What does an authentic Indian who became a successful businessman and US senator the old fashioned American way--merit; remember that?--think of Elizabeth Warren checking off "Native American" in the minority alternative universe to juice her career, all the way from law professor at increasingly prestigious schools to running for the people's Senate seat formerly heavily sat on by Ted Kennedy?

Three-eighths northern Cheyenne Indian Ben Nighthorse Campbell,  who was Colorado's senator from 1993 until 2005, first as a Democrat but later as a Republican, said in the Daily Caller:

"I think if she used it just to get some kind of advantage - whatever it was - like a job application or something, then that's probably not appropriate," former Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell told The Daily Caller in an interview on Tuesday.

"If you have nothing to do with Indians at all - never - except to try to get some unfair advantage, then I think there's an ethical question in that," Campbell said. "I don't know if Mrs. Warren did that or not. Maybe not."

And what do other "high cheek boned" minority group members think of Professor Warren's kinship claims?

Warren "better be able to defend" her past claims of being an American Indian minority.

"Once you put that down, you better be able to defend it," Ray Ramirez of the Native American Rights Fund told TheDC on Monday.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Warren's native state of Oklahoma has an authentic Native American, in Congress, Tom Cole. Like Campbell, he is a Republican. Like Campbell, he is proud of his heritage but never exploits it, demeans it. Like Campbell, he succeeded by merit, not by checking a minority box or hoping "that I would be invited to a luncheon, a group something that might happen with people who are like I am."

And like Campbell, Cole helped his people, and all people, but not by playing professional minority victim. According to Cole's website

Cole is an advocate for a strong national defense, a tireless advocate for taxpayers and small businesses, and a leader on issues dealing with Native Americans and tribal governments. Cole was named as one of "Five Freshmen to Watch" by Roll Call at the outset of his congressional career.

(snip)

A former college instructor in history and politics, Cole holds a B.A. from Grinnell College, an M.A. from Yale University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma. Cole has been a Thomas Watson Fellow and a Fulbright Fellow at the University of London. He currently serves on the national Board of the Fulbright Association. He also is a member of the Congressional Advisory Board to the Aspen Institute.

Tom Cole is a fifth generation Oklahoman and an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation. He is currently the only Native American serving in Congress. He was awarded the Congressional Leadership award by the National Congress of American Indians in 2007 and was inducted in the Chickasaw Hall of Fame in 2004. Cole's late mother, Helen, is also a member of the Chickasaw Hall of Fame and served as a state representative, state senator and Mayor of Moore in her native state of Oklahoma. Cole's late father, John, served twenty years in the United States Air Force and worked an additional two decades as a civilian federal employee at Tinker Air Force Base.

Elizabeth Warren, stay at Harvard and its phony group think diversity where you will be invited to many luncheons and group somethings that will happen with people who are just like you. You wouldn't succeed in the amazingly less dysfunctional US Congress.