And I, for one, cannot wait to hear how this property once thrived under the vast reach of Cromwells Mashpee Wampanoag ancestors, when they weren't busy greeting the pilgrims and living on Cape Cod, and perhaps even more recently by former chairman, and steward of the orange jumpsuit, Glenn Marshall himself - who no doubt hunted wabbits in Taunton before shipping off to Vietnam where, as we know, he became a great war hero and eventual savior of the Middleboro economy.
(For those who don't know me, this is sarcasm.)
Well, folks the waiting's over.
Now the Tribe just has to submit a new application to the Federal government, wait for it to show up in the National Register, come up with a proposal, negotiate a local mitigation agreement, manage to convince 2/3's of the city to vote in favor of it, sit through several public hearings put on by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, allow the federal government to perform a complete environmental impact study, bypass two recent Supreme Court rulings, have the Dept. of the Interior take the land into trust and reach a compact with the State, all by July 31, 2012.
By the way, just for demonstration purposes of how likely this is, the first public BIA hearing in Middleboro occurred more than 7 months after the town vote.
But then, there's always the wild card. It has been revealed that the the Tribe recently budgeted $6 Million of it's 2012 budget for 'gaming predevelopment' - and that could translate into a lot of political Ambien when it comes to keeping Cedric's dream alive in the halls of Congress - not to mention behind those perpetually closed doors on Beacon Hill.
So be careful Taunton. Don't be in such hurry to rush down the aisle with someone you barely know...
Remember, even the most beautiful rose is doomed to shrivel and fade. Then all you're left with are the thorns.
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8 comments:
New Bedford, Boston, Springfield. Anywhere else would be a strategic fumble. Think about it. The Mashpees red carpet is a smokescreen.
@Anonymous, I think anywhere is a strategic fumble, and an all-around really bad idea. No Casino.
Reality collides with Pipe Dreams!
Of course, no casino forever, but when they ram it down our... up our ass, NIMBY all the way. There will be strong opposition everywhere. Nobody(with sense) wants one in their backyard. As for the Mashpees, yawn, comical. Have you noticed their membership has gone up from 1500 to 2600 since '07?
I'm all for NIMBY if it gets people involved and makes them confront this issue. But frankly, I had to stop going to the Foxboro anti-casino page because I couldn't take some of the NIMBY attitude there. (Not all or even most have it but what there is was annoying.) I mean, I felt like saying, "Hey genius, where were you when I was fighting this for the last five years? If you were there too, maybe you wouldn't going up against a couple billionaires right now."
I mean, I knew they were talking about a Foxboro/Kraft casino in the Spring of 2010. Now that we have this gambling bill, any place near a divided highway is a target for a casino.
When this state does something stupid, it really goes all in. If NH opens up gambling, then Maine and RI expand more, the competition for gambling addict dollars is going to be a feeding frenzy. Forget about whether the state 'can support it'. Look at what's happening everywhere. Once you let this vampire in the door, it owns your state. Even Jack Abramoff said it. This state won't stop at 3 casinos and a slot parlor, and any town that defeats one slot parlor or casino proposal will find themselves always a target.
And even if you lived through the Middleboro hell, you'd still be surprised at how little 'sense' some people have. Plus they're going up against a predatory billion dollar industry. It doesn't matter how much opposition there is. The media will ignore it, the gambling interests will out spend it. Insert idiotic quote from Deval Patrick or virtually any local state rep. on the evening news.
The only way to stop this three-ring circus is, in the coming years, is to quit it with the NIMBY and start sticking together as a Commonwealth to repeal the deal.
The poor mayor of Fall River must be having heart palpatations. He ruined an entire bio-tech research park -- set to be anchored by UMASS, no less -- and now the people of Fall River must start seeing with crystal clarity how they'll get nothing.
PS. NIMBY doesn't really apply here. NIMBY is only a bad thing when there's things we need as a society and when some wealthy community or neighborhood ends up being the best place for it, they go and try to kill it.
We all need schools, electricity and transportation systems, and the annoying aspects of those have to be shared and put in places where they fit best for real reasons and not who has the most $$.
However, we don't all need casinos. In fact, casinos are bad for communities, businesses and families, no matter where they're placed. It's NIMBY to be against that school because you'd rather see it built on the other side of the town, but it's no more NIMBY to be against a slot barn than a crack house.
LOL! Gladys...Cedric as the Bachelor - LOVE IT. The perfect analogy. Fall River and New Bedford are the rejected girls crying in the back of the limo saying "what happened...we had such a connection...I thought for SURE he was the one..." - Taunton has the rose for today but who knows what mistress is lurking near the next divided highway...
Now with the application be set aside with no further consideration - the Tribal Council and Cedric will have to come up with the cash to re-do historical ties in Taunton, rewrite and submit the application, and then wait for it to be set aside without further consideration again, because that application will go absolutely nowhere.
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