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Web site posted a statement made by the congresswoman and then withdrawn.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.
This appears in the April 6, 2006 Oak
Lawn Reporter. Mike Bates is the author of Right Angles and
Other Obstinate Truths.
