Who's wrong here? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Brewmaniac · 04-02-2006, 08:50 AM

a). The police for wrongfully thinking the Congresswoman was a threat because she is black. b). The congresswomen for not stopping to identify herself or c). The lawyer for pulling the race card?

Lawyer says McKinney a victim in scuffle

Link

Lauren Victoria Burke, AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 website.

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 website.

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.

Who's wrong, I say b) & c) and definitely not a). the police should aggressively intercept anyone not identifing themselves or heeding there warnings to stop.

What do you think?

The congresswoman is very good at political backpeddeling -

"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 website.

flat5 · 04-02-2006, 09:07 AM

Please move this to politics.

Coppertop · 04-02-2006, 09:36 AM

I fail to see evidence for the officer "thinking the Congresswoman was a threat because she is black." What I do see, however, is the officer seeing her as a threat because she wasn't wearing ID and failed to stop when asked to three times. I see no problem with the cop's actions. Also, the article didn't state how long the officer in the incident was at that assignment. Perhaps he was new?

Bacchanal · 04-02-2006, 09:51 AM

I don't see how this is anyone's fault but hers. Had she wore the pin she was supposed to, or stopped when asked, everything would've been fine. After being told to stop three times, why would her first instinct when touched to be to attack the person when someone was very obviously trying to get her attention?

Also, in answer to the original question, I'd say the lawyer is a schmuck for pulling the "She's black, so all cops hate her" bullshit.

magictoy · 04-02-2006, 11:42 AM

Cynthia McKinney has based her entire career on the race card. This should be publicized widely in order that her customary behavior becomes better known.

Other examples:

The National Leadership Network of Conservative African-Americans

SirLance · 04-02-2006, 12:55 PM

This has nothing to do with race. She knew the procedures and simply didn't follow them. She should have stopped when challenged. By the way, am I the only one who noticed that no one is disclosing the race of the officer she struck....

frogza · 04-02-2006, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirLance

By the way, am I the only one who noticed that no one is disclosing the race of the officer she struck....

I was wondering that too.

djtestudo · 04-02-2006, 06:54 PM

Those who play the race card are, in my mind, as much racists as anyone with the word "Aryan" in their name.

Personally I hope she presses some sort of charges and gets laughed out of court, not because she is black, but because she is obviously an idiot who needs to be humiliated in that way.

Such a shame.

maximusveritas · 04-02-2006, 08:37 PM

I'd say a, b, and c.
I'd also add a "d" option - "Dennis Hastert and the Republicans for wasting their time on meaningless stuff like this instead of spending their time actually doing their jobs." I'd rather see them try to fix their past mistakes than try to distract us from them.

reconmike · 04-03-2006, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maximusveritas

I'd say a, b, and c.
I'd also add a "d" option - "Dennis Hastert and the Republicans for wasting their time on meaningless stuff like this instead of spending their time actually doing their jobs." I'd rather see them try to fix their past mistakes than try to distract us from them.

Oh man, I was wondering how long it was going to be before somehow Bush and the Republicians were brought into this.

Maybe a Hill reporter called Hastert's office for a comment and he gave one,
I bet he spent hours upon hours of taxpayers money on his payroll just thinking up this response. Please.

stevo · 04-03-2006, 09:27 AM

I heard about this story when it first happened and heard a blurb here and a bit there but this was the first time I've head any mention of race. My opinion is those that play the race card and advance their careers by doing so are the racists.

nezmot · 04-03-2006, 03:05 PM

It sounds like a tabloid story that has absolutely no bearing on anything important at all. A person got into an altercation, tempers were raised - so what? It all smells of the kind of storm-in-a-teacup affairs that keeps the gossip-press in business. Draft/Unreleased statements, out-of-context quotes from her lawyer and cheap shots from the opposition all add up nothing at all. The race element is just another 'hook' slid in by the lazy journalists who are desperately trying to turn this non-event into a story.

Who's wrong? Anyone who pays any attention to this meaningless story, even worse, people who attempt to piggy-back on it to gain some political capital. There are better, and less cheap, gimmicky ways to get a point across than surfing off on a story like this.

Gatorade Frost · 04-03-2006, 07:57 PM

From what I've heard and seen I think that she's at fault 100%, and if charges are pressed for assaulting an officer, well, fine by me.

I just want it to happen to know if Bush will pardon her. Which would make my life.

maleficent · 04-04-2006, 09:54 AM

Congresswoman could face criminal charges

Quote:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Prosecutors are discussing whether to file criminal charges against Rep. Cynthia McKinney over an altercation between the congresswoman and a U.S. Capitol Police officer, officials said.

Three federal law enforcement officials familiar with the case said Monday that Capitol Police have completed their investigation and presented their findings to prosecutors.

However, the officials said no decision has been made on whether to issue an arrest warrant against the Georgia Democrat, and her attorney called reports that police were seeking an arrest warrant "not true."

