Posted on 12/10/2004 10:56:43 AM PST by Area Freeper
Her voice was distinctive but could it be that this was actually Hillary Rodham Clinton expressing her point of view on the radio station of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation?
KILI-FM scored a coup on November 2, 2004 that most radio stations would die for. On the same day former president Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, and Senator Ted Kennedy graced the airwaves on this tiny, reservation radio station.
All of the on air personalities encouraged the voters of the reservation to turn out and vote for Tom Daschle. Their plea was strong and did cause a record turnout for a national election, but with just over 51 percent turnout, it proved to be not enough.
About 1:00 p.m. that day, as I listened to the pleas of the high profile callers, station manager Tom Casey reported that only 10 percent of the registered voters had cast their ballots. I knew that with only six hours remaining until the polls closed at 7:00 p.m., the turnout would not be enough. I knew that the significance of this senate race had not fully registered with the voters of Pine Ridge.
Oddly enough, the calls by Senator Clinton and others did not speak to the fact that a very important local election was also taking place. Cecilia Fire Thunder was running for the presidency of the Oglala Sioux Tribe against Indian activist Russell Means. The focus of the election on this reservation was geared more to this race than to the national race for the U. S. Senate.
This was the third attempt by Means to become president of the Pine Ridge Reservation. He lost races to Dick Wilson and John Steele in the past. This was the first time in the history of the Oglala Sioux Tribe that a woman had reached the finals in a race for the presidency.
Radio station KILI had allowed its listeners to hear all of the candidates for the tribal council talk about their political positions and it had also aired the debates between Fire Thunder and Means. The station had been encouraging voters to get to the polls for several weeks. The local reservation newspaper, The Lakota Times, endorsed Fire Thunder and also pleaded with voters to make their votes count.
In the face of all the publicity over the local and national election, why did only 51 percent of the registered voters turn out? This is a question that must be analyzed and dissected before the next election. There is a reason this happened and Fire Thunder and her administration must get to the bottom of it. There is no power in the Indian vote if it is not utilized to its fullest.
A man-in-the-street poll by The Lakota Times prior to the election indicated a lot of apathy amongst the young voters. With few exceptions, the interviews gave the impression of a "who cares" attitude. Are the schools on the reservation doing an adequate job of keeping the young people of the reservation educated and interested in the election process? This too will require further study.
As I said, Cecelia Fire Thunder won the election for the presidency of the Oglala Sioux Tribe by a large margin. Instead of offering his hand in congratulations, Russell Means immediately brought a lawsuit in federal court challenging the residency of Fire Thunder. His lawsuit questioned the legal residency of those Indians living in Bennett County, a locale that makes up the LaCreek District of the reservation.
Two residents of Bennett County have served as presidents of the Oglala Sioux Tribe; Newton Cummings and Harold Dean Salway. If successful the challenge of Means would diminish the size of the reservation and knock nearly 1,200 Lakota out of the right to vote. More than likely, the federal court will not make a ruling, but instead will recognize the sovereignty of the Pine Ridge Reservation and throw it back to the tribal court.
Fire Thunder took a page from the campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton. She traveled to all of the voting districts of the reservation on a "listening tour." In a way this was in keeping with the traditional way of reaching out to the people. She sat and listened to the young and the old and to all of those in between. She formulated her campaign upon the input from the people. She came away understanding their concerns and addressed them as she traveled across the reservation. She listened and offered solutions much in the fashion of Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Fire Thunder broke through a barrier that had never been breached in the history of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. She became the first woman to ever be elected as president. Even Time Magazine offered a short paragraph on this historic achievement.
In an Indian tribe that has always been led and dominated by men, the accomplishment of Fire Thunder in breaking this glass ceiling is significant. She now stands as an example to all of those Indian women who have been supporting and even supplanting the men of their tribes for the past 50 years.
The voice of Hillary Rodham Clinton reverberated across this Indian reservation, but little did she know that a strong Lakota woman had emulated her style in seeking the presidency of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and won.
KILI-FM scored a coup on November 2, 2004 that most radio stations would die for. On the same day former president Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, and Senator Ted Kennedy graced the airwaves on this tiny, reservation radio station.
Didn't help, did it Tommy-Boy?
Nope didn't help DASSbad at all.
See Tommy, your lying, criminal ways just simply caught up with you!!! He is just going to have to live off of his wife's lobbyist income...and associating with the likes of Clinton, Jackson, and Gin-bottle Teddy, well, there goes the neighborhood...guilt by association.
Interesting report. I rather suspect Fire Thunder's success had a great deal more to do with Sioux tradition than any perception of HRC or HRC's campaign 'style'.
Thinking the same thing. Couldn't possibly imagine what "style" was being alluded to there? Anyone?
FROM 1998: "...A report by the National Taxpayers Union finds that many politicians will pocket nearly $100,000 a year once they retire -- in addition to Social Security benefits...." tom "The Dass" daschle may be out of office, but that skunk is guaranteed 100K a year until he assumes room temperature. That's one hell of a pension for adding to the U.S. Bureaucracy that the rest of us have to deal with,isn't it? That's the law they wrote for themselves, you may want to read this disgustingly pithy article in amazement.
http://archive.lp.org/rel/19980120-Congress.html
What are her politics? Is she a GOPer?
Hillary's Voice - The TICKET to Power.
What is, exactly, Hillary's "style?"
Booming, monotone, deep and throaty...
Everything a Free Country looks for
when shopping for its first dictator.
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