McKinney

[latenight]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/...fle/index.html



So what say you, was this a case of racism, or was it a case of someone not following the rules and looking for an easy out?


I'd say easy out. Is it that hard to say you're sorry?

[Epee_Pox]

"Let me be clear, this whole incident was instigated by the inappropriate touching and stopping of me--a female, black, progressive congresswoman. I am certain that after a full review of the facts, I will be exonerated."

She bypassed the metal detectors without identifying herself as a member of Congress. A police officer repeatedly asked her to stop, she kept walking. He properly reached out to detain her, and she clocked him hard with her cell phone.

She's now trying to claim that she was perfectly justified, that she was being singled out as a black woman, that the cop was wrong and she was right.

Notwithstanding her statements and her attempt to play the race card to get away with what she did, McKinney appears to have acted wrongly.

The officer approached her when she walked around a metal detector. Which he is supposed to do, to protect members of Congress like McKinney.

As a member of Congress, she is permitted to bypass the metal detector, if she is wearing the lapel pin that identifies her as a member. But she has for years inexplicably refused to wear her member’s pin, and therefore she was committing a breach of security.

McKinney did not identify herself before the officer approached. So far as he knew, he could have been dealing with a terrorist or a dangerous looney.
She does not deny that she struck the officer. Indeed, when her lawyer says "she reacted instinctively in an effort to defend herself," he seems to be justifying the alleged assault rather than denying it.

Earlier Friday she published on her Web site, then withdrew, an even more bizarre statement, which Atlanta's WSB-TV has reproduced. She began by acknowledging that this isn't her first run-in with the Capitol police (quoting verbatim):

I have served as a Member of Congress for more than 11 years.

Throughout my tenure in Congress, I seem to evoke memory loss, especially from certain police officers who claim not to be able to recognize my face while I go to work everyday, representing the people of Georgia's 4th Congressional District.

Washington, DC and local newspapers, as well as authors of books, have carried my "working while black" stories of such encounters on Capitol Hill. In fact, the movie American Blackout candidly captures just such an encounter in one of its more humorous moments when after a two-year hiatus from Congress, a black police officer recognizes me and welcomes me back to Washington, and then just across the street, a few yards away, a white police officer approaches me to ask me what office I am with. In the film I remark, "Some things never change. That's what Tupac said."

YouTube.com has the clip, in which the white cop is perfectly polite and apologizes abjectly as soon as he realizes McKinney is a new congressman. She seems to have an attitude problem, and that this accounts for her history of run-ins with the Capitol Police.

An encounter between a congressman and a Capitol policeman is not analogous to one between an ordinary citizen and cop. The Capitol Police work for Congress; they are the only federal police agency that is not part of the executive branch. That means that when a Capitol officer comes face to face with a member of Congress, it is the latter who is in the position of greater authority. This is why the white cop in the "American Blackout" clip suddenly turns submissive when he realizes who McKinney is.

McKinney's behavior toward the policeman last week might or might not have reached the level of a criminal assault; police and prosecutors will decide in due course whether to pursue charges. But her disrespectful attitude toward the Capitol Police is that of a petty tyrant, not a put-upon citizen. The officer who stopped McKinney was doing his job, which is to protect her and her colleagues. She owes him not only an apology but her gratitude.

[Ramrod]

Cynthia McKinney is a joke. Her constituents send her to Washington to act as a sharp stick in the eye of "The White Man".

Reportedly she refuses to wear the lapel pin or other ID that is provided to Members of Congress and the security officers have taped her picture to the desk at the entrances to the House to help them identify her.

It's sad how quickly and easily the race card is pulled by someone who refuses to follow the rules and cooperate with folks who are just trying to do their job.

[D.O.A.R.]

Is this the ID you are talking about?

cmracecard.jpg

[rcmatthews]

HAHAHA.

She's lucky she didn't get shot. When a police officer tells you to stop, you do it. You don't say, "Oh, well, maybe next time, I'm in a hurry right now".

[Ramrod]

Originally Posted by D.O.A.R.

Is this the ID you are talking about?

Attachment 1444

That's the one!

I heard she finally "apologized" for the incident. Not for assaulting the officer but for the misunderstanding.

[rcmatthews]

im surprised RL hasn't jumped to her defense yet.

[Ramrod]

I haven't heard anyone defending her except her two attorneys and the usual lineup of race pimps.

[rcmatthews]

so why would that that stop RL?

[Epee_Pox]

Originally Posted by Ramrod

That's the one!

I heard she finally "apologized" for the incident. Not for assaulting the officer but for the misunderstanding.

Although she used the word "apologize" at one point, she really just loaded up her speech with non-apology weasel words, merely regretting that things happened, without saying she was sorry for what she herself did.

Could have been worse. Could have said "I'm sorry that you disapprove of my actions." The ultimate non-apology couched as an apology. But she's still holding press conferences calling herself a victim (over the objections of the Congressional Black Caucus, by the way) so it's not as if she has yet to admit even to herself that she acted wrongly.

At any rate, the matter is now being presented to a grand jury. It'll be interesting to see whether they vote to charge her or not.

[jBirch]

So on to the more interesting question...

Why aren't congress members required to pass through metal detectors like everyone else?

James.

[rcmatthews]

Well, I think they can be fairly well assumed to be playing on the same team. I doubt they have any secret desires to blow up the Capitol or anything.

And they would probably waste a lot of their time waiting in the lines.

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

Originally Posted by Ramrod

Cynthia McKinney is a joke. Her constituents send her to Washington to act as a sharp stick in the eye of "The White Man".

So, could it be so that she does this as a constituient service, if it is so that those who voted her not only approve, but also ask for, this sort of action?

BTW: considering what I have seen of cops, I am not going to cry any tears for cops who get mistreated.


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[Inquartata]

Originally Posted by jBirch

So on to the more interesting question...

Why aren't congress members required to pass through metal detectors like everyone else?

Everything in Washington is arranged to stroke the egos and augment the convenience of the politicians. Why? Because they write the rules and laws that make it so.

The constant deference and flattery goes to some of their heads. Well, to all of their heads I supect, but some more than others.