Shameful play of the race card

[Major Robert Dump]

Forget the fact that she assualted a capitol officer, no matter how minor the "assalt" might have been. (JC WATTS "assaulted" an airport security guard right after 9/11 and it was swept under the rug)

Forget the fact that this woman has smacked around her aides before, and that she got mad when the Clinton whitehouse Secret Service didnt let her waltz right into the whitehouse because they didnt recognize her (500+ members of Congress, kinda hard to remember them all, even the ones with afros)

And forget the fact that shes obviosuly an egomaniac.

But this garbage about being "black and in Congress" just to get out of a minor assualt charge that wouldnt even affect her office, when the person doing it was just trying to do his job, I mean FFS, please some liberals, please please please, just admit that this is pure retardation and say this woman doesn't represent the democrats, please please, or else i'll kill myself. Come on, call a turd a turd, one of you be with me on this. Every Dem who stands up for this dumb twat deserves to be shot

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/31/D8GMPKR81.html

[Keba]

Democrats? You do know that US Democrats are classified as a right wing center party?

And I seriously don't understand what it is with all that people and the minorty thing. Are they not classified as Homo Sapiens Sapiens? That classification pust us all in the same bucket, everything else is artificial.

Excessive use of force ... pah! She's alive and can walk, can't she?

[Banquo's Ghost]

It certainly seems on first viewing that she has a feeble argument.

What worries me the most however, is this quote from the article:


Members of Congress wear identifying lapel pins and routinely are waved into buildings without undergoing security checks. McKinney was not wearing her pin at the time, and the officer apparently did not recognize her, she has said.

In these times, people are waved into your government buildings because they are wearing a lapel pin? :jawdrop:

[Xiahou]

As soon as this story broke, I knew she would play the race card in an attempt to avoid any responsibility. My only suprise was that it took her more than 24hrs to do so.

I hope the Capitol police press charges. She shouldnt be able to get off an assault charge just by crying racism. :no:

[Devastatin Dave]

She ALWAYS plays the race card. That's been her "in" since the beginning and she learned this from her daddy who was doing the same thing. Man I wish I was black, I could blame whitey for everything. I could get a free education, get a job on the merits of my skin color and not my qualifications, or just not work and get tax money from all working Americans because I'm not expected to be a contributing member of society anyway. Man, I'm going to the tanning bed for some soul brutha baking and to gets my pay on beeatches!!!.:2thumbsup:

[Scurvy]

Man I wish I was black, I could blame whitey for everything. I could get a free education, get a job on the merits of my skin color and not my qualifications, or just not work and get tax money from all working Americans because I'm not expected to be a contributing member of society anyway. Man, I'm going to the tanning bed for some soul brutha baking and to gets my pay on beeatches!!!.:2thumbsup:

im sure its not all that good.... :inquisitive:

[solypsist]

you should know better than to paint a whole people over the actions of one person.



She ALWAYS plays the race card. That's been her "in" since the beginning and she learned this from her daddy who was doing the same thing. Man I wish I was black, I could blame whitey for everything. I could get a free education, get a job on the merits of my skin color and not my qualifications, or just not work and get tax money from all working Americans because I'm not expected to be a contributing member of society anyway. Man, I'm going to the tanning bed for some soul brutha baking and to gets my pay on beeatches!!!.:2thumbsup:

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Can you paint a whole people based on their politicians? Some people do that for Americans, it seems...

[Ser Clegane]

Some people do that for Americans, it seems...

Indeed ... and it's equally wrong to do so.

[Watchman]

I tend to be in the opinion that in democracies the people get pretty much exactly the leaders they deserve. Ergo, they can to a degree be held accountable of what the idiots in charge do. Especially if they keep voting idiots into the job.

Anyway, as for the original topic, goes to show opportunistic jerks crop up everywhere. I'm a firm believer in people's equal opportunity and ability to be horrible selfish little bastiches irrespective of race, religion, income level, political orientation or other such minor details.

[Louis VI the Fat]

After an incident in 1993 when she had an altercation with an United States Capital Police officer, a picture of her was posted for all officers since she refuses to wear a security pin identifying her as a member of Congress. There have been four more incidents sinceI see...

