Posted on 04/05/2006 2:52:14 PM PDT by SmithL
ATLANTA -- When Rep. Cynthia McKinney returned to Congress in 2004, friends and foes saw a quieter, more amiable version of the lawmaker who once suggested the Bush White House had prior knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks.
But now, as she aggressively defends herself for scuffling with a Capitol police officer, it is clear the makeover didn't last long.
"She's brought back the old Cynthia," said Merle Black, a political scientist at Emory University. "There won't be any more news stories about `the new Cynthia McKinney.'"
In 1992, McKinney became the first black woman elected to Congress from Georgia. Known early on mostly for her flashy fashions, including braids and gold tennis shoes, McKinney had a brash style that made her a target for conservatives and an embarrassment to some of her more moderate Democratic colleagues.
She once said that former Vice President Al Gore had a low "Negro tolerance level" and that officials in the Bush administration had advance knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks but kept quiet to allow friends to profit from the bloodshed.
She denounced New York Mayor Rudolph Guiliani for refusing a $10 million donation from a Saudi prince for the families of Sept. 11 victims. She has been criticized for her outspoken support of the Palestinian cause in Israel. In 1996, her father, longtime state lawmaker Billy McKinney, called her Republican opponent a "racist Jew."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
McKinney took the swing,
the cop took the blow.
She's starting to look alarmingly like a latter-day Whitney Houston, crack-addled and all, only heavier.
I get her and the Sheila Jackson lee character confused. What does that say about..me????
I'd say that makes you one of those people that really should look at the name tags.
Your confusion is understandable. Congresswoman Lee thinks that we have raised the flag on Mars. Congresswoman McKinney is from Mars.
Softened image? What was her weapon of choice against law enforcement officers before the "soft" cell phone? A brick?
Some people will say or do anything to gain the spotlight, and, unfortunately our stupid press loves to beam it on them in order to sell papers to their equally stupid and shallow readers.
Who was the congresswoman that showed up at the pro abortion march in DC and said that she "was at the march because her mother was not able to have an abortion."
THANKS for posting this. I was trying to remember her Claim to Fame... That was when she claimed Bush knew ahead of time about 9/11. She is wacky.
No... they don't look anything alike, but have similar politics and similar behavior.
Sheila Jackson Lee is QUEEN SHEILA in Houston. Cynthia McKinney is PRINCESS CYNTHIA! And Sheila has better hair. I do not agree with Camera Hog Sheila J Lee, not with one word she ever says. But she has great hair and is a very sharp dresser. I don't agree with her politics, but she is one sharp dressed woman. Cynthia, on the other hand, has no style at all. Sheila actually seems like a normal person if you ignore the politics to the left.
Sounds like something Boxer would say.
I take it J-Lee wouldn't be caught wearing gold tennis shoes. I don't care what color you are, that's tacky.
The congresswoman McKinney is just one of many buffoons up there on Capitol Hill....how cretins like her get to high office is unsettling at best.....now the DHS secretary official attempts online sexual escapades with 'teenage girl'....what scum officials we have in D.C. ay?
Did I miss something? Don't all members of the House run every two years??
Time to vote the rascals out.
McKinney did not start crying "racism" and "inappropriate touching" until several days after the incident, around the time that Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte got to her. Here is her first statement, issued late Wednesday, March 29:
"I was urgently trying to get to an important meeting on time to fulfill my obligations to my constituents. Unfortunately, the police officer did not recognize me as a member of Congress and a confrontation ensued. I did not have on my congressional pin but showed the police officer my congressional ID. I know that Capitol Hill Police are securing our safety, that of thousands of others, and I appreciate the work that they do. I deeply regret that the incident occurred," she said in a statement.
Racism is horrible, but alleging racism and hiding behind it when there is none is worse. I would also like to know what "important meeting" she was in such a hurry to attend!
That would be the incomparable Maxine Waters, some of whose other wonderful statements are captured here.
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