Hall of Famer Ditka Labels Faleomavaega an “Idiot”

Although he did not specifically mention Faleomavaega by name, it is clear that Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach Mike Ditka, now a broadcaster, was including the American Samoa delegate among those he had in mind when he dismissed the drive to get the Redskins owner to change the name of the team.  Faleomavaega has been in the forefront of those in Congress who want to force the team to adopt a new nickname because, he argues, the current name is a slur on Native Americans.

This has long been a cause for the delegate who in July, 2013 before his debilitating illness, decked out in his best Indian string tie (the only kind of tie he has worn for years, now—when he wears a tie at all), delivered an emotional speech on the Floor of the House on the subject with his voice quivering and cracking as he spoke.  He also cosponsored a bill that would cancel the team’s federal trademarks but it has gone nowhere.

Faleomavaega was prompted to speak in part to respond to conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who had said earlier in July that the team’s name isn’t a government issue. Limbaugh said if fans were offended by the name, they wouldn’t go to FedEx Field, but because they do, “it obviously isn’t upsetting too many people.”

When he emerged from seclusion this past March to receive his first office visitor, the ASG director of Homeland Security, he said that, while continuing his rehabilitation, he would be concentrating his efforts on American Samoa issues, like establishment of a National Guard unit in the territory.  Yet, in late May, making his first appearance on the Floor for a five-minute substantive speech (he appeared briefly in April to acknowledge American Samoa Flag Day), he again chose the Redskins’ name as his subject, not the National Guard or any other American Samoa issue.

Now, as the NFL is in the midst of its preseason exhibition game schedule, the spotlight has returned to this issue and Ditka was asked about it during a recent interview.

“What’s all the stink . . . ,” asked Ditka?  “It’s so much [expletive] it’s incredible . . .  This is so stupid it’s appalling  . . . We’re going to let the liberals of the world run this world . . . “It’s all the political[ly] correct idiots in America, that’s all it is,” he continued.  “It’s got nothing to do with anything else. We’re going to change something because we can.”  Faleomavaega was a founding member of the ultra-liberal Congressional Progressive Caucus, although he since has left the group.

While team owner Dan Snyder says he will never change the name (and vigorous at age 49, he most likely will outlive the very sick 70-year-old Faleomavaega), there is no question that public sentiment to have him do so has picked up steam.  There is no doubt that were Congress in session, Faleomavaega once again would have been prompted to take to the Floor, perhaps even to call upon ESPN to suspend Ditka from his broadcast duties. 

This blog takes no position on the Redskins’ name but, given his limited strength and energy, wouldn’t Faleomavaega better serve his constituency by concentrating on American Samoa issues, as he promised he would?  If he must take to the Floor when Congress returns in September, how about an emotional speech on the poverty his island may face if President Obama goes ahead with his plan to create a huge Pacific conservation zone that could force the underpinning of American Samoa’s economy to collapse?

Redskins’ name, Kazakhstan nuclear waste, Cambodian debt relief, Korean comfort women, Bahraini protesters, Hawaiian sovereignty, Easter Island land tenure, West Papua Independence, Armenian genocide.  These are the kinds of issues that have dominated Faleomavaega’s agenda over the years when he hasn’t been traveling.  But, no, Coach Ditka, we wouldn’t describe Faleomavaega as an idiot.  However, we would be harder pressed to refute those who might dismiss him as a buffoon. 

Will Faleomavaega Join the Old Bulls Leaving Congress?

Everyone knows that Faleomavaega is a sick man. He has said so himself. Just before the 2012 election Radio New Zealand International reported that he freely admitted that he “has had a double by-pass heart surgery, had his appendix taken out, underwent a knee operation, both his eyes are lasered with artificial lenses and he had high blood pressure, gout and Type 2 Diabetes. He adds it's likely he has been exposed to the deadly chemical dioxin found in Agent Orange while he served in Vietnam."

But, while admitting that he has new health problems from which he is still recovering, he has not yet been as forthcoming about them as he was about his earlier ailments nor has he announced whether he will seek re-election this fall.

