Cynthia McKinney is certifiably insane.
For those who haven't already heard about it, Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) had a recent scuffle with the Capitol Police. Members of Congress are not required to go through security when entering the Capitol or their office buildings, but they are required to wear a lapel pin showing that they are, in fact, members of Congress. Well, Congresswoman McKinney believes that this rule does not apply to her and on multiple occasions has attempted to walk past security without stopping and without wearing her pin. Despite the rule having been in place since 1993, she has had at least five altercations with Capitol Police over this issue, excluding the current one.
Last week, she attempted this stunt yet again. The Capitol Police officer who was working there called out to her three times, but she kept on walking. He ran up to her and grabbed her by the arm. She turned around and decked him. Federal prosecutors are deciding whether or not to charge her with assault. In all likelihood, the entire issue would disappear if she would just apologize for punching the police officer. Instead, she claims that the Capitol Police should be able to recognize her and are, in fact, required to do so (see her statement here). The thing is, there are 535 members of Congress. It's just a touch more difficult for the Capitol Police to recognize each and every one than it is for her to just wear her damn pin. Instead, she insists this is an issue of racism. She calls it "working while black." Nevermind the sheer number of members . . . or that she had just recently changed her hair from corn rows to some big poofy getup . . . or that the Capitol Police had even tried to accomodate her belief that the rules do not apply to her by posting a picture of her at security checkpoints . . . or that the officer in question had only been working for roughly three weeks. Asking this incredibly important representative to either stop at security or wear her pin is simply asking too much.
Honest to God, I was genuinely surprised that a member of the United States Congress would act with such arrogance and immaturity. I wondered if there might be some substance to her side of the story simply because it looked so rediculous that it couldn't possibly be entirely true. Then I saw her campaign site (credit Chaz).
One of the primary issues listed on her campaign web site is "HIP-HOP." Terrorism didn't make the cut, but this incredibly pressing issue did. Rep. McKinney "believes that the Hip-Hop community has the potential to evolve into one of the strongest movements on behalf of social justice and community development." Uh huh. Some stunning social commentary lies behind lyrics like "I'm in love with a stripper," "B**ch, I'm gonna kill you," "To the sweat drop down my balls/To all these b**ches crawl, etc." R. Kelly pissing on that gal's head? That's art. Yeah, real exemplars of social justice and community development. Last year she introduced into Congress the Tupac Amaru Shakur Records Collection Act, which sought to create a collection of records related to Tupac's death at the National Archives similar to the collection created after the Kennedy assassination. McKinney alleges that Shakur was under surveillance by the FBI, apparently implying that the federal government knows something about Shakur's death. Whatever.
Actually, it's probably a good thing she didn't list terrorism as an issue since she believes the Bush Administration knew of the 9/11 attacks ahead of time and intentionally allowed them to happen. Note that she admits to having absolutely no evidence to back this accusation, but nonetheless called for an investigation into whether or not this was the case (see her statements re: 9/11 here). McKinney alleges that some rich folks allied with Bush might have profited as a result. That's a smoking gun if I've ever seen one. You know, there "might" be evidence that she gains minority votes in her district by exploiting racial sensitivities rather than seeking to heal them. But I digress . . .
McKinney initially entered politics when her father, a Georgia politician himself, nominated her as a write-in candidate for a state House seat that she eventually won. She eventually landed in the U.S. House and charged racism after the Supreme Court found that her district was unconstitutionally gerrymandered. When Republicans crossed over to help defeat her in the 2002 Democratic primary race, she charged racism. Her father asserted on more than one occasion that "Jews [had] bought everyone" in the election. McKinney refused to comment. When Al Gore ran for President in 2000, she stated that "Al Gore's Negro tolerance level has never been too high. I've never known him to have more than one black person around him at any given time." Note: Al Gore's campaign manager was black.
Notice any trends here? When it comes down to it, there is a very simple explanation for the incident between her and the officer: Cynthia McKinney is an irrational person who attributes any inconvenience in her life (such as an officer asking her to stop at security or having to wear a pin) to some other person's racial bias or some elaborate conspiracy. Both elements are present currently whereas she alleges (1) that the Capitol Police are racist and (2) that the subsequent investigation is somehow designed by her political opponents to harm her. I sincerely hope that her constituents are finally embarrassed enough by Ms. McKinney's antics to send a representative to DC who actually has some integrity. We shall see . . .
