Rookie Congressman Dusty Johnson sounded like he was on the sensible side of South Dakota history in February when he said the Wounded Knee Massacre left “one of the darkest stains in our nation’s history” and signaled he wanted to have a conversation about rescinding the Medals of Honor the federal government issued to the Seventh Cavalry soldiers who murdered hundreds of Lakota women and children that day.
But now that his Washington State colleague Denny Heck has brought forward the Remove the Stain Act (H.R. 3467) to scrub that historical stain, Congressman Johnson sounds disinclined to do that scrubbing:
Another review is maybe worthwhile, but I’m somewhat skeptical that Congress should weigh in and take away all of those medals. That would be an aggressive act, and I think there’s a better, more nuanced, more facts-driven way for us to move forward.
The United States Congress understands that this was a terrible error, this was a sin of our nation, and the United States Congress has issued a formal apology. That doesn’t make the massacre go away, but it’s those kinds of efforts toward reconciliation that I think can help mend hearts and minds and give us an opportunity to move forward [Rep. Dusty Johnson, transcribed from audio in Jerry Oster, “Bill Introduced to Strip Wounded Knee Medals,” WNAX, 2019.07.04].
Among the responses we can offer to Congressman Johnson’s hesitance to rectify a historical wrong:
- Anyone who uses the phrase “move forward” more than once in an interview is in spin mode.
- Rescinding unjustified medals is not aggressive. Killing women and children is aggressive.
- There is no need for nuance in responding to the commission of atrocities. Soldiers killed innocent women and children. Those killers deserve no medals and no honor.
- The Remove the Stain Act is driven entirely by facts. There is no “more facts-driven way” to address the issue.
The late Senator John McCain conceded in 1996 that the Wounded Knee medals were “unjust, unwise, or worse,” yet he resisted the call to rescind them:
Nevertheless, a retrospective judgement that the Government’s policies and actions were dishonorable does not warrant rescinding the medals awarded to individual soldiers for bravery in a brief, fierce fight in which 25 soldiers were killed and 45 others wounded [Sen. John McCain, letter to Jordan S. Dill, as posted on Dill’s website dickshovel.com 1996.06.24].
The authors of the Remove the Stain Act appear to have read McCain’s historical excusery and written a proper rebuttal into the bill. Among the sixteen Findings included in the bill are these statements making clear that Wounded Knee was a dishonorable action even by the standards of those darker days:
(10) Poor tactical emplacement of the soldiers meant that most of the casualties suffered by the United States troops were inflicted by friendly fire.
(11) On January 1st, 1891, Major General Nelson A. Miles, Commander of the Division of Missouri, telegraphed Major General John M. Schofield, Commander-in-Chief of the Army notifying him that “[I]t is stated that the disposition of four hundred soldiers and four pieces of artillery was fatally defective and large number of soldiers were killed and wounded by the fire from their own ranks and a very large number of women and children were killed in addition to the Indian men”.
…(15) General Miles contemporaneously stated that a “[w]holesale massacre occurred and I have never heard of a more brutal, cold-blooded massacre than that at Wounded Knee” [H.R. 3467: Remove the Stain Act, bill text as posted by GovTrack.us, 2019.06.25].
Don’t try to turn historical relativism against the liberals who invented it, Dusty. Why even bother trying to spin this issue? No one’s life is made better by protecting these dishonorable medals. The Medal of Honor itself and the entire nation are lessened by leaving this stain unscrubbed:
(16) Allowing any Medal of Honor, the United States highest and most prestigious military decoration, to recognize a member of the Armed Forces for distinguished service for participating in the massacre of hundreds of unarmed Native Americans is a disservice to the integrity of the United States and its citizens, and impinges on the integrity of the award and those who have earned the Medal since [H.R. 3467, 2019.06.25].
Congressman Johnson, stop looking for nuance where there is none. Go find your February sensibility and sign on the the Remove the Stain Act.
Dusty is stumbling through the early lessons of realpolitik. Never tell people how you feel up front. Always equivocate. After you determine the wind’s direction, you can adjust your personal windvane to reflect that. And then your statements can become even more forcefully equivocal, and you can start sentences with “Quite frankly, …”
Appears as tho Dusty has inherited Paul Ryan’s spine. ‘Splain to me why My Lai would be prosecuted and Wounded Knee would be decorated. Oh, well, if Conald can make his own history with a Revolutionary Air Force, I guess Dusty can have his “victory” at Wounded Knee. We had hope for ye, Dusty, but this shows who you will be! Very sad, bigly!