Nonetheless, we have clues to the answers to both questions. His office in the few statements made has referred to his “rehabilitation,” a word normally used in connection with a stroke. Indeed, there is widespread belief he suffered two strokes last October. Although he has resumed “limited” office hours, he has skipped countless hearings and caucus meetings since he return. While he has made three appearances on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives where he has spoken without sign of impairment, there is anecdotal evidence that he may be suffering residual brain damage even if his motor skills have fully recovered.

On the question of re-election, the Federal Election Committee reports that his campaign committee is functioning and he has raised $40,000 towards re-election just since taking ill. There is no law, just tradition, that requires him to make any formal announcement. However, he has simply filed the required paperwork before without any formal announcement or campaign kickoff event without any impact on his votes and could do so again. So we will have to keep a close eye on our election office to see if and when he or someone on his behalf picks up a packet containing the petitions that must be circulated and filed before he formally becomes a candidate. The filing period opens July 14 and closes September 2. 

Not only has he missed many normal functions of participating in Congress, there is no evidence Faleomavaega has traveled since becoming ill, other than evacuation from Tutuila to Honolulu, where he was hospitalized at Tripler Hospital, then quietly moved to the Mainland for additional treatment in the west (some say at his residence in Utah; others say at a VA rehab facility in California; perhaps both). Then he returned to Washington in late winter and has remained there ever since. It is also said that his wife, who for many years has lived apart from him first in Nevada and now Utah, has returned to Washington to care for him.

If, indeed, he suffered one or more strokes, it would account for why there is no evidence he has traveled at all by air since returning to Washington. He may be under doctor's orders. We do know that he did not return for Flag Day or Memorial Day, two occasions that no politician ordinarily would dare miss in an Election year. So everyone is waiting to see when he will make his re-appearance. Will he pick up and/or file his own papers? Will he have a campaign kickoff event? Will he participate in candidate debates? Will he run a Curley/Spellman/Johnson type of campaign (James Michael Curley won election in Boston while in prison; Gladys Spellman won in Maryland while in a coma; Tim Johnson won a SD senate seat while hehabing from a stroke)?  Or will he wait as long as possible to assess his health then quietly retire if he, his family, friends, allies and/or doctors decide he no longer is up to the job?

Frankly, one has to wonder why he would want to continue. He is in the Minority and no one believes the Democrats have any chance of resuming control of the House this fall. The earliest date most analysts believe the Democrats can come back is in 2022 after redistricting when Faleomavaega would be pushing 80.  In fact, if anything all indications are that Republicans will gain additional House seats and perhaps enough Senate seats to gain control of the Senate in November. Even in the Majority he, as a non-voting delegate, would have very little opportunity to accomplish very much. Moreover, continuing health problems may force him to curtail if not curtail if not eliminate his extensive foreign travel. Over the past quarter century, it would come as no surprise to find that he has traveled more miles than any other Member of Congress even without counting the miles traveling back and forth from American Samoa.

Unlike the other delegates, he has no legislative record of which to speak and little prospect of building one. His signature bill, the so-called ASPIRE Act, introduced when his party controlled the House, never got reported out of subcommittee and even members of his own party spoke against it in a hearing. Despite his seniority, he was denied the Ranking Member position on the full Foreign Affairs Committee, authority over global environment was stripped from the subcommittee, he has been stripped of his vote in the House Committee of the Whole and the Clerk no longer reports his seniority or that of the other delegates—all Democrats—in the House seniority list. It is shown separately at the end of the list. He also was passed over in favor of a freshmen legislator for the chairmanship of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus despite having served loyally for a number of years as vice chairman to Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA). Adding insult to injury, his place as vice chairman went to another delegate, Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo of Guam.

Despite being on Tutuila at a time then-Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was in Samoa meeting with the region's foreign ministers, he did not travel over there, even though he was chairman of the Asia Pacific subcommittee at the time, because Rice declined to give him an opportunity to address the gathering. And when then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came through Pago Pago a couple of years ago, she ignored his plea on Cambodian debt relief while granting the then-Governor (who will seek to replace him this fall) was granted his request to allow American Samoa to have official observer status at the Pacific Islands Forum in a major reversal of U.S. policy.

