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Washington (CNN)--July 9th, 2020 The Supreme Court said Thursday that a large swath of eastern Oklahoma, including Tulsa, is Native American land for purposes of federal criminal law in a decision that the state argued could call into question thousands of state prosecutions for serious crimes. Justice Neil Gorsuch penned the 5-4 opinion joined by the liberals on the bench. "Today we are asked whether the land these treaties promised remains an Indian reservation for purposes of federal criminal law," said Gorsuch, who was appointed by President Donald Trump. "Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word," he said. Under the law, crimes involving Native Americans on a reservation are under federal, not state, jurisdiction. The unique case represented the opportunity for the Supreme Court to weigh in on the limits of tribal sovereignty and revisit the country's horrific history of displacing native tribes from their land. The question before the court involved a case brought by Jimcy McGirt, a member of Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, who argued that his case ought to be tried by the federal government because the crimes were committed on the land of historic Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The distinction of whether the large swath of eastern Oklahoma qualified as reservation land was key -- under federal law, major crimes committed by individuals on Native American land must be tried by the federal government. "The Supreme Court reaffirmed today that when the United States makes promises, the courts will keep those promises," Ian Gershengorn, a lawyer for McGirt who argued the case in May, said in a statement to CNN. "Congress persuaded the Creek Nation to walk the Trail of Tears with promises of a reservation—and the Court today correctly recognized that that this reservation endures."

If we look back into history we notice that every world superpower has eventually fallen one way or the other. If history is anything to go by that means that the USA will eventually and inevitably fall as the world superpower, be it militarily, economically or socially. Decadence, greed and lawlessness are big factors in the decline of a nation/civilization. It is well known that Viet Cong General Vo Nguyen Giap successfully used Sun Tzu's ideas and tactics to defeat the French and then USA. Have the US not learned the lesson after reading the 'Art of War' not to fight too many battles over long periods of time as it weakens the economy because of the great expenses and weakens the morale. I believe we are starting to see the decline of the USA, with Sept 11, then GFC, more recently accusations from Julian Assange, Bradley Manning and now Edward Snowden. What goes up, must come down? One mans' enemy, is another mans' hero, One mans' hero is another mans' enemy, I believe turning to 'The Tao' can change things for the better, to PEACE! Any constructive thoughts on the above?