"They are doing no more than any other law enforcement agency does, and that is simply to file with the prosecutors the necessary paperwork for them to further investigate the case," attorney James Myart said. "That's all it is."

Officials said it was unclear when a decision might be made. The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Kenneth Wainstein, is expected to consult with other Justice Department officials before making a decision.

McKinney, appearing with her attorneys Monday on CNN, declined to answer questions about what happened between her and the officer at a security checkpoint outside a House office building. But she said the incident was an example of racial profiling.

"I don't understand exactly why it is that certain police officers have a problem remembering my face," McKinney said, noting that she is one of 14 black women among the 535 members of Congress. "The issue is racial profiling, and that's something that we're going to have to deal with as a country."

McKinney also said that, within the ranks of the Capitol Police, "there are problems inside with ... the respect for diversity." She did not elaborate, but Myart pointed to a discrimination suit filed by more than 250 black officers against the department.

McKinney and an unidentified Capitol Police officer got into a confrontation Wednesday afternoon at a security checkpoint at the entrance to a House office building as she was going around a metal detector.

Members of Congress are allowed to bypass metal detectors. But the officer did not recognize her, and, by her own admission, she was not wearing a pin that identified her as a congresswoman.

What happened next has become a matter of dispute, with allegations that McKinney struck or touched the officer after he touched or grabbed her, depending on different versions of the events.

Myart said the Capitol Police have indicated to him that there "may very well be a video" of the confrontation. But he said he has not seen it.

In reaction to the incident, House Republicans on Tuesday pushed for a vote on a resolution that would commend police for professionalism but would not specifically mention McKinney or the confrontation. (Full story)

McKinney: Hairstyle shouldn't be issue
In her interview Monday with CNN's "The Situation Room," McKinney scoffed at suggestions that her change of hairstyle in January might have been the reason the officer did not recognize her.

"If the security of the House of Representatives of the United States is based on how members of Congress wear their hair ... I think this is really ridiculous," she said. "My face hasn't changed."

McKinney said teenage House pages, as part of their job, are required to recognize members of Congress on sight.

"Don't you think that the United States Capitol Police ought to also know the members of Congress by name and by face?" she asked.

McKinney also said many members of Congress do not wear their identification pins -- and that because the pins are "a piece of jewelry" rather than a photo ID, they are an inadequate security precaution for police officers who can't recognize members.

Defeated, then re-elected 2 years later
McKinney, 51, represents Georgia's 4th Congressional District, a majority-black district on the east side of metro Atlanta. First elected in 1992, she was defeated in 2002 after making controversial comments, including a claim that the Bush administration had warning of the September 11, 2001, attacks but took no action.

McKinney made a comeback in 2004, winning her old seat after the candidate who defeated her two years earlier, Denise Majette, decided to run for the Senate instead of seeking re-election. Since returning to Washington, McKinney had kept a lower profile -- at least until last week.

McKinney previously complained of incidents in which she was not recognized as a member of Congress, both on Capitol Hill and at the White House. In 1998, she demanded and received an apology from the Clinton administration after White House guards stopped her.

The woman clearly has issues with not being recognized.. maybe she should wear a sign saying who she is...

Topper · 04-06-2006, 04:04 PM

Latest turn of events, complete about-face (not surprising) by the Congresswoman. Not enough people jumping on the bandwagon I guess...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060406/...kxBHNlYwN0bQ--

Quote:

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

Congressional Black Caucus urged McKinney in a private meeting to find a way to put the matter to rest, said a person familiar with the session.
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 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 McKinney and she responded by hitting him. He said McKinney's race was not a factor.
Even as McKinney tried to put the incident behind her, a new scuffle occurred Thursday outside the Capitol between a man apparently protecting her and a reporter who asked the congresswoman whether she'd spoken to the grand jury.
"I'll put your ass in jail the next time you push me," the man told Cox Broadcasting correspondent Scott MacFarlane in video posted on WSB-TV's Web site.
The March 29 incident has embarrassed Democrats, including fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus, none of whom has publicly defended her behavior.
The caucus' public silence stands in contrast to its investigations of past altercations between the U.S. Capitol Police and lawmakers.
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 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.
The two House aides who saw the March 29 confrontation and were subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury are 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.
Bob Jackson, a spokesman for McCotter, said Subrize saw 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," the Texas Republican 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 multiple television interviews. She recently dropped her trademark cornrows in favor of loose curls.

host · 04-06-2006, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maleficent

Congresswoman could face criminal charges

The woman clearly has issues with not being recognized.. maybe she should wear a sign saying who she is...

Recently, I lived in an aprtment building in Manhattan for several years. The doorman on duty challenged all unfamiliar faces at the door, denying entry to the building, past the lobby, to anyone who was not recognized. The building contained over 400 residential apartments, and a 24 hour shift, for the doormen, including relief staff, during breaks, was covered by at least 7 or 8 staff members.

After the first week, I was never challenged by the doormen again. Capitol police number 1225, and they make an annual salary of about $55,000.00. On their website, "tact" is the emphasized, principal qualification for that job.