His extensive travels over the years frequently have taken him to Bangkok, home of the parent company of Chicken of the Sea brand tuna and Seoul, home of StarKist's parent company. Although he touted those visits as opportunities to meet with American Samoa;s major private sector employers, Chicken of the Sea closed its plant and StarKist's long-term future remains in as much doubt as Faleomavaega's ability to get legislation to protect the company's tax advantages and wage structure. One trip he missed was a U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen even though the global environment was under his subcommittee's jurisdiction at the time. Even though he was chairman, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)--whose political action committee once gave him $10,000 towards re-election (she wanted his caucus vote for Leader)—did not include him in her 21-Member delegation. 

He once got Pelosi to show up at a summit of Pacific Leaders in Washington only to have that triumph go sour when the then-Speaker showed up over a half hour late, annoying the heads of government and others alike, all trapped in an auditorium for the occasion,  They all were there for an evening of food and entertainment--to which Pelosi's appearance was a hastily arranged add-on.

More recently, his continued lack of influence was underscored by President Obama's decision to pick Esther Kia'aina over his choice, Nikolao Pula, as assistant secretary of Interior for insular affairs and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned less than two days after Faleomavaega took to the House Floor to urge him to stay. Indeed, although Faleomavaeva was one of Obama's earliest supporters in his first run for president, there is no evidence Obama ever has returned the favor. Oh yes, Faleomavaega has lots of pictures with the president, but so does every Member of Congress—Republican and Democrat alike. It comes with the job.  One has to wonder if he realizes he is telegraphing his irrelevance by frequently punctuating his remarks with "I've been saying for years . . . " (even if he does not conclude with "but no one listens to me").

He has gone as far as his seniority will take him. Acquiring more now will not advance him further, get him a better office or increase his pension, which topped out at 20 years of service 2009. So why does he go on? We can only surmise that the limelight must continue to outweigh the humiliations, particularly since neither the local media nor his political opponents make any concerted effort to address his record or prospects for future success in Congress. Seemingly, as long as he can continue to flash his pe'a, strum his ukulele, carry a tune and dance, and have enough money to buy a boatload of radio and newspaper advertisements that cleverly list all the federal money that comes to the territory while only implying but being careful specifically not to claim it is due to him, as well feed the voters, there will be enough voters to get him re-elected.

One of the values of seniority is building friendships and alliances to help a Member reach his legislative goals. Much of Faleomavaega's investment in that relationship building process has been lost in the past three years with the retirement of Sen. Dan Akaka (D-HI), the death of Sen. Dan Inouye (D-HI) and the defeat of then-Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA), whose re-nomination Faleomavaega unsuccessfully backed in 2012. The wave of Old Bulls going out has continued unabated this year with the announced retirements of Reps. John Dingell (D-MI), George Miller (D-CA) and Henry Waxman (D-CA), all Faleomavaega allies with whom he serves for many years a fellow member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

The signs are present that other senior Members also may be on their way out. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) has a tough primary challenge this month and Rep. Nick Joe Rahall (D-WV), a Faleomavaega ally who was Ranking Democrat on House Natural Resources, is thought to be in danger of losing his seat in November. All of the aforementioned Members are ex-Members who have or had seniority substantially exceeding Faleomavaega's 13 terms.

Dingell, the longest serving person in the history of the House, will be joined in retirement by Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX), at 91 the oldest person ever to have served in the House. Hall, also the last World War II veteran in Congress, was defeated for renomination last week and the man who beat him said a long career of distinguished service does not entitle a person to a lifetime seat in the House. Watch this video interview for his comments.

Once again, do not expect our local media to present this kind of analysis to the voters for their consideration. However, even if others are hesitant to address the ailing delegate's shortcomings, former governor Togiola is not likely to be so shy. Faleomavaega realizes this so perhaps it will given him impetus he needs to pull the plug and go the way of the Old Bulls before the voters finally show him the door.

