Saturday, April 01, 2006

Our National Nightmare + Congresswoman Fierce

Our national nightmare rendered in the most basic pop cultural terms: it was a very, very bad televised blind date, which we realized as soon as it began, yet the producers and those with major financial stakes foisted the date on us nevertheless, and we knew things were going awfully and let him know that his priorities were off, that he didn't know how to treat us, until the spectacular screw-up, which left 2,700 bodies in its wake and far too many of us in a daze, a truly terrible one that led a majority of us to go along with one of the worst choices we've faced in quite some time, and even though we knew how to quit him, the producers and the moneyed interests, through some handicraft and subterfuge, forced us to keep the date going, and it's only gotten worse, utterly and almost indescribably worse. We can't even play that we want it to go on any longer, we have nothing left to laugh at or about, there's nothing appealing about this creep, and some of us refuse to bide our time any longer, because every day now is like Groundhog Day; we just want him to leave us alone, be gone. We won't be calling him again, unless we are just too foolish for words, which given our history and what we've been through isn't out of the question....

(Thanks, Bernie, for the Alternet links!)

+++

McKinneyA "wackjob" and "nutsy-cukoo [sic]"? Someone who speaks the "insanities" inside her head? Well, a notorious chickenhawk likes more polite labels such as "'Representative Awful." The virulent racists out there, however, go for the jugular, with such touching epithets as "ghetto slut," a "welfare drag queen," and worse.

Why? Well, a cop accosted her at a Capitol Hill security checkpoint, grabbing her arm, and she had the temerity to push him away/slap him/smack him/punch him (take your pick). She wasn't wearing her Congressional pin, so he didn't recognize her; she's since said she regretted the confrontation, though she hasn't apologized. The Capitol Hill police have had prior scuffles with and in Congress; they threw Democrats out of a Republican-led hearing, an act for which Republican Congressman Bill Thomas later apologized, and they arrested Cindy Sheehan at the most recent State of the Union speech for First Amendment-protected expression.

As for McKinney, don't forget that she had the courage to say that the current Disaster-in-Chief and his friends might have known about the September 11, 2001 attacks in advance and did nothing. For saying this, she was viciously attacked in the press, as well as by the GOP and members of her own party, lost her Congressional seat (which she later regained)....

BTW, I love her hair. It looks wonderful. She looks wonderful and radiant. I don't agree with punching police, but then again, she is an elected member of Congress and I have to wonder if a Congressperson who wasn't Black and female would have been stopped as she was. She's been a target before. Even if I don't agree with everything she has to say, I still say more power to you and keep speaking out, Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney!

2 comments:

  1. We have an interesting relationship with Cynthia in Atlanta. There are those of us, particularly black folk, that find her embarrassing. I can't count the times that conversations around her, as is the case with many female politicians, turn to her hair and looks. It's as if her hair has something to do with her ability to lead. They use it to discredit her. Maybe with the makeover she can finally shut her critics up. I must say I miss her braids, but I understand the pressure. And she does look good with the makeover.

    I also think this wasn't an isolated incident with the cop. This was planned out. Republicans in Georgia are hungry for her seat, and the fact that she has either the first or second most liberal voting record in the House motivates them more. The timing could not be better, since her seat is up this year. I wish her the best.

    Thanks for covering this John.

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  2. Charles, thanks for writing. I've heard similar comments about other outspoken Black women, and I saw on Steve Gilliard's blog that some other bloggers have explored in more depth the politics of Black (women's) hair and how racist and intraracial social and class politics factor into the criticisms of McKinney. When she wore the tight braids, I thought she might be 7th Day Adventist, but really, no matter what her hair looks like, the focus should be on her politics and policies, which in general have been very progressive. by

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