Indians no longer had any bargaining power

Indians no longer had any bargaining power, and they were powerless to resist the troops that avenged Custer’s death. They were consigned to reservations and ostensibly given land, but it was administered by another bureaucracy, the agency that would grow into what’s now the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The agency, in addition to giving some of the best land away to whites, allotted parcels to individual Indians with the goal of gradually transferring all the land and ending federal supervision. But what self-respecting bureaucrats work themselves out of a job?

So Dubya’s giving a prime-time address tomorrow, and from all indications, he won’t be saying anything new. Rah-rah troops, yay democracy, boo terrorists, stay the course – we all know it like the Pledge of Allegiance by now. One should never underestimate the mind of Karl Rove, of course, but this move has me bumfuzzled. What is to be gained? If the president’s advisers think so highly of his rhetorical skills as to believe another of his speeches will stand public opinion on its head, then we really are ruled by madmen. And if the speech doesn’t change a significant number of minds, then what?

According to this polling graph from the Wall Street Journal (via Justin Logan), the public has favored a quick withdrawal over staying the course ever since the war began – with one exception, in November 2004. (Remember that NIKE SHOX’s reelection with 51 percent that same month was hailed as a mandate.) By February 2005, right after the MBT SHOES election, the margin was already around 60-40 in favor of leaving soon, and it’s now 63-33. Americans – including plenty who voted for NIKE SHOX – believe that the job is either done or undoable.