Faleomavaega Absence Could Destroy American Samoa Private Economy

When the final chapter is written about this territory’s longest serving elected public official, Eni Faleomavaega's legacy very well could be that he single-handedly destroyed American Samoa’s private economy.  Perhaps that is what he wants.  After all, he was a founding member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a collection of the most liberal Democrats and socialists in the House and Senate, whose entire purpose is government control over people’s lives.  He quietly dropped his membership a few years ago only because someone made public the purpose of the caucus and its social issue policies did not sit well with our very conservative voters.  

It will be recalled that Faleomavaega was back here in early 2007 attending the ceremonial opening of the Fono while Congress was busy putting the final touches on a bill to increase the federal minimum wage that for the first time included American Samoa in the bill.  Faleomavaega got caught napping on that one and by the time he raced back to Washington in an effort to get us extricated, it was too late.  His impassioned speech on the Floor was pure window dressing and had no effect on the vote.  He tried to pin it on Republicans but Democrats had just retaken control of the Chamber and anyone who understands how the House works (Eni successfully counted on his constituents mostly not understanding), knows that the minority has no rights.  If the Speaker had not wanted that provision in the bill, it would not have been in the bill.

Of course, as everyone knows, the hike in the minimum wage eventually forced our Chicken of the Sea tuna processing plant to relocate elsewhere, throwing thousands of workers out of jobs.  Now, the Democrats have announced that another rise in the minimum wage is a priority in this session of Congress and once again we have no delegate in place to explain why American Samoa should not be part of any wage rise bill. 

We believe Faleomavaega is suffering from an incapacitating stroke that renders him unable to represent us in Congress.  We have written this before, Samoa News has published it and neither he nor his office has refuted it.  There are suggestions his stroke has rendered him unable to communicate.  If this were not the case, we would call on his staff to deny it and for the Delegate to give a telephone interview to the media or at least call the governor to reassure the people he is able to monitor legislative developments on our behalf.

Because Democrats are not in the majority at this time, however, there is no immediate threat that a wage bill will rush through Congress and be sent to President Obama, which might precipitate the departure of Star Kist and halt plans for TriMarine to take over for Chicken of the Sea, thus throwing thousands more people out of jobs and having a ripple effect on the service economy.  However, there is another threat that is just as ominous that was reported in today’s issue of a private Congressional newspaper called The Hill.  Because we have a Google Alert set for news about Faleomavaega, who was mentioned in an article today, we were alerted to it.

Has anyone here heard of Jim Bonham, chairman of the government affairs practice at the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips?   We haven’t but since we do not see read all the newspapers or listen to all the radio newscasts it is possible we have missed stories about what he is doing for American Samoa.  However, our guess is that our local media has not run any stories about Bonham or the Farm Bill.

Last summer, StarKist, Tri Marine, the Chamber of Commerce of American Samoa and others formed the “Stronger Economy for American Samoa Coalition,” and Bonham lobbies for the coalition, according to the story in this morning’s issue of The Hill.  Working together with Faleomavaega’s office on the inside, the Coalition from the outside is trying to stop a measure that would weaken the domestic contents requirements for tuna processing for use in the nation’s school lunch programs.  

Foreign based Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea want to be able to compete for that huge and profitable market.  This language is in the Farm Bill that is working its way towards passage right now and the absent Faleomavaega is in no position to protect our industry from the inside.  If this were to pass, it could spell the difference in profitability for StarKist, which then might find itself forced to close its American Samoa operations, and TriMarine, which might not be able to open at all.

That’s the story and it’s a big one.  In fact, we cannot think of one bigger.  Since this story just broke this morning, it is too late for today’s paper.  But we will be watching to see what 93KHJ-FM will do on the air later today and Samoa News will do tomorrow, since in order to talk about this issue they would be forced to address the question of Faleomavaega’s health and his prospects for returning to work—if he even would be returning at all.  In yesterday’s talanei.com story, the governor’s office was said to be making plans to have Washington covered in Eni’s continued absence or in the case of a vacancy in his office.  Since he does not have the power to fill a vacancy except by special election, perhaps he intends to expand Bonham’s role.

