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Gold9472

03-29-2006, 07:47 PM

U.S. Rep. McKinney Accused Of Hitting Officer

http://www.channeloklahoma.com/politics/8343769/detail.html

(Gold9472: Time to get the posse together? Remember, her house was vandalized (http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8183) not too long ago.)

POSTED: 3:41 pm CST March 29, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., has been accused of hitting a Capitol Hill police officer.

Sources told WSB-TV in Atlanta that McKinney was involved in a disagreement with the officer at a security checkpoint at the Capitol.

One of the sources, a member of the House Republican Conference, confirmed that McKinney struck the officer.

The House sergeant-at-arms and a high ranking member of the Capitol Hill Police Department met with McKinney in her office Wednesday afternoon.

McKinney has refused multiple requests for a comment on the reports.

Capitol Hill police are also refusing comment.

Gold9472

03-29-2006, 08:09 PM

Ga. Congresswoman in Scuffle With Police

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/29/AR2006032901981_pf.html

By LAURIE KELLMAN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 29, 2006; 6:43 PM

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Cynthia McKinney and a police officer scuffled Wednesday after the Georgia Democrat entered a House office building unrecognized and refused to stop when asked, according to U.S. Capitol Police.

McKinney, a sixth-term congresswoman who represents suburban Atlanta, struck the officer according to one account, a police official said, adding there were conflicting accounts. The officer, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the incident, spoke only on condition of anonymity.

No charges were filed, police said.

Officials in McKinney's office refused two requests for comment.

Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said only that senior officials have been made aware of the incident and are investigating.

Members of Congress do not have to walk through metal detectors as they enter buildings on the Capitol complex. They wear lapel pins identifying them as members.

McKinney routinely doesn't wear her pin and is recognized by many officers, the police official said, adding that she wasn't wearing it when she entered a House office building early Wednesday.

By one police account, she walked around a metal detector and an officer asked her several times to stop. When she did not, the officer tried to stop her, and she then struck the officer, according to that account.

McKinney was defeated in 2002 after she implied on a talk radio program that the Bush administration might have had advance notice of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She won back the seat two years later with 64 percent of the vote.

Republicans circulated an e-mail noting that McKinney's party the same day announced an election-year "affirmation" of their commitment to shoring up the nation's security.

"On a day when the Democrats unveil their national security agenda, it's probably not a good idea to allegedly strike a police officer," said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

Gold9472

03-29-2006, 08:42 PM

Lawmaker scuffles with Capitol police
Accounts conflict after incident involving Georgia Democrat

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/29/mckinney.scuffle.ap/index.html

(Gold9472: Notice the difference in AP stories? Notice what CNN is willing to print, and isn't?)

Wednesday, March 29, 2006; Posted: 6:17 p.m. EST (23:17 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Cynthia McKinney and a police officer scuffled Wednesday after the Georgia Democrat entered a House office building unrecognized and refused to stop when asked, according to U.S. Capitol Police.

McKinney, a six-term congresswoman who represents suburban Atlanta, struck the officer according to one account, a police official said, adding there were conflicting accounts of exactly what happened. The officer, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the incident, spoke only on condition of anonymity.

McKinney's office did not immediately return a call for comment.

Members of Congress do not have to walk through metal detectors as they enter buildings on the Capitol complex. They wear lapel pins identifying them as members.

McKinney routinely doesn't wear her pin and is recognized by many officers, the police official said, adding that she wasn't wearing it when she entered a House office building early Wednesday.

By one police account, she walked around a metal detector and an officer asked her several times to stop. When she did not, the officer tried to stop her, and she then struck the officer, the official said.

McKinney was defeated in 2002 after she implied on a talk radio program that the Bush administration might have had advance notice of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She won back the seat two years later with 64 percent of the vote.

Gold9472

03-29-2006, 08:44 PM

You can read about Dennis Hastert here (http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3637).

Gold9472

03-31-2006, 01:24 PM

McKinney Cancels News Conference

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/8343403/detail.html

POSTED: 4:21 pm EST March 29, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Capitol Hill police plan to issue an arrest warrant today for Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.).

The warrant is related to the incident Wednesday when McKinney allegedly slapped a Capitol Hill police officer.

Charges could range from assault on a police officer, which is a felony carrying a possible five year prison term, to simple assault, which is a misdeamenor.

McKinney has canceled a news conference that she had scheduled for this morning to discuss the incident.

McKinney issued a statement yesterday saying she "deeply regrets" the confrontation with the police officer.

The six-term congresswoman apparently struck a Capitol Police officer when he tried to stop her from entering a House office building without going through a metal detector. Members of Congress wear identifying lapel pins and routinely are waved into buildings without undergoing security checks. The officer apparently did not recognize McKinney, she said in a statement.

Asked on-camera Thursday by Channel 2 Action News whether she intended to apologize, McKinney refused to comment.

"I know that Capitol Hill Police are securing our safety, and I appreciate the work that they do. I have demonstrated my support for them in the past and I continue to support them now," she said in the statement on her Web site.

Democrats and Republicans, meanwhile, engaged in a rhetorical scuffle over the incident.

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday labeled it "a mistake, an unfortunate lack of recognition of a member of Congress." She added that the police officer was not at fault.

"I would not make a big deal of this," said Pelosi, D-Calif.

Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., responded: "How many officers would have to be punched before it becomes a big deal?"

The dustup is the latest in a series of tangles for the roughly 1,200-officer Capitol Police department.

The department faces a difficult task -- protecting 535 members of Congress and the vast Capitol complex in an atmosphere thick with politics and privilege.

The safety of its members became a sensitive issue after a gunman in 1998 killed two officers outside the office of then-Republican Whip Tom DeLay of Texas.

More recently, police obeyed an order by an angry House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., to remove Democrats from a hearing room. Thomas later tearfully apologized on the House floor.

This year, during President Bush's State of the Union address, police drew criticism for first kicking antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan out of the House gallery, and then for evicting the wife of Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla.

Merle Black, a professor of politics at Emory University, says that while the scuffle was rare for an elected politician, it's unlikely to cost McKinney more than a few votes. Black says McKinney is in damage control -- cutting her losses by not insisting on right or wrong.

Partridge

03-31-2006, 01:35 PM

More recently, police obeyed an order by an angry House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., to remove Democrats from a hearing room. Thomas later tearfully apologized on the House floor.

What the fuggin fug!?!

Partridge

03-31-2006, 01:36 PM

Also, The House Ways and Means Committee sounds like a hip hop group.

Gold9472

03-31-2006, 01:38 PM

Gold9472

04-01-2006, 09:56 AM

Lawyer Says McKinney a Victim in Scuffle
Lawyer Says McKinney a Victim of 'Being in Congress While Black' After Reports of Scuffle

http://www.forbes.com/business/healthcare/feeds/ap/2006/03/31/ap2638730.html

By LAURIE KELLMAN
The Associated Press
4/1/2006

WASHINGTON - A lawyer for Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Georgia congresswoman who had an altercation with a Capitol Police officer, says she was "just a victim of being in Congress while black."

McKinney awaited word Friday on whether she would be charged for apparently striking the officer after she entered a House office building this week unrecognized and did not stop when asked.

Two law enforcement officials said it was unlikely a warrant would be issued this week. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Her lawyer, James W. Myart Jr., said, "Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, like thousands of average Americans across this country, is, too, a victim of the excessive use of force by law enforcement officials because of how she looks and the color of her skin."

"Ms. McKinney is just a victim of being in Congress while black," Myart said. "Congresswoman McKinney will be exonerated."

A spokeswoman for U.S. Capitol Police did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Members of Congress wear identifying lapel pins and routinely are waved into buildings without undergoing security checks. McKinney was not wearing her pin at the time, and the officer apparently did not recognize her, she has said.

"Congresswoman McKinney, in a hurry, was essentially chased and grabbed by the officer," Myart said. "She reacted instinctively in an effort to defend herself."

Several Capitol Police officials have said the officer involved asked McKinney three times to stop. When she did not, he placed a hand on her and she hit him, they said.

In a draft of a statement that McKinney did not release, she said the officer "bodyblocked" her during the incident, and she blamed his failure to recognize her on a recent makeover.

"It is ... a shame that while I conduct the country's business, I have to stop and call the police to tell them that I've changed my hairstyle so that I'm not harassed at work," McKinney said in the draft, which was obtained by WSB-TV of Atlanta and posted on its Web site.

An official close to McKinney said the statement was a "work product" never intended to be released.

A news conference scheduled for Friday morning was canceled. McKinney had issued a statement late Wednesday saying she regretted the confrontation.

"I know that Capitol Hill Police are securing our safety, and I appreciate the work that they do. I have demonstrated my support for them in the past and I continue to support them now," she said in the statement on her Web site.

Actor, Danny Glover was expected to appear at an early-evening news conference Friday with McKinney at Howard University.

That gave Republicans material to keep the criticism flowing.

"Rep. McKinney appearing with the star of 'Lethal Weapon'? Not exactly the message you want to be sending," said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

In January, during President Bush's State of the Union address, Capitol Police drew criticism for first kicking anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan out of the House gallery, and then for evicting the wife of Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla.

The department is tasked with protecting the 535 members of Congress and the vast Capitol complex in an atmosphere thick with politics and privilege.

The safety of its members became a sensitive issue after a gunman in 1998 killed two officers outside the office of then-Republican Whip Tom DeLay of Texas.

Gold9472

04-01-2006, 08:35 PM

Wayne Madsen's Take

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com (http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/)

March 31, 2006 -- For all those on the right-wing and the neo-con press like the fatally-flawed neo-con Atlanta Journal-Constitution who are reporting that Georgia Democratic Representative Cynthia McKinney will be arrested next week for an altercation with a Capitol Hill cop, unless the US Constitution has been suspended, McKinney cannot be arrested. The immunity clause -- Article 1, Section 6, of the U.S. Constitution -- protects members of Congress from harassment by law enforcement as they travel to and from Congress in the conduct of the business of either legislative chamber. Although the language is arcane, it appears the Capitol Hill cop was the first to breach the peace as a result of his incompetence in failing to properly identify a member of Congress. Most of these cops just stand around all day, the least they can do is study the provided photographs and learn the names of the members.

Every lobbyist and journalist worth a salt in Washington is capable of no less. Hey, main stream media, for once, could you please get it right?

Section 6. Clause 1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

In 1998, 84 Representatives and Senators were released after being stopped by police for driving while intoxicated, clear breaches of peace and felonies. All the members claimed congressional immunity. Congressional immunity is so well protected that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is not even permitted to inspect congressional buildings or offices for workplace hazards.

