Biden delivers apology in Arizona for Indian boarding school atrocities

[Fishbone Jones]

Here's where Biden went today.

Watch Live: Biden delivers apology in Arizona for Indian boarding school atrocities

President Biden is in Arizona to make a formal presidential apology for the atrocities committed during a 150-year era of forced federal Indian boarding schools.

www.cbsnews.com

One has to wonder if they are attempting to change the channel away from an imploding election campaign.

 

[Quirky]

He’s still alive?

 

[dimsum]

Here's where Biden went today.

Watch Live: Biden delivers apology in Arizona for Indian boarding school atrocities

President Biden is in Arizona to make a formal presidential apology for the atrocities committed during a 150-year era of forced federal Indian boarding schools.

www.cbsnews.com

One has to wonder if they are attempting to change the channel away from an imploding election campaign.

The guy is still POTUS - he’s going to do POTUS things. The US Govt doesn’t just grind to a halt during election season, especially since the current POTUS isn’t running in this election.

This also isn’t a thing that just gets turned on in a “break glass when politically down” situation. Govt leaders’s schedules are set well in advance, unless it’s an emergency. It’s also not impactful enough to enough Americans that it’ll change the subject anyway.

 

[brihard]

The guy is still POTUS - he’s going to do POTUS things. The US Govt doesn’t just grind to a halt during election season, especially since the current POTUS isn’t running in this election.

This also isn’t a thing that just gets turned on in a “break glass when politically down” situation. Govt leaders’s schedules are set well in advance, unless it’s an emergency. It’s also not impactful enough to enough Americans that it’ll change the subject anyway.

Unfortunately, I imagine the U.S. is much like Canada in that relatively few care about historical atrocities perpetrated against indigenous populations.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Unfortunately, I imagine the U.S. is much like Canada in that relatively few care about historical atrocities perpetrated against indigenous populations.

I'd expect the opposite. The Indian Wars are a substantial part of their history. The events preceding Little Big Horn and the Trail of Tears are just a couple that I suppose are better known among Americans than comparable ones in Canada are among Canadians. How many Canadians know where Batoche is, what happened there, and what it was part of?

 

[dimsum]

Unfortunately, I imagine the U.S. is much like Canada in that relatively few care about historical atrocities perpetrated against indigenous populations.

Yeah, that’s why I said it’s not impactful enough.

I'd expect the opposite. The Indian Wars are a substantial part of their history. The events preceding Little Big Horn and the Trail of Tears are just a couple that I suppose are better known among Americans than comparable ones in Canada are among Canadians. How many Canadians know where Batoche is, what happened there, and what it was part of?

I have a lot of family in the US and been visiting there frequently since I was a baby. Some of my family members are teachers there.

Unfortunately that expectation doesn’t match reality. Also, the US Army didn’t exactly cover themselves with glory during that time period, so it’s not one that they really delve deep into bc it conflicts with their “patriotic military” attitude.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Here's where Biden went today.

Watch Live: Biden delivers apology in Arizona for Indian boarding school atrocities

President Biden is in Arizona to make a formal presidential apology for the atrocities committed during a 150-year era of forced federal Indian boarding schools.

www.cbsnews.com

One has to wonder if they are attempting to change the channel away from an imploding election campaign.

No, probably trying to get the Aboriginal vote.

 

[Remius]

No, probably trying to get the Aboriginal vote.

Is that a significant voting block?

 

[OldSolduer]

Is that a significant voting block?

I don’t know about the US but I don’t think it is here. I could be wrong

 

[Remius]

I don’t know about the US but I don’t think it is here. I could be wrong

I did some digging. Apparently they have low turnout in most states. Except in 2020 where they may have played a significant part in flipping the state so depending on location it could have an effect.

But I doubt this is about vote buying.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Don't underestimate the need for a "feel good" statement, showing how caring the Dems are to the downtrodden, which is aimed at a wavering voter base who are unhappy with the party. I would say the timing is unlikely a coincidence.

 

[dimsum]

Don't underestimate the need for a "feel good" statement, showing how caring the Dems are to the downtrodden, which is aimed at a wavering voter base who are unhappy with the party. I would say the timing is unlikely a coincidence.

Also, November is Native American month in the US. Given other…uh…events that month, maybe they moved it up to October.

Again, this stuff doesn’t just happen.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Also, November is Native American month in the US. Given other…uh…events that month, maybe they moved it up to October.

Again, this stuff doesn’t just happen.

