Serenity Now!

The Costanzas are driving in the car....

Frank: I got no leg room back here. Move your seat forward.

Estelle: That's as far as it goes.

Frank: There's a mechanism. You just pull it, and throw your body weight.
Estelle: I pulled it. It doesn't go.

Frank: If you want the leg room, say you want the leg room! Don't blame the mechanism!

George: All right, Dad, we're five blocks from the house. Sit sideways.

Frank: Like an animal. Because of her, I have to sit here like an animal! Serenity now! Serenity now!

George: What is that?

Frank: Doctor gave me a relaxation cassette. When my blood pressure gets too high, the man on the tape tells me to say, 'Serenity now!'

George: Are you supposed to yell it?

Frank: The man on the tape wasn't specific.

George: What happened to the screen door? It blew off again?

Estelle: I told you to fix that thing.

Frank: Serenity nowww!

Well stop the presses and call me Frank, or shall I say….can SOMEONE please start the presses….and get the story right. Anyone? ….. Anyone?

I have been quite silent through the entire Casino Bill…errrr…sorry Governor Patrick and Speaker DeLeo….I mean Jobs Bill fiasco. Don’t think I haven’t been paying attention, because I have, I chose to remain silent for my own reasons….what can I say except I am a chick who only speaks her mind when there is something more to be said…and honestly, this chick is feeling a bit sassy right now after reading an article in the Cape Cod Times stating that KG Urban Enterprises is filing suit against the State. I say…go for it…

The act is riddled with explicit, race-based set-asides that give federally recognized Indian tribes a categorical advantage over all other applicants in seeking a gaming license in Southeastern Massachusetts," the complaint states. - Sean Gonsalves article "Playing our odds, hedging our bets", Cape Cod Times 11/27/11

Yeah…it does give an unfair advantage to federally recognized Indian Tribes and for no good reason at all except to scare the pants off of anyone who doesn’t know diddley squat about Federal Indian Policy or Land In Trust Issues or the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. He goes on to say…..

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe is the most likely beneficiary of the set-aside because the state believes (and a land court judge has already ruled) that the only other federally-recognized tribe in the state — the Aquinnah Wampanoag on Martha's Vineyard — signed away most of its sovereignty in an agreement with the town of Aquinnah back in the 1980s.
Before I started writing this column, I covered the Mashpee tribe for a decade. On that beat, I became fairly familiar with federal law as it pertains to Indian casinos. Of course, I'm no legal expert. But, I did spend hours talking with many of them over the years. And they all said the same thing: the right of Indian tribes to develop (and profit from) casinos is considered settled law.

No Mr. Gonsalves, you definitely are no legal expert….not much of a journalist either in my opinion. I mean, Seriously?? You spent hours talking to many of them over the years….and because they say they have a right to build a casino, it must be true….seriously??? Have you been living under a rock for the past four years? Sorry, but in my opinion, a journalist should actually research a story before they write it… even the silliest of things such as…oh, I don’t know…perhaps what IGRA actually says and what it means before “taking their word for it” and printing it in an article. Jeez! No wonder people go to youtube looking for real news these days…..

I have to say that the journalist who wrote this article seriously needs a serious lesson in Federal Indian Policy….seriously. Then again, maybe he doesn’t and only wants to spin that oh so tired myth of inevitability that our “ahem”…..honorable (and I use that term loosely) Governor Deval Patrick spun back in June of 2008. From following this debate for several years, and now reading this misinformed and one sided article, I have come to realize that when it comes to the Massachusetts State Government, there is absolutely no argument against greed - especially when it comes to casino gambling. Let’s face it…according to our State leaders, and apparently Sean Gonsalves of Cape Cod Times, moral issues don’t hold an inkling of clout and heck, it doesn’t matter because the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has the right to build an Indian casino…soooo….

….given the odds, the smart thing to do is to prepare for it — ahead of time. - Sean Gonsalves, Cape Cod Times

Okaaay…and that was the last sentence of his….”article”. WOW! Gladys….quick....get me another glass Kool Aid, this chick is thirsty!

Here is another oh so insightful thought….