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

So she refuses to wear the pin?

She should be booted out of Congress for playing the race card.

Its all bull, I've never been racist and neither have most white people. Just because over a hundred years ago Africans were used as slaves we have all this going on now.

[Divinus Arma]

It certainly seems on first viewing that she has a feeble argument.

What worries me the most however, is this quote from the article:



In these times, people are waved into your government buildings because they are wearing a lapel pin? :jawdrop:


Wanna somethin scarier? I served as an attachment to the US Secret Service when I was a MWD handler and we get our little EOD pin. I stood at the backdoor of Air Force One about 100 feet from the Prez in a highly secure area before I even had a security clearance. Thats okay, from the pre-op briefs, I am pretty sure one of the many snipers had a bead on me the whole time. :laugh4: He seemed to like my pooch. He actually stopped on his way up the ladder to looh at my dog- a beautiful brendal coated dutch shephard. Just like this;

https://img159.imageshack.us/img159/2619/dutchshort9ep.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

[Xiahou]

you should know better than to paint a whole people over the actions of one person.I dont think he was. He was just talking about some of the advantages you can try to get based on your race- which should not be, imo.

[Banquo's Ghost]

Wanna somethin scarier? I served as an attachment to the US Secret Service when I was a MWD handler and we get our little EOD pin. I stood at the backdoor of Air Force One about 100 feet from the Prez in a highly secure area before I even had a security clearance. Thats okay, from the pre-op briefs, I am pretty sure one of the many snipers had a bead on me the whole time. :laugh4:

Had you been thoroughly searched beforehand though?

A suicide bomber with a dead man's switch wouldn't have cared about the sniper, for example. As for Congress, a terrorist might conceive of finding a look-alike to a representative, and then rush through the 'security' barrier and boom! :idea2:

The British Police just shot an innocent man who was hurrying to get a tube train because intelligence (yes, it's known by that term) identified him as a possible suicide bomber. They grabbed him and blew his brains out with no challenge because of the risk.

I'm amazed the Capitol police didn't just gun this woman down - she should be very grateful she's still alive, never mind trying on lawsuits for being touched by security.

But your government needs to review security very fast or there'll be a frightening incident. Or perhaps they don't really take the terrorist threat for real? :inquisitive:

Oh, lovely dog by the way :2thumbsup:

[Scurvy]

The British Police just shot an innocent man who was hurrying to get a tube train because intelligence (yes, it's known by that term) identified him as a possible suicide bomber. They grabbed him and blew his brains out with no challenge because of the risk.


in fairness to the police, they were damn nervous, and from what i heard he acted very suspiciously...it was still a terrible shooting though :shame:

[Watchman]

Nothing like misplaced excessive force to make people believe in the authorities.


Just because over a hundred years ago Africans were used as slaves we have all this going on now.*cough* You know, I suspect the detail they only got full and equal civil rights in the entire country only whatwasit, forty-fifty years ago might also have something to do with it...
Just a thought.

Doesn't make this McKinney lady any less of an opportunistic twerp, though.

[Devastatin Dave]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/31/mckinney.police/index.html?section=cnn_latest
Even though Soly will probably give me another warning, I still wish I was black. Blame whitey for everything....

[Crazed Rabbit]

From Dave's link:

one of her lawyers said Friday that the real issues were "sex, race and Ms. McKinney's progressiveness."

Now, we can all foresee the shameful race card play, and the gender play, but her "progressiveness"? Do the police have dials that measure the progressiveness of a person passing through? And then they cruelly hunt down those who are progressive so they can get punched?

Crazed Rabbit

[Ser Clegane]

From Dave's link:


Now, we can all foresee the shameful race card play, and the gender play, but her "progressiveness"? Do the police have dials that measure the progressiveness of a person passing through? And then they cruelly hunt down those who are progressive so they can get punched?

Crazed Rabbit

I guess the lawyer is implying that he believes that the officer actually did recognize her - see also the following quote:

Raffauf said she was stopped solely because of her race, gender and politics.

