as the Trail of Tears. After a time, oil was discovered in Oklahoma, a lot of it on Indian land which didn’t sit well with the great white fathers. Why whoever heard of a rich Indian? Well they couldn’t drive the Indians from the land they’d driven them to in the first place so they resorted to cheating and murder when they could. Don’t take my word for it, check out the works of the late Angie Debo. And the folks in Washington couldn’t understand people like Frank Phillips who treated the Indians fairly, so much so that both sides made money.
Now jump ahead a few years, with the approval of state leaders, the Indians started playing bingo. That grew into a major gambling industry and the crafty folks in Oklahoma City saw the handwriting on the wall and struck a deal with the Indian tribes, they could feature gambling as long as the white folks got a share. Both sides agreed to a percentage and that paid off big time for both sides. Now the folks in Oklahoma City have decided it’s time for a new gambling agreement that would give state government more money. You see where this is going. Another treaty they want to break or in this case a contract they don’t want to honor ‘cause who knew the Indians were smart enough to be successful. The root of the problem is once again greed, the Indian tribes are united against the change and understandably so.
The final result, well sir I’m betting on the Indians. Too many people are watching this time, no matter how the Governor lays out his case. It hasn’t been decided yet so step right up folks, place your bets. Its gonna get interesting.
I’m Sam Jones and that’s my perspective.