Let us hope that this half-assed attempt at an apology (which, to me, sounds more like an, "Oops!"), does not deter the Grand Jury from doing their job.
Posted on 04/06/2006 11:25:10 AM PDT by Toddsterpatriot
Washington – With a federal grand jury considering whether to charge her with assault, Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia went on the House floor Thursday and apologized for her role in a scuffle with a Capitol Police officer last week.
"There should not have been any physical contact in this incident," McKinney, surrounded by a handful of lawmakers, said.
'I want to categorically deny that I did anything wrong,' Rep. McKinney had said on WETA-FM in suburban Washington Wednesday.
"I am sorry this misunderstanding happened at all and I regret its escalation and I apologize," McKinney said, drawing applause from the partially-filled chamber.
To demonstrate her "gratitude and appreciation" for Capitol police, McKinney said she would vote for a House resolution praising the police that was originally introduced by Republicans who wanted to use it to symbolically chastise McKinney.
McKinney appeared on the House floor around midday just as a federal grand jury was preparing to hear from subpoenaed congressional aides who witnessed her confrontation with a Capitol Hill police officer last Wednesday.
An officer, who didn't recognize McKinney, tried to stop her from going around a security checkpoint in a House office building as members of Congress and their staffs are allowed to do. The officer called to McKinney to stop and, when she didn't, put his hand on her, prompting McKinney to spin around and allegedly strike the officer.
The federal prosecutor in Washington turned the case over to the grand jury to determine whether charges should be filed against McKinney. The charge can range from assault on a police officer, a felony, to simple assault, a misdemeanor. The grand jury and prosecutor also could just drop charges.
McKinney has been keeping a very high profile since the incident occurred, asserting in press conferences and television interviews that she was the victim of racial profiling. The officer who stopped McKinney, an African-American, was white.
McKinney made no reference to racial profiling in her statement on the House floor.
But even as McKinney appeared to be trying to put the issue to rest, a bodyguard she hired – reportedly a former Georgia state trooper – was raising another furor when he threatened a television reporter trying to interview McKinney outside the Capitol just minutes before she appeared on the House floor.
When the reporter from Cox Broadcasting tried to ask McKinney about the grand jury, the bodyguard told him, "I'm going to put your ass in jail. I'm a police officer," a videotape of the incident shows.
Asked if he worked for Capitol police, the man said, "I work for Miss McKinney."
Word that McKinney had hired a bodyguard roiled the ranks of the Capitol police who were worried that the guard was carrying a weapon. They said they are concerned about what the bodyguard might do if Capitol police challenged McKinney at a security checkpoint.
McKinney's office did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment.
Scott MacFarlane of Cox Broadcasting contributed to this report.
I'd guess he'd end up in the cell next to Cynthia.
She apologizes, but then says she didn't do anything wrong. Did she apologize for playing the race card, and for conducting a high-profile press conference with Harry Belafonte and Danny Glover?
The non-apology apology.
That's an apology??? I don't think so.
Let us hope that this half-assed attempt at an apology (which, to me, sounds more like an, "Oops!"), does not deter the Grand Jury from doing their job.
A flip-flopper if you will. Looks like she learned from the master of jedi-mindspeak, Bill Clinton.
Of course the news article is poorly written (like my posts). She denied she did anything wrong (on TV, radio?), before she gave the line above on the house floor, but the 'journalist' is misleading everyone with poor writing.
Kinda vague. Her or His "physical contact".
".....'I want to categorically deny that I did anything wrong,'........"
Then this is a non-apology apology?
"........"I am sorry this misunderstanding happened at all......."
Once again: Vague. Her "misunderstanding" or His "misunderstanding"
"..........and I regret its escalation........."
Again: His "escalation" or Hers?
".....and I apologize,"......"
What an effin' joke.
An apology signifies a sincere regret, and an excuse cancels the apology. Supreme Court take note.
TOO LATE, NOW OFF TO JAIL MCKINNEY!
So a man who works for "Miss McKinney", an elected member of government, threatens a reporter with "I'm going to put your ass in jail."
I'm waiting for the liberal outcry about intimidation of the media, censorship, the "chill wind" and all that...
...I guess I better not hold my breath.
It was the day before that she said she didn't do anything wrong. No doubt her change of heart was brought about by 24 hours of her fellow Democrats (at least the ones who are still speaking to her, which does not include Pelosi) explaining to her that if she didn't make a very public U-turn, she was going to get kicked off the committees she's on and never get on another one, and be frozen out of virtually all Congressional activity.
a politician's (non)-apology
Denying you did anything wrong is not an "apology". Mckinney and her goon both belong in jail.
Sounds kinda Clintonesque.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1610404/posts
Drudge:Video of Mckinney's Bodyguard PUSHING reporter
... I regret its escalation... - that she herself caused to be escalated.
"There should not have been any physical contact in this incident," - her contact to strike a police officer charged with providing for her safety or him touching her?
McKinney said she would vote for a House resolution praising the police - Does she standby her statement that it was racially motivated? Does she believe the police officer was a racists??
What a piece or work ( or p**p) she is.
And just like DemoCRAP, they want everyone else to appologize for their actions but they never seems to come fully clean on their. At least she didn't say, "It depends on what the meaning of 'is' is." I guess we can be thankful for that.
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