Apparently the case against me may be referred for prosecution. Therefore, I have been advised by my attorneys not to discuss the facts of this case.

However, let me be clear. This whole incident was instigated by the inappropriate touching and stopping of me, a female, black, congresswoman.

I deeply regret that this incident occured and I am certain, that after a full review of the facts, I will be exonerated.

She was surrounded by people bearing signs. I couldn’t read them very well, but one or two said “Is Cynthia a Target?” I think one said “recognize our congresspeople”.

Allah has posted the video at Michelle’s

[tags]McKinney[/tags]

Cynthia [tag]McKinney[/tag], through her lawyer, has said, “just a victim of being in Congress while black.”

WSBTV has her original statement that she was going to put on her website, but didn’t.

Sadly, there are only 14 black women Members of Congress. And surely our faces are distinguishable. But why my face is continually unrecognizable can only be answered by these offending police officers. Capitol Hill Police are given face recognition instructions as a part of their official training. Capitol Hill Police are required to recognize, greet, and distinguish Members of Congress as a part of their official role and responsibilities. In fact, according to the US Capitol Police, their mission is to protect and support the Congress in meeting its Constitutional responsibilities. The US Capitol Police mission statement makes no distinction about selective application of its mission depending upon whether a Member of Congress is black, woman, or has a new hairstyle.

But, honestly, this incident is not about wearing a Congressional pin or changing my hairstyle.

It is true that I have changed my hairstyle. It is true that at the time I was not wearing my pin. But many Members of Congress aren’t wearing their pins today. Just in the last hour at least 8 Members of Congress have been spotted speaking from the well of the House without their pins and even more have been seen on the Hill today not wearing their Congressional pin. How many of them were stopped by Capitol Hill Police? Do I have to contact the police every time I change my hairstyle? How do we account for the fact that when I wore my braids every day for 11 years, I still faced this problem, primarily from certain white police officers.

Keep playing that race card Cynthia – soon it won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on. And high time for that too.

Story at No Agenda.

If members aren’t supposed to have to go through the metal detectors shouldn’t they all be wearing their ID prominently?

There are 435 members of the House, 100 members of the Senate. That’s a lot of people. Add in all the other people that have to go through security and how can you expect those responsible for security to recognize each and every one? Especially since any of the House Members may be replaced at two year intervals (as [tag]McKinney[/tag] herself was).

McKinney may think that everyone should recognize her, but frankly, most Americans probably couldn’t pick her out of a group photo.

Security should mean [tag]Security[/tag]. It shouldn’t matter whether or not someone is “recognized”. ID should have to be presented each and every time. Sure it’s a hassle for members of congress, but they should follow the same security measures as everyone else.

Update: Kim Priestap at Wizbang! has more and a quote from Tim Dees at Officer.com which mentions some of the same things that I did.

Some critics of the conduct of the police in this incident have declared that the officers of the Capitol Police should simply know what their protectees look like. There are 535 Members of Congress, and 435 of them get reshuffled every two years. Each one of these Members has a complement of staffers, and then there are the lobbyists, other government employees, and constituents that come through the Capitol on business. This makes for an unmanageable number of faces to memorize (especially if they change their appearance, as Ms. McKinney did), and the reason that Members are given those little pins to wear. Most Members don’t seem to regard the wearing of these as a burden. Ms. McKinney refuses to wear hers.

This is absolutely amazing…

Via Powerline

Word on the street is that the Dems have decided to “eliminate” Osama bin Ladin, as part of their defense strategy. Ooooookay then.

Kind of reminds me of a hockey fight where the little guy runs up behind the safety of the referee saying “let me at em!”

On Your World today with David Asman sitting in for Neil Cavuto.

Asman: This is a Fox News Alert, President Bush in Cancun, Mexico, meeting with Mexico’s