“Tribe members worry about Wampanoag image”

So says the understated headline from Sunday’s globe.

They should worry. We dealt with their now-deposed leader a few years ago. He was demanding, of all things, anti-terrorism funding. He was an absolute, name dropping thug, straight out of The Rascal King. When he didn’t get what he wanted from us, he threatened to go over our heads, then proceeded to drop a bucketful of names on our heads, most of them in DC. Turns out he wasn’t kidding.

After we turned him down we gave out boss a heads up that this guy might be calling again. His response? “He can keep calling as long as he wants. I’m not meeting with that bully again.”

At the time, they were still awaiting federal recognition that they were a tribe. We’re wary of a “tribal recognition process” that a) relies upon recognition provided by a congress that is easily bought and sold on a daily basis, and B) is nothing more than a prerequisite to Casino gambling.

The Wampanoags should be proud of themselves. Under Marshall's leadership, they’ve gone from being an unrecognized tribe to yet another well-connected labor union.