So, will Samoa News remain silent, take the lazy way out by providing in its on-line version a link to The Hill story (which makes to reference to Faleomavaega’s absence) or do a genuine original piece of journalism by informing the public what is at stake for American Samoa in the Farm Bill and use this issue as a basis for finally bringing into the open the question of Faleomavaega’s absence and what that means longer term for American Samoa? 

If Faleomavaega’s legacy ultimately were to be to have destroyed our private sector, then our local media—especially Samoa News—would have to share in that legacy.  Stay tuned.

Faleomavaega back in action?

On Thursday, December 5, A group of 27 Members of Congress, mostly members of the radical leftist Congressional Progressive Caucus, jointly sent a letter to President Obama asking him to halt deportations. The letter, largely lost in other news emanating from Washington, grabbed our attention because one of the signers was American Samoa Del. Eni Faleomavaega. A day earlier, a high level State Department official opened his testimony before the House Asia Pacific Subcommittee by addressing "Chairman Chabot, Ranking Member Faleomavaega, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee." So maybe he is back on the job in Washington. That certainly would be welcome news for American Samoa since there are critical budget issues that will be addressed next week and in mid-January. But shouldn't our local media being telling us Faleomavaega's status? Except for a smattering of stories about his sudden illness in November, evacuation from the island and arrival at Tripler Hospital in Honolulu, there has been a virtual blackout of news coverage except one vague statement out of his office saying he was to be moved from Tripler to the Mainland for rehabilitation (not recuperation or convalescence). Rehabilitation suggests stroke and indeed there have been rumors to that effect running rife on the island. It has been rumored that he was in a coma when he was evacuated and remained in one for some time at Tripler, which is why he could not be moved. It also has been rumored that the stroke left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak. Unless I missed it, none of our papers or radio stations has even confirmed that Faleomavaega was moved or where he was moved. Presumably, if he signed the letter and attended a hearing last week, he was moved to Washington. But shouldn't his office say so and shouldn't the media report it? Since the stories out of Washington (none played here) seem to indicate all is fine, he apparently has made a remarkable recovery with great speed. Of course, his office said he was expected to make a full recovery, even though they did not indicate what he was suffering from or how long his recovery would take. Since his subcommittee is considering two important pieces of legislation regarding China and Burma next week, perhaps our local reporters can at least confirm that he will be participating in the session to vote on the bills--since he is the Ranking Member and does have a vote. The fact that a challenger already has announced he intends to run for Congress is another indication that Eni may have recovered since the timing of such an announcement would not be welcome down here in a culture that treats serious illness with great deference. So perhaps this candidate for the seat has been advised of Eni's condition even if the rest of us are being kept in the dark. In carrying the announcement, none of the media made any reference to Eni's illness at all. If all is, indeed, well, you wouldn't know it from his website, though. The latest news release he has posted is an attack on the local Republican party dated October 8 and the section entitled "In The News," is totally blank. At least his latest release is newer than his website photograph, which is at least 20 years old. There is nothing posted on his Facebook page later than announcement of an appearance he was to make in September. On Twitter, there simply are no tweets at all, old or new. In any event, the Foreign Affairs subcommittee streams the subcommittee meetings live and since next Wednesday's session is scheduled for 3 p.m., it will be a reasonable 9 a.m. down here, not the middle of the night. We will be watching to see if Faleomavaega takes his seat next to the chairman if we can find a decent enough internet connection down here to play the streaming.

Faleomavaega Bahrain Story May Ease Path for Dem Decision on His Future

If Faleomavaega follows past practice, he will go after ProPublica tooth and nail over the Pulitzer-Prize-winning on-line investigative journal’s revelation that the Samoan delegate’s ties to a Washington lobbyist may be prompting his choice of causes. If he chose to ignore it, there probably would be few consequences at home, where the biggest threat to his re-election—the outgoing governor, already has taken himself out of the running.

Moreover, Faleomavaega continues to be protected by the local media, with the territory’s only daily newspaper, Samoa News, as we predicted, buried the Bahrain story in its on-line edition with a hyperlink in the opinion section, not the much more widely read news section. That the story has been little noticed so far is evident by the absence of any on-line reader comments. Compounding difficulties in gaining traction, Faleomavaega’s sister-in-law is an editor and occasional correspondent for Samoa News, which seems not to notice she also is the territory’s Democratic National Committeewoman.