Note: with the Ford sentencing and the physical abuse of McKinney, is there any doubt that the GOP has been in charge of Washington for so long now, the days of Jim Crow have now re-emerged in the nation's capital? There's a disturbing smell in this town these days -- one of freshly laundered white sheets and pillow cases.

A reader who periodically visits this site as well as Democratic Underground inquired as to why we don't link to them. Based on the anti-McKinney comments on that site today, I will not link to any site that promotes the comments of Chauncey Gardner-like, TV-watching, lily-white sub-development residents, and unemployed and uninformed nitwits who constantly carp about those who are firmly committed to the left -- Cynthia McKinney, Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, George Galloway, Thabo Mbeki, and Mayor Ken Livingstone. On the other hand, anyone who criticizes Israeli expansionists and their AIPAC/ADL allies is roundly locked out of the discussions.

As far as Democratic Underground is concerned, it's merely a question of "mind over matter." I don't mind them and they don't matter.

aceace

04-01-2006, 09:05 PM

Wayne rocks

Gold9472

04-01-2006, 09:06 PM

He's a good man.

beltman713

04-01-2006, 09:24 PM

Good Doctor HST

04-01-2006, 09:29 PM

I think the officer had a duty to stop her and find out who she was. Weather or not he should have known who she was, he didn't. If he hadn't have stopped her, and she wasn't a congress person and she then went into the building and shot someone, people would be asking why he didn't do his job and stop her. It's a no win situation for this guy. He's a racist if he stops her, he's not doing his job if he doesn't.

I agree with Beltman 100% on this.

I think all of the racist talk is getting to be a little far-reaching.... like the NAACP needs something to rally around, and they're making a mountain out of a molehill.

She's been talking about "inappropriate touching" by the officer too; it was brought up Friday at the rally I saw on C-SPAN. I guess the video of the altercation will show the truth.

beltman713

04-01-2006, 09:32 PM

He should have tasered her ass.

beltman713

04-01-2006, 09:35 PM

I read she has a history of these types of things. Accusing people of racism when something didn't go her way.

Gold9472

04-01-2006, 10:15 PM

PhilosophyGenius

04-02-2006, 12:07 AM

Capital Hill aint no public park, its where our nations leaders are. So if a guard tells you to stop you stop or else things are bound to happen. If anything the guard was too easy on her because what if she had a bomb on her, she would have been in range to take people out.

And it's cheap of her to play the race card like she's doing.

And on a side note: I didn't know she got her job back. Good for her.

jetsetlemming

04-02-2006, 12:23 AM

I think that's what the right want you to think. I honestly haven't looked too deeply into the PTB slandering someone who's helped the movement. Everyone in D.C. has skeletons in the closet. They wouldn't be human not to.
How could you call it "slander" when there's a tape of it? It's not exactly "he-said-she-said". Of course, the right's gonna rag on it, but since when can anyone do anything without their opposition jumping on it?

Gold9472

04-03-2006, 06:27 PM

Arrest Warrant Sought for Rep. McKinney

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060403/ap_on_go_co/mckinney_scuffle

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer 13 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - U.S. Capitol Police on Monday sought an arrest warrant for Rep. Cynthia McKinney after she tangled with a uniformed officer last week. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein said he was reviewing the merits of the case.

"We are working with Capitol Hill police to fully understand and appreciate the incident," principal assistant U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Neither Phillips nor the police department would say what charge was being sought against the six-term Democrat or when any warrant for her arrest might be issued.

In a statement, Capitol Police said it "has referred its investigative findings to the U.S. attorney." Filing such an affidavit is the first step in obtaining an arrest warrant. Only if Wainstein approves the affidavit can Capitol Police officials ask a judge to issue the arrest warrant.

McKinney spokesman Coz Carson acknowledged the investigation.

"We're aware that the wheels are turning in Washington," Carson said. "We have no control over what they decide to do. We will make the appropriate statement and take the appropriate action once we know where they're going."

For her part, McKinney said she expects to represent her suburban Atlanta district for many years.

"Rest assured, I am doing the work they sent me to Washington to do. Nothing is going to keep me away from my responsibilities," McKinney told a crowd of supporters in Atlanta on Monday.

McKinney, 51, scuffled with a police officer on March 29 when she entered a House office building without her identifying lapel pin and did not stop when asked. Several police sources said the officer, who was not identified, asked her three times to stop. When she kept going, he placed a hand somewhere on her and she hit him, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

McKinney issued a statement of regret for the incident but no apology. She and her lawyers have repeatedly declared that she was a victim of inappropriate touching and racism and said they were considering pursuing civil action against the officer.

Asked Monday why she didn't stop as the uniformed officer asked, McKinney framed the matter in terms of race.

"The issue is racial profiling," she said on CNN's "The Situation Room."

She and her attorneys have refused to say whether she hit the officer as alleged. James Myart Jr., her lawyer, suggested on the same program that McKinney acted in self-defense.

Black clergy and lawmakers came to the defense of the firebrand congresswoman on Monday. McKinney smiled as her supporters heaped praise on her leadership and her new look — her trademark cornrows replaced earlier this year by a curly brown afro.

Her supporters tried to minimize the incident — which they called political, not criminal — but they also suggested it was an example of racial profiling. They called publicity surrounding the episode a distraction that is being used by "her enemies" to keep the congresswoman from performing her elected duties.

The Rev. Reverend Darrell D. Elligan, president of Concerned Black Clergy, called McKinney competent, courageous and committed.

"She has our support unconditionally," Elligan said. "She is not a threat to the security of our country."

Gold9472

04-03-2006, 06:29 PM

McKinney Admits Misusing Taxpayer Money

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/8442213/detail.html

(Gold9472: She admitted to it, and is reimbursing them. Unlike people like Tom DeLay, Scooter Libby, etc...)

POSTED: 3:40 pm EDT April 3, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Cynthia McKinney admits that she broke government rules by spending money to fly a celebrity to Atlanta.

Channel 2 Action News has uncovered documents showing McKinney, D-Ga., spent about $1,000 of taxpayer's money to fly singer Isaac Hayes to Georgia to help dedicate a new office in Atlanta.

The money came from a fund members of Congress are supposed to use for office supplies.

Using the money to pay for Hayes' airline ticket and hotel expenses is a violation of strict congressional rules. Those rules state that taxpayer money can only be used for "travel by Members, Members' employees and vendors. A vendor is an employee of a private company that provides maintenance and support for equipment and software..."

Watchdog groups call taxpayer-funded celebrity travel a blatant waste of taxpayer money.

McKinney staffers say they will reimburse the congressional fund for the cost of Hayes' flight and hotel room.

Gold9472

04-03-2006, 06:58 PM

Black Leaders Show Their Support For Cynthia McKinney
Thanks to www.bradblog.com

Click Here (http://www.ameratsu.com/media/vid/cnn/cnn_pl_mckinney_arrest_briefing_060403a_348x196.wm v)

Gold9472

04-03-2006, 07:41 PM

How could you call it "slander" when there's a tape of it? It's not exactly "he-said-she-said". Of course, the right's gonna rag on it, but since when can anyone do anything without their opposition jumping on it?

Where's the tape?

jetsetlemming

04-03-2006, 08:21 PM

*shrug* Congress.

Gold9472

04-04-2006, 05:00 PM

Capitol Police To Be Commended

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/georgia/news-article_wxia.aspx?storyid=78193

4/4/2006

According to published reports, two Republican members of Congress are set to introduce a resolution commending the U.S. Capitol Police department, which has been accused of racial profiling by Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-4th Ga.).

The resolution, authored by Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina and Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida, could be voted on this week, and is on the heels of McKinney’s altercation with a Capitol police officer last week.

McKinney was stopped after going around a metal detector at a security checkpoint. Members of Congress wear a lapel pin that permits them to bypass security. McKinney was not wearing her lapel pin.

When the Capitol police officer grabbed McKinney’s arm, she turned around and struck the officer.

A federal prosecutor is now considering a request by the Capitol police for an arrest warrant for McKinney. That warrant could be issued as soon as Tuesday.

Gold9472

04-04-2006, 05:00 PM

Two Republicunts.

Gold9472

04-04-2006, 06:22 PM

Cynthia McKinney Regrets: But Won’t Apologize

http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_27264627.shtml

By Mike Bates
Apr 4, 2006

Last week Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney found a new way to multitask with her cellphone. It’s alleged the Georgia Democrat poked a U.S. Capitol Police officer with her phone when he thoughtlessly challenged her for bypassing a House office metal detector.

Ms McKinney made the usual excuses. The incident happened because she’s black. Because she’s female. Because she’s “progressive.” If those oldies but goodies don’t work, she may turn to a more original defense: PTHD, post traumatic hairstyle disorder.

Atlanta’s WSB TV’s Web site posted a statement made by the congresswoman and then withdrawn. In it she says:

“The US Capitol Police mission statement makes no distinction about selective application of its mission depending upon whether a Member of Congress is black, woman, or has a new hairstyle. But, honestly, this incident is not about wearing a Congressional pin or changing my hairstyle. It is true that I have changed my hairstyle. . . Do I have to contact the police every time I change my hairstyle?

“I have agreed to try to remember to wear my pin and to notify Capitol Hill police every time I change my hairstyle. . . It is, however, a shame that while I conduct the country’s business, I have to stop and call the police to tell them that I’ve changed my hairstyle so that I’m not harassed at work.”

Cynthia’s fixation on her new do aside, the incident would not have occurred if she’d been wearing the label pin all House members are issued. The emblem allows them to avoid normal security procedures.

She asserts she is now doing her gosh darn best to remember to wear the pin. That’s disingenuous. In her first term in Congress, in 1993, she refused to wear it. So the matter is far from a novelty for her.

The congresswoman called in the media last Friday evening. She may have characterized it a press conference, but it was really a Support Cynthia McKinney rally. Representatives of the National Organization for Women and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People were there to demonstrate their solidarity.

So were entertainers Harry Belafonte and Danny Glover, who earlier this year were in Venezuela cheering socialist leader and America hater Hugo Chavez. The celebrities have become permanent house Negroes, to use a term employed by Belafonte, in service on the Far Left plantation.

Harry’s description of President Bush as “the greatest terrorist in the world” is indicative of where he is on the political spectrum. So his support of McKinney, who’s espoused wacky conspiracy theories (she’s asked if the president knew about 9/11 in advance and did nothing to stop it), is hardly unexpected. Nor is the has-been’s efforts to get his name in the news a few more times before he heads for that people’s republic in the sky. His last big hit was recorded the same year Ms McKinney was born, 1955.

