The Assault on Cynthia McKinney

[K-W]

http://www.counterpunch.org/kanazi04062006.html


Racial Profiling from the Halls of Congress to the Studios of MSNBC

The Assault on Cynthia McKinney

By REMI KANAZI

Joe Scarborough, political hack and host of Scarborough Country on MSNBC, went on yet another odious rant on April 3. This time his scurrilous remarks were aimed at six-term Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The Congresswoman is accused of punching a Capitol Hill security officer in the chest (with cell phone in hand). After McKinney skirted a metal detector (members of Congress are not required to go through metal detectors) an officer, according to a witness, asked McKinney to stop several times. The officer claimed that he didn't recognize the six-term Congresswoman (although each officer is given pictures of members of Congress); it seems that the confusion was due to McKinney's new haircut. What would they have done to Dick Cheney in hunting gear? McKinney's lawyers allege that a skirmish ensued after the officer "harassed" the Congresswoman and forcefully grabbed her by the arm. The Washington Post quoted McKinney, "Let me be clear: This whole incident was instigated by the inappropriate touching and stopping of me, a female black congresswoman."

If you were watching Scarborough Country, you wouldn't have heard McKinney's claim, because Scarborough dove right into slanderous commentary and demonizing drivel: "How do you solve a problem like Cynthia McKinneyThe six-term Congresswoman from Georgia has long been considered an embarrassing fact of life for constituents, Congressman and Capitol Hill police." Scarborough went on to misquote McKinney, asserting that the Congresswoman claimed that George Bush knew about 9/11 and didn't do anything about it because it helped Bush's family's stock portfolio. Scarborough ended his diatribe with words of reassurance, "The good news, saying stupid things is not a crime." That's right, because Joe Scarborough, media guardian of Natalie Holloway and defender of creationism, would have jailed a long time ago.

.....

But is McKinney the problem as Scarborough claims? I would beg to differ. What is "embarrassing" is Scarborough's disregard for journalistic integrity. If Scarborough had the sack to report on matters such as no wmd's, the 100,000 plus dead civilians in Iraq, America's persistent human rights abuses around the world, and the impoverished and downtrodden in American society, people like McKinney wouldn't have to work so hard. Maybe "craziness" is an aftereffect of doing your job. The fact remains: progressives like McKinney are few and far between in Congress, while "pundits" like Scarborough are flooding cable TV with propaganda and neocon complicity.

[boobooday]

1. This is the biggest outrage of our times

Right?

For crying out loud. Anything to avoid talking about all the real crimes being committed in D.C.

[ladjf]

3. The media majors in the minors. It's one of their most effective

weapons to keep the major truths from the American people. If and when this nightmare ends, strong safeguards will need to be put in place to disallow any particular political group from gaining total control of the media. That could be done under honest and intelligent leadership. During the 2004 campaign, less than a week after Dean declared that he was going to go after the media monopolies, they put him out of business. It was a piece of cake. One distorted paragraph of one talk he made at a pep rally and it was over. They are SO powerful. They are the final mind controllers and they know what they are doing.

[boobooday]

8. Media reform and election reform

Should be our number one issues. If we had that, these creeps would be so out of office.

[creeksneakers2]

2. Thinly veiled racism

No guys like Scarborough complained when Tom DeLay blamed prosecutors for his fate and said he was being discrimated against because he's a Christian. No guys like Scarborough complained when the RNC said Democrats wouldn't approve Supreme Court nominees because the nominees were Catholic.

Let a black person say they were the victim of racism though, and the right wing goes hysterical with glee and talks about it forever. That's because righties are racists.

[ladjf]

4. She was set up but should have been shrewd enough to avoid

taking the bait. I have alway wondered if Clinton was setup and that he also allowed himself to be caught in the trap.

[K-W]

5. Who said she was set up?

I dont see any reason to think the incident wasnt an actual incident. A guard did not recognize her, called to her, she rushed by like someone does when they dont expect to have to stop, he laid hands on her and she responded. We will have to wait for a proper investigation before we know precisely what happened and how it happened, but regardless, Cynthia McKinny is the last person in the universe who wants this on the news. She is being attacked and made the butt of jokes around the country. The right wing is spinning this full of disinformation and using it to attack her.

Im sure she would be the first one to tell you she wishes the incident didnt happen and probably that she wishes she had acted differently, but shit happens, she doesnt deserve to be attacked like this. Nor does she deserve to have repeated problems with Capitol security that other congressmembers dont have.

[ladjf]

6. It could have been either way. My comment about the "setup"

was just my opinion that it could have been a setup. Regardless, she didn't do a good job of handling the incident.

[K-W]

7. It was an odd situation, EOM

[classysassy]

9. Congresswomen

lets say that Jane Harmon a white congresswoman forgot her pin and passed the checkpoint without stopping,a black capital hill policeman,grabbed her by the arm and she turned and struck him,what would have happened?,in my humble opinion, the cop would have been fired and Rush and the rest of america's wretched racist would be smiling with glee,just one mans opinion.