Bellicose Bumpkin

On your average day, I get up with no particular thought about what, or even if, I’ll post on my blog. I read my email which includes a handful of google alerts. By the way – if you have google alerts for yourself, you are probably a socio-path – but I digress. A lot of my posts come from my morning read of the news: I read something that ticks me off or piques my interest and hit the keys to post about it.
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In that last couple of days there have been articles about DeLeo’s plan to introduce 6 casinos in Massachusetts – a plan that hasn’t been vetted to see if it makes economic sense. In many of these articles there is the obligatory quote from the Mashpee Wampanoag about how this legislation makes their already inevitable(guffaw) casino even more inevitable. Super duper inevitable I guess. Today is no different. In this Globe article we have:

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Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, released a statement saying, “Once gaming is expanded, we intend to move forward with our plans to build a full resort-style casino in Southeastern Massachusetts under the rights afforded to us as a sovereign Indian tribe.’’

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I have no particular bone to pick with the Mashpee Wampanoag though I do have some issues with their leadership over the last few years. I guess that started when they elected a lying rapist embezzling valor-stealing flim-flam man and sent him to Middleboro to tell my town that they were going to put a casino here whether we wanted it or not and rushed the Middleboro into a deal that gives insufficient compensation to cover the effects. All that said, I don’t dislike the Mashpee Wampanoag or even their current leadership. I even like them in a Stockholm Syndrome kind of way. And since I do, I feel required to say this.
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Dear Cedric,
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I know that you want the best for your tribe – I get that. But I have to tell you that you just look uninformed when you make statements like this. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but you can’t move ahead with any casino without a Carcieri fix. Even if there is a Carcieri fix, there are numerous hurdles to overcome not the least of which is the Fifth Circuit court decision in Kickapoo(love that name) v Texas that says the state cannot be compelled to enter into a compact because it would be a violation of state sovereignty.
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If you’ve read the writing on the wall like I have, you know that the state of Massachusetts has no interest in giving you a sovereign casino and has no intention of doing so. As evidence of that refer to the 100+ pages of objections that the state submitted in opposition to your land into trust application. Also refer to proposed legislation that says that any preference for a tribal casino would require that you have sovereign land(you don’t) that is eligible for gaming under IGRA(you don’t) and that you waive sovereign rights.
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Your carefully prepared statement says that you plan to build in “Southeastern Massachusetts”. If you intended to build in Middleboro, you would have said “Middleboro” .. but you didn’t. My town has spent a lot of time and effort supporting this casino and I think you owe it to us to be honest and tell the Board of Selectmen that there is no way Middleboro is getting a casino and that the deal in place is unworkable because of the $250M in infrastructure it requires(Thank you Ruth Geoffroy. Thank you, thank you, thank you.). But most of all Cedric, I honestly want you to stop embarrassing yourself by statements like this. You are not in position for a sovereign casino and it’s doubtful that you’ll be given a commercial one since there is a line of experienced casino operators in front of you. The best thing for your people and mine is to admit that this turkey is done and move one.
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As Englebert Humperdinck(love that name) said – “Please release me, let me go”
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Sincerely,
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Mark Belanger (call me – we’ll do lunch)