McKinney has encountered past problems with the Capitol Police, which seem unnecessary, to me, since these officers need only to recognize, on sight, 535 senators and house members. The doormen in my NYC building recognized me and more than one thousand other residents in my building, by their faces.

The record shows that Mckinney has had a long history of difficulty, and that she is not an adversary of the Capitol Police:

Quote:

CAPITOL GAINS WITH 10 BLACK WOMEN SERVING IN CONGRESS, WASHINGTON IS EXPRIENCING A DEPARTURE FROM POLITICS AS USUAL
Boston Globe
March 20, 1994
Author: Ana Puga, Globe Staff

...."I got up here in Congress by being myself," McKinney says. "What's frustrating is that people are so accustomed to seeing white men in suits on the Hill that I still have to defend my presence here."

While McKinney began her political life by demonstrating for an end to segregation in Georgia in the 1960s, Rep. Carrie Meek started out by surviving segregation in Florida in the 1930s.......

......Almost every black woman lawmaker has a story that illustrates that point. Waters recalls telling a white committee chairman that if he was going to keep calling her "Maxine," then he'd better start calling the colleague beside her "Joe," instead of "Congressman." <b>McKinney clashed with a white male Capitol Police officer who overlooked her members' identification pin, grabbed her by the arm, and demanded to search her bag.</b> The police officer has since been banished from his post at a Hous e office building entrance.

In her congressional office, McKinney has traded her dashiki for a white sweater, but the rest of her outfit remains the same, down to the gold lame sneakers. Her hair is pinned back in two thick braids. Unlike the sweet-toned Meek, McKinney's voice carries to every corner of the room. Yet her message and Meek's are similar. "Some people can't fathom the idea that a black woman with braids is a member of Congress," McKinney says, leaning back in her chair, as if to show how relaxed she is in t he role. "But at least I have a few colleagues who think like me and talk like me and vote like me."..........

Quote:

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...49/ai_15837272

....To get a feel for how much and how deeply their mere presence has rocked the nations most powerful old boys' club, just consider the welcome-to-Washington greetings extended to Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun and Georgia Rep. Cynthia McKinney.

Though Braun's historic election had been headlines for weeks, when she came to pick up her ID at freshman orientation, she was handed a card granting her all the rights and priveleges the U.S. Congress bestows - on a Senate spouse.

Cynthia McKinney had to file an official complaint to stop Capitol Hill police from regularly stopping her when she tried to enter the Capitol........

Quote:

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.ph...0-120057-3228r
Rep. McKinney has 5th run-in with security

WASHINGTON, March 30 (UPI) -- For the fifth time since 1993, U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., had a run-in with Washington security personnel when an officer failed to recognize her.

An unidentified Capitol Police officer said he stopped McKinney and asked her for identification Wednesday morning as she tried to enter a government building while talking on her cell phone. He claims she whirled around and hit him on the chest, The Hill reported Thursday.

Capitol Police had no comment and said they were investigating.

Members of Congress are allowed to enter into the buildings without passing through security screening.

In 1993, Capitol Police posted a photo of McKinney on an office wall so officers could remember who she was after she complained. Then in 1995, she complained again about being stopped.

In 1996 and 1998, she complained that White House security officials did not give her the same treatment as other members of Congress, at one time mistaking her 23-year-old white aide for her. McKinney is black.

"I am absolutely sick and tired of having to have my appearance at the White House validated by white people," she said at the time.

Quote:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_ho.../17209140.html
Monday, October 15, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
NEVADA DELEGATION: Security increased at Capitol

Lawmakers and aides working under heightened sense of awareness since attacks

Lawmakers say they've been advised not to wear the lapel pins that signal their membership in Congress and to consider taking off their congressional license tags.

Berkley said she's thinking of ditching the license tag. Ensign said he's never used one, even when he served in the House in the mid-1990s.

Quote:

Capitol Police Suspend Officer
Powdery Substance Left at Security Post
Washington Post
November 13, 2001
Author: Spencer S. Hsu; Washington Post Staff Writer

Two days before the discovery, Rep. Cynthia A. McKinney (D-Ga.) warned in a letter that morale among the 1,295-member force that protects Congress had plummeted. McKinney blamed the tension on the strain of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and subsequent anthrax incidents.

Also yesterday, officials said that trace amounts of anthrax bacteria were found in the offices of three additional senators, bringing to 11 the number of senators' suites found in recent days to be contaminated.

If convicted of a hoax, the officer faces up to five years in prison and $3 million in fines, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office said. Law enforcement officials, led by U.S. Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, have warned for weeks that the perpetrators of hoaxes will be vigorously prosecuted.

McKinney wrote House Sergeant-at-Arms Bill Livingood that low morale "appears to be widespread throughout the department" because of an "unfavorable work environment" created by managers.

McKinney said officers complain that colleagues are quitting, recruits are dropping out and officers lack training and adequate winter clothing, while the Capitol remains vulnerable to attack.

