Just when you thought Cynthia McKinney had learned her lesson about embarrassing her constituents by being kicked out of Congress in 2002, she comes roaring back in 2006. The first hint that something was up came earlier in the year when she undid the braids she's worn forever (or least since she was a child, I imagine) and unfurled an unkempt, orange tinted afro. Now, I like a good afro. But like any hairdo, it should be kept neat. Think "Foxy Cleopatra" (played by Beyonce) in the Austin Powers films.
The story is that Cynthia was bypassing the X-ray machine in one of the House office buildings, as is the right of every Congressperson. However, Cynthia never wears her Member of Congress pin, which police are trained to use as a quick way to ID members of Congress. She figures that except for two years, she's been in DC since 1993, so every cop should know her face. The fact she's radically altered her hairdo notwithstanding. When I first saw her hairdo, I had a to do a double take, b/c the face looked familiar, but with the new hairdo, she looked much different. That's true of even white folks. Take a blonde who dyes her hair red, and even some of her friends won't recognize her at first.
As Cynthia breezed past the security, a Capitol policeman tried to stop her, and she ignored him. He eventually grabbed her arm (which she labelled "inapprporiate touching" as if he'd grabbed her breasts...something which I only know Cynthia to have done in the past to others) and she hauled off and smacked him. It's serious enough that the incident was referred to the US Attorney who is presenting it to a grand jury to see if charges will be brought.
In the meantime, Cynthia reverted to her true self...the one who hates white people and thinks people don't like her because she's a black woman. *sigh* She accused the Capitol police of racism, coined the phrase "It's much ado about a hairdo" and just embarrased herself, the Democratic Party, and DeKalb county for sending this loon to Congress.
In a week where the top story should have been Tom Delay's departure from Congress in SHAME, Cynthia pushed Delay off the front page with her anctics. What amuses me is that besides her "followers" in Dekalb, no one stood by her. Even the Congressional Black Caucus took her into the proverbial back room and had a "Come to Jesus" meeting led by Rep. John Lewis (a man we can all be proud of and look up to) where she was told enough was enough.
So Cynthia backed down and apologized on the House floor. But she still needs to be turned out of Congress. She's an embarrassment to Georgia, to Democrats everywhere, and to the citizens of DeKalb County. You can be a powerful, outspoken person of any color. You can speak "truth to power" all day long, but you can do it in a much more respectful, non-ignorant way than Cynthia McKinney specializes in.
It's time for DeKalb County to send her home...permanently.
Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/07/washington/07mckinney.html?ex=1145073600&en=2f3e242d1f96acd1&ei=5070
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