Of course the attorneys should perhaps take some time and agree on what they want to complain about

Myart further called the incident racial profiling and said there was "no excuse" for Capitol Police not recognizing his client

This whole "I can expect to be recognized"-attitude seems a bit silly ... some people apparently enjoy to have their feathers ruffled.

[Louis VI the Fat]

She doesn't only enjoy having her feathers ruffled, she deliberately seeks it out. It gives her the opportunity to pose as a brutally victimized martyr for her cause.

And there are two outrageously things wrong with the statements from her attorneys indeed.

Firstly, how dare she complain about the Capitol Police not doing an adequate job, when she obstructs their doing an adequate job in the first place, by refusing to wear a label pin.

Secondly - what!? Does she seriously believe that any white, conservative male can just walk past security in the Capitol? She never heard of Timothy McVeigh?

This is totally irresponsible and unforgivable behaviour, unfit for a US congress member. What an outrage, I can't believe the nerve of this woman. :wall:

[Kralizec]

However, McKinney's other attorney, Michael Raffauf, downplayed the possibility of pressing charges against the officer, saying, "Not every assault deserves to be criminally prosecuted."

What the hell?!? They're only yelling "Assault! Assault!" as an emotional appeal, because when people hear "assault" they think of something terrible and violent, wich most definitely warrants prosecution in any case. They're deliberately trying to mislead the public, just like the "1 in 3 women gets raped" statistic from another thread. Misleading, because they themselves know it's bullshit.

[BigTex]

Originally posted by Louis VI the Fat
This is totally irresponsible and unforgivable behaviour, unfit for a US congress member. What an outrage, I can't believe the nerve of this woman.

Welcome to the African minority culture in America. Yes its completely and utterly disgusting she would assault the poor guy for doing his job, and then call him a racist. I sure hope he not only presses criminal charges but sue's, this women needs to be beaten with the stick of reality.

Going to have to agree with DD here, most black Americans are taught to blame whitey if anything goes wrong, or to say its because I'm black. Couple years ago we had rented a inflatable jumping house, and obstacle course. We were only going to have people who came to their party jump on it (their expensive to rent, and around a grand to replace if destroyed.). Me and an uncle were out there watching in the yard when a young black girl, no older then 10, rides up on a bike and asks if she can jump. We said no and explained why and she responds with "Its because I'm black isnt it?", took a bit to form a response suitable for a little kid but she was gone by then. I've had things like this happen allot, its a disgusting thing.

Big ol Ms. McKinney needs to be tar and feathered for this BS. Tar and Feathers!

https://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e331/Thammure/neng59.jpg

[Divinus Arma]

At least the majority* of congress recognizes the good job that these cops do. (http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060403-115441-4281r.htm) Can you imagine doing that job? Surrounded by self-inflated SOBs like this lady? It's hard enough to be an MP and deal the smack down to ranks higher than your own, but these capital cops must face a nightmare!










*That's right. The majority. I am indeed patting Republicans on the back quite shamelessly.

[InsaneApache]

Some white Americans make me cringe. I, too, am a white Anglo-Saxon, but I have to say they really do take the biscuit.

Do any of them ever listen to the blacks?

I have said this before, and I shall say it again. The blacks and coloureds in the USA are treated very differently from the ruling class. That's right. The ruling class.

The land of the free? Yes but only for some.

:no: :shame:

[Xiahou]

Huh?~:confused:

[Strike For The South]

Some white Americans make me cringe. I, too, am a white Anglo-Saxon, but I have to say they really do take the biscuit.

Do any of them ever listen to the blacks?

I have said this before, and I shall say it again. The blacks and coloureds in the USA are treated very differently from the ruling class. That's right. The ruling class.

The land of the free? Yes but only for some.

:no: :shame:

Thats right. There treated better

[Divinus Arma]

Some white Americans make me cringe. I, too, am a white Anglo-Saxon, but I have to say they really do take the biscuit.

Do any of them ever listen to the blacks?

I have said this before, and I shall say it again. The blacks and coloureds in the USA are treated very differently from the ruling class. That's right. The ruling class.

The land of the free? Yes but only for some.

:no: :shame:

What the hell are you talking about? I would vote for Colin Powell for President in a stinking heart beat.