"It is bad enough that officers are working 70-plus hours a week, barely seeing their families," McKinney said in the letter, which included an account of a confrontation between an officer and supervisor. "But to have officers come to work and be verbally abused by their superiors and treated like children . . . is unacceptable." The confrontation was relayed to her by the officer who was involved.

The House was closed for Veterans Day yesterday, and neither McKinney nor Livingood could not be reached immediately for comment.

Quote:

A house of un-American activities -
Congress redefines bunker mentality
The Washington Times
November 16, 2001
Author: Deborah Simmons; THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Remember the initial anthrax scare? When both the House and Senate, led by Senate Minority Wimp Trent Lott, tried to hightail it back to their hometowns at the first whiff?

Well, now they're preparing to retreat under cover at Ft. McNair at the first sign of danger. They also are considering 24-7 patrols by the D.C. National Guard Military Police and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Seems U.S. Capitol Police are complaining about being overworked and their Democratic friends in the House and Senate are concerned about morale. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, for one, recently fired-off a letter to the sergeant at-arms of the House, complaining about officers "working 70-plus hour a week [and] barely seeing their families."

Quote:

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_art...?storyid=78032
Reported By: Jon Shirek
Web Editor: Michael King
Last Modified: 3/31/2006 11:17:39 AM

................U.S. Capitol Police said there is surveillance video of the confrontation between the officer and McKinney, but they say the video will not be released. McKinney released a statement saying she deeply regrets the incident, but was rushing to a meeting when the officer failed to recognize her. "Unfortunately, the Police Officer did not recognize me as a Member of Congress and a confrontation ensued," the statement read............

...........McKinney says that government security officers often fail to recognize her, and treat her like a criminal suspect.

Her critics in her DeKalb County district say she thrives on controversies she manufactures.

McKinney’s staff members are defending her by distributing a clip of her from the new film “American Blackout.” McKinney is showing the filmmaker around the capitol grounds, and a security officer fails to recognize her at first, and stops her.

“That’s just typical of the type of treatment I receive. It’s typical. So, I’m not surprised and I’m not offended,” McKinney said. “Okay. Thank you. Some things never change. That’s what Tupac said.”

McKinney and her aides say that even now, in the midst of her sixth term in the House, Capitol Police constantly stop her and treat her like an intruder or terrorist until she can prove to them she is a Member of Congress.

Still, she says she is expressing deep regret about her most recent confrontation with an officer, who says that this time, she struck him after recognizing her.........

To clarify the point that I am trying to make...there are two sides to this "story". Mckinney is sensitive, and she probably overreacted when the Capitol officer challenged her and then attempted to physically stop her. But....put yourselves, if you truly want to be fair...in her circumstances, with her hisory. She is a 51 year old black woman, the first of her combination of race and gender, from her state, to be elected to the house. She's been going through these security "challenges" for more than a decade. Until half way through high school, (Georgia did not integrate it's public schools until 1969..) she personally experienced racial segregation in her state. How many of you have any idea what that did to influence her world view and temperament? The "Capitol" that she serves in was built by <a href="http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050531-110046-7574r.htm">negro slave labor</a>.

How many of you, if you exhibited bad judgment and lost your temper, would have to endure a reaction like this?:

Quote:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200604030010

......On the April 3 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio program, Neal Boortz issued an apology for his remarks about Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), stating, "I've known Cynthia McKinney for a long time, and there is no way in the world that that word should be used to describe her or her hairdo or any woman." As Media Matters for America noted, Boortz said that McKinney, "looks like a ghetto slut" during the March 31 broadcast of his radio program, and later added that he didn't "blame them [Capitol police] for stopping" McKinney during a March 29 incident at the Capitol because she had a "ghetto trash" haircut and "looked like a welfare drag queen [that] was trying to sneak into the Longworth House Office Building." In issuing the apology, Boortz added that it "won't mean anything to people who consider any negative comment or criticism of any type at any time about anybody who is not white to be racism."........

Yeah....Cynthia "effed up"...and she "pulled the race card". She has also showed courage in her lifelong fight for equal rights, and for challenging the Bush admin.'s official account of the 9/11 attacks. It took her two congressional committee hearing sessions, after she was re-elected to congress, (after losing her seat because of a republican backlash primary election "Op" that unseated her because she was bold enough to publicly accuse the Bush administration of 9/11 complicity), to extract an <a href="http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/031505_mckinney_transcript.shtml">admission</a> from Rumsfeld and JCS Chairman Gen. Myers that there were four wargames in progress on the morning of the 9/11 attacks.

How much of this incident's "backlash" has to do with the way McKinney puts her career on the line. As we find out more about Cheney and his Libby "Op", is he really any less brash than McKinney, or any more benevolent in his overall intentions?