Johnson got up on the wrong side of the bed this month. He voted to defund the Peace Corps in FY20 and now apologizes for a massacre and back-pedals on the correct with drawing of medals awarded for an atrocity.
Murder and massacres of the military are only half-heartily prosecuted if and when they are found out by the press or when the are so atrocious that other military members speak out knowing that they are the ones who will be chastised and lose their careers. Much like the “blue wall” of the police departments.As for the medals issued, most are merely paperwork by REMF’s, very few are actually earned.
Replace fourth word of with by.
Maybe Johnson got a trip to the woodshed for first time offenders in lieu of a visit to a nearby shelterbelt.
I wonder if Mike is right: did Dusty think he could talk honestly about Wounded Knee, then get taken to the woodshed by his bosses, who reminded him his job is not to represent all South Dakotans but to focus on preserving the status quo and protecting his superiors from attacks?
Mike, the latter is a fearsome alternative. If I were Dusty, left with those choices, I’d backpedal too.
He’s still wrong, but it begs the question, why would any sane, sensible, secure person with a conscience get involved in GOP politics anyway?
There probably aren’t many South Dakota Indians that expect Dusty Johnson to do the right thing, in fact there isn’t an expectation that any republican in congress to do the right thing for Indians in this state.
Johnson posted a video about climate change that featured a guy in a cow costume dancing around him as he spoke. The next week, he complained about the difficulties of nuanced debate in the current political climate. He ran to the floor to get on camera with a slew of junior members to “call for Leader Pelosi” to allow a vote on the Senate version of the bill for additional funding for detention centers – while the House leaders – the grown-up that actually get things to the floor – were negotiating. He has chosen to associate himself with Rep. Matt Gaetz and the clown car wing of his party. He may be capable of being a serious MOC, but so far he’s not doing serious work.
Dusty should ask, “What would Butina do?” I’m thinking that Butina knows more western history than the dust bunny so she would say, “The medals are frauds darling, rescind, that’s what Putin would do!!!”
Taking the medals away would be “an aggressive act” only for the usual chickens**ts in Congress. The facts are pretty clear, and “moving forward” would be for Congress to recognize the mistake they made in issuing medals for murder. Shame on Rep. Johnson.
Wonder how Dusty would feel if it was his great grandma and 7 year old auntie in a mass grave in South Dakota with bullets in their head from the 7th calvary retaliating because Custer was stupid and challenged 1000 warriors trying to figure out how to protect their hunting grounds.
The exact number of bodies in the grave is not known. Women and children were hunted down and murdered.
General Miles went to the massacre site 3 days later. After a blizzard. His reaction and statements reflect the reality of what happened. As do the statements of survivors.
Go to the site someday if you have not. Then go to Mt. Rushmore. And think about what America has done to the Lakota Dakota and Nakota tribes. All because they claimed the area as theirs and the 1868 treaty said so in writing.
Or even more serious. Live in the community where that mass grave is. Meet people with the same last names as on the memorial there. Very difficult. Very real.
Peace
I always knew Dusty Johnson was a fake, what embarrassing nonsense, but then why should we expect anything else from a spineless politician from South Dakota.
Spike understands aggressive actions. Spike understands the aggressive action of the U.S. Army on December 29, 1890, deserves no Medals of Honor.
Pondering – I assume the whole delegation receives the bulk of their donations from Indian-haters — but, do they really still hate Indians enough here to celebrate a massacre….is this about money …is the story as simple as that. I wonder why they can so rarely do the right thing.
I think rather that it is extreme pride at play here. GOP politicians here in SD cannot bring themselves to apologize to the people for what government that they run has done. Or to expose the military to anything negative. Remember MY Lai massacre in Vietnam? To ‘fess up’ is not a GOP trait that I have ever seen.
Tom, Jake, I have to wonder about the image/pride investment in each of the cases you mention.
Would GOP donors who hate Indians be so incensed by rescinding these 20 medals that they’d stop going to Lincoln Day Dinners and buying extra chicken plates?
And is there that much pride invested in this issue for a newcomer like Dusty who’s never had to take a public position on this matter and who could easily carve himself out a niche as a new sort of Republican (or maybe an old Mickelsonian sort of Republican?) who defies the stereotype, offers a gesture of reconciliation to our Lakota people, and weakens one of the Democratic Party’s last legs of loyalty?