Rally participants claimed the police officer was at fault for not instantly recognizing McKinney. They described her as having a face recognized around the world. That may be true in Havana or Caracas or other anti-American hotspots, but not here.

Most of us wouldn’t know our own congressman if we tripped over him. Ms McKinney’s image may be well-known among fringe elements, but that’s about it. Expecting officers to know all 435 House members by sight isn’t reasonable, less so if any of them are sporting new and improved dos.

As this is written, no decision has been made by the U.S. Attorney’s office on issuing a warrant for the congresswoman’s arrest. If it were you or I who scuffled with a police officer, how long do you think the bureaucracy would dawdle while deciding whether or not to press charges?

It was eight years ago that two Capitol Police were killed while on duty. Subsequently, security was ratcheted up. The events of 9/11 make Washington safety measures even more important.

Ms. McKinney has used the perfunctory I deeply regret the incident happened line. She hasn’t apologized for hitting the officer, who she contends instigated the incident by inappropriately stopping and touching her.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi terms the confrontation a mistake caused by “an unfortunate lack of recognition of a member of Congress.” I see. It was the police officer who was at fault.

If arrogant, self-absorbed members of Congress don’t wish to use the identification provided them to avoid security measures, eliminate the procedure. Let the prima donnas be treated like all those commoners who are paying the freight. Maybe then post traumatic hairstyle disorder sufferers like the Honorable McKinney won’t feel so victimized.

PhilosophyGenius

04-04-2006, 11:04 PM

Word is she also walked past a metal detector.

Good Doctor HST

04-04-2006, 11:12 PM

According to published reports, two Republican members of Congress are set to introduce a resolution commending the U.S. Capitol Police department, which has been accused of racial profiling by Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-4th Ga.).

Here come the Republicans.... A resolution COMMENDING the police for doing their job.... suck-ups.......

Once again, where's the videotape?

Gold9472

04-05-2006, 09:37 AM

Capitol Police Chief Denies Racism Charge

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060405/ap_on_go_co/mckinney_scuffle

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
47 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - U. S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said Wednesday that Rep. Cynthia McKinney turned an officer's failure to recognize her into a criminal matter when she failed to stop at his request, and then struck him.

"He reached out and grabbed her and she turned around and hit him," Gainer said on CNN. "Even the high and the haughty should be able to stop and say, 'I'm a congressman' and then everybody moves on."

For her part, McKinney wasn't backing down from the argument. She charged anew that racism is behind what she said is a pattern of difficulty in clearing Hill security checkpoints.

Gainer said that racism, however, was not a factor.

"I've seen our officers stop white members and black members, Latinos, male and females," he told CNN. "It's not an issue about what your race or gender is. It's an issue about making sure people who come into our building are recognized if they're not going through the magnetometer, and this officer at that moment didn't recognize her."

"It would have been real easy, as most members of Congress do, to say here's who I am or do you know who I am?" Gainer added.

Police also have said that McKinney was failing to wear a pin that lawmakers are asked to display when entering Capitol facilities.

But she said Wednesday: "Face recognition is the issue .... The pin doesn't have my name on it and it doesn't have my picture on it, and so security should not be based on a pin ... People are focused on my hairdo."

The Georgia Democrat, appearing on CBS's "The Early Show" Wednesday, recently dropped her trademark cornrows in favor of a curly brown afro.

"Something that perhaps the average American just doesn't understand is that there is a heightened sense of a lack of appropriateness being there for members who are elected who happen to be of color," McKinney said, "and until this issue is addressed by the American public in a very substantive way, it won't be the last time."

Last Wednesday's incident in a House office building has caused a commotion on Capitol Hill, where security in the era of terrorist threat is tighter than ever and where authorities had to order an evacuation just Monday because of a power outage.

McKinney has garnered little support among fellow Democrats in her feud with the Capitol police. No one in her party chose to join her at a news conference last Friday to discuss the situation, and the event was canceled.

As a federal prosecutor considers whether to press assault or other charges against her, Republicans presented a resolution commending Capitol police for professionalism toward members of Congress and visitors — even though they "endure physical and verbal assaults in some extreme cases."

"I don't think it's fair to attack the Capitol Police and I think it's time that we show our support for them," said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., a sponsor of the measure. Ignoring a police officer's order to stop, or hitting one, "is never OK," McHenry said.

Some GOP members have said the McKinney incident serves to underscore Democratic insensitivity to security concerns.

Gold9472

04-05-2006, 09:40 AM

It's amazing how the Press can completely ignore the 3 commission's chaired by McKinney regarding 9/11.

Gold9472

04-05-2006, 03:26 PM

DeLay Says He'll File Ethics Complaint Against McKinney

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?print=yes&id=13784

by Robert B. Bluey
Posted Apr 04, 2006

Soon-to-retire Rep. Tom DeLay (R.-Tex.) said today he would file an ethics complaint against Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D.-Ga.) for striking a Capitol Police officer should no other House member do so first.

DeLay’s comments came during a wide-ranging interview at his Capitol Hill office with reporters, including HUMAN EVENTS Editor Terry Jeffrey.

“If nobody in this House files an ethics charge, I am,” DeLay said in response to a question about McKinney. “Her behavior is outrageous. And it’s not the only time.”

DeLay was asked if he supported the Capitol Police’s actions following the incident with McKinney, which took place last week when she bypassed a metal detector and a police officer stopped her.

“You bet,” he said.

“It’s outrageous behavior,” he said about McKinney. “Had it been Tom DeLay, the Ethics Committee would have met the next day.”

The subject of McKinney came up after DeLay recounted a fond memory he had of a Capitol Police officer killed in the line of duty. When asked about his best and worst days as a lawmaker, he said his best day was the GOP’s sweep in 1994.

The worst day, he recalled, was July 24, 1998, when Capitol Police Detective John Gibson was shot to death by Russell Weston Jr. in DeLay’s office. Fellow officer Jacob “J.J.” Chestnut was also killed that day protecting the congressman’s staff from the gunman.

The episode prompted DeLay to erect a tribute to Gibson on his office wall. He told reporters that a plaque he keeps in his office with the words “This Could Be the Day” serves as a reminder of Gibson, who had discussed its meaning with DeLay only two days before he was killed.

Gold9472

04-05-2006, 03:29 PM

BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!

Gold9472

04-05-2006, 03:29 PM

BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!

Gold9472

04-05-2006, 03:30 PM

BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!

Gold9472

04-05-2006, 03:31 PM

Somebody see my eyeballs anywhere? I just laughed so hard they fell out of my sockets.

Gold9472

04-05-2006, 03:38 PM

Seriously... I'm blind without them.

jetsetlemming

04-05-2006, 03:42 PM

“It’s outrageous behavior,” he said about McKinney. “Had it been Tom DeLay, the Ethics Committee would have met the next day.”

HE SPEAKS IN THIRD PERSON! OMG! O.o;;;;;;;;;;;;

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 08:53 AM

Grand Jury to Hear McKinney Run-In Case

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/06/AR2006040600289.html

By MARK SHERMAN
The Associated Press
Thursday, April 6, 2006; 6:03 AM

WASHINGTON -- The announced resignation of a powerful Republican congressman usually would be enough scandal for one week on Capitol Hill. Instead, a Democratic congresswoman has grabbed the spotlight since her run-in with a Capitol Police officer.

Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., is accused of striking an officer after he tried to stop her from entering a House office building without going through a security checkpoint.

A federal grand jury will soon begin hearing evidence about the incident, a lawyer familiar with the case said Wednesday.

The lawyer, who declined to be identified because of grand jury secrecy, confirmed that federal prosecutors had agreed to get involved in the case.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who on Tuesday abandoned his re-election bid under a cloud of ethics charges, weighed in on Wednesday, saying McKinney, who is black, "is a racist." The officer she allegedly struck is white.

"She has a long history of racism," DeLay, R-Texas, said on Fox News Channel. "Everything is racism with her. This is incredible arrogance that sometimes hits these members of Congress, but especially Cynthia McKinney."

U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said McKinney turned the officer's failure to recognize her into a criminal matter when she failed to stop at his request, and then struck him.

"He reached out and grabbed her and she turned around and hit him," Gainer said on CNN. "Even the high and the haughty should be able to stop and say, 'I'm a congressman' and then everybody moves on."

McKinney wasn't backing down. She charged anew that racism is behind what she said is a pattern of difficulty in clearing Hill security checkpoints.

"This has become much ado about hairdo," she said Wednesday on CBS' "The Early Show." McKinney recently dropped her trademark cornrows in favor of a curly brown afro.

Last Wednesday's incident in a House office building has caused a commotion on Capitol Hill, where security in the era of terrorist threat is tighter than ever and where authorities had to order an evacuation just Monday because of a power outage. Capitol Police have turned the McKinney case over to U.S. Attorney Kenneth Wainstein.

Republicans, meanwhile, presented a resolution commending Capitol police for professionalism toward members of Congress and visitors, even though they "endure physical and verbal assaults in some extreme cases."

"I don't think it's fair to attack the Capitol Police and I think it's time that we show our support for them," said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., a sponsor of the measure.

Some GOP members have said the McKinney incident serves to underscore Democratic insensitivity to security concerns.

"I've seen our officers stop white members and black members, Latinos, male and females," he told CNN. "It's not an issue about what your race or gender is. It's an issue about making sure people who come into our building are recognized if they're not going through the magnetometer, and this officer at that moment didn't recognize her.

"It would have been real easy, as most members of Congress do, to say here's who I am or do you know who I am?" Gainer added.

Police also have said that McKinney was failing to wear a pin that lawmakers are asked to display when entering Capitol facilities.

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 11:21 AM

Grand Jury to Hear McKinney Run-In Case

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060406/ap_on_go_co/mckinney_scuffle_23

By LAURIE KELLMAN and MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer
Wed Apr 5, 9:09 PM ET

WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury will soon begin hearing evidence about Rep. Cynthia McKinney's run-in with a Capitol Police officer, a lawyer familiar with the case said late Wednesday.

The lawyer, who declined to be identified because of grand jury secrecy, confirmed that federal prosecutors had agreed to get involved in the case in which a black lawmaker is accused of striking a white officer after he tried to stop her from entering a House office building without going through a security checkpoint.

U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said McKinney turned the officer's failure to recognize her into a criminal matter when she failed to stop at his request, and then struck him.