Gimme a break...enough with all the indignation that I've seen expressed on this thread....

ubertuber · 04-06-2006, 08:33 PM

I don't see that anything in your post changes the dynamic described in this incident. So she brushed past and they either didn't see her clearly enough or didn't recognize her. The officer in question called out to her three times and THEN put his hand on her. I don't care how important you are - everyone needs to comply with security procedures. This wasn't even a big deal until McKinney started trumpeting that she was the victim of profiling. The only profile she fit was of a person skipping a security checkpoint.

To backpedal now and claim that this is all because her hairstyle changed is... classless. She expected a priviledge that was not extended - because she didn't follow the procedures. An utter non-story.

Host, if your doorman was so diligent, I hope he'd try to confirm the identity of someone he didn't see or otherwise recognize. In my building, security requires ID all the time. I'm often asked to scan in even though I'm one of TWO live-in staff. What does that have to do with the House of Representatives? Nothing.

host · 04-06-2006, 09:49 PM

ubertuber, I was in the process of adding to my post when you posted your reaction. I'm sorry that I couldn't lay it out all at once.

My personal experience in NYC was anecdotal. I agree that there is no substitute for the security measures that you described. On the one hand, currently there are only, as there were back in 1993, ten female, black members of congress.

The purpose of the exemption of congressmen from magnetometer screening is presumably to defer to their VIP status, and for their convenience. A truly "earnest" effort to secure the Capitol building would not include exempting individuals from the screening that all other people must submit to, simply because they display a lapel pin.

McKinney, via the doumentation that I've offered, has put up with a lifetime of BS, including the decade of challenges at the entrances to official buildings in DC, that white males in suits, serving in the same elected office that she has attained, never experience. Why can't Mckinney receive equal treatment, at age 51. I submit that she has never enjoyed equal treatment, though she has tried, more than most, to rise to a position where equal treatment should be a "given".

When Mckinney was a girl. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/06/25/maddox.dead/">Lester Maddox</a> was arming his exclusively white customers in his "Pickrick" Atlanta restaurant with pick axe handles to chase away any would be black customer. Imagine living through an era when you couldn't sit at an all white, lunch counter, and transitioning to a time when you are an elected member of the U.S. congress, and you're still experiencing difficulty because white men still challenge you at the door, while other white men, and women, routinely walk past, unchallenged. She isn't right, in this instance, but her reaction is understandable, since she is still finding herself challenged like she was as a youth in segregated Georgia.

Show me some documentation that establishes that Cynthia's white male colleagues routinely and consistantly wear their lapel pins as they enter buildings policed by the Capitol dept.

Tell me why middle aged and older black Americans have to be less affected by their own life experiences than other Americans. Tell me why Mckinney gets less empathy than say....Tom Delay does, this week. Delay is loud and angry, as is Mckinney. He's undoubtedly a criminal, and he gets a pass in a lot of the media. Has Mckinney ever gotten a "pass"?

Seaver · 04-07-2006, 08:14 AM

Host I sympathize for her struggle.

However it was plain and simple, she did not post her ID. You dont honestly believe that every security guard knew them by name and face do you? You said it yourself, 553 faces.. changing every 2 years.

She failed to show her ID, she stormed past them, she then ignored 3 calls for her to stop.

Whatever her past experiences may have been, she broke a huge law of congressional security and proceeded to strike a police officer.

Though I have to compliment you, how you brought Tom Delay into this is quite a feat. Everything's the big bad Republican's fault huh?

host · 04-07-2006, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seaver

Though I have to compliment you, how you brought Tom Delay into this is quite a feat. Everything's the big bad Republican's fault huh?

No, Seaver, ole Tom took time out from playing the victim the other day, to falling back into his usual role.....

Quote:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...s/3774711.html
April 5, 2006, 10:09PM
Grand Jury to Hear McKinney Run-In Case

By LAURIE KELLMAN and MARK SHERMAN Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

.....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.".....

joshbaumgartner · 04-07-2006, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seaver

Though I have to compliment you, how you brought Tom Delay into this is quite a feat. Everything's the big bad Republican's fault huh?

Bit of a foul Seaver, Host wasn't insinuating that Delay or any other Republicans did this, but he was making a comparison in hte treatment of McKinney's case versus that of Delay. We can debate the validity of that comparison, but to say that Host is pulling a Delay in blaming all problems on the other party is not fair in this case.

stevo · 04-07-2006, 11:02 AM

One thing is for sure. She guaranteed her re-election.

joshbaumgartner · 04-07-2006, 11:43 AM

On the issue itself, this is pretty silly. It's not a 'huge law' that was broken, this happens at airports and other security barriers on a regular basis, where someone feels they are being unfairly dealt with and becomes beligerant. Generally the person faces some kind of penalty, from being restrained to being fined, missing their flight or access, etc. Penalties go up the stronger the beligerance or the longer it is maintained, but these things are hardly newsworthy nor are the ultimate legal consequences very great, provided that the person doesn't actually injure someone or cause damage or somesuch.

That said, I do hold elected reps to a higher standard, and I don't see why they need special status. Frankly, I think this leads to an attitude of entitlement that leads ultimately to bad choices as representatives. There is a sense among a lot of people that elected office is a reward, not a responsibility. I think our leaders ought to face stricter penalty for their infractions. Unfortunately, as it is now, most of the time we give a total pass to most of the corruption going on.

