Gop Apology Digs Deeper Hole

So, this whole end-tribal-sovereignty flap was just a big misunderstanding conjured up by “leftist reporters.”

Perhaps the newspaper should apologize. Somebody sure needs to.

In a guest column last Monday, state party Chairman Don Benton wrote that the resolution adopted at the Washington Republican Party convention in Spokane last month was misquoted and misrepresented. But The Spokesman-Review printed the resolution verbatim.

The resolution was among many others that were submitted at the last hour and it was not debated by tired delegates, Benton wrote. The Spokesman-Review reported that.

The resolution was not “a plank,” Benton wrote. The Spokesman-Review has never called it a plank. And while a resolution doesn’t carry the same weight, it does convey an attitude toward tribes.

The resolution doesn’t mention eliminating tribal sovereignty, Benton wrote. Depends on your definition of sovereignty.

The resolution calls for “termination of all such non-Republican forms of government on Indian reservations.”

In other words, the United States should strip tribes of their governments if they do not allow non-members to vote or hold office. We’re fairly certain tribes would see this as a threat to sovereignty since most tribes (and most nations) are set up this way.

Imagine Canada calling for the termination of the United States’ form of government, because we tax Canadians who reside here without giving them representation. Imagine California calling for the termination of Washington’s form of government, because our state taxes Californians who set up businesses here without letting them vote here.

Since the initial outcry, the executive board of the state Republican Party has issued a substitute resolution, which contains an empty apology and again blames the media.

The new resolution does not retract the statement about terminating the most common form of tribal government. Benton notes that the board wanted to preserve that statement, calling it an important constitutional question. But tribes are not bound by another nation’s constitution. They have their own founding fathers. Plus, federal, state and local governments legally practice “taxation without representation” as noted in the examples above. Apparently to the executive council, this is only a problem when it occurs on reservations.

The state Republican Party has had nearly three weeks to denounce the resolution and offer an unconditional apology. The leadership should quit trying to shift the blame for the party’s mistake and follow the lead of the national leadership.

GOP national party Chairman Jim Nicholson said, “ We reject this resolution and everything it stands for. … the elimination of tribal governments is not an option.”