Last week, she attempted this stunt yet again. The Capitol Police officer who was working there called out to her three times, but she kept on walking. He ran up to her and grabbed her by the arm. She turned around and decked him. Federal prosecutors are deciding whether or not to charge her with assault. In all likelihood, the entire issue would disappear if she would just apologize for punching the police officer. Instead, she claims that the Capitol Police should be able to recognize her and are, in fact, required to do so (see her statement here). The thing is, there are 535 members of Congress. It's just a touch more difficult for the Capitol Police to recognize each and every one than it is for her to just wear her damn pin. Instead, she insists this is an issue of racism. She calls it "working while black." Nevermind the sheer number of members . . . or that she had just recently changed her hair from corn rows to some big poofy getup . . . or that the Capitol Police had even tried to accomodate her belief that the rules do not apply to her by posting a picture of her at security checkpoints . . . or that the officer in question had only been working for roughly three weeks. Asking this incredibly important representative to either stop at security or wear her pin is simply asking too much.
Honest to God, I was genuinely surprised that a member of the United States Congress would act with such arrogance and immaturity. I wondered if there might be some substance to her side of the story simply because it looked so rediculous that it couldn't possibly be entirely true. Then I saw her campaign site (credit Chaz).
One of the primary issues listed on her campaign web site is "HIP-HOP." Terrorism didn't make the cut, but this incredibly pressing issue did. Rep. McKinney "believes that the Hip-Hop community has the potential to evolve into one of the strongest movements on behalf of social justice and community development." Uh huh. Some stunning social commentary lies behind lyrics like "I'm in love with a stripper," "B**ch, I'm gonna kill you," "To the sweat drop down my balls/To all these b**ches crawl, etc." R. Kelly pissing on that gal's head? That's art. Yeah, real exemplars of social justice and community development. Last year she introduced into Congress the Tupac Amaru Shakur Records Collection Act, which sought to create a collection of records related to Tupac's death at the National Archives similar to the collection created after the Kennedy assassination. McKinney alleges that Shakur was under surveillance by the FBI, apparently implying that the federal government knows something about Shakur's death. Whatever.
Actually, it's probably a good thing she didn't list terrorism as an issue since she believes the Bush Administration knew of the 9/11 attacks ahead of time and intentionally allowed them to happen. Note that she admits to having absolutely no evidence to back this accusation, but nonetheless called for an investigation into whether or not this was the case (see her statements re: 9/11 here). McKinney alleges that some rich folks allied with Bush might have profited as a result. That's a smoking gun if I've ever seen one. You know, there "might" be evidence that she gains minority votes in her district by exploiting racial sensitivities rather than seeking to heal them. But I digress . . .
McKinney initially entered politics when her father, a Georgia politician himself, nominated her as a write-in candidate for a state House seat that she eventually won. She eventually landed in the U.S. House and charged racism after the Supreme Court found that her district was unconstitutionally gerrymandered. When Republicans crossed over to help defeat her in the 2002 Democratic primary race, she charged racism. Her father asserted on more than one occasion that "Jews [had] bought everyone" in the election. McKinney refused to comment. When Al Gore ran for President in 2000, she stated that "Al Gore's Negro tolerance level has never been too high. I've never known him to have more than one black person around him at any given time." Note: Al Gore's campaign manager was black.
Notice any trends here? When it comes down to it, there is a very simple explanation for the incident between her and the officer: Cynthia McKinney is an irrational person who attributes any inconvenience in her life (such as an officer asking her to stop at security or having to wear a pin) to some other person's racial bias or some elaborate conspiracy. Both elements are present currently whereas she alleges (1) that the Capitol Police are racist and (2) that the subsequent investigation is somehow designed by her political opponents to harm her. I sincerely hope that her constituents are finally embarrassed enough by Ms. McKinney's antics to send a representative to DC who actually has some integrity. We shall see . . .
posted by Your Friendly Neighborhood Clark Bar at 4/04/2006 05:45:00 PM
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9 Comments:
I hate it when someone says "Hip hop can be a force for social commentary" and someone else says "Oh yeah, sooo valuable to say 'bitch betta give me my money.'" People who come up with that rebuttal generally have only heard the most superficial of gangsta and club rap that gets played on the radio. Wouldn't expect that from you. The entire lineup of artists in Dave Chappelle's Block Party say the opposite (The Roots, Kanye West, Dead Prez, Common, Talib Kweli and Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and the Fugees). Kanye might be a megalomaniac, but anyone who heard the first verse of "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" knows that hip hop CAN be about social justice. Common's "The Light" is one of the best love songs I've ever heard, which happens to be rap. It IS art. McKinney might be out her damn mind, but don't take the easy pot shot at Fifty Cent and think that disproves her point about hip hop.