Without a doubt, Delay's crimes are far worse than even the worst case account of what happened with McKinney. I think it is fair and appropriate to ask why we get so focussed on what is really a pretty limited infraction in a building in which crimes harming millions of people across the nation are being committed in an atmosphere is at the least permissive and at worst encouraging of such behaviour.

joshbaumgartner · 04-07-2006, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by host

No, Seaver, ole Tom took time out from playing the victim the other day, to falling back into his usual role.....

Quote:

"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.".....

Well on this subject--at least--Tom's expertise is not in question. I mean, the topic of congressional arrogance is certainly one he has had plenty of personal experience with. As my youngest daughter may be inclined to say: "It takes one to know one, Tom."

Elphaba · 04-07-2006, 12:01 PM

McKinney apologized for the incident today.

aceventura3 · 04-07-2006, 03:31 PM

I think the failure was improper proceedures for preventing an unidentified person from entering the building. There should be no debate and a consitent application of the rules. I would hope if for example a suicide bomber tried to enter the building the guard would be prepared to do more than just say "stop", then grab the person's arms and then get his a$$ kicked. If that is the best security proceedure they have, we should be concerned.

If they have a better procedure and did not use it, why? We should be concerned about that also.

Everything else related to this issue mostly just makes good talk radio fodder.

SteelyLoins · 04-24-2006, 05:59 PM

Link

Quote:

McKinney Orders Reporter Not to Air Public Comments
By Jeff Johnson
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
April 24, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Cynthia McKinney still does not know whether she will face criminal charges for allegedly punching a U.S. Capitol Police officer who stopped her at a security checkpoint. But the Georgia Democrat is pulling no punches with the media, ordering an Atlanta television station not to broadcast derogatory comments she made about a member of her staff on Saturday.

McKinney was meeting with constituents and agreed to an exclusive interview with WGCL-TV, CBS 46, of Atlanta. During that interview, CBS 46 reporter Renee Starzyk asked McKinney what she is telling her constituents about the altercation.

"Actually you, media people are the only ones who are asking about that," McKinney claimed.

But a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., also is asking about the incident, trying to determine whether or not to refer criminal charges against the congresswoman. The panel has not yet made its decision, and Starzyk asked if that is a distraction from McKinney's work.

"Well, you're a distraction because that seems to be all you want to talk about," McKinney responded. "But people here understand that my representation is much larger than any discrete incident."

McKinney then walked out on the interview. But she did not tell Starzyk that their conversation was over, nor did McKinney allow an audio technician to remove the wireless microphone attached to her for the interview.

While she was off camera, McKinney criticized a member of her staff, Coz Carson.

"Oh, crap! Now, you know what?" McKinney asked an unidentified aide. "They lied to Coz and Coz is a fool!"

Realizing that her microphone was still on, McKinney returned to the room where the interview was being conducted and, knowing that she was on camera, told Starzyk: "Anything that is captured by your audio, that is captured while I'm not seated in this chair, is off the record and is not permissible to be used. Is that understood?" McKinney said.
In her report about the interview, Starzyk reiterated the station's policy never to make deals with newsmakers limiting the station's ability to cover their comments or actions.

In fact, Starzyk reported, she specifically told McKinney's staff that she would ask about the March 29 incident. McKinney maintains her claim that the reporter lied to her staff.

Apparently, in addition to feeling she is above the rules applied to lesser beings regarding security, McKinney transcends the first amendment and freedom of the press.

Kudos to Starzyk for going public with it.

I know this incident isn't criminal (although McKinney has plenty of other criminal acts in her past that should be addressed), but even most other Congressional reps aren't this pompous/arrogant/rectal.

Brewmaniac · 04-24-2006, 06:27 PM

The more she talks the less intelligent she sounds! She's making an ass out of herself.

04-02-2006, 08:50 AM	#1 (permalink)
Brewmaniac Searching for the perfect brew!	Who's wrong here? a). The police for wrongfully thinking the Congresswoman was a threat because she is black. b). The congresswomen for not stopping to identify herself or c). The lawyer for pulling the race card? Lawyer says McKinney a victim in scuffle Link Lauren Victoria Burke, AP WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 website. 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 website. 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. Who's wrong, I say b) & c) and definitely not a). the police should aggressively intercept anyone not identifing themselves or heeding there warnings to stop. What do you think? The congresswoman is very good at political backpeddeling - "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 website. __________________ "That's a joke... I say, that's a joke, son" Last edited by Brewmaniac; 04-02-2006 at 08:56 AM..

04-02-2006, 09:36 AM	#3 (permalink)
Coppertop Getting Medieval on your ass Location: 13th century Europe	I fail to see evidence for the officer "thinking the Congresswoman was a threat because she is black." What I do see, however, is the officer seeing her as a threat because she wasn't wearing ID and failed to stop when asked to three times. I see no problem with the cop's actions. Also, the article didn't state how long the officer in the incident was at that assignment. Perhaps he was new? Last edited by Coppertop; 04-02-2006 at 09:39 AM..

