Posted on Thursday, April 6, 2006 - 1:05 am:

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It was the contrast between the mainstream media's treatment of McKinney and of the fallen Tom DeLay. This morning, the Rude Pundit was watching that hilarious parody of a news program on Fox called Fox and Friends...the Rude Pundit was struck by the way that Kilmeade aggressively interviewed McKinney, a guest on the show, and who, like every ••••••• politician out there, stuck to her idiotic talking points instead of answering the questions. Kilmeade dogged McKinney, asking her repeatedly if McKinney had struck the cop. And that made the Rude Pundit wonder: did anyone ever on one of the "news" networks go after Tom DeLay and ask him over and over, directly, if he had laundered money in Texas, even during his farewell interviews last night?

For example: Here's CNN's Wolf "My Manly White Stubble Can Sand Wood" Blitzer with McKinney on Monday: "Congresswoman McKinney, did you strike one of those Capitol Police officers during this incident on Capitol Hill?" McKinney, of course, did not answer.

Now, here's Blitzer with Tom DeLay last night: "How worried are you that these former aides of yours might say something or provide some sort of evidence or suggestion that could further cause you grave, serious legal problems?" and "What would you have done differently involving your relationship with the now-indicted Jack Abramoff, the Republican lobbyist? Looking back on that relationship that you had with him, what would you have done differently given what you know right now?" DeLay, of couse, said he would do nothing differently and he's done nothing wrong...

Which one of these members of Congress has been indicted for a felony? Which one is being treated like a felon?

Let's see if we can hold a few seemingly contradictory thoughts in our heads at once. Yes, Cynthia McKinney is an arrogant, self-aggrandizing shithead who deserves whatever backlash is coming her way. Yes, Tom DeLay is a skeevy cocksucker who has pissed in and poisoned the already-putrid wells of Washington. And both should be treated with contempt and pursued aggressively to show the cynicism and greed - for power, money, and/or attention - that drives them.

But you wanna know where the racism and sexism is here? It ain't with the Capitol cops (in this case), who are in a crappy position under the stress of terrorism neurosis that pervades everything. It's with the media, who act with deference towards a white male thrice-admonished alleged felon who has intimate connections with convicted felons and who feel free to attack the black woman who has yet to be charged with anything.

Oh, and that's not to mention that McKinney's a Democrat and DeLay's a Republican.

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Posted on Thursday, April 6, 2006 - 1:45 pm:

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney apologized on Thursday over her run-in with a police officer at the U.S. Capitol that led to the congresswoman being investigated.

"I am sorry that misunderstanding happened at all and I regret its escalation and I apologize," the Georgia Democrat said in a short speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

U.S. Capitol Police on Monday gave its findings about McKinney to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which was deciding whether to charge the African-American congresswoman with a crime.

McKinney was confronted by a police officer last week after she went around a metal detector, as lawmakers are allowed to do, while not wearing the congressional lapel pin that would identify her as a member of Congress.

This week, McKinney accused the police of racial profiling in stopping her at the security checkpoint in a House office building.

McKinney reportedly poked the police officer with her cell phone when he stopped her.

McKinney's apology was met with applause on the House floor.

House Republicans have tried to draw attention to McKinney's run-in with police as they have struggled with the political fallout related to this week's resignation of former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican.

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