Dear Supporters:
Harvey Arden has been an ardent (no pun intended), almost
militant supporter of Peltier for many years. Helping Peltier with “Prison
Writings,” the cover of which states, “Edited by Harvey Arden.” He continues to
speak out to whomever will listen with his belief in Peltier’s alleged
“wrongful conviction.” A conviction he believes is based on centuries of Indian
persecution and contrived criminal charges. Harvey has written other books helping
recognize and preserve Indigenous cultures worldwide. I have one of his books
“Wisdom Keepers,” a gift from Harvey with the inscription “To Ed Woods, on
behalf of Leonard Peltier. There’s no greater love than hatred that turns to
love. With respect, Harvey Arden.”
There is no doubt that Harvey is a good man, heartfelt
and well meaning. We have exchanged emails over the years and they have all
been civil and thoughtful and we almost got together for lunch one day several
years ago. I’m sure meeting with him and talking just about anything but Leonard
Peltier would be a pleasant experience. I suspect, regretfully though, that
Harvey has gone-around-the-bend, so to speak, as he rails against the
government as “criminal overlords” and can be counted among the “9/11
Truthers.”
Recently, in December 2014, Harvey queried the Innocence Project about looking into the
Peltier case where he stated that “(Peltier’s) 1977 trial was a total sham.”
They responded that they rely on DNA evidence for their projects.
Harvey, in an exchange with rabid Peltierite (Peltierite,
a term borrowed from the Rezinate Blog), Delaney Bruce (Delaney_bruce@hotmail.com)
summed up his angst with:
They
can easily change that regulation about “only-DNA” - - What if the INNOCENCE
PROJECT actually lived up to its name by saving a man absolutely known to be
INNOCENT! Even DNA might well be involved. Who was IN that red truck, for
instance. Was it swabbed for DNA evidence…or anything else among hundreds of
possibilities at the Jumping Bulls’ property? Too bad INNOCENCE ITSELF is
beyond the purview of the “INNOCENCE PROJECT.’ (Email as originally sent; no
emphasis added.)
Red Truck? Really Harvey, in December 2014, you’re still
yakking about the infamous red pickup?
Has Harvey not paid the slightest attention to anything
but the myth and folklore that he certainly helped create? Do the admissions
from Peltier and others not matter at all from the original false narrative Peltierites
have labored with over these past four* decades? From Peltier’s own statements,
Dino Butler saying the whole Mr. X thing was a lie, the LPDC backing away from
that fable and one of his own attorneys admitting “…the Mr. X story was
concocted.” The examples are far too lengthy to mention here but are intimately
detailed in the link below (Footnote 1).
Missing from that list is now perhaps the most significant blunder and
burning evidence of the fabrication from none other than Harvey himself.
One question Harvey: Since Peltier’s Prison Writings, was “Edited by Harvey Arden.” Yes, you were the
editor…then:
Why
is there no mention of Mr. X or the red pickup in the book?
An oversight? An honest error while formatting? Hardly,
but instead a deliberate act to hide the lie. Do you and other Peltierites
really believe that omitting Peltier’s only alibi (that someone else who they
all knew killed the agents), a deceit perpetuated for nearly two decades would
simply disappear, or be forgotten in the fog of all the other fabrications of
folklore and myth? Not likely.
As difficult as it may be, Harvey, and Delaney and any of
the others who remain, recognize one thing; if nothing else, people have seen Peltier
for what he really is. Add in all the abuses of AIM, the greed and
self-indulgence of AIM leadership, the bodies yet to be uncovered at Wounded
Knee II, Peltier’s pandering for money that isn’t showing up and especially
those who have recognized that what happened at Jumping Bull had nothing to do
with Native America, except for the perversion of a proud heritage by Peltier
and the other AIM cowards that day. Peltier’s
years of fabrications, riddled with contradictions apparently bother his
followers little, if at all.
Peltier’s fortunes have passed. Supporters have dried up
(witnessed by the failed and pathetic fundraiser last year) and the President
too recognizes the last thing Peltier deserves is any consideration for his
crimes.
Neither clemency nor Peltier can stand on the mountain of
lies he has created.
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams” (Fn.2)
Ed Woods
Postscript:
Hatred? Harvey is mistaken. He, of all people, should
recognize passion when he sees it.
I’ll repeat what I have many times; I don’t hate Leonard Peltier. I will admit
that I had an incredibly strong dislike (yes, perhaps even hatred) for Bob
Robideau. He was a worthless human being, a disgusting and loathing creature
who slithered from the AIM cesspool. I felt that first-hand having to sit in
the same room in New York City with him and other equally disturbed far-left
loons of the Jericho Movement. (http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#Robideau-NYC)
I don’t hate Peltier, but will continue the passion to honor the memory and
sacrifice of Jack Coler and Ron Williams and doing all that’s necessary to
ensure justice continues and Peltier serves his remaining days at FCI Coleman.
Footnotes:
1) Uncovering the history of the lie of Mr. X and the
infamous red pickup:
2) Meet Jack Coler and Ron Williams; the victims of an
unrepentant, cold-blooded, and cowardly murderer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozhEumzwgKA
*More precisely 39 years since his arrest by the RCMP on
February 6, 1976.
