“President Donald Trump returned to one of his most derogatory insults Friday, referring to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas” — a jab at her Native American ancestry.”
—-NBC reporter Daniel Arkin, reporting on the President’s speech to the NRA in Atlanta this week.
Now, you might argue that this is very competent smearing by Arkin, abetted by NBC. But let’s assume, just to be nice, or naive, that Arkin wasn’t intentionally falsely suggesting that the President was engaging in racial denigration of Warren’s ancestry. This would mean that he either has done no research on his subject or that he credulously accepts whatever Democrats say.
Now, I will stipulate that calling the Senator playground-level names is unprofessional, uncivil, obnoxious, un-presidential and an ad hominem attack by President Trump. This is one of his many terrible and apparently unalterable habits. Nevertheless, calling Warren “Pocahontas” is not Trump denigrating her “Native American ancestry,” but rather a reference to Warren’s well-documented false claims of having Native American ancestry, claims that she used to get the benefit of affirmative action when she was seeking a position in academia. Warren has no actual Native American ancestry to mock. What is worthy of mockery—though not by the President of the United States–is her fake assumption of a minority personal to benefit her career at the expense of others.
Arkin misrepresented the facts—Warren can produce no evidence that she is even a smidgen Cherokee, as she maintained for years—either to make the President appear to be racist, or because Arkin is a completely incompetent journalist, influenced by confirmation bias to the detriment of his readers.
Dishonest or incompetent? The result is unethical journalism and fake news either way.
_____________________
Pointer: Instapundit
Ethics Alarms 
Thanks, Jack, for your incredible talent for taking a wonderful weekend and destroying it with reference to my Senior Senator. Warren is the most despicable of all with her creation of a false narrative for her own personal advancement. That my dear friends on the left who classify this as an honest mistake you are simply idiots!
At Warren’s campaign headquarters in Brockton Massachusetts – right next to Little Caesar’s Pizza – I wandered in and offered to pay for a DNA test – $99 with a Groupon. Naturally I was threatened with arrest.
C’mon, her GGrandfather had real real high cheek-bones (DISCLOSURE: So do I), isn’t that enough for you?
It’s not enough for Twila Barnes.
Why? Because she’s, like, you know, an actual member of the Cherokee Nation, and a genealogist to boot.
http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/05/cherokee-genealogist-to-elizabeth-warren-tell-the-truth/
Incuriously, Lieawatha has refused to meet with her, et al.
Too bad there isn’t a YouTube of you & your highfreain’larious effort at her campaign HQ….or is there?
I wish I had a video. Right on beautiful Route 123 in Brockton. I walked in and it went like this: “I am concerned about the allegations regarding Ms. Warren’s heritage.” Response: “We assure you that Senator Warren has been completely honest regarding her background.” My retort: “I would certainly feel comfortable if my doubts were erased. Here is a Groupon that I have used regarding my own heritage. I will gladly pay the $99 and provide any necessary details to have Ms. Warren complete the process.” Needless to say, I was immediately threatened with arrest. In fact, I was seriously considering making a stance. If I knew then what I know now about the repulsive actions of the “progressives” regarding free speech and removal of the humor gene I would have. But she is up for reelection – Part Deux awaits!
““I would certainly feel comfortable if my doubts were erased.”
Now THAT’S effin’ funny! Had I been filming that, fits of uncontrolled open guffawing would have caused me to drop the recording device
”I was immediately threatened with arrest.”
On what grounds?
A 1997 Fordham Law Review article referred to her as”Harvard Law’s 1st Woman of Color.”
HAH!
Three women are capable of dreaming up something. Without a viable witness better to leave.
Lieawatha gets pasted from the Left; Bill Maher!
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/bill-maher-calls-elizabeth-warren-pocahontas-to-her-face/article/2621654
He’s such an ass. She’s his guest. If he wants to raise the issue, he should raise it. This way, he can claim he was just mocking Trump…coward.
I had a great great Scottish grandfather who married a Native from UpState New York,,,,I look very white because all the rest of the ancestors were from Eng. Ireland, Norway, Scotland, France….so I feel I can never tell people without my Certificate or they will talk to me as you are. I feel like its racist that people react as you. It only adds to the negativity that fills the world at this time. You make it feel like we all have to Fight.
No, Jule, the history is quite clear on Warren who “checked the box.”
Jule,
Why would you care to claim something that makes up so little of your ancestry? Would you also make that claim about Scotland? It is the same percentage by your admission.
Does it get you benefits? Are you using a tiny smidgen of ancestry to gain advantage over others? Note that this is what Warren did, without the benefit you have of it actually being true. Doesn’t that make you upset, that she used YOUR benefit for herself?
If you get no benefits, why do you care? Is it to show that you are not as ‘white’ as others? A matter of pride, perhaps? Who is the racist in that case?