"He reached out and grabbed her and she turned around and hit him," Gainer said on CNN. "Even the high and the haughty should be able to stop and say, 'I'm a congressman' and then everybody moves on."

"This is not about personality," added House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. "It's not about racial profiling. It's about making this place safer."

For her part, McKinney wasn't backing down from the argument. She charged anew that racism is behind what she said is a pattern of difficulty in clearing Hill security checkpoints.

"This has become much ado about hairdo," she said Wednesday on CBS' "The Early Show." McKinney, a Georgia Democrat, recently dropped her trademark cornrows in favor of a curly brown afro.

The police aren't the ones who are racist, one Republican said.

"Cynthia McKinney is a racist," Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said on Fox News Channel's "Fox and Friends," a day after abandoning his reelection bid under a cloud of ethics charges. "She has a long history of racism. Everything is racism with her. This is incredible arrogance that sometimes hits these members of Congress, but especially Cynthia McKinney."

Last Wednesday's incident in a House office building has caused a commotion on Capitol Hill, where security in the era of terrorist threat is tighter than ever and where authorities had to order an evacuation just Monday because of a power outage.

Capitol Police have turned the case over to U.S. Attorney Kenneth Wainstein, who must decide whether to clear the way for any charges against McKinney. An official in his office said no announcement was expected Wednesday.

McKinney has garnered little support among fellow Democrats in her feud with the Capitol police. No one in her party chose to join her at a news conference last Friday to discuss the situation.

Republicans, meanwhile, presented a resolution commending Capitol police for professionalism toward members of Congress and visitors — even though they "endure physical and verbal assaults in some extreme cases."

"I don't think it's fair to attack the Capitol Police and I think it's time that we show our support for them," said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., a sponsor of the measure. Ignoring a police officer's order to stop, or hitting one, "is never OK," McHenry said.

Some GOP members have said the McKinney incident serves to underscore Democratic insensitivity to security concerns.

Gainer said that racism, however, was not a factor.

"I've seen our officers stop white members and black members, Latinos, male and females," he told CNN. "It's not an issue about what your race or gender is. It's an issue about making sure people who come into our building are recognized if they're not going through the magnetometer, and this officer at that moment didn't recognize her."

"It would have been real easy, as most members of Congress do, to say here's who I am or do you know who I am?" Gainer added.

Police also have said that McKinney was failing to wear a pin that lawmakers are asked to display when entering Capitol facilities.

But she said Wednesday: "Face recognition is the issue .... The pin doesn't have my name on it and it doesn't have my picture on it, and so security should not be based on a pin ... People are focused on my hairdo."

"Something that perhaps the average American just doesn't understand is that there is a heightened sense of a lack of appropriateness being there for members who are elected who happen to be of color," McKinney said, "and until this issue is addressed by the American public in a very substantive way, it won't be the last time."

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 11:22 AM

I'm getting angry.

ThotPolice

04-06-2006, 02:55 PM

ThotPolice

04-06-2006, 03:08 PM

Oh wait! Danny Glover was there??? Well a celebrity changes things! We should execute that racist cop! I mean he is white and a cop, Why think? He is obviously a bigot.

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 03:39 PM

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 03:49 PM

Congresswoman in Capitol Fight Apologizes

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/mckinney_scuffle

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
15 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - With a grand jury investigating and little support from House colleagues, Rep. Cynthia McKinney reversed course and apologized Thursday for an altercation in which she entered a Capitol building unrecognized, refused to stop when asked by a police officer and then hit him.

"I am sorry that this misunderstanding happened at all and I regret its escalation, and I apologize," McKinney, D-Ga., said during a brief appearance on the House floor. "There should not have been any physical contact in this incident."

The grand jury investigation into whether to seek assault or other charges was continuing. It was unclear what impact the McKinney apology might have.

Her remarks came as two House officials who witnessed the March 29 scuffle prepared to answer subpoenas from the grand jury convened by U.S. Attorney Kenneth Wainstein. A day earlier, McKinney was shunned on the House floor by several colleagues, while the leaders of her party openly rejected her explanation that she was acting in self defense when she hit the officer.

What McKinney called a "misunderstanding" on Thursday she had labeled "racial profiling" and "inappropriate touching" a day earlier. For nearly a week, she and her lawyers had insisted that she had been assaulted and had done nothing wrong. She is black and the police officer is white.

McKinney, 51, has a history of confrontations with officers.

In this case, she entered a House office building without passing through the metal detector that screens visitors. Members of Congress are permitted to bypass the machines, but she was not wearing the pin that identified her as a House member at the time.

The officer, whose name has not been made public, has said he asked McKinney three times to stop. She did not.

Terrance Gainer, outgoing chief of the Capitol Police, has said the officer placed a hand on her and she responded by hitting him. He said McKinney's race was not a factor.

The incident has embarrassed Democrats, including fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus, none of whom has publicly defended her behavior.

The caucus' silence stands in contrast to its investigations of past scuffles between the U.S. Capitol Police and members.

One such probe occurred in 1990, when the caucus investigated whether Rep. Mickey Edwards, R-Okla. poked a black female Capitol Police officer and shouted curses at her after she had denied entrance to an Edwards staffer who did not have a House identification card with her.

A year later, the caucus investigated an incident in which a Capitol Police officer allegedly denied Rep. Louis Stokes, D-Ohio, entrance to the garage of a House office building because the officer did not believe Stokes was a member.

Republicans initially responded to the McKinney incident by advancing legislation to commend the Capitol Police for their professionalism.

Two House aides who witnessed the confrontation were subpoenaed Wednesday to testify before the grand jury.

Lisa Subrize, executive assistant to Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (news, bio, voting record), R-Mich., and Troy Phillips, senior legislative assistant to Rep. Sam Farr (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., notified Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Bob Jackson, a spokesman for McCotter, said that Subrize witnessed the confrontation and immediately filled out a form for the Capitol Police, describing what she saw.

A spokeswoman for Farr declined comment.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who on Tuesday abandoned his re-election bid under a cloud of ethics charges, weighed in on Wednesday, saying McKinney "is a racist."

"She has a long history of racism," DeLay, R-Texas, said on Fox News Channel. "Everything is racism with her. This is incredible arrogance that sometimes hits these members of Congress, but especially Cynthia McKinney."

On Wednesday, McKinney had charged anew that racism was behind what she said was a pattern of difficulty in clearing Hill security checkpoints, arguing that officers assigned to protect Congress members should recognize her, even without her congressional pin.

"This has become much ado about hairdo," she said on CBS' "The Early Show." McKinney recently dropped her trademark cornrows in favor loose curls.

PhilosophyGenius

04-06-2006, 04:40 PM

McKinney's appology has gots to be embarassing to whoever stood up fo' her and tried to play the race card.

jetsetlemming

04-06-2006, 04:59 PM

ThotPolice... you don't think the idea exists that maybe she's being set up? Her home was just vandalized in January. She was driven out of office, only to win her seat back with a 64% showing... it is possible. Especially when you take into account what the Republicans are doing with this. They want her out of D.C. in a big way.
She admited it happened. She's not trying to say she didn't hit the cop, but rather she was "defending herself" from his evil racist tyrrany. Oh, the humanity.

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 07:38 PM

Cynthia McKinney Apologizes

Click Here (rtsp://video.c-span.org/15days/e040606_mckinney.rm)

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 07:40 PM

No mention of the applause on the news.

ThotPolice

04-06-2006, 08:23 PM

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 08:30 PM

Fair but, how did they make her hit the officer?

It is possible she is feeling threatened, and is a bit jumpy. Isn't?

ThotPolice

04-06-2006, 08:36 PM

Why not apologize to the White and African communities for belittling race issues and criminalizing a man for being white.

Her being active in 911 truths aside, why is racism against whites taken so casually?

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 08:38 PM

ThotPolice

04-06-2006, 08:43 PM

It is possible she is feeling threatened, and is a bit jumpy. Isn't?There are people saying she is racist, She wasn’t wearing her pass pin, she says its race and gender, then changes her story the next day.

Jumpy sure, but it sounds as if he put his hand on her, said stop, words were exchanged and she smoked him. She is saying they should recognize her she has had problems at the check point before, so she probably knew thats why she was being stoppped again.

Why not wear the pass?

I admit I don't know the story with this congresswomen, she sounds like she has done some good, this incident though is regrettable.

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 08:44 PM

Look... she struck the officer. By apologizing, she admits to it. She initially reacted to it poorly, and she apologized for it. She was correct to say that no one should have put a hand on her.

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 08:46 PM

There are people saying she is racist, She wasn’t wearing her pass pin, she says its race and gender, then changes her story the next day.

Jumpy sure, but it sounds as if he put his hand on her, said stop, words were exchanged and she smoked him. She is saying they should recognize her she has had problems at the check point before, so she probably knew thats why she was being stoppped again.

Why not wear the pass?

I admit I don't know the story with this congresswomen, she sounds like she has done some good, this incident though is regrettable.

Some people say... reminds me of Outfoxed. Ever see it?

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 08:47 PM

I'm not changing the subject... I will address what you said, dependent upon your answer.

ThotPolice

04-06-2006, 08:48 PM

Look... she struck the officer. By apologizing, she admits to it. She initially reacted to it poorly, and she apologized for it. She was correct to say that no one should have put a hand on her. I just am generally tired of the race and gender card being played as if it has no consequence and is doing no harm.

It was a good move on her part to apologize for sure.

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 08:49 PM

I just am generally tired of the race and gender card being played as if it has no consequence and is doing no harm.

It was a good move on her part to apologize for sure.

A lot of people are, but we don't know the whole story. Did her lawyer tell her to play the race card? Lord knows Johnny Cochran LOVED it.

ThotPolice

04-06-2006, 08:56 PM

I’ve seen wag the dog kind of the same isn't it? I am fully aware of our spin and smear culture, she is too apparently and she tried to spin this into race and victimization while smearing the white officer.

Because I read one persons view that she is racist does not mean I believe it, though I do wonder why she hit him, then played the race/victim card as if unremorseful as well she further victimized him by playing the race/gender card.

Just looking at the incident in question.

ThotPolice

04-06-2006, 09:00 PM

A lot of people are, but we don't know the whole story. Did her lawyer tell her to play the race card? Lord knows Johnny Cochran LOVED it.It's just that playing the race card criminalizes whites or men or whoever. It also perpetuates stereotypes, it is an act of prejudice in fact it capitalizes on and creates prejudice.

Not good.

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 09:01 PM

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 09:02 PM

.

BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!! that's hysterical...

Oops... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... I was PMing... somebigguy, and accidentally typed my reply here... hold on a sec.