Yes, us Republicans hate all Indians. I was wearing a Marty Jackley shirt to a baseball game before the primary and had a 10 year old native kid, in my car, tell me, “Marty Jackley hates all Indians”. That’s very impressive that a 10 year old would come up with that on his own. What responsible adult teaches a kid that? I am gonna throw out the name of a Republican, that obviously hated Indians and then let the crap throwers on here begin to run him down. Ben Reifel. GO!
A t A–your Republican party has changed a lot since Ben Reifel’s days!! i used to frequently find favor in some R’s that had a sense of social purpose and gonads to follow it-now however, with your phony president leading the pack you’ve lost real Repubs tp phonys like McConnell!
But, if he were in congress today, he would be attacked, by the left and by his own people on the reservation. He would still be referred to as an “Apple” and probably worse. I, a Republican, have coached kids for 20 years and have bought baseball gloves, hats, spikes, suppers for kids over the years, for kids of all races. I could not care less what “color” they are. I see a child in need and meet the need, as most volunteer coaches around here do. Being color-blind does not make you a racist.
10 year old kid could have gotten ahold of this and formed his opinion… http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/samuel-vargo/78607/largest-lakota-sioux-tribe-is-cynical-and-pessimistic-about-the-2018-south-dakota-gubernatorial-race
Years ago before Ben Reifel went to congress he was the superintendent of the BIA in Pine Ridge, my family lived a few doors down from in the government compound because my Dad worked for the government.
Mr. Reifel was always a friend to the Indians and served them well as agency superintendent and was never attacked when he was elected as republican to the U.S. congress.
Tribal members have always looked for a friend in congress and Ben was always there to serve their needs.
The fact of the matter is that Ben Reifel is no longer with and the Indians that new him always respected him.
What does Ben Reifel have to do with soldiers losing their unearned medals.
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/438469-the-trump-administrations-attack-on-indian-country
The tone is set at the top of the party and floods the ranks.
Anytime a person says, ‘moving forward’, it is always a professional who simply decides to not be responsible for a past mistake. It sounds cool, it sounds positive, and it totally evades responsibility for a past mistake that they simply can not justify.
I heard Noem had a chat with Dusty and told him it would make her look even worse if he supported this. Team Noem is still upset with the Reservation ban.
Roger, you ask a very good question, “What does Ben Reifel have to do with soldiers losing their unearned medals?” All good South Dakota republicans know that the only way to deflect (in their minds) the truth, is to go down the rabbit hole. Massacres like Wounded Knee, look for anything to change the subject. American concentration camps, blame Obama (dude is black don’tya know).
Across the Aisle spoke like the republican he is, empty and supportive of keeping the status quo. He clearly wants the murderers to keep their dishonorable medals.
This is classic Dusty. He tries to be all things to everyone. He votes against Trump on his executive order concerning wall construction, then he runs to the border like he’s engineering the wall himself.
But then again, this is the same Dusty, who as a PUC member supported the Keystone Pipeline because of 9/11 and a need for domestic energy development even though the Keystone Pipeline is really nothing but a domestic conduit which would send Canadian tar sands oil to the Gulf, then off to China. China, the same country Dusty got to know well as Daugaard’s Chief of Staff with the help of the EB5 program.
The EB5, will always be the engine that drives corruption and ineptness from the republican organized crime syndicate here in South Dakota. In addition to the EB5 and Johnson’s support of the tarnished awards for a massacre, where has he been on yet another inhumane United States Government treatment of Native Americans in the concentration camps of America? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzZwca4rEWc
Jkc good summary on who the real dusty is. I hoped for better from this young leader but obviously his mentors took him down to their level. “…emptied their ashtrays, on a whole other level”. Dylan, HATTIE CARROL
Good point, Roger: the Ben Reifel argument from AtA is a useless hypothetical that has no bearing on Dusty’s immoral failure to support this bill.
Why were some many Medal of Honor given out? Because according, to my son-in-law (82 Airborne), there very few other awards up to that time. “The first recognized medals of the U.S. Army appeared during the American Civil War and were generally issued by local commanders on an unofficial basis. The Medal of Honor was the first award to be established in regulations as a permanent Army decoration, complete with benefits” That is why so many Medal of Honor awards were given out for Wounded Knee! What else was there? Give everyone a Medal of Honor back then.
New article in NYT (paywall) of tribes lobbying congress to rescind medals given to murderers at Wounded Knee.