Both she and Faleomavaega, of course, will be delegates to the Democratic National Convention this summer, where they can high-five each other at their success at keeping bad news from the Samoan public.

However, the reason Faleomavaega can be expected to strike out against the Bahrain story is that left unchallenged the piece could fatally damage his aspirations of becoming the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In so doing, he would become the first non-voting territorial delegate ever to chair a full committee and his prospects for achieving that distinction (and that place in history) have risen considerably with the retirement of Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), one of the two House members ahead of him on the panel, and the electoral difficulties of the other.

A poll reported just yesterday by the Roll Call newspaper shows the committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), losing his re-election bid to fellow Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) at this point. The two congressmen, who were thrown together into a new district by the California redistricting process, will face off in a June 5 primary in which the top two finishers, regardless of party, win face each other in November. Both men are well ahead of other challengers and are expected to survive the June tilt.

In the event Sherman does defeat Berman in November while Democrats are regaining control of the House, incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) would face the immediate decision of whether to elevate Faleomavaega to the chairmanship; but even if her party falls short of capturing control, as Minority Leader she still would need to decide whether to allow Faleomavaega to succeed Berman as Ranking Minority Member. To do so would make it much harder to dislodge him at a future election in which Democrats would become the ruling party again.

This Bahrain story could make it much easier for her to tap someone like Rep. Elliott Engel (D-NY) for the top slot, particularly since Engel actually is just above Faleomavaega in caucus seniority (thanks to the alphabet—they both came into office the same day); he ranks below Faleomavaega on the committee because he joined it later.

So, Faleomavaega cannot afford to let this story go unchallenged. He is with a congressional delegation in Bahrain at this moment so it may be a few days before his response is issued. That is probably a good thing for him because in the past he has shown a proclivity for having knee-jerk reactions to unfavorable stories in the press. He really needs to have a cooler head this time because ProPublica is not some right wing blog put out by some pajama-clad zealot on his laptop in his bed but a well financed, well regarded, lower Manhattan-based, Pulitzer-prize-winning organization that employs a number of Pulitzer-winning investigative journalists and partners with some the country’s most powerful publications that carry its reports, including the New York Times, The Washington Post and television’s 60 Minutes program.

Readers who want to learn more about the credibility of ProPublica can watch this speech on YouTube delivered by its top editor, Paul Steiger. Steiger, who has a 41-year journalistic track record that concluded with 15 years as managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, acknowledges that some skeptics question ProPublica’s political leanings because its founders and some of its other major funders are linked to prominent liberal organizations. However, if anything, their integrity on this heavily sourced story is reinforced because Faleomavaega himself is a Liberal Democrat who in fact was a founding member of the far left Congressional Progressive Caucus (although after initially defending his membership in response to a critical story in a regional newsmagazine, he quietly left the group a few years ago).

Faleomavaega’s challenge, then, is to effectively rebut the ProPublica story without attacking the organization in a way that would cause a backlash against him. Clearly, we think the pages of this blog provide plenty of leads to other questionable actions on his part over the years. Those who have the resources are welcome to start digging.

Faleomavaega Blasts ABCDEFGroup Blog

We have been highly critical of the local media in American Samoa for its "inadequate" coverage of our wandering Congressman, Faleomavaega Eni, who seems to be everywhere in  the world but Washington or American Samoa most of the time.  We have long felt the leading news outlets have given him a pass for his foibles and indiscretions, especially Samoa News, where his sister-in-law is an editor.  Most of the controversies in which he has been involved seem to get sept under the rug.