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 09:02 PM

http://www.911podcasts.com/default.php?cat=1&med=0&ord=Name&strt=0&vid=51&epi=0&typ=0

That's what he showed me.

ThotPolice

04-06-2006, 09:06 PM

http://www.911podcasts.com/default.php?cat=1&med=0&ord=Name&strt=0&vid=51&epi=0&typ=0

That's what he showed me. What pen and tellers bull shit?

I heard that radio call in to the show on after O&A, very well spoken, are you going on as a guest?

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 09:12 PM

What pen and tellers bull shit?

I heard that radio call in to the show on after O&A, very well spoken, are you going on as a guest?

If they call me, sure.

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 09:14 PM

It's just that playing the race card criminalizes whites or men or whoever. It also perpetuates stereotypes, it is an act of prejudice in fact it capitalizes on and creates prejudice.

Not good.

So you would have rather her make a specialized apology. Addressing a specific wrong for the apology.

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 09:18 PM

You never answered me... did you see Outfoxed?

ThotPolice

04-06-2006, 09:22 PM

So you would have rather her make a specialized apology. Addressing a specific wrong for the apology. No like I said that was a good move on her part. Just, this kind of thing in general is wrong, too common and damages all sort of things. Thats all.

What should I be looking at in that link from your convo w/ SBG?

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 09:24 PM

No like I said that was a good move on her part. Just, this kind of thing in general is wrong, too common and damages all sort of things. Thats all.

What should I be looking at in that link from your convo w/ SBG?

www.911podcasts.com

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 09:24 PM

Oh.. the blah blah blah symbol I use... he posted it next to my radio appearance. I thought it was funny.

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 09:26 PM

ThotPolice

04-06-2006, 09:27 PM

I did ansewr your "Out Foxed" question.

I’ve seen wag the dog kind of the same isn't it? I am fully aware of our spin and smear culture, she is too apparently and she tried to spin this into race and victimization while smearing the white officer.

Because I read one persons view that she is racist does not mean I believe it, though I do wonder why she hit him, then played the race/victim card as if unremorseful as well she further victimized him by playing the race/gender card.

Just looking at the incident in question.

Gold9472

04-06-2006, 09:29 PM

You need to watch that movie. It applied to all mainstream networks.

ThotPolice

04-06-2006, 09:33 PM

You need to watch that movie. It applied to all mainstream networks. I will rent it tommorow! Actualy you are the 5th person to tell me I need to see it, so I guess I better!

ThotPolice

04-06-2006, 09:36 PM

oops, I mean, I will watch it on the provided link tonight!

Thank you

Partridge

04-07-2006, 08:56 AM

Good God! She smacked a copper (we've all wanted to at some point, and if you don't admit it you're a liar). From all the coverage this is getting you'd swear she was the reincarnation of Nat Turner.

And if what Madsen says that "In 1998, 84 Representatives and Senators were released after being stopped by police for driving while intoxicated, clear breaches of peace and felonies. All the members claimed congressional immunity" is true, then that's what should be outrageous to everyone.

And I'd well believe it, because here in Ireland we have a similiar rule - and we are also one of only two or three EU countries that has a bar (the alcohol serving kind) in our Houses of Parliament. (Yes, we're still doing our best to live up to those old stereotypes!).

ThotPolice

04-09-2006, 10:35 AM

Some people say... reminds me of Outfoxed. Ever see it?So what is the relevance of Out Foxed here? Dude I have not watched fox news, ever, especially during this war, anyone with any reasonable amount of comprehension should be able to see fox news is more trash theater than info source.

I do hope you see that liberal media can sometimes be guilty of the somewhat of the same nonsense like Bill Mar focusing on the 7 min wait time after the president was told about the attack oooooh stuff like that makes the left look stupid. Yes george bush is an obvious PR Prez can we move on!

Did this congresswomen not try to exploit the liberal medias bias and try and spin her ill actions into a story of race and gender victimization?

Every one is a proponent of a point of view, it is just about keeping an open mind.

Media sources should be judged on how open their "minds" are, I don't think anyone with an open mind watches fox news.

Gold9472

04-09-2006, 11:16 AM

So what is the relevance of Out Foxed here? Dude I have not watched fox news, ever, especially during this war, anyone with any reasonable amount of comprehension should be able to see fox news is more trash theater than info source.

I do hope you see that liberal media can sometimes be guilty of the somewhat of the same nonsense like Bill Mar focusing on the 7 min wait time after the president was told about the attack oooooh stuff like that makes the left look stupid. Yes george bush is an obvious PR Prez can we move on!

Did this congresswomen not try to exploit the liberal medias bias and try and spin her ill actions into a story of race and gender victimization?

Every one is a proponent of a point of view, it is just about keeping an open mind.

Media sources should be judged on how open their "minds" are, I don't think anyone with an open mind watches fox news.

You said, "There are people saying she is racist", and it reminded me of a segment from the movie that focused on how news pundits say, "Some people say" in order to inject an opinion.

The people who are saying she is a racist are people like Tom DeLay, and Dennis Hastert.

jetsetlemming

04-09-2006, 06:20 PM

I say she's a racist. She's trying to say the cop grabbed her just because he was white and she was black. What's not racist about that?

ThotPolice

04-10-2006, 03:38 PM

You said, "There are people saying she is racist", and it reminded me of a segment from the movie that focused on how news pundits say, "Some people say" in order to inject an opinion.

The people who are saying she is a racist are people like Tom DeLay, and Dennis Hastert. I think the fact she hit the white cop, then either on her own or in agrement w/ her lawyers decided to paint the victimized cop a racist and bigot. Might imply something about her opinion of white men.

Had it happend before katrina gave every one a case of the race card blues, she just might have got away with it.

ThotPolice

04-10-2006, 03:40 PM

I say she's a racist. She's trying to say the cop grabbed her just because he was white and she was black. What's not racist about that?I agree, this is what I mean when I say racism towards whites being so easy to brush off. So casual.

PhilosophyGenius

04-10-2006, 04:20 PM

A black person playing the race card, what are the odds of that happening.

jetsetlemming

04-10-2006, 05:09 PM

I think the fact she hit the white cop, then either on her own or in agrement w/ her lawyers decided to paint the victimized cop a racist and bigot. Might imply something about her opinion of white men.

Had it happend before katrina gave every one a case of the race card blues, she just might have got away with it.
I'm assuming she believes what she is saying. In that case, in her mind, she was stopped because the cop was white. His whiteness versus her blackness was the inspiration for him tom stop her. Had he been black, or she been white, she'd have been let through. This scenario in her mind assumes that all white men are out to "get" her and put her in her place or something, and she was fully justified in hitting him because he, by preventing someone he didn't recognize from entering capitol hill without going through the metal decectors or showing ID, was intentionally commiting a race crime against her. Of course, if she knows she fucked up and was just saying that to try and get away with hitting a cop, she's a degenerate and should be demoted to street sweeper or waste disposal plant employee.

Gold9472

04-10-2006, 08:11 PM

The Rebuking and Scorning of Cynthia McKinney

http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/3903

By David Vest
April 10, 2006 - 1:55pm

A Washington press corps that stood idly by while Bush and Cheney plundered the country, wrecked the environment, spied on Americans without a warrant, tortured civilians and lied the country into a war that will only get worse, woke up one morning and collectively decided: "Let's all play Get Cynthia!"

Let's get her for being too outspoken, bringing up the wrong issue at the wrong time, failing to get with the program, becoming a distraction, leaving House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi beside herself with rage.

Let's get her because, hell, she practically volunteered for it, and besides, she's an easy target, standing practically alone, fired upon at will by Republicans -- who seem to think her story cancels out DeLay, Abramoff, Katrina and Iraq -- and virtually undefended by Democrats, except by the rolling of eyes heavenward, as though to say, "Oh, please! We're not responsible for HER!"

Rep. Cynthia McKinney has now apologized for her part in the face-off at Checkpoint Cynthia. It was not enough to stop the cartooning of the coverage. Already the news wires are spinning her statement as a complete about-face, an abandonment of everything else she has said about the incident. Look, she said there was racial profiling in Washington! Look, now she's apologizing!

Journalists are reporting this story as though it were their job to "get" her, breathlessly revealing that the woman who receives more hate mail than Teddy Kennedy employs a part-time bodyguard, as though it proved something about her mental state.

But note, please, Rep. McKinney did not take back anything she has said about racial profiling in the nation's capitol. And the fact remains that, while each day's mail brings a new wave of personal threats, some of the people charged with protecting her affect not to recognize her. A Republican colleague offered the suggestion that she could announce "I am a Member of Congress" each time she passes a security checkpoint. But McKinney has served for eleven years, not eleven minutes.

Here's a test of media fairness: how many times, over those eleven years, have you seen Rep. McKinney on CNN, NBC, ABC, or CBS, asked to explain her views on Iraq and the Middle East? Not once, you say? Read on for the "why come" of it all.

The leaders of her own party turn their backs while she endures the most vicious racial stereotyping I've seen, since the last time I looked at that old KKK rag called the "Thunderbolt" when a fellow college student stuck a copy in my face back around 1963. "I know it's probably racist," he said, "but it's funny," as if that would have made it all right.

It wasn't funny, it was disgusting, and I don't think what's happening to Rep. Cynthia McKinney is funny now. Much of the commentary seems to have been written by the same sort of people who say they don't agree with Rush Limbaugh, they just listen to him for "entertainment." (Anybody out there who listens to Rush for entertainment, please get your eyes off of my words, I've got nothing to say to you and I sure as hell don't want to "amuse" you.)

Two-party collusion in the destruction of a reputation is the story here, folks. For Pelosi, the affair is "not something we need to focus on." Judging by Dennis Hastert's comments, Checkpoint Cynthia was the biggest national security event since 9/11.

Rep. Tom DeLay called McKinney a racist. Nothing DeLay said would surprise me, and that comment was no exception. What did surprise me was that I couldn't find any stories quoting any Democrats saying, "Tom DeLay called somebody a racist? Tom DeLay?!"

Oh, I know. They didn't want to take the bait, fall into the trap, keep the ball in the air for another news cycle. But really, how can they stand this? How can anybody?

Right wingers, aided by Democrats, are spinning McKinney as "arrogant," "haughty," a "nut-case," even "the madwoman McKinney" -- a woman who, just between us pros, wink wink, doesn't understand how "the game" is played.

