Lee Judge cartoon upsets indian chief

Billy Friend, Second Chief of the Wyandotte Nation, has taken issue with a recent editorial cartoon by Kansas City Star editorial cartoonist Lee Judge. The cartoon depicting the opening of Wyandotte’s Seventh Street Casino with the caption “It really classes up the place…And next year, God willing, a whorehouse.” The casino appears to be some what of a sore topic in the community. The Wyandotte Nation has worked for 12 years to have it built but has faced many challenges – including opposition from the Kansas City Star.

7 thoughts on “Lee Judge cartoon upsets indian chief

  1. Was NativeTimes.com the source for this news tip or was Lee Judge himself?

    Offending the Wyandotte Nation is one thing (fine, okay) …

    But why boast about it?

  2. I generally resent minorities who feel offended by cartoons. That is when said cartoons are funny. But this is a really crappy cartoon. The right to build casinos is a very pale compensation for what the Indian nations have suffered. So I think both Kansas Shitty Star and Lee Judgemental should go screw themselves.

  3. I think it’s funny. And I don’t see it as “an affront to the great people of the Wyandotte Nation.” You can respect a person or a group of people without respecting everything they do or everything they build.

    Casinos always bring crime with them and also create problems because lots of people lose money to these places who can’t really afford to. I have a cousin who is now getting divorced because his wife developed a gambling problem by going to casinos. They have three LITTLE kids, but she would rather gamble their money away than feed and clothe them properly.

    Yes, native Americans suffered greatly. That doesn’t mean that casinos should be a taboo subject for cartoonists. That’s a ridiculous leap.

  4. I greatly respect the American Indians but I don’t see that they can complain about the cartoon because the fact is that crime follows casinos. To say that it’s okay because they, excuse me; their ancestors suffered is absurd. Is drug dealing among Blacks a “privilege” for them having been discriminated against? If you consider that a leap of logic, think of the similarities between drugs and gambling and the effects on people and communities. Surely there must be something else the Wyandotte Nation can do besides this?

  5. I do not defend gaming or casino’s I defend our right to do so as a sovereign nation. As I stated in the article our citizens are split on the issue. The fact is if the federal govt. would live up to there treaty obligations and provide the funding that is needed to operate our programs we would never had to go into the gaming business. The majority of people have no idea about Indian Nations and what we are required to do as a government.

  6. The issue of the Wyandotte nation aside, casinos are built for one thing only -fast money.

    Money is power. Power is influence.

    I’ll spare you the algebraic equation that outlines it, but the eventual conclusion is that people build casinos to achieve money, power and influence quickly.

    The richest man in Australia, James Packer, has recently started divesting his late father’s media empire of its broadcasting assets to concentrate on his gambling ventures, most notably the Crown Casino in Melbourne? Why? Because unlike his father he’s a proven cretin as a businessman, but anybody can make money from casinos.

    The problem with achieving influence through gambling is that you don’t get to influence the hearts and minds of the good people, only the weak, the vulnerable and the criminal. That kind of influence may bring you wealth, but it will never bring you respect.

    http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/gambler-who-lost-30m-sues-casino/2008/02/11/1202578694543.html

Comments are closed.

Top