John McCain is at it again. I'm frankly mystified at why he's in such a rush to close off scientific inquiry. Unless perhaps he's on the take from Indian casino money...

Maybe next year he'll sponsor a new law making it illegal to criticize sanctimonious Senators. Given their track record with his other anti-speech legislation, the Supreme Court would probably have no problem with it.

[Update at 12:20 PM EDT]

For those who, like the commenter, are wondering what this is all about, here's a good article describing the situation. And yes, a Google on "NAGPRA McCain" would provide many helpful links.

After reading your post and the blog you linked to, I still have no idea what the hell either of you is talking about (NAGPRA? Must I do a Google search to understand what I read?). A little context would be useful for those of us who don't live inside your brain.

Not for the first time has it occurred to me that the argument in court should simply be that the law doesn't apply since no peoples living the Americas are, or ever were, indiginous to the region. If the determining factor is the number of generations your ancestors have been here, I'm arguably indiginous since the ancestor of my surname arrived in the early 1600s.

Maybe the senator is trying to lock up the Navajo, Hopi, Apache, etc., vote in his home state.

That said, does anyone know if the views expressed in NAGPRA really reflect the opinions of most native Americans? Or, is this some politically savvy folks leveraging white guilt?

Finally, doesn't it seem reasonable if we intend to protect gravesites from destruction, that we ask that those gravesites to be identified?

As I've argued elsewhere, and in support of Joe, there are no native Americans. Those we think of as American Indians are more accurately referred to as Siberian Americans. Except for the early inhabitants of the Olduvai Gorge, everyone else on the planet is an immigrant, or a descendant of immigrants.

John L and others - Yes, I can see that the post isn't terribly illuminating if you're not already familiar with the issue. Rand's link should clear it up. (Or here's another that might be helpful.)