She understands the game all right. She just refuses to play it. When CNN's Soledad O'Brien, trying to take control of an interview, said to McKinney, "Let me stop you there," what came back on her was something spoken in a tone rarely used toward a TV personality: "You can't stop me, Soledad."

And you can't control me, she might have added, and you can't dictate your own framing of the issues with me.

How easy it is for people who don't have a history of having their right to be present challenged, to counsel others to be more "calm" and "sensible" when provoked.

How easy it is to imagine a senior party member sitting down with Rep. McKinney, patiently and paternalistically explaining that politics is the art of compromise, sweetie. We all know what's supposed to be meant by that, but what kind of compromise do we really want our elected representatives to make with racial profiling, warrantless wiretapping, torture, and a war founded on lies?

The Democratic Party has already compromised this country into desperate straits, going along to get along with Bush. It has been so long since one of them stood ground on anything, we're all shocked when it happens.

Cynthia McKinney is standing firm, with little visible support, but then she has stood alone before. Like that time when she actually voted to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, when given the chance. She was joined by only two other members of the House. The Republicans dared the Democrats to vote for withdrawal, and the Dems all frantically denounced the maneuver as a trap. McKinney seized the moment and called their bluff. Is that what her critics have in mind when they call her a "nut-case" or even worse names?

If she's a nut-case, then maybe we need to send some more crazy people up in there.

She stood alone in 2002, when power brokers in her own party recruited a Reagan Republican stalking horse to defeat her, after McKinney expressed support for Palestinian rights and was among the first to call for an investigation of the Bush Administration after 9/11. The party line at that time was that "we've all got to stand behind the president" in the Wonderful War on Terror.

And then, when McKinney rose from the political dead and returned uninvited from the oblivion they had consigned her to, and reclaimed her seat without anyone's special blessing, other than the voters of her district, the Democrats in the House celebrated her historic comeback by refusing to restore her seniority.

That was Nancy Pelosi's way of saying, "You will comply."

They wanted to keep Crazy Cynthia away from the microphone, of course they did. Out of sight, out of mind. Can't have our elected officials running around saying the same things the public is saying about the war on Iraq! Makes us look bad! And thus it comes to pass that we get news stories saying things like, "Since returning to Washington, McKinney has kept a lower profile until last week's incident," as if keeping quiet on public matters was her own idea.

The incident with the Capitol Police wasn't about her hair. It wasn't about the identity pin. It's about the fact that when you are female, black, antiwar, and militant, invisibility looks good on you, from where the pro-war Dems sit.

Some of us are old enough to remember that many Democrats accused Martin Luther King, Jr. of "ingratitude" when he began to speak out against the Vietnam War. That was the very moment when, in the eyes of many who had previously and publicly despised him, he was transmogrified into the Great Civil Rights Leader, who had now "gone too far" and "risked" damaging the wonderful "reputation" he had earned, not to mention all the "progress for his people" that (hint, hint) could be rolled back if a "backlash" were provoked.

Vestiges of this view persist today in some quarters. William F. Buckley has said (recently) that he regrets that National Review opposed Civil Rights. He has not, insofar as I am aware, expressed a hint remorse for not supporting King in trying to stop the war in Vietnam.

So now, today, we have Rep. McKinney calling Israel to account, demanding justice for Palestinians, questioning what happened on 9/11, giving no quarter on racial profiling, and voting against the war in Iraq.

How are the do-nothing Democrats supposed to get the benefit of the antiwar crowd, if there are people running around actively voting against the war?

They act as though they believe all the country really needs is not to end the disaster in Iraq but to let the "good guys" run it.

The noble John "Nobody Spins Me" Kerry writes an op-ed calling for not one but TWO deadlines in Iraq (top that, Hillary!) and the whole party has a conniption fit because all anyone can talk about is this uppitty Black woman who won't let security or anybody else, including party leadership, manhandle her.

Nancy Pelosi had her party theme all picked out: we were all supposed to be talking about Tom DeLay and this "Republican culture of corruption," and if anyone pressed us on Iraq, we were to demand, with one mighty voice (are you ready? all together now ...) "that 2006 be a significant period of transition" in Iraq.

The Democratic Party, in splendid unison, calling upon American sons and daughters to hurl their bodies into the immolating fire, for the sake of "a significant period of transition" -- who could resist?

How different from that other voice, that Black voice from Georgia, joined by a handful of others, saying "Bring the troops home. Stop this war. Now."

You begin to get a pretty clear idea why the Democrats have never asked McKinney to give the rebuttal after a Bush State of the Union.

And as for the Republicans, with few exceptions, they don't ever intend to let another person of color claim to be a victim of racism without attacking her credibility. Not one more. (Recall how patiently they explained to us all that what happened in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina "wasn't about race.")

Let them convene their grand jury and push their polls. Maybe one day a polling agency will call you, to ask what you think about white folks telling people of color that they're wrong to feel that anything, anything, is ever about racism.

Before judging Rep. McKinney, ask yourself, what kind of person would still be in public service, after setbacks and sabotage attempts like these? What kind of person would keep reporting for duty after being consistently disrespected, and repeatedly challenged to "identify" herself after 11 years in Congress? And then to be mocked and attacked for her refusal to meekly "comply" when physically prevented from going to cast a vote.

You got a bit of the answer if you saw Rep. McKinney on CNN with Wolf Blitzer. I liked it when she refused to let him control the conversation, but I have to tell you, we stood up and cheered at my house when she told Blitzer, "Don't even begin to twist my words."

Among the comments at our table that evening was, "Why can't SHE be president?"

ThotPolice

04-10-2006, 08:50 PM

Except this is not about her past it is just about the incident at hand, there was no excuse for her actions. You think it is O.K. she punched the cop then played the victim?

That is just it; we can’t judge her any differently just because she is a black woman. What if the situation was reversed white male embattled congress man not using the check point not wearing a pass, a black female cop stops him, he punches her, then cries victim as she is black, a woman and a cop and tries to make it about him being victim of race and gender?

It’s absolutely ridiculous now huh? It should be ridiculous either way but its not.

I am not saying she hasn't been the victim of racism, but is being the victim of racism at some point in your life an excuse to punch white cops doing thier job?

Gold9472

04-10-2006, 09:21 PM

ThotPolice

04-10-2006, 10:13 PM

The point of posting that is that they mentioned how the press jumped on it, while the President can murder 3000 people, and get away with it.Her opponents are going to jump all over this, that’s low, but expected. Reminds me of Cheney's little shooting accident. It goes both ways.

What really blows my mind is even if the official story on 911 was the truth our war over 3000 dead American civilians has caused the death of 100,000+ Middle Eastern civilians. No one ever points that out in the press either.

BTW what is your source on the Middle East civilian death toll? I’ve heard 30,000-300,000?

Gold9472

04-11-2006, 08:36 AM

Her opponents are going to jump all over this, that’s low, but expected. Reminds me of Cheney's little shooting accident. It goes both ways.

What really blows my mind is even if the official story on 911 was the truth our war over 3000 dead American civilians has caused the death of 100,000+ Middle Eastern civilians. No one ever points that out in the press either.

BTW what is your source on the Middle East civilian death toll? I’ve heard 30,000-300,000?

New Study Shows 250,000 Civilian Deaths In Iraq As A Result Of The Invasion (http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7932&highlight=250%2C000)

Gold9472

04-11-2006, 01:10 PM

THE BELOVED CYNTHIA McKINNEY
A White Ex Cop Speaks Out About a Georgia Congresswoman

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/041106_beloved_mckinney.shtml

by Michael C. Ruppert

April 11, 2006 1300 PST (FTW) - ASHLAND -Cynthia McKinney is a friend of mine. Until the day I die she will be a friend of mine. More than that, she will be a role model and an inspiration that I don’t ever expect to be equaled, let alone surpassed. Full disclosure.

Out of several dozen Op-Eds, news reports and commentaries on the now-infamous so-called “cop-slapping” event of March 29th, I haven’t seen a single one that, from my perspective, got it right. So right up front, let me say that if I am forced to look at this one snapshot incident, divorced from context and history, then yes, my very good friend messed up. It shouldn’t have become as big a deal as it has and she bears some responsibility for that. But if I look at the event as part of a continuum of the life of congress, or the life of this nation, and (no less importantly) of the life of this woman, things look and feel a whole lot different.

The virulent, spit-dripping, white, racist commentators from Boortz to DeLay and the oh-so-PC and dainty black Democratic pundits, columnists and pols who pick Cynthia McKinney apart—pretending to defend her while putting her black butt on the E-Bay auction block for November—are actually allies. They both want her to go away. They both want the issues that have come too close to public recognition in this case to go away. Leaders from left and right, black or white, cannot bear the thought of actually looking deeper at what happened with Cynthia McKinney and what it means.

Let me give you an historical hint. As a rule wars, are generally started over big events, (e.g. the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, Pearl Harbor, North Korea’s Army Crossing the 38th parallel). Revolutions are generally started over less memorable things (e.g. “Let them eat cake,” a tea tax, some government troops opening fire on unarmed demonstrators). People of all colors and political persuasions understand that underlying both wars and revolutions are monstrous icebergs of unresolved inequity. So it is with Cynthia McKinney. And it is her hairdo (new or old, take your pick) that now sits atop an iceberg that both right-wing whites and bought-off blacks would like to go away.

I have walked the halls of Congress with Cynthia McKinney maybe eight to ten times. I have walked into and out of the Cannon and Longworth house office buildings with her. I have walked to hearings in the Rayburn house office building with her. I have walked the underground tunnels from one of those office buildings directly to the edge of the House floor and its anteroom with her. I can tell you one thing for certain because I have seen it and I have felt it. Cynthia McKinney and her staff get treated differently from just about anyone else on the Hill. It’s subtle, but so is the taste of dirt when it’s in your mouth.

ICEBERGS
Between 1974 and 1977, as I prowled the streets of “The Jungle” in South Central L.A. (in uniform and later as a detective and undercover narc) I knew little about being human. The Jungle is the place where “Boyz in the Hood” and Denzel Washington’s “Training Day” were filmed. I was a good cop, a very good cop. I didn’t have any sustained personnel complaints. My rating reports were always “outstanding.” The law-abiding citizens by and large trusted me when they saw me. My liberal education at UCLA had at least partially sensitized me to a world that seemed impossible to understand—a world that scared me just as much as it enticed me with its opportunities for heroism, peer recognition, and self-acceptance. My father had been a war hero and I wanted to know if I was cut from the same cloth.

