[War] US: Let's talk

[John Penta]

"Let's talk"
17 June 2008
Pres. John Williams
USA
================
<Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, SD>

      As Marine One flew into the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, John
Williams looked over the...What the hell do you call it? he thought.

      Pine Ridge was not the shining example of America, no matter
what the hell you called it, he decided.

      As the helo set down, he looked out one more time.

      He'd asked residents to come as they were, no need for formality.

     And come they had. National Guard medical units had had to set up
tents to take in the hundreds of people who'd showed up, overflowing
the small conference center on the Reservation.

     He'd had to redirect the Secret Service...from protection to crowd control.

     20 minutes later, after all the ceremony the tribe could muster
(at their insistence, even after he'd begged them not to that morning,
considering the heat's effects on the crowds), he was inside.

     The usual introductions...almost like any campaign stop.

     Then, Williams looked out over the crowds. Into the cameras.

     "And that will be all the formality I can take," he began.

     "Ladies and Gentlemen, I wanted to thank you for the photos that
were mailed, emailed...in some cases hand-drawn by some very
artistically talented kids here.

     "I want the media to take a look, too. It ain't pretty, but it's
the life you lead. So if you will, a slide show. To, so to speak,
define the situation. No censorship, no punches pulled, this is Pine
Ridge."

      As his bodyman worked the slide projector, the media zoomed in.
It made good copy.

     The pictures were heart-wrenching. Pine Ridge, let's be frank,
bore an uncomfortable resemblance to a Third World slum in a lot of
places.

     "I can think of a lot of words to describe these pictures. But I
don't need any. America, look upon your forgotten. See them as they
are," Williams said.

     Then the slide projector went off, and the lights inside went up.

     "Let's skip the verbiage. My task here is simple: I cannot give
you everything you want. Even if I could, I'm not sure I would. Not
because 'struggle makes you noble' or that sort of blather, but
because I'm not about to do handouts. I don't want for the Native
American communities of this country to keep coming to Washington,
begging for crumbs from Congress. Hoping you get high-level
attention...Because let's be honest, it's not the work of a few weeks,
a few months, or a few -years- to fix what's wrong here and in so many
other reservations...It's the work of decades.

      "Decades of work, starting now."

      He spoke for a bit more - of what the federal government could
and couldn't do - and of the necessity of focusing on the basics, the
simplest stuff to get Congress to agree on.so that money can be
appropriated. But then came their turn.

     "Now, your turn to talk. Tell me about your issues. Give me
ideas. What can *you* do, and what can the federal government do to
help you achieve those objectives?"

     And did the answers come.
---
Actions:
1. Town meetings with Indian Reservations.
2. Use it to shine a light on the problem, provoke activity on Capitol
Hill, and generally...y'know what, see what volunteer activity can do
to help.