Logical Circles in Government - Whoda Thunk That?

There's a really interesting bill that just passed the house recently. It is legislation that allows for a kind of autonomy for native Hawai'ins in a similar, if not as extensive, framework that Native Americans have. This legislation is broadly supported by people in Hawai'i including all the Legislators and Senators and the Republican governor (not a native-born Hawai'in).

This bill has been stuck in committee after committee for a number of years because of veto threats, but now it seems that there is a veto-proof majority. The White House is threatening that veto because it suggests that the law basically subdivides Americans on the basis of race, which is directly unconstitutional. I basically agree.

However, and this is a huge however, the White House does not acknowledge that the coup organized in 1897 to overthrow the Hawai'in queen was also directly unconstitutional. The fact that native-born Hawai'ins are considered Americans which in turn means that they can't organize on the basis of race, is entirely based on a house of cards. If the initial action of annexing a territory through the obviously fraudulent methods employed in 1897 are deemed irrelevant than it seems plausible that the government can argue post fact that any action employed cannot be judged later on because that judgment is in turn unconstitutional. This seems like a bizarre circle of unreasonable madness.

As much as that makes me uncomfortable it also raises another question. I find it severely unlikely that any government on Earth has ever done any land grab by the book. It would be questionable if any government could legally defend themselves against the accusations of thievery and greed that are historically fundamental to the extension and protection of national and international borders.

This whole thing is quite an interesting sticky wicket. I'm not sure where to come down, although I must admit that emotionally I am quite strongly attached to the native-born Hawai'in position.