So, why did the governor's office insist the gambling legislation set aside a license for an Indian tribe? It's simple. And pretty smart. It's called hedging your bets.
If the Southeastern Massachusetts Mashpee tribe gets land into trust (no easy process), and there are already three casinos in the state — something casino experts say is the most this market could handle — the Mashpee tribe could build a fourth! And, they could do it without negotiating a compact with the state.

First of all, any State Governor hedging its bets against an Indian Tribe shouldn’t be sitting in the Governor’s office to begin with….second of all, it isn’t smart…not when using the flawed logic laid out in this article. Some might defend our poor misinformed journalist by saying “at least he said “no easy process”…to that, I say how about “no process at all”. What Governor Patrick, our Legislators, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and obviously this journalist seem to be in denial about is the fact that there will never be any federal trust land in the Commonwealth. Under current Federal Indian law and recent court cases, this problem has been eliminated. In fact, several people had actually informed the Senate about this little factoid…over, and over, and over….here is but one example:

Dear Senator Murray,

I read recently in an article published in Cape Cod Online your reasons for having a provision in the casino bill that takes into account the State's two federally recognized Indian tribes. I read that Governor Deval Patrick and other state leaders are insisting that this gambling bill needs to account for the federal rights of the Mashpee Wampanoag to open an Indian casino. According to the article, you stated "If we don't establish a compact with the tribe, they can build a casino and Massachusetts would lose on any gaming revenue from the tribe." Senator, neither of these statements is true. The rights the Mashpee Wampanoag have as a federally recognized tribe is their right to self govern. They do not have the right to open an indian casino. They do not have the right to open a casino on trust land unless they can reach a compact with the State, and the State is not required to enter into a compact with a Tribe. Your comment is misleading and could be construed as the State having no choice in the issue which is just not true. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act restricts Tribal authority to conduct class III gaming.

It is clear, that before a Tribe may lawfully conduct class III gaming in a State, the following conditions must be met:

• The Particular form of class III gaming that the Tribe wants to conduct must be permitted in the state in which the tribe is located.

• The Tribe and the state must have negotiated a compact that has been approved by the Secretary of the Interior, or the Secretary must have approved regulatory procedures.

• The Tribe must have adopted a Tribal gaming ordinance that has been approved by the Chairman of the Commission.

I think it is important for you, as the Senate President to understand that the tribe can't even begin compact negotiations with the State before having Land in Trust. Only after the tribe has acquired land into trust will the Department of the Interior consider the terms and conditions of a compact. Senator, I understand that Federal Indian Policy is complicated, however, I took the time to learn as much about it as I could since 2007 when the Masphee tribe tried to build an Indian Casino in Middleboro. Middleboro residents and the residents of the surrounding communities learned about it. There is no Indian casino in Middleboro. My point is, I strongly feel that if the members of this Senate cannot take the time to understand Federal Indian Policy and yet proceed to write bad legislation around what you believe tribal rights to be, then the decision of passing this bill must be re-examined.

Thank you for your time.

Yes…thank you sooooo much for your time and attention over the past several years. Oh, and lest I forget to mention that the State has refused to conduct a Cost v. Benefit analysis of legalizing slots and class III gambling casinos in our State. In fact, they seemed to be more concerned with ensuring any one of them could go work for these casinos after one year of being out of office, that and bringing back happy hour to local bars...as long as there is no smoking in these bars...that honor is saved for the casinos and slots barn. In the words of a good friend of mine, speaking in front of the Senate Committee at the hearing on the Casino Bill…whoops!…sorry again, Governor Patrick….the Jobs Bill ….it is obvious that her seven year old son spends more time on his homework than this committee did on researching the negative effects casinos would have on our Communities….and she is right.

Yet after all of this….this journalist has the nads to write:

Now, none of this is going to persuade casino opponents, just as the hypocritical arguments of the moral crusade against legalized gambling are not convincing — so long as it gives a moral hall pass to the state lottery and Wall Street gamblers who play the same type of rigged game, except on an exponentially larger scale.

“Hypocritical argument of the moral crusade against legalized gambling”….Wow…on that note, I guess I will go and cash out my IRA, head down to the local Cumberland Farms and spend it all on scratch tickets…..it’s smart…I’ll be hedging my bets.

- be the change you want to see in the world -