Get this straight: Good Americans don't care about the color of your skin. They just want you to do your best and take responsibility for your actions. I equally hate all socioeconomicly disadvantaged people who blame their problems on others. I also hate privledged people who hold hard workers in contempt with equal bloodlust.

Work hard, play by the rules, take responsibility and I accept you as my equal, regardless of race, color creed, religion, or political persuasion.


The only people I treat differently are the ones who want to be treated differently. Unfortunately, there are many people in this category. This congresswoman happens to be one of them.

[Major Robert Dump]

I'm tired of all these movies and books being all racist and stuff and having so many white people as the villains. Thats crap. Space Aliens should be mad too for getting such a bad wrap

[Ser Clegane]

I think we should be careful with the typical generalized comments in this context.

Do I believe that this Congresswoman is making a big deal about a minor incident (for which she is at least partly responsible herself)?
Yes - and it's not unlikely that she escalated the situation to have something to complain about.

However, the behavior of a single person should not lead to the conclusion that all black people in the US are just "playing the race card".

Is there serious doubt that there are cases were black people are treated differently and face disadvantages? - and I am not necessarily talking about discrimination in an extent that could be prosecuted (also this does not need to be based on "conscious" racism, but to prejudices that we probably all have toward one or the other group of people to a certain extent).

OTOH, if there is different treatment or to a certain extent discriminations (be it consciously or not), that does not mean that all black people are negatively affected by it (and some might indeed even turn the tables and "play the race card" to benefit from a "public guilt complex"), nor does is mean that all "white" Americans treat black people differently or discriminate.

Unfortunately, I fear, that PR stunts like McKinney's rather serve to fortify an "us against them" climate than help to alleviate it.

[InsaneApache]

Thats right. There treated better

This attitude encapsulates, in a nutshell, the problem.

[Watchman]

Word.

You know, whenever these topics pop up I keep recalling that funny reference to a Departement of Justice (or whatever it's now called, US ministeries aren't my prime area of interest) study I saw something like a decade ago that concluded something along the lines of Blacks getting type 50% harder sentences than Whites for equivalent crimes... Hispanics got something like 30%, too.

The exact numbers could be wrong - this is just my memory after all - but that's still something to mull on.

[Strike For The South]

This attitude encapsulates, in a nutshell, the problem.

Good sir. With programs such as affermative action and ethnic qoutas for jobs in the USA. Racism will never end here. Thats not a good thing mind you. I fear there extremeists on these issuses will never sovle anything. just make the pendulm swing violently back and forth.

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

Word.

You know, whenever these topics pop up I keep recalling that funny reference to a Departement of Justice (or whatever it's now called, US ministeries aren't my prime area of interest) study I saw something like a decade ago that concluded something along the lines of Blacks getting type 50% harder sentences than Whites for equivalent crimes... Hispanics got something like 30%, too.

The exact numbers could be wrong - this is just my memory after all - but that's still something to mull on.


I'd be prepared to place a bet that the people who got harsher sentences were repeat offenders.

In the city where I live (mostly white) the majority of violent crimes are committed by, wait for it...non-whites!

Guess who I'm most likely to get hastled by in the street?
No, it's not annoying white trash, it's trash from a different group.

Edit: please note that black Americans both perpetrate and suffer from violent crime in vastly disproportionate numbers compared to other groups.

[Watchman]

"Equivalent". Such a central word.

[solypsist]

repeat offender Robert downey Jr. should be thanking his stars he's white. if he wasn't, he'd bee in lockup without patrole.



I'd be prepared to place a bet that the people who got harsher sentences were repeat offenders.

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

actually, yeah, Robert Downey Junior should go down.

fair enough, I just blurted that out, yes, there are all sorts of possible mitigating circumstances. Repeat offending being one, others being not able to afford better legal representation etc. These same things probably also partially explain why poorer white people are more likely than better off people (like mr Downey) to be in prison.

All the same, my point about the other stuff stands: disproportionate amounts of prisoners come from certain groups because certain groups contain disproportionate numbers of people committing the crimes that'll land you in prison (why?Social circumstances, negative popular culture, who knows?). I don't believe that black people are disproportionately represented in jail because of racist judges as it seemed watchman was getting at.