04-02-2006, 12:55 PM	#6 (permalink)
SirLance Junkie Location: In the middle of the desert.	This has nothing to do with race. She knew the procedures and simply didn't follow them. She should have stopped when challenged. By the way, am I the only one who noticed that no one is disclosing the race of the officer she struck.... __________________ DEMOCRACY is where your vote counts, FEUDALISM is where your count votes.

04-02-2006, 06:54 PM	#8 (permalink)
djtestudo Baltimoron Location: Beeeeeautiful Bel Air, MD	Those who play the race card are, in my mind, as much racists as anyone with the word "Aryan" in their name. Personally I hope she presses some sort of charges and gets laughed out of court, not because she is black, but because she is obviously an idiot who needs to be humiliated in that way. Such a shame. __________________ "Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen." --Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

04-03-2006, 09:27 AM	#11 (permalink)
stevo Rail Baron Location: Tallyfla	I heard about this story when it first happened and heard a blurb here and a bit there but this was the first time I've head any mention of race. My opinion is those that play the race card and advance their careers by doing so are the racists. __________________ "If I am such a genius why am I drunk, lost in the desert, with a bullet in my ass?" -Otto Mannkusser

04-02-2006, 09:07 AM	#2 (permalink)
flat5 Very Insignificant Pawn Location: Amsterdam, NL	Please move this to politics.

04-02-2006, 09:51 AM	#4 (permalink)
Bacchanal Laid back Location: Jayhawkland	I don't see how this is anyone's fault but hers. Had she wore the pin she was supposed to, or stopped when asked, everything would've been fine. After being told to stop three times, why would her first instinct when touched to be to attack the person when someone was very obviously trying to get her attention? Also, in answer to the original question, I'd say the lawyer is a schmuck for pulling the "She's black, so all cops hate her" bullshit.

04-02-2006, 11:42 AM	#5 (permalink)
magictoy Crazy	Cynthia McKinney has based her entire career on the race card. This should be publicized widely in order that her customary behavior becomes better known. Other examples: The National Leadership Network of Conservative African-Americans

04-02-2006, 08:37 PM	#9 (permalink)
maximusveritas Winner	I'd say a, b, and c. I'd also add a "d" option - "Dennis Hastert and the Republicans for wasting their time on meaningless stuff like this instead of spending their time actually doing their jobs." I'd rather see them try to fix their past mistakes than try to distract us from them.

04-03-2006, 03:05 PM	#12 (permalink)
nezmot Registered User	It sounds like a tabloid story that has absolutely no bearing on anything important at all. A person got into an altercation, tempers were raised - so what? It all smells of the kind of storm-in-a-teacup affairs that keeps the gossip-press in business. Draft/Unreleased statements, out-of-context quotes from her lawyer and cheap shots from the opposition all add up nothing at all. The race element is just another 'hook' slid in by the lazy journalists who are desperately trying to turn this non-event into a story. Who's wrong? Anyone who pays any attention to this meaningless story, even worse, people who attempt to piggy-back on it to gain some political capital. There are better, and less cheap, gimmicky ways to get a point across than surfing off on a story like this.

04-03-2006, 07:57 PM	#13 (permalink)
Gatorade Frost Rookie	From what I've heard and seen I think that she's at fault 100%, and if charges are pressed for assaulting an officer, well, fine by me. I just want it to happen to know if Bush will pardon her. Which would make my life. __________________ I got in a fight one time with a really big guy, and he said, "I'm going to mop the floor with your face." I said, "You'll be sorry." He said, "Oh, yeah? Why?" I said, "Well, you won't be able to get into the corners very well." Emo Philips

04-06-2006, 08:33 PM	#17 (permalink)
ubertuber spudly Location: Ellay	I don't see that anything in your post changes the dynamic described in this incident. So she brushed past and they either didn't see her clearly enough or didn't recognize her. The officer in question called out to her three times and THEN put his hand on her. I don't care how important you are - everyone needs to comply with security procedures. This wasn't even a big deal until McKinney started trumpeting that she was the victim of profiling. The only profile she fit was of a person skipping a security checkpoint. To backpedal now and claim that this is all because her hairstyle changed is... classless. She expected a priviledge that was not extended - because she didn't follow the procedures. An utter non-story. Host, if your doorman was so diligent, I hope he'd try to confirm the identity of someone he didn't see or otherwise recognize. In my building, security requires ID all the time. I'm often asked to scan in even though I'm one of TWO live-in staff. What does that have to do with the House of Representatives? Nothing. __________________ Cogito ergo spud -- I think, therefore I yam