I was known for being aggressive; eager to embrace danger; a budding, brilliant investigator; and an unmatched report writer. I was a “hard-charger” as they called it in those days. Perhaps the best role model I had as a cop was a black LAPD Captain by the name of Jesse A. Brewer who also taught me about leadership, friendship and loyalty.

I didn’t need to beat up innocent people because the streets where I worked were full of guilty people: robbers, burglars, heroin dealers, wife beaters, rapists, and car thieves. I was on the streets (and not far away) the night the Symbionese Liberation Army were roasted like marshmallows after making the mistake of trying to shoot it out with my brothers in blue. We were all men in those days, no women. I was on the streets for months before and after the time when every LA cop had a fear of making a routine traffic stop and facing an automatic weapon, a rocket launcher, a bomb, or a Molotov cocktail. Tense times.

For several years I averaged between 20 and 30 felony arrests per month—good arrests. Who had time to go after innocent people just because they were black? Also in those days, I also used the word “nigger” about 15 times a day. It was the culture. It was my ignorance. In the 1970s, LAPD reports used the official word Negro to describe African-Americans and before I joined LAPD in 1973 I had seen or talked to only around 20 black people in my whole life: maids, taxi drivers, bellmen—you know “colored people.” I talked like those around me talked. I thought it was cool.

As front-page stories in the Herald Examiner described me in 1981, I was “… a white kid from Orange County in a blue uniform sent to a black ghetto.”

The one thing I could not understand for about fifteen years after that was the maybe half-dozen different black men who had approached me in futility and rage, tearing open their shirts and looking at me with absolute sincerity as they said, “Shoot me. Go ahead, shoot me. I got nothing to lose.” They meant it, and it mattered not at all what the last incident was that had taken place before they snapped with that sublime mix of rage and complete despair. A lifetime of inequalities, social and economic; injustices, past and present; and frustrations, ever present; had pushed those men beyond their breaking point. It took me a while to get to that point, but I got there too, and now I understood something about being black.

Through two decades of 12-Step work, intense spiritual effort and personal therapy I have seen my errors, felt genuine remorse, and made my amends. One of those amends came in 1996 when—in a face-to-face confrontation with a CIA director—I challenged the same government I had once protected for smuggling hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States, where much of it was intentionally routed to the inner cities.

Since then, and on more than one occasion, Black America, and black individuals in America have saved my life. No one rushed to take a bullet for me. No, what was done for me was to give me acceptance, support, friendship, a meal and some soul. You can do a lot with a little bit of soul.

Among all of the African Americans I know—and there are many—Cynthia McKinney stands head and shoulders above the rest. Screw her hairdo; It’s the woman’s mind and heart that need to be considered here.

Flash forward a couple of decades from the late 1970s.

It’s now 2000 and my little newsletter From The Wilderness is steadily growing as we look at issues like US Government covert operations in Colombia, death squads, the global drug trade, the prison-industrial complex, drug money flowing into Al Gore’s presidential campaign, PROMIS software and a then little-known company named Halliburton. My friend Al Giordano of the Narco News Bulletin brought Cynthia McKinney to my attention. I emailed her and she responded almost immediately.

There was an immediate friendship. Cynthia McKinney was the first member of congress I had met (about 15 at the time) who actually seemed to be a human being who actually gave a hoot and who actually comprehended all the government criminality people were talking about. She responded to emails. She took phone calls. She actually cut checks from the Treasury to subscribe to FTW. She bought our videos and reports and…she read them. She handed them out.

She asked questions and didn’t pretend to know everything. She read. She listened. She understood.

And then came 9/11.

There are millions of Americans who still have major unanswered questions about the attacks of September 11th. Some are wives, husbands, and children of the victims. Some, like me, are investigative journalists. Many are just average people who could never swallow the galactic inconsistencies of the government account and who have refused to succumb to pressure for conformity. Cynthia McKinney was the one to ask “What did the Bush administration know and when did it know it?” about the scores of detailed warnings received by the administration in the months before the attacks. Contrary to one account from a black commentator recently, she has never retracted that question.

For that question, she was tarred and feathered in the press. From her long-standing support of Palestinian rights and objections to Israeli strong-arm tactics in the occupied territories emerged a new double-edged motive to remove her from congress at all costs. Cynthia McKinney was an un-American, anti-Semitic supporter of terrorists!

An Oreo black candidate named Denise Majette emerged as lots of money poured from the coffers of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) funded not only a hate campaign against McKinney, but in support of her opponent as well. Illegally, thousands of Republican voters crossed over to vote for the Oreo in the primary while the seat stayed safely Democratic, and all were quietly relieved when Cynthia didn’t even make it to the general election.

Cynthia McKinney will tell you that I and the entire 9/11 movement stayed with her loyally throughout her two-year imposed vacation. And I believe she will tell you that it was in part because we organized fundraisers for her and kept her name out there that she made it back—to everyone’s surprise except ours—in 2004.

Cynthia McKinney had been the only member of congress to ask real questions about 9/11. And she didn’t stop or forget when she got back either. More than that, she continued to do—no matter what—the things that her conscience bade her to do as an African-American woman who is anything but a racist (unless you want to refer to the human race). In hearings she questioned Donald Rumsfeld about the multitude of wargame exercises I had identified in my book Crossing the Rubicon. She asked repeated questions about 9/11 in repeated hearings and no one on the Democratic side backed her up when her questions were brushed aside, ignored and forgotten. She also kept up her support for the rights of the oppressed everywhere and she didn’t change one single note of her sheet music or its cadence.

She held the only hearing on Capitol Hill where investigators, authors, and families questioning the official version of 9/11 had a voice. She invited me, Wayne Madsen and Ray McGovern to act as questioners at that hearing, and she was the only member of congress to sit through that hearing.

She was there for the victims of Katrina and Rita who fled as refugees to Atlanta last fall. She was there to protect black culture and black history through her Tupac bill. She was there for her constituents and for all of the disenfranchised, battered, demoralized, and desperate Americans of all colors who had come to see her as “the politician of last resort.”

End Part I

Gold9472

04-11-2006, 01:11 PM

PLATE TECTONICS
Almost every armchair pundit (left or right) who has criticized Cynthia McKinney has told only part of her story.

When she was returned to congress, her party, overlooking well-documented procedure with a number of historical precedents, refused to give her back the seniority to which she was entitled. In terms of committee assignments, instead of being a six-term senior member of her committees, she was a freshman. This placed her last on the list of questioners, last in terms of pecking order, last in terms of recognition, and last in terms of agenda setting. She was denied her old spot on the House Foreign Relations committee. She was moved further and further away from the coveted and influential title of “ranking member” that she should have been approaching. Should the House revert back to Democratic control this year she might have even chaired a committee. God forbid!

They did throw the Negro woman McKinney a bone in the form of a nicer office than before (the only place where her true seniority was recognized). “Here bitch, drive this Cadillac and shut up!”

While House Democratic leadership under Nancy Pelosi of California has been brutal to Cynthia McKinney, the treatment afforded her by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has been equally despicable. Not only did the CBC not fight for McKinney’s legitimate seniority, it also seems that they have taken pleasure in snubbing her. Solidarity my ass.

One anecdote paints the picture pretty clearly.

Last fall, after I had acted as a questioner for two panels sponsored by McKinney at the CBC’s annual convention, I was surprised as she handed me a ticket to the CBC formal banquet. This is a big annual event and I sat just a few tables away from John Kerry. Howard Dean was a few tables past Kerry. More than a thousand people, dressed to the nines, filled a crowded ballroom.

Cynthia was a no-show and it didn’t take long to figure out why. As every black member of Congress was introduced by seniority, starting with the Honorable John Conyers of Michigan, Cynthia McKinney’s name was saved for last. Even the Congressional Black Caucus could not recognize a sister’s seniority and service, not even when it wouldn’t have cost them a thing.

Where was Cynthia during that dinner? She wasn’t there. She was off violating a direct order from Nancy Pelosi not to attend a massive anti-war rally on the Mall. She was standing with Cindy Sheehan. She was giving a speech denouncing the war in Iraq and the Bush administration. She was doing her job. I sat at McKinney’s table next to my ad hoc dinner partner Kathleen Cleaver, weeping over the insult on McKinney. Not once since have I seen Cynthia McKinney even flinch over it.

I have watched Cynthia McKinney quietly and gracefully endure monstrous insults, sleights and provocations that I could never keep silent over. I have watched the world wait for a misplaced burp or worse from her and I have watched her refuse to take the bait on at least fifty occasions.

Are revolutions started because those in revolt rise to offered bait? I think not.

In the case of Cynthia McKinney and the Capitol Hill Police officer, I, like the rest of those reading this story, have not seen what happened. There may be a tape that will surface at some point as we wait to see whether a grand jury will indict her on idiotic charges of assault. I don’t know whether the Capitol Hill Cop was white or black, young or old, a rookie or a veteran. I wish it all hadn’t happened and I’d bet Cynthia feels the same way.

But then again…

THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT OF MY LIFE
In the spring of 2004 as I was arranging a speech and fundraiser for Cynthia McKinney in Los Angeles wherein we visited a small local museum of the civil rights movement. It was only about two miles from where I had once worked. Pictures of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy triggered painful memories for me. As I stood transfixed looking at a picture taken circa 1965 of an LAPD black and white with two helmeted officers wielding batons high above their heads in a street fight with blacks, Cynthia McKinney walked up and stood beside me. Quietly, so that only I could hear she said, “That’s what you used to do when you used to be white.”

Human being.

John Kennedy and even Dwight Eisenhower were forgiven for having affairs. Bill Clinton was forgiven for a dozen crimes. Ronald Reagan was forgiven for everything. Who will dare call it justice when and if Cynthia McKinney is not forgiven and approved of for being real? There is an easy way for most people to avoid reaching their limits and the risk of being embarrassed. The first rule is: don’t do anything risky. Don’t stretch the envelope.

With 2,400 American KIA in Iraq, with the US economy ever-shrinking for the poor and middle classes, with US government corruption reeking like a rotting Elephant in the African sun, with voting rights being violated in a gentrifying and whitening New Orleans, with the crimes of 9/11 not only unsolved but covered up by both Democrats and Republicans, there would seem to be many reasons why the envelope needs to be ripped apart a bit.

I have little hope for it now. All the “just get along” folks seem to be winning the day and my friend Cynthia McKinney has some big choices ahead for her. I and many others will be doing all we can from around the country to get her re-elected again this year if that’s what she asks.

But let me say this clearly: If Cynthia McKinney wants to start a revolution over a cop who touched her, or anything else, I’ll welcome it and I know damn well which side I’ll be on.