Edit: equivalence? well, repeat offending is one issue, poor legal representation is another and so on and so forth. Do you have a scientifically controlled study where all variables but race are equivalent?

[Proletariat]

Celebrities are a bad example for making an argument that claims there's a racial bias in our court system.

http://gfx.dagbladet.no/kultur/2002/07/12/oj1ap.jpg

[Watchman]

Just what the heck did you read from my post, anyway ? The numbers weren't the issue; the sentences themselves and harshness thereof are what was being talked about.

And let's be honest here: the US judicial system has a pretty lousy track record when it comes to keeping "ethnicity" and "justice" separate.

I'd be willing to blame the stupid jury system, but that's just IMO.

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

I didn't know that the jury decided the sentence.

What I read in your post was that Blacks and Hispanics received harsher sentences than whites for the same crime.
I believe your point is that those sentences were racist : my point was that there are other factors to take into consideration.

edit: brought to you through the medium of beer think.

[Major Robert Dump]

Black on black violent crimes happen more than white on black crimes, and in the 98 death stats the number one violent cause of death for black males was being killed by other black males. Have no idea what it is now

So, in essence, getting longer sentences could actually be looked at as not being biased againts blacks. Anyway, I dont know the sentence figures now, but until recently the penalties for crack were much higher for the same amount of cocaine. Now its all lumped together as either a narcotic or controlled dangerous substance. I have yet to find a source about sentencing in general for all crimes for or against these claims that isn't completely biased

[Xiahou]

And let's be honest here: the US judicial system has a pretty lousy track record when it comes to keeping "ethnicity" and "justice" separate.I'd suspect it's more about economics than race- O.J. being a perfect example. A rich person with a million dollar defense team is much more likely to be found not guilty or at least recieve a light sentence.

I think a rich executive will almost always get off much easier on something like drug posession than a poor person from the inner city, regardless of race.

[Watchman]

That doesn't speak too highly of your legal system either, you know. And since proportionally more blacks are poor anyway the end result is largely the same - and more importantly the perceived end result, that of the "coloured" getting slammed harder than the "whites", is the same.

Which, given by what I've been taught of the dynamics of society, is a Pretty Bad Thing because it really guts the faith in the system of those who perceive themselves discriminated against.

Doubly so as the perception isn't AFAIK entirely false.

'Course, the "whites" don't seem to have too much real trust in the system either. Can't really blame them, by what I know of it.

[Scurvy]

That doesn't speak too highly of your legal system either, you know. And since proportionally more blacks are poor anyway the end result is largely the same

exactly, crimes are committed mostly by the poor "class of societ", in america this tends to be blacks...i dont know enough about it to know if they get harsher sentences, but the type of crimes they commit (ie. petty theft) often involve imprisonment as opposed to large fines imposed on other types of crime...

having said that i know f all about the US legal system :2thumbsup:

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

exactly, crimes are committed mostly by the poor "class of societ", in america this tends to be blacks...i dont know enough about it to know if they get harsher sentences, but the type of crimes they commit (ie. petty theft) often involve imprisonment as opposed to large fines imposed on other types of crime...

having said that i know f all about the US legal system :2thumbsup:

yeah, I think I said as much in my drunk typing too. Poor whites are far more likely to be convicted for getting up to no good than wealthy ones, same goes for hispanics (of whatever race).

[Kraxis]

That doesn't speak too highly of your legal system either, you know. And since proportionally more blacks are poor anyway the end result is largely the same - and more importantly the perceived end result, that of the "coloured" getting slammed harder than the "whites", is the same.

Which, given by what I've been taught of the dynamics of society, is a Pretty Bad Thing because it really guts the faith in the system of those who perceive themselves discriminated against.

Doubly so as the perception isn't AFAIK entirely false.
The result is the same as if the courts were racist, but to be honest they are merely slated towards economy rather than race.
So what do you want? Everybody getting equally bad representation? That is pretty hard. "Hey, you are successful, we don't want you anymore."

