I've refrained from writing about the Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) situation, as I was never able to find her account of the actual sequence of events. I like to wait for emotions to ebb and for facts to reveal themselves before I issue an opinion; call me peculiar. Like many, I read with alarm her accusations of racist treatment at the hands of the Capitol police, and I waited for her to refute the nuts and bolts of their story: that she had attempted to circumvent a security checkpoint without wearing the pin that identifies members of Congress, that she refused three requests to halt, and that when a guard grabbed her arm to keep her from entering the restricted area, she walloped him. Then she took to the airwaves to decry the "racial profiling" and declare that it wasn't "about a pin, it's about the cornrows."
And then like an idiot, I awaited the evidence that would corroborate this most serious of charges. Any evidence would do—another minority congressman citing a similar occurrence, for instance. Instead, Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte were trotted out before the cameras in a show of support. As the days have worn on and no further support has materialized, McKinney has apologized for the assault and said she'll vote for some idiotic Republican stunt-legislation praising the Capitol police for their hard work. That's swell. Now how about an apology for an apparently baseless charge of racism? I've asked it before; I'll ask it again: why are people allowed to scream "racist!" without meeting the slightest burden of proof?
Don't buy my moral argument? Then how about a practical one? Keep crying wolf and soon even the most well-meaning villagers will stop putting on their socks and boots and coming to your defense. Me, for one. I'm worn out from all the false alarms, and I'm increasingly distrustful of them. And I'm very nearly done listening. Is this really the goal? Racial profiling is a serious charge and should be addressed with utmost gravity and zero tolerance for the offender—but how can it be when charges fly so loosely, with such impunity?
Comic relief comes from ol' reliable outgoing Rep. Tom DeLay (R- TX), who shows us that mind-reading is, in fact, a color-blind superpower: "Cynthia McKinney is a racist. She has a long history of racism. Everything is racism with her."
Yeah. Really helpful, thoughtful stuff, that. He'll be missed. Don't let the door hit an illegal contributor on your way out, Tom, and don't drop the soap.