End

Gold9472

04-15-2006, 11:32 PM

The persecution of Cynthia McKinney

http://www.workers.org/2006/us/mckinney-0420/

By Monica Moorehead
Published Apr 15, 2006 1:08 PM

On March 29, Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia reportedly had a physical altercation with Capitol Police as she attempted to enter the House of Representatives building in Washington, D.C. The African-American congresswoman stated at a March 31 press conference that an officer who stopped her at the metal detector entrance treated her with suspicion as she tried to gain entrance to her office. She added that House representatives are usually able to bypass the detector because they are recognized by the authorities, whether they wear special lapel pins or not.

Although the nationality of the officer in question has still not been identified, McKinney stated that she was a victim of racial profiling. At a March 31 press conference at Howard Uni ver sity, McKinney went on to say, “This whole incident was instigated by the inappropriate touching and stopping of me, a female Black congresswoman. I deeply regret this incident occurred, and I am certain that after a full review of the facts, I will be exonerated.”

Not waiting for a full review of the case, McKinney has been tried and found guilty by the big business media and her collea gues. The former House majority leader, Republican Tom Delay, labeled McKinney a “racist.” Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, has refused to speak to her.

After speaking privately to some members of the Congressional Black Caucus on April 5, McKinney formally apologized for the incident on the House floor on April 6. Even with this public apology, the Capitol Police and federal prosecutors are determining whether to seek a warrant for McKinney’s arrest for allegedly striking the officer.

Real issues behind the backlash
It is important to understand why the right-wing and ultra-right politicians have used this particular incident to launch an all-out racist offensive against Cynthia McKinney while, at the same time, so-called liberal politicians have all but abandoned her and treated her like a social pariah. Some of these same Democrats view McKinney’s actions as an unhelpful distraction as the elections loom ever larger.

Millions of African Americans and other peoples of color can identify with McKinney being a victim of racial profiling. There isn’t a person of color in the U.S. who has not been either the direct or indirect victim of police scrutiny or outright harassment, whether they live in a poor, urban area or if they are an elected politician like McKinney.

It is crucial that McKinney receive the benefit of the doubt in this case because racism is endemic throughout U.S. society in many forms and transcends class barriers.

McKinney’s political history is also an important factor. She is an articulate, outspoken Black woman who has taken many progressive stances since she became the first Black woman elected to the Georgia state legislature, in 1988, and the first African American woman from Georgia to serve in the U.S. House of Represen ta tives, beginning in 1992.

McKinney initiated conferences exposing the imperialist role of U.S. corporate interests in Africa, including the Congo. She openly accused the U.S. government of conspiring to allow the 9/11 attacks to happen. She has spoken at numerous rallies against the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq and cutbacks in social programs. In 2002, she lost her seat in the House when the right-wing mobilized against her. She won her seat back during the 2004 elections.

McKinney will be a central figure in the upcoming documentary “American Blackout,” which calls for a full investigation of the disenfranchisement of Black voters during the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.

The right-wing likes to go after an influential figure who visibly stands up and defends the rights of the most oppressed, and this is the main reason why they have seized on this latest incident to politically persecute Rep. Cynthia McKinney.

Gold9472

04-19-2006, 01:05 PM

McKinney report cites assault with 'closed fist'

http://ajc.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=McKinney+report+cites+assault+with+%27closed +fist%27&expire=&urlID=17958439&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ajc.com%2Fmetro%2Fcontent%2Fm etro%2Fdekalb%2Fstories%2F0419natmckinney.html&partnerID=553

By BOB KEMPER
Published on: 04/19/06

The official police report on Rep. Cynthia McKinney's clash with a Capitol Hill police officer three weeks ago says the DeKalb County congresswoman struck the officer "in his chest with [a] closed fist."

The "event report" — obtained Tuesday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution — describes the altercation as an assault on a police officer.

The officer involved in the incident, identified as Paul McKenna, filed the report with his supervisors immediately after the incident occurred at 8:55a.m. March 29.

The report for the first time provides specific details of what happened when McKenna tried to stop McKinney from going around a security checkpoint at a House office building.

There had previously been reports that McKinney "stabbed" the officer with a cellphone or that she slapped McKenna with an open hand.

McKinney said she was the victim of racial profiling and that the officer had touched her inappropriately when he tried to stop her.

But under pressure from House Democrats and the Congressional Black Caucus, McKinney, a Democrat, apologized for the incident on the House floor last week.

McKinney's office declined to comment on the report Tuesday, saying it involved a pending legal matter.

The report does not identify McKinney by name. It only describes her and identifies her as a suspect.

That's routine procedure for Capitol Hill police, who list the identities of lawmakers and congressional aides involved in incidents only on confidential supplemental reports, police familiar with the process said.

McKinney's age — 51 — is also reported incorrectly. The report lists her as 40. Congressional and police authorities, however, confirmed the report's authenticity.

The decision as to whether McKinney will be charged remains in the hands of a grand jury in Washington.

U.S. Attorney Ken Wainstein turned the matter over to the grand jury two weeks ago. Chuck Canterbury, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he met last week with McKenna and asked him to consider filing a lawsuit against McKinney.

Canterbury also called on McKinney to apologize directly to McKenna.

Partridge

04-19-2006, 01:11 PM

http://www.counterpunch.org/blankfort04172006.html

Six years ago this May, Lantos was driving his car in Washington, D.C., and ran over the left foot of 13-year-old Owen Sanderson. Sanderson and his eighth grade classmates from a school in Bolton, Mass., were crossing the plaza in front of the Capitol when the congressman drove over the boy's foot, sending him to the pavement screaming in pain, the boy and his teachers told the press. Lantos then left the scene without getting out of his car to see whether the boy had been hurt.

As the Boston Globe described it, "While several horrified teachers and the principal shouted at Lantos to stop, the California Democrat sat rigidly, staring straight ahead and refusing to get out of his white Ford Taurus, which carried U.S. Congress plates."

"The first thing I heard was Owen screaming," said Ken Tucker, principal of the Worcester-area school. "Owen's foot was pinned under the car."

Lantos, 72 at the time, finally reversed slightly, freeing Owen's foot and ankle, and drove off without checking on his condition, said Tucker and several teachers. Lantos said he had no idea the boy had been hurt. "I was driving to my office," he said. "There was a typical spring mob of tourists and kids and so on. … One of the kids, horsing around, not looking or something, jumped in front of the car, stumbled, then got up and walked away."

Owen's teachers and principal were dismayed at what they saw as insensitivity and arrogance by a government official, the Boston Globe reported. "If he had stopped and spoken to us, we would have had a much different response to this," said Malin, the art teacher. "It's called human decency."

Youngsters "learn too often in life that if you have money and power, you're above the law," said Perkins, the school nurse. "That's not the way it's supposed to be."

The teachers, Tucker and the tour guide disputed Lantos' assertion that he did not know Owen was hurt. Lantos "was asked several times to get out of the car by myself and the teachers," Tucker said. "He was told, 'You hit a kid and you need to stop.'"

"He was trying to drive through a crowd of kids, was what he was doing. Why or how, I don't know," Tucker said. "He didn't roll down his window. He made no offer to get out of the car."
Laura Friend, an English teacher who was among those chaperoning the 68 students, said she raced toward the Taurus and screamed at Lantos through a half-open window.

"I was saying, `Stop, stop, stop! Back up, back up, back up!' He didn't look at me. He didn't even take his hands off the wheel or anything," Friend said.

When it appeared Lantos might not stop, Tucker said, he stepped in front of the car. A Capitol Police officer twice told the principal to move out of the way or he would be arrested, Tucker and several teachers recounted. "The officer said, 'Look at his license plates. He's a congressman. If we need to get in touch with him, we can find him if need be,'" Friend recalled.

The boy he hit said he did not harbor bad feelings toward Lantos or his wife, Annette, who was a passenger in the car.

But "it's disappointing that they didn't get out and say, 'Are you OK?' I just feel bad he didn't call to apologize."

Lantos paid a $25 fine after being issued a ticket for "failure to pay full time and attention," said Lt. Dan Nichols, spokesman for the Capitol Police, adding that the investigation was closed.

Which brings us back to the Capitol Police and Cynthia McKinney and her accusations of racism on its part.

Gold9472

04-24-2006, 08:35 PM

McKinney Calls Staffer 'A Fool' On Tape

http://www.bet.com/News/mckinneytaped.htm?wbc_purpose=Basic&WBCMODE=PresentationUnpublished&Referrer=%7B03CE5360-2620-42CB-AD7E-77E4249C5FB7%7D

By Tracy Stokes, BET.com Staff Writer & Wire Reports

Posted April 24, 2006 – Embattled U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) is back in the spotlight.

During an interview with WSB-TV in Georgia Saturday, a reporter asked her if the controversy over the confrontation with a Capitol Hill Police officer last month had been a distraction for her.

McKinney fired back, telling the reporter, “You’re a distraction because that seems to be all you want to talk about.”

A frustrated McKinney got up and walked out of the interview, still wearing a microphone, and could be heard bad-mouthing her communications director, Coz Carson. “You know what? They lied to Coz and Coz is a fool,” the congresswoman said.

When McKinney realized she was still miked, she let it be known to the reporter that the comments she made about Carson were off the record.

But the station aired the footage saying they don’t make “deals” with people being interviewed about what it can air.

McKinney, a DeKalb County Democrat, is running for re-election in the Fourth Congressional District.

A federal grand jury in Washington is considering whether McKinney should be charged in connection with the scuffle.

She first charged police of racial profiling and later apologized on the House floor, saying the confrontation should not have happened.

beltman713

04-24-2006, 08:48 PM

She just doesn't know when to quit.

Gold9472

04-24-2006, 08:49 PM

She just doesn't know when to quit.

I saw the news coverage. The guy kept asking her about the "incident", and she didn't want to talk about it... she got up, walked away, said what she said on mike, came back to the chair, and said that anything she said off of "this chair" is not for use publicly... They used it anyway.

PhilosophyGenius

04-26-2006, 02:16 PM

This lattest McKinney incident reminds me of the scene from one of the Naked Gun movies where Leslie Neilson had to go to the bathroom in the middle of a press conference. When he was in the bathroom he forgot to take off his microphone on and everyone at the confrence heard Neilson take a big long piss and everyone just sat there in shock of what they were hearing.

jetsetlemming

04-26-2006, 02:27 PM

I saw the guy she's running against last night on tv (can't remember what show; it was playing in the backround while I tried to bring my computer back to life). He looked like he had something wedged far, far up his ass.