Letters: Trump is ‘immature, a bully’

It is my opinion Donald Trump’s remarks against the Republican Governor Susana Martinez of New Mexico on May 24, 2016, reveal a very deep disconnect in his understanding of the world around him. He is, and I suspect always has been, an out-of-control bully, the type that would become seriously unhinged if you looked at him cross-eyed.

Gov. Martinez declined to endorse Trump. It is my notion that when anyone rejects Trump in anyway, it brings out the bully third-grader which still lives in him. His ego is hurt and he takes revenge. Do we really want someone as immature and unpredictable as Trump in the White House leading the country and projecting an unstable voice to the world?

Where did America go wrong to have Donald Trump as the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party? How can we stop this train wreck and bring some sanity back to a country that has lost its way?

Alfred Waddell
Hyannis, Mass.

EPA not gushing long term effects of spill

The sky was blue, the grass was green and the rivers were clean long before Christopher Columbus placed foot on our native land in 1492. There was beauty, harmony and peace all around.

The main focus of concern I would like to bring to the forefront is the damage caused by the King Gold Mine’s wastewater spill into the Animas River. It was the result of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s negligence last August.

The meeting with EPA officials on May 19 indicates they are not looking far enough to gauge the long-term effect the spill may cause in the future. Due to the spill, many concerns of how severely the river was contaminated, farmers along the San Juan River did not plant this season. The native farmers believe the damage is far greater than what EPA tells them.

The other issue is the contamination to Lake Powell, which is at least 160 miles long in Arizona and Utah. There are many farmers living close by and there are livestock that rely on the water as well. The assortment of fishes in the lake used for human consumption is not even addressed.

The high caliber EPA officials need to get their act together and beef up their safety standards. They need to plan and build a diversion dam close to the mine so that another disaster can be prevented in the future.

I was extremely overwhelmed by the comments said by Ken Carpenter, San Juan County administrative officer, to stop blaming and move forward. He must not be concerned about the agriculture in the region. I don’t think he cares one bit.

I am not an expert but I think EPA should be held fully responsible for the spill and the damage it caused. Many Native famers suffered an enormous loss last year and the loss continues to rise due to uncertainty on the quality of the water they are refusing to plant this season.

On the other hand, it’s comforting to hear the New Mexico attorney general is filing a lawsuit against the EPA and the state of Colorado for failing to seriously address and resolve the damage caused. We need to get behind him and support him.

After 500-plus years, there is no denying the sky is no longer blue, the grass is no longer green, the rivers are no longer clean and that is the bottom line. The existing damage was caused by the industrial development operators in the area and the spill will cause even more damage.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to address this major issue that affects all walks of life.

Vern Charleston
Farmington, N.M.

System does not allow us to think, act as Diné

The Shiprock Chapter suit against the Navajo Nation Council and Speaker Bates has been dismissed by the Shiprock District Court without prejudice. The suit was filed in early February calling into question the processing of the legislation that approved the proposed Utah Navajo Water Settlement. We alleged that there were two violations of law. The Blue Book and the Diné Fundamental Law concur that “all legislation approved by the Council are subject to Presidential review” and that the “President is the face of the Nation and is the designated authority to interface with outside Sovereigns”.

The Utah water deal resolution signed only by Speaker Bates was sent to the state of Utah without the president’s review or participation.

After the Shiprock District Court accepted the case, the Legislative Counsel filed eight separate motions to dismiss, we went back and forth for three months arguing on court procedure and technicalities. The Legislative Counsel prevailed on the argument that we, Shiprock Chapter membership and I, could not proceed Pro Se (to represent ourselves without an attorney). I argued that we have the right to speak for ourselves, we know best how to say what is on our mind and in our hearts and that we have exercised this right from time immemorial. I argued that we have a right to redress of our government (to complain about the official actions of the leadership) directly as Diné citizens without a lawyer. These arguments were not accepted by the court.

I do not fault the district court for its decision, as it must abide by the prescribed rules of court procedure. The conclusion is, we do not have the right to talk for ourselves as a group in the Navajo Court of Law and we collectively do not have standing in court unless we have a lawyer talking for us.

The Navajo Nation’s lawyers are obligated to use every rule, procedure and every trick in the book to protect their clients. In this case, the Navajo Nation Council and they did so, very tenaciously. The end result is the two simple allegations we started with disappeared into the quagmire (mud pit) of court procedure, technicalities and legalese. And the other intent of bringing the details of the water deal into the bright sunlight was also squashed. We think some of our water rights may have been bargained away; water our children will need in the future.

Through this exercise, the Department of Justice threatened to criminally prosecute me for “practicing law without a license”, the Legislative Counsel belligerently threatened to toss me in jail when we were serving the court ordered Summons to Appear to the Council and my position as legislative district assistant to my Council delegate was threatened. I would have been happy to get prosecuted by DOJ and/or go to jail, but I would not have been happy to be the victim of retaliation by getting fired, all because my constituents and I exercised our rights to question the actions of our leaders.

The court process is adversarial, people will be negative to each other, tempers will flare, one side will win and one side will lose. A regret I have is the positive and good K’é relationship I had with my court “adversaries” may have been damaged, even so I would be glad to shake hands and continue being on good terms.

This is all part of the bigger concern, which is that our government is un-Diné. History describes the formation of the formal Navajo government in 1923, when the BIA dictated the structure and process of government. With the establishment of the so-called Navajo government, the BIA appointed a Business Council to approve oil leases. There are two points here; one being that the structure and process of Navajo government was imposed upon us by a foreign entity and two, the primary intent to institute a formal central government was to approve an oil lease, not to take care of the people.

The Navajo government is a copy of the federal government and thus our governmental process, tribal employees and leaders mimic the “outside” governments, (yes we don’t have much choice, we are stuck with this system and our leadership seem content with it). This government structure and process based on foreign thought and ideology is so separate from our Diné world that it does not recognize and honor Diné lifeways based concepts and realities.

The court of law component of this governmental structure allows a process where lawyers use every trick to prevent the objective and responsible discussion of issues that we Diné citizens point to as misdoings by the leadership. A process that makes us the bad guys while the alleged lawbreakers are protected and vigorously defended by the system.

There is an injustice here. This condition of injustice does not allow us as Diné citizens to question the perceived irresponsibility of the leadership with full and timely opportunity. We are always on the outside looking in, being near powerless to adequately question legislation or initiatives that we think are questionable. The system does not allow us to think and act from our Diné perspective, so in order to register our concerns, we have to conform to the dictates of a foreign thinking and demean our Dinéness to be compliant with this non-Diné process to seek the justice we deserve and require.

Duane Chili Yazzie
Shiprock, N.M.

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