Enough is enough...

I usually refrain from writing about things political in this blog because it just elevates my blood pressure.  I've already lost my heart doctor to politics -- he closed his office and went to work for the hospital.  Seems he couldn't maintain his practice under all the new government insurance regulations.  I now have a new doctor and he is just fine, so I guess I'm good for now.  Anyway, back to the purpose of this entry.

A couple of years ago, Pam and I, along with the whole northern half of Shelby County, found ourselves at the center of a conflict between the Department of the Interior and an unnamed Indian tribe.  It seems the Indian tribe wanted to build a casino in this part of Ohio and filed suit with the Justice Department to have all residents of this county evicted from their properties.  The tribe claimed that we were all living on this property illegally per the terms of the Treaty of Greenville (August 3, 1795).  The terms of the suit stipulated that all such residents would have 6 months to vacate.  Obviously this caused quite a stir and countersuits filled the Shelby County Court's agenda.  Resolution to this took several months, the residents did not have to leave their properties, and the casino issue was overcome by the whole issue being put on the ballot.  We now have four casinos being built around the state. 

Life was good once again, or at least until some time about mid-March when I got a registered letter from Chrysler Motors  informing me that my 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee was being recalled.  I have heard of recalls before, but this one was different.  The letter was co-signed by Eric Holdem, the Attorney General of the United States.  In the letter, Mr. Holdem said that all Jeep Grand Cherokees were being recalled in order to resolve a dispute between the Cherokee Indian nation and Chrysler Motors.  It seems the Indians didn't like the unauthorized use of their tribal name on this vehicle.  Holdem said that since the U.S. Government owned controlling interest in the company (thanks to the auto bailouts -- remember them?), they would assist the Tribe as a "friend of the court and ensure all vehicles bearing that name were properly recalled and destroyed."  Fortunately, calmer heads at Chrysler were able to come up with an acceptable counter proposal -- thus the recall.

Now what I have to do is take my Jeep back to the dealer and have a retrofit done.  What this entails is taking all pieces of chrome and trim that have the name Grand Cherokee off the vehicle and replacing them with new "Jeep Grand Native American"  emblems and side panels.  This includes all the manuals, instruction messages, warranties, hats and shirts (sold optionally thru Jeep), etc.  The new replacement panels really do look dorky, but since I really like the vehicle I guess I can put up with it.

I did see where the Attorney General praised the actions of his staff for quick action on this matter, but hinted that "further action could still be in the pipeline" (maybe this is a poor choice of words).  Holdem said that "if Chrysler had been more cooperative in this matter, this could have been a giant step toward eliminating the gasoline, internal-combustion engine and America's reliance on gasoline itself." 

"sloof lirpA"

Hooah