CONGRESSWOMEN Cynthia McKinney managed to escape indictment after her scuffle with a Capitol police officer. Now, if only she can learn from that and tone down her legendary outrageous and arrogant behavior.
Not surprisingly, the police are deeply unhappy with the D.C. Superior Court grand jury's decision. In March, Officer Paul McKenna tried to stop Ms. Kinney as she sidestepped a metal detector.
The officer didn't recognize the Georgia Democrat because her hair style had changed, and she was not wearing the lapel pin identifying her as a member of Congress. Instead of complying with instructions to stop, Ms. McKinney ignored him, then struck him when he grabbed her arm. She then turned around and cried "racial profiling."
But not even critics of racial profiling could agree with her. This was not a case of racial profiling. Officer McKenna did not recognize her, and in this post-9/11 world, security is important.
We can only guess what beating the rap will do for Ms. McKinney's ego. In the past, she has toyed with the idea of running for president on the Green Party ticket.
For now, she says she's relieved. She labeled the whole incident "unfortunate," and she's right about that. The grand jury investigation was necessary, but the decision isn't popular. The American people were not only stunned by Ms. McKinney's behavior but by her effort to explain it by trying to put the heat on somebody else.That's politics inside the beltway. Elsewhere in America, ordinary citizens would not only have apologized, which Ms. McKinney did, but likely would have faced tougher consequences.
Four years ago, after a torrent of outrageous comments following the Sept. 11 attacks, she lost a bid for re-election, then recaptured her seat two years later. She'd do very well to take stock of herself and figure out that maybe she's the problem.
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