So, it was a pleasant surprise to see the leading radio news organization, Radio Station KHJ-FM raise questions about some of the campaign money he has raised, based on our report, even if the story were centered on Faleomavaega's condemnation of us for our report.  See: http://www.talanei.com/viewNews.php?storyID=4371.  Give Faleomavaega credit for his ability to divert attention from controversy by attacking his adversary.  Regrettably he sucked KHJ into the diversion.  Instead of condemning our report, he should have attacked the Project of Government Oversight (POGO), the source of our story.  We did not raise the question of whether his campaign contributions might be tied to his support for the dictatorship in Kazahkstan.  POGO did.  We only reported what POGO suggested.   But of course, it makes more sense for him to attack us, since we have an admitted bias against him, rather than attack POGO, which is a respected non-partisan, non-profit organization that has no agenda.

Nevertheless, we salute KHJ-FM for bringing this important story to the attention of the public.  As for Samoa News, we will give them a half salute for carrying a buried link to this story in their on-line edition.  They may not have swept it under the rug but they did manage to push it into a corner.  Until they do their job and carry this sort of news up front in their A section, we will continue to give them a big raspberry for pro-Faleomavaega bias.   It hardly comes as a surprise not only because his sister-in-law is an editor while also serving as Democratic National Committeewoman for the territory, a fact we do not recall seeing ever having been disclosed (she does byline some stories), but because the paper has a leftist bias.  It is no secret Faleomavaega is on the left of the Democrat Party and was a charter member of the socialistic Congressional Progressive Caucus and Samoa News often carries editorials and op-ed columns by such left wingers as Paul Krugman.

KHJ wrote: "Faleomavaega  commended POGO for championing good government but said at no time has the group contacted him to inquire about the Central Asia Caucus, or the contributions mentioned.  Neither has the ABCDEF Group or Samoa News which posted the story on its website."
Let us note for the record that at no time did Faleomavaega contact us to refute POGO's story, either.

Communist Group Credits Faleomavaega

Saying “His call for Washington to assert its own position on Fiji and other regional matters now appears to have received a favorable hearing in the State Department,” the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), through its official World Socialist Website, has credited American Samoa congressional Delegate Eni Faleomavaega with playing the key role in changing the U.S. government’s position on dealing with the Fiji dictatorship.

The ICFI is the international Communist organization that follows the Marxist teachings of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, a leading rival to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin until Stalin had him assassinated in 1940. Although Faleomavaega was for years a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, from its inception in 1991 until he quietly dropped out when his membership threatened to become a campaign issue earlier this decade, and the caucus has ties with Democratic Socialists of America, it is unclear what ties, if any, Faleomavaega may have with the ICFI or other Trotskyite organizations.

Nonetheless, in addition to his vigorous defense of Fiji military dictator Commodore Frank Bainamarama, Faleomavaega also has been cozy with autocratic leaders in Kazkhstan, Laos and Vietnam, the last where he praised Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi a couple of years ago.

As evidence of the shift in U.S. policy, the ICFI in the article points to

• Obama recently issuing a personal statement marking the 40th anniversary of Fijian independence;

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton including the Fiji Foreign Minister in an hour-long meeting in New York with senior Pacific leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in later September;

• Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell’s testifying before Faleomavaega’s subcommittee that “Our objective is to put Fiji back on track for . . . elections no later than 2014,” tantamount to endorsing a timetable which now puts “Washington . . . at odds with Canberra on this question:”

• the U.S. recently announcing it will re-establish an AID mission in Suva after a 15-year absence;

• State Department opening a new multi-million dollar regional embassy in Suva;

• The U.S. government issuing no comment on the arrest of former Prime Minister and current Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry, “on spurious charges of breaking an emergency decree . . .”

Faleomavaega no doubt approves of all these developments. At the hearing at which Campbell testified, he said “Clearly, the Australian and New Zealand policy of sanctions and isolating and punishing Fiji has not only failed but totally been counterproductive. For too long we effectively outsourced our policymaking toward the Pacific Islands to Australia and New Zealand. “

“Unfortunately,” he continued, “the sometimes imperious attitudes and actions of our friends in Canberra and Wellington toward the Pacific Islands have fostered a degree of resentment and distrust that has limited their influence as well as their ability to represent US views and interests . . . By deferring to the foreign ministries of Canberra and Wellington, we left a vacuum in the Pacific that China has been only too eager to fill.”

Given Faleomavaega’s closeness to Communist China in recent years, it is unclear why he is expressing concern about China’s activities in the Pacific and the article in this publication sheds no light on that.