Personally I think it is less worse to have poor getting slammed harder than rich than races getting different treatment, because of their race. At least the first one has a fair reason, while the other has none.
Sure it isn't too great, but I still think it is far better than racist issues.

[Watchman]

I'm yet to be covinced there are no (functionally) racist issues involved. Put this way: still during the first third of the last century, if not later, the US judicial system treated whites of different ethnic backgrounds on anything else than equal terms; for example, Irish, Italian, Finnish and suchlike (usually reasonably recently, ie. withing their generation or the few last ones immigrated) had a curious tendency to get screwed when up against longer-established "WASP" types. The so-called "white male franchise" has since then "opened up" to be more inclusive, but when one remembers such little incidents as the issue of black children requiring military escorts to be safely attend "mixed-race" schools as late as whatwasit, Sixties?, one cannot but wonder if there aren't certain deep-rooted biases lingering in general atitudes. One gets the impression they're pretty apparent in the media and popular culture (both of which in their own ways serve as reflections of the general attitudes, owing to their tendency to sell what gets bought) anyway, and such attitudes tend to have effects if only at what might be termed the structural level.

[yesdachi]

McKinney Apologizes for Incident With Cop
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., expressed "sincere regret" Thursday for her altercation with a Capitol police officer, and offered an apology to the House.

"There should not have been any physical contact in this incident," McKinney said in brief remarks on the House floor. "I am sorry that this misunderstanding happened at all and I regret its escalation and I apologize."

McKinney's comments came after the case had been referred to a federal grand jury for possible prosecution.

She had previously insisted she had done nothing wrong, and accused police of "racial profiling." She is African-American and the police officer is white.
McKinney, 51, has a history of confrontations with officers.

In this case, she entered a House office building without passing through the metal detector that screens visitors. Members of Congress are permitted to bypass the machines, but she was not wearing the pin that identified her as a House member at the time.

The officer, whose name has not been made public, has said he asked McKinney three times to stop. She did not.

Oh $h!t, its going to the grand jury, I better apologize!

[Ser Clegane]

Oh $h!t, its going to the grand jury, I better apologize!

:laugh4:
This incident is really a complete farce

[Major Robert Dump]

-- there are more poor white people than black people in the USA, its just a higher percentage of the black demographic thats poor. The really staggering numbers come when you see how many of these poor families have abesntee fathers

------

back on topic: funny video, courtesy of McKinneys bodyguard:

please dont whine about the site or the slow server, the video is at the bottom:

http://themediacrunch.com/2006/04/06/putyourassinjail/

[Xiahou]

That doesn't speak too highly of your legal system either, you know.True, but find me a justice system in any country where the rich and powerful criminals dont regularly get off easier than the poor and destitute criminals. We should try to control and stop such things, but I think it's always going to happen to some extent.

Besides, this has nothing to do with McKinney since she is one of the rich and powerful. Go out tomorrow and punch a cop and see if you're allowed to walk away... you'd be in handcuffs and spending the night in jail, not roaming free while the police wring their hands and see if they can press charges.

[Kraxis]

-- there are more poor white people than black people in the USA, its just a higher percentage of the black demographic thats poor. The really staggering numbers come when you see how many of these poor families have abesntee fathers

------

back on topic: funny video, courtesy of McKinneys bodyguard:

please dont whine about the site or the slow server, the video is at the bottom:

http://themediacrunch.com/2006/04/06/putyourassinjail/
I didn't find it exciting at all... Rather dul in fact.

It is clear she doesn't want to talk to them, yet they persist in getting in ther face. Why can't such people understand that she wants to say something she will halt or at least tell them to walk nicely beside them?
I don't like her already, but I like jounalists that push on in spire of obvious negativity to their presence. They just seek the splendid "F*** off!" comment so they can rip that person apart in the news. But that shouldn't be needed in this case.

Now, the bodyguard is a fool, but his words aren't those of her. He was just too stupid to keep his mouth shut. End of story.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I wonder if I could leave the scene, unarrested, and moving by my own power, if I punched a cop? Nope.

The difference in justice isn't between races, but between the rich and powerful (government officials) and those who aren't.

Crazed Rabbit