04-06-2006, 09:49 PM	#18 (permalink)
host Banned	ubertuber, I was in the process of adding to my post when you posted your reaction. I'm sorry that I couldn't lay it out all at once. My personal experience in NYC was anecdotal. I agree that there is no substitute for the security measures that you described. On the one hand, currently there are only, as there were back in 1993, ten female, black members of congress. The purpose of the exemption of congressmen from magnetometer screening is presumably to defer to their VIP status, and for their convenience. A truly "earnest" effort to secure the Capitol building would not include exempting individuals from the screening that all other people must submit to, simply because they display a lapel pin. McKinney, via the doumentation that I've offered, has put up with a lifetime of BS, including the decade of challenges at the entrances to official buildings in DC, that white males in suits, serving in the same elected office that she has attained, never experience. Why can't Mckinney receive equal treatment, at age 51. I submit that she has never enjoyed equal treatment, though she has tried, more than most, to rise to a position where equal treatment should be a "given". When Mckinney was a girl. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/06/25/maddox.dead/">Lester Maddox</a> was arming his exclusively white customers in his "Pickrick" Atlanta restaurant with pick axe handles to chase away any would be black customer. Imagine living through an era when you couldn't sit at an all white, lunch counter, and transitioning to a time when you are an elected member of the U.S. congress, and you're still experiencing difficulty because white men still challenge you at the door, while other white men, and women, routinely walk past, unchallenged. She isn't right, in this instance, but her reaction is understandable, since she is still finding herself challenged like she was as a youth in segregated Georgia. Show me some documentation that establishes that Cynthia's white male colleagues routinely and consistantly wear their lapel pins as they enter buildings policed by the Capitol dept. Tell me why middle aged and older black Americans have to be less affected by their own life experiences than other Americans. Tell me why Mckinney gets less empathy than say....Tom Delay does, this week. Delay is loud and angry, as is Mckinney. He's undoubtedly a criminal, and he gets a pass in a lot of the media. Has Mckinney ever gotten a "pass"?

04-07-2006, 08:14 AM	#19 (permalink)
Seaver Junkie Location: Fort Worth, TX	Host I sympathize for her struggle. However it was plain and simple, she did not post her ID. You dont honestly believe that every security guard knew them by name and face do you? You said it yourself, 553 faces.. changing every 2 years. She failed to show her ID, she stormed past them, she then ignored 3 calls for her to stop. Whatever her past experiences may have been, she broke a huge law of congressional security and proceeded to strike a police officer. Though I have to compliment you, how you brought Tom Delay into this is quite a feat. Everything's the big bad Republican's fault huh?

04-07-2006, 11:02 AM	#22 (permalink)
stevo Rail Baron Location: Tallyfla	One thing is for sure. She guaranteed her re-election. __________________ "If I am such a genius why am I drunk, lost in the desert, with a bullet in my ass?" -Otto Mannkusser

04-07-2006, 11:43 AM	#23 (permalink)
joshbaumgartner Insane	On the issue itself, this is pretty silly. It's not a 'huge law' that was broken, this happens at airports and other security barriers on a regular basis, where someone feels they are being unfairly dealt with and becomes beligerant. Generally the person faces some kind of penalty, from being restrained to being fined, missing their flight or access, etc. Penalties go up the stronger the beligerance or the longer it is maintained, but these things are hardly newsworthy nor are the ultimate legal consequences very great, provided that the person doesn't actually injure someone or cause damage or somesuch. That said, I do hold elected reps to a higher standard, and I don't see why they need special status. Frankly, I think this leads to an attitude of entitlement that leads ultimately to bad choices as representatives. There is a sense among a lot of people that elected office is a reward, not a responsibility. I think our leaders ought to face stricter penalty for their infractions. Unfortunately, as it is now, most of the time we give a total pass to most of the corruption going on. Without a doubt, Delay's crimes are far worse than even the worst case account of what happened with McKinney. I think it is fair and appropriate to ask why we get so focussed on what is really a pretty limited infraction in a building in which crimes harming millions of people across the nation are being committed in an atmosphere is at the least permissive and at worst encouraging of such behaviour.

04-07-2006, 12:01 PM	#25 (permalink)
Elphaba Deja Moo Location: Olympic Peninsula, WA	McKinney apologized for the incident today.

04-07-2006, 03:31 PM	#26 (permalink)
aceventura3 Junkie Location: Ventura County	I think the failure was improper proceedures for preventing an unidentified person from entering the building. There should be no debate and a consitent application of the rules. I would hope if for example a suicide bomber tried to enter the building the guard would be prepared to do more than just say "stop", then grab the person's arms and then get his a$$ kicked. If that is the best security proceedure they have, we should be concerned. If they have a better procedure and did not use it, why? We should be concerned about that also. Everything else related to this issue mostly just makes good talk radio fodder. __________________ "Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch." "It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion." "If you live among wolves you have to act like one." "A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."

04-24-2006, 06:27 PM	#28 (permalink)
Brewmaniac Searching for the perfect brew!	The more she talks the less intelligent she sounds! She's making an ass out of herself. __________________ "That's a joke... I say, that's a joke, son"