Blogger Calls Faleomavaega "Useful Idiot"

Best thing to do here is guide you to the blog to read it for yourself:

/http://snarkybytes.com/2010/05/

Eni to Use Palau to Test influence

Before a stunned audience at the Department of the Interior’s annual insular investment in Honolulu last week, Faleomavaega announced he would undertake an effort to move primary congressional jurisdiction from the House Committee on Natural Resources to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In effect, this move, if successful, would strip Palau issues from the Natural Resources subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, on which Eni sits as a senior majority member, to the Foreign Affairs Asia, Pacific and Global Environment subcommittee that he chairs.

Since the House would be unlikely to move jurisdiction over Palau from Natural Resources to Foreign Affairs without moving jurisdiction for the other Freely Associated States at the same time, Eni is making a real power play that has enormous ramifications for him. Were he to succeed, it would amount to a major humiliation for Madeleine Bordallo (D), his fellow delegate from Guam who chairs the insular panel, and would send chills up and down the spine of State Department officials, who prefer to handle diplomatic relations with the Micronesian states but not administer funds for them.

In light of Eni’s sneak attack, ironically launched in Honolulu, it also will be interesting to see just how enthusiastic Bordallo will be to look after American Samoa’s interests in her subcommittee from now on. After subcommittee assignments were announced following last November’s election, Eni was quoted in the news as saying that now that Madeleine was positioned to protect territorial interests for everyone on Natural Resources, it gave him wide berth to do the same on the Asia-Pacific subcommittee. Since his subcommittee has not a stitch of responsibility for territorial issues, of course his assertion is laughable on the face of it. Nonetheless, Samoa News swallowed hook, line and sinker his contention that his keeping an eye on U.S. foreign policy in the region somehow would benefit American Samoa and he would not need to be all that vigilant on Natural Resources.

Were he not to succeed in this bold move against Bordallo, Eni would suffer another major humiliation in Washington, coming hard on the heels of his recent embarrassment at the hands of his colleagues on his unsuccessful attempt to change the wording of a House Resolution on Taiwan. Of course, just as in the case of the Taiwan issue, any further loss of Eni's prestige and influence likely would be confined to Washington--which is important enough, since that is his theater of operation--because it is likely the major media outlet at home, Samoa News, will continue to suppress news unfavorable to its knight in shining armor. As noted here before, Eni’s (whose real family name is Hunkin) sister-in-law, Teri Hunkin, is an editor at the paper.

Meanwhile, speaking of the Taiwan issue, some critics have wondered if Eni were a witting front man for Beijing on Taiwan matters, with one blogger astutely noting that the roving congressman also was caught toasting Communist strongman Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi in December, 2007. As we have pointed out, Eni was an early member of the radical leftist Congressional Progressive Caucus founded by enrolled Socialist then-congressman Bernie Sanders in the early 1990s and only dropped his membership quietly three years ago during a close election campaign after he was criticized publicly for his association. Eni is decidedly to the left of not only the population at large but his own Mormon political base.

Now some other blogs also are beginning to question whether he is a communist. The Doctor Bulldog and Ronin Blog, for example, republished from TyskNews.com a list of “known socialists and commies in our government” that included Eni, although TyskNews has updated the list and dropped him. The spotlight is beginning to shine on congressional socialists because of rising conservative concern that Obama Administration budget proposals are driving the government in the direction of socialism.

Whether or not he is a socialist or a closet communist, there is no doubt that Eni is to the left of center and much more liberal than his constituency. There also is rising concern here that his support of Big Labor’s Check Card proposal will open the door to unionization of our tuna canneries. Coupled with the minimum wage increase that has been forced upon the islands, the days of the canneries could be severely numbered.

Are these seemingly separate questions somehow connected? From seizing control of Micronesia policy to minimum wage, card check and his secret amendment to permit foreign bottoms a backdoor way to fish in South Pacific EEZs, we think they may be. As events play out, we think the dots will begin to connect. Readers here will know what is happening but the general public here will remain clueless, thanks to media suppression of the news.