Slick, here’s what I think is happening, especially with the folks I call the “genealogy crowd”…folks want desperately to be somebody so they come up with these stories. Now, in Fauxahontas’s case, she was after something…a job. That idiot out at what was it, Colorado?…same thing, or he was looking for a grant. Amounts to the same thing. A personal note, my grandmother wanted this so desperately she hired an amateur genealogist to trace our family back to it’s roots. According to her, we’re related to everybody from Charlemagne to George Washington. A couple of conclusions I have drawn…1) we’re probably not related to Charlemagne, since we have no French names in our background, but I guess anything’s possible; and 2) so what? Beyond being a very minor curiosity, who I am right now, this very moment, is probably considerably more important to me than who I was descended from over a thousand years ago. But, I’m not trying to get a job, either. Nor do I see myself making something up in order to take advantage of a break offered to one or more ethnic groups, but that’s just me. Obviously, there are people who will.
I have been tempted to have my son check the ‘Hispanic’ ethnicity box on college entrance forms… they don’t ask for proof either, and who is to say otherwise?
Except is would be unethical, a lie, and the worst sort of example to my kid. Other than that…
If Trump is going to engage in ad hominem attacks, I wish he’d get it right.
It’s FAUXcahontas, not POcahantas.
No kidding. I wish he’d get that joke right for once. We’ve been down this road before.
But you do not KNOW! Thats like everyone telling Trump hes a Nazitype without really knowing. Or like calling him OrangeMan when he has a bad hair day. Why be hateful? So you may disagree with some things she stsnds for….why be hateful about it by making things up?
What are you responding to here? Did you get on the wrong thread? We’re commenting on Trump’s use of Pocahantas vs fauxcahontas. We’re not saying anything about disagreeing with her or thinking she’s a bad person. This is not hateful. Why call hateful by making things up?
I know. I take offense. You are making fun of her and putting her down because she looks so white but may have a diverse ancestry. You would not do this if she wasn’t a Democrat (who wants to reign in the wild wall street gang) I thought this was supposed to have something to do us having ETHICS today
It is. Warren has none. You can spout prog-Wall-Street-Sucks blather all you wish. Facts are stubborn things, and the fact is that Warren lied to get a highly prestigious job.
Which is unethical.
I am not making fun of her here, although there is plenty of fodder to do so, and I have been happy to note her stunning hypocrisy elsewhere. I am noting with impatience that Trump keeps getting the meme wrong when he calls her Pocahantas instead of fauxcahontas.
But, since this seems to be stuck in your craw:
“From the Atlantic:
Garance Franke-Ruta May 20, 2012
Elizabeth Warren is not a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.
Elizabeth Warren is not enrolled in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
And Elizabeth Warren is not one of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee.
Nor could she become one, even if she wanted to.
Despite a nearly three week flap over her claim of “being Native American,” the progressive consumer advocate has been unable to point to evidence of Native heritage except for a unsubstantiated thirdhand report that she might be 1/32 Cherokee. Even if it could be proven, it wouldn’t qualify her to be a member of a tribe: Contrary to assertions in outlets from The New York Times to Mother Jones that having 1/32 Cherokee ancestry is “sufficient for tribal citizenship,” “Indian enough” for “the Cherokee Nation,” and “not a deal-breaker,” Warren would not be eligible to become a member of any of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes based on the evidence so far surfaced by independent genealogists about her ancestry.”
” the Cherokee Nation doesn’t accept marriage licenses as documentation of Cherokee ancestry — let alone a document described as an application for a marriage license by a descendent of the individual claimed as Cherokee.
“Marriage licenses don’t cut it,” said Krehbiel-Burton of the Cherokee Nation.
Further, to enroll as a member of the Cherokee Nation, an individual must have had a direct ancestor listed among the more than 101,000 people enrolled on the “Final Rolls of the Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory” between 1898-1914, now known as the Dawes Rolls. The Cherokee Nation is very strict about this, even keeping descendants of siblings of men and women on the rolls out of the tribe, as well as descendents of Cherokees who were living out of the area at the time the lists were drawn up in what was then Northeastern Oklahoma.
“If she does not have an ancestor listed on the Dawes Rolls, she cannot be considered Cherokee through this tribe,” explained Lydia Neal, a processor with the registrar’s office of the Cherokee Nation. ”
This is the Cherokee Nation. They don’t claim her. She has no claim on them. Enough said.
Jule, Your comment was so bad that after my browser crashed while I was writing a thorough rebuttal of your nonsense and I decided you weren’t worth the trouble of a do-over, it gave me insomnia, so I’m going to try again. You’re welcome.
If my grandmother told my father that the Marshalls were directly descended from John Marshall (you do know who he was, right?), and Dad told me that his grandmother told him that, could I then state as a fact that I am a descendant of the second Chief Justice?
No, because I don’t know that. All I know is that my father told me that his mother SAID that. I can’t even testify under oath that what my father said his mother told him is really what she told him. That’s hearsay. I’m a lawyer, so is Warren. We get this. You obviously aren’t, and don’t, which is swell, but stop issuing dumb opinions about something you are 100% ignorant about.
Warren certified that she was an American Indian,yet she had no way of knowing that. What her relatives told her isn’t evidence, isn’t proof, and isn’t reliable. It’s rumor at best. Yet knowing this–lawyer, remember?—Warren still misrepresented as true what was rumor or even complete fabrication—she had no way of knowing—to steal an academic position that was slated to go to the legitimate member of an EEOC minority group. As a result, she took a job from someone who could factually claim what she was, in effect, lying about. You can’t say she was “mistaken,” because she knew what she knew first hand and what she didn’t know. She didn’t know that she was part Cherokee. This is beyond dispute. She may have believed, or chosen to believe, or wanted to believe, or pretended to believe it was true, but she didn’t know.
It has nothing to do with what she looks like, and nobody, certainly not me, has said that was a factor in mocking her claims. What matters is that she has not been able to produce any tangible, substantive support for her claim. Because she is a lawyer, she also understands the concept of burden of proof. You also don’t understand that. Since she claimed an advantage based on minority status, it is up to her to produce evidence of it.
She can’t. It is not up to me, or anyone else, to prove that she isn’t a Cherokee. Just as nobody has to prove I am not related to John Marshall—until there is some evidence that I am, the presumption is that I am not.
I violently object to being insulted by stupid or ignorant people. The accusation that I (or any other commenter on this thread) only “put her down” because Warren is a Democrat is unfair and untrue, as a simple perusal of the content here demonstrates. Ethics Alarms would, and has, criticize anyone who claims a false credential, including our Republican President’s claim that he is “a very smart person.” Nor does the criticism of the Senator have to do with her wanting “to reign in the wild wall street gang.” (the word you want is rein—I correct this kind of error when the commenter isn’t insulting my integrity, you ass). It has to do with her lying, cheating, faking ancestry she can’t demonstrate, and being a hypocrite.
Clear now? I doubt it, but at least I made a good faith effort to fill the vacuum between your ears.
Now maybe I can get to bed.
That was my exact first thought.
“Cherokee Maiden” by Asleep At The Wheel: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2towGDma5pE
Haven’t heard that in…well, a long time. Come to think of it, haven’t heard anything by Asleep At The Wheel.
Try “Hot Rod Lincoln” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qUNX5vIdfFM
If I recall correctly, wasn’t Hot Rod Lincoln done by Commander Cody and The Lost Airmen? Fun fact, one of my college professors at RPI, John Tichy, was a band member. He taught us Engineering Dynamics and he was a rockstar, pretty cool. It was an 8am class and he was a hardass on those who were late. Good thing I was always on time.
Originally done by Charlie Ryan then Commander Cody. Probably should correct “…haven’t heard anything by Asleep At The Wheel…” to add “in a while, either.”
Hope you’re addressing that ‘RPI’ that eventually turned into VCU. Went there in ’64 and ’65
No, I’m talking about Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, NY. Graduated in 2014, I’m a youngster.
My ‘RPI’ was Richmond Professional Institute. Merger with Virginia Medical in late sixties, early seventies to form Virginia Commonwealth University. Didn’t graduate…went into the Army instead.
What a funny coincidence that there was another college named RPI.
dragin_dragon thank you for your service, for defending our country and our Constitution.
Believe it or not, I view it as my honor and my proud privilege.
Ah hah! Not a fan of Texas Swing I take it. My kids think I’m incredibly corny but I love that stuff especially the originals like Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys and the Light Crust Dougboys.
You must have loved Sons Of The Pioneers.
Absolutely. Also Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies.
“Sons of the Pioneers,” my great aunt Fanny! Never heard any proof of that. They were just after jobs in the country music business. Just like “The Scions of the Old Money Boys” tried to fake their credits onto one of them Rollin’ Rocker Fellers gigs. (…didn’t make it though; turns out they couldn’t tell a bull from a bear and got hugged t’death while practicing a Veronica for a costume change on stage). As for those Pioneers, that one that got famous callin hisself Royal Rogers kept claimin’ he was born plain Leonard Slye but he never got no DNA test. Fanny, now, she were a son of a pioneer….
Jack; if you’re interested in FAR greater cache, howse about claiming shared heritage with a different John Marshall; the one who lent his name to the edenic tropical archipelago…?
Not above blame or without shame would be Big Academia, Hahvahd (sic) in this case.
At best, they didn’t have any policy in place to verify the validity of someone “checking a box,” at worst, they did, yet had no interest in “checking the checker.”
The powers-that-be seemed to believe they only required the bright, shiny, glimmering pretense of diversity, facts be damned.
I’m shocked Warren hasn’t pulled a “Rachel Dolezal.”
Claiming she “identifies” as Cherokee would be good enough for the lock-steppin’ glassy-eyin’ unquestionin’ crowd.
And why not? It was certainly good enough for all the real real smart folks at the Fordham Law Review & Harvard.