Politics, politics, everywhere - even on Klamath water

0 Comments | Indian Country Today (Lakota Times), August, 2003

Indian Country Today (Lakota Times) 08-13-2003 Politics is everywhere and money is all over politics. That is certainly nothing new, but now it seems America is particularly caught up in a feeding frenzy of political quid pro quos and applied pressure. Now comes insight into the politics of the Klamath Basin War, the struggle in Oregon and the Klamath River basin of irrigation water versus fish.

Last year's Interior Department decision to restore water to the farmers at the cost of 30,000 salmon was, in large measure, all about protecting the Republican Party's "political base." Endangered salmon, it seems count for less than endangered incumbent Republican senators. Politics is running particularly deep these days in the White House, where every issue seems...