Respectfully, Dre, I disagree. As with any broad statement, there are exceptions. I obviously couldn't go so far as to say that nothing valuable has ever come from hip hop in the way of social commentary...Not seriously anyway. :o) On the whole though, the message being received by the rest of the world from hip hop has little to do with poverty, women's rights, or anything else that might be valuable to America's social dialogue. It's 50 Cent and his Magic Stick. It's misogynist garbage.
I wish that weren't the case. Honestly, I wish that the hip hop scene wasn't dominated by 50 Cent et al. I wish that groups like Public Enemy and Arrested Development had been the model rather than the exception over the last fifteen years or so rather than the Snoops, Dres, and 50 Cents. But that's not the case and I don't pretend that it is. It's only gotten worse as time has passed.
Thus, the statement that my comments referred to: that hip hop has the "potential to evolve into one of the strongest movements on behalf of social justice[.]" Because the entire genre is dominated with what we both seem to agree is crap, the idea that hip hop on the whole is not only redeeming but has such potential rings hollow.
McKinney is egomaniacal and possibly insane.
And on top of all the reasons you listed why she wasn't recognized, don't forget that the incident happened in Longworth and her office is in Cannon. So maybe, just maybe, the Longworth guards weren't on the lookout for a woman who didn't even work in their building.
Also, "legislating while black" and "much ado about a hairdo" is hardly a defense for hitting a cop. If I, a white woman, were to have refused to stop and then slugged the officer you can bet that I wouldn't have been allowed to go to my office after ward. No, I would have been promptly pepper sprayed and physically restrained. I then would have been charged and jailed. If she weren't a Congresswoman, she'd be sleeping in the MPDC jail tonight.
And who the hell does she think she is? The pin is the only outward symbol that she's a Rep. and if she doesn't wear it no one can be expected to give her preferential treatment. In fact, my bosses used to get stopped frequently when they would wear jeans or when they would come into the building alone because without the suit and the entourage the Cap police get suspicious.
The lesson is simple, if you bypass the magnetometer (which all Congressman do) you better be wearing your pin or prepared to flash your ID.
And as for Andrea's argument, you're both right. The omission of terrorism in favor of Hip Hop seems totally foolish and a lot like she's pandering to the black community. But the inclusion of the lyrics was not neccessary. Good hip hop, bad hip hop; doesn't matter. This woman is so set on appealing to none but her base she doesn't need to focus on what really matters.
As a white male, I say this rather tongue-in-cheek, but I think this whole incident proves that the idea of racism is alive and well. Not only in the plentiful examples of good-ole-boys and neighborhood bigots that still lurk in the white community, but also among black leadership. I'm reminded of a clip on MSNBC a few weeks ago, watching a man defending a suspect who had opened fire on the cops and been shot to death. The suspect was black. (nevermind that so were some of the cops) This man, pouding his fist on the desk proclaimed, "It's racism, it's always racism."
My, what a great message to convey. No matter how stupid you are, even if you're a Darwin award waiting to happen, it can't be your fault because it's always racsim.
I am as ready as the next person to agree that it's time for these outdated and asinine notions of racism to die. But no matter what steps are taken to curb occurrences of racism, it won't go away until people like Rep. McKinney quit using it as a shield for their own misfortunes and screw-ups.
Pulled her apology from the floor of the House off of her website.
Thank you Mr. Speaker,
I come before this body to personally express, again, my sincere regret about the encounter with the Capitol Hill Police. I appreciate my colleagues who are standing with me, who love this institution and who love this country. There should not have been any physical contact in this incident. I have always supported law enforcement, and will be voting for H. Res. 756 expressing my gratitude and appreciation to the professionalism and dedication of the men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police. I am sorry that this misunderstanding happened at all and I regret its escalation. And I apologize.
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I give her credit for making an apology, but in reading it, it seems like she is apologizing that the cop made such a big deal out of this, not that she slugged the guy. But I've been known to be wrong before.
McKinny is a certified loon, and I am a democrat! Sadly, her district will msot likely keep voting for her. She is the democratic equivilent of Bob Dornan (no longer in Congress, but a certified loon nonetheless).
She is an african-american leader that gives african-american leaders of both parties a bad name. She definately gives dems a bad name. i wish Denise Majette would run again and whoop her again.
Wow...
Did you see that her "bodyguard" physically and verbally assaulted a reporter in front of the Capitol last Thursday?
He told the reporter that if he got that close to the Congreswoman again he would do more than arrest him. That was after he pushed the reporter and got up in his face.
Oh, these people are classy.
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