We have been told not to announce stuff or delay stuff to suit political agenda's. There is always some flexibility and staffers look to schedule stuff so it can be leveraged. sometimes they just get lucky, but often there is some effort and planning to ensure certain politically beneficial things happen at certain times.

 

[dimsum]

We have been told not to announce stuff or delay stuff to suit political agenda's. There is always some flexibility and staffers look to schedule stuff so it can be leveraged. sometimes they just get lucky, but often there is some effort and planning to ensure certain politically beneficial things happen at certain times.

That may be Canadian policy but that’s no guarantee it’s US policy.

 

[The Bread Guy]

That may be Canadian policy but that’s no guarantee it’s US policy.

As someone who's been the tiniest of bureaucratic cogs in a small outpost of the GoC info-machine at one point, I can confirm that it's bureaucratic and political practice here in Canada ("Minister x is visiting y - what can we announce there?"), no matter what party is in power. Even though the specific mechanisms will vary, I'd bet my loonie on the U.S. having similar practices re: "let's show this bright shiny thing at what 'we' consider the best time."

Whether it happened with this announcement (flip something out quick vs. something that's been in the works for ages), that I can't tell. I can only speculate that apology wordings likely need a bit of time to hammer out, suggesting it was already in the works, but that's just an old fart's WAG.

 

[Jarnhamar]

"After 150 years, the United States government eventually stopped the program,"

Riverside Indian School never got the memo. They're one of 4 Indian boarding schools still open.


If you can ignore the genocidal intention of these school for a minute, where would their people/culture be in society if their children weren't forced to go to school? At least initially to get a critical mass access to education and society.

 

[lenaitch]

We have been told not to announce stuff or delay stuff to suit political agenda's. There is always some flexibility and staffers look to schedule stuff so it can be leveraged. sometimes they just get lucky, but often there is some effort and planning to ensure certain politically beneficial things happen at certain times.

By "we" you mean the CAF, I have observed that, similar to Ontario, the blackout rules are extensive and somewhat bizarre. But the 'we' doesn't apply to 'them'. The PMO can do pretty much what it likes.

Is that a significant voting block?

If it anything like up here, people wrongly assume the FN community is a 'block'.

Yeah, that’s why I said it’s not impactful enough.


I have a lot of family in the US and been visiting there frequently since I was a baby. Some of my family members are teachers there.

Unfortunately that expectation doesn’t match reality. Also, the US Army didn’t exactly cover themselves with glory during that time period, so it’s not one that they really delve deep into bc it conflicts with their “patriotic military” attitude.

As they say, history is written by the winners. Even when it is discussed, most societies focus on the good stuff and the myths that get created.

 

[daftandbarmy]

As someone who's been the tiniest of bureaucratic cogs in a small outpost of the GoC info-machine at one point, I can confirm that it's bureaucratic and political practice here in Canada ("Minister x is visiting y - what can we announce there?"), no matter what party is in power. Even though the specific mechanisms will vary, I'd bet my loonie on the U.S. having similar practices re: "let's show this bright shiny thing at what 'we' consider the best time."

Whether it happened with this announcement (flip something out quick vs. something that's been in the works for ages), that I can't tell. I can only speculate that apology wordings likely need a bit of time to hammer out, suggesting it was already in the works, but that's just an old fart's WAG.

Especially given the paper thin win he pulled off over Trump in Arizona last time, of course he's going to use the local First Nations for his purposes. Pure politics in action is a remarkably creepy thing to watch :

Arizona certifies Biden's narrow victory over Trump

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona officials certified the state's election results on Monday, formalizing Democrat Joe Biden’s narrow victory over Donald Trump even as the Republican president's attorneys continued to make baseless claims of fraud about the state's vote count.

apnews.com

 

[Colin Parkinson]

By "we" you mean the CAF, I have observed that, similar to Ontario, the blackout rules are extensive and somewhat bizarre. But the 'we' doesn't apply to 'them'. The PMO can do pretty much what it likes.

No the Public Service CCG, DFO, CEAA and TC

 

[lenaitch]

No the Public Service CCG, DFO, CEAA and TC

I imagine it is government wide at many levels. Our daughter is a federal PS and recently was told she couldn't do a local, small market, media release (I think it had to do with changing public hours or a new museum exhibit, or something equally earth shattering) because there was a government-wide media blackout.

I was involved in one or two at the provincial level as well. You know, trying to get actual work done, but people closer to 'the centre' felt that a writ drop was coming so, no. Paranoia and message control is their lifeblood.