To Rep. Heath Shuler and State Sen. Snow

First of all, I congratulate Heath Shuler and State Sen. John Snow on their reelections to another term. However, I was troubled by some of their actions recently. Shuler chose to ignore calls of some tribal members to get federal intervention in the tribe's government, seeking relief from an abusive tribal government. State Sen. John Snow pressured a Cherokee County magistrate, who was also a tribal member, over domestic violence charges filed against Tribal Council Member Angie Kephart, who's one of the most abusive of tribal elected officials.
Both gentlemen need to be reminded just who the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is, and it's not Michell Hicks and Kephart, not entirely. It's 13,000 members of the tribe, most of whom want their tribal government to be accountable, honest and open, something that Principal Chief Hicks and Kephart have not been.
Tribal government is a cesspool in the middle of a rose garden. Tribal members know that something doesn't smell right, but politicians like Snow and Shuler, who've cozied up to those who keep the cesspool stirring, refuse to acknowledge that something obviously stinks, and that's a far greater embarrassment than it would be to hold ethically-challenged tribal officials accountable for their actions, like a federal court did to Principal Chief Jonathan Taylor who now stands as a felon convicted of tax evasion (after that what could possibly be a greater embarrassment?).
To put this in perspective, tribal members are like the democracy advocates in Pakistan. Imagine how they felt to see President Bush cozying up to their despotic government.
So to Sen. Snow and Rep. Shuler, remember who your constituents really are when representing the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in Raleigh and in Washington. It's not the 14 (some of them questionably) elected officials in the Council House. It's the 13,000 individual tribal members, some of whom were disgusted enough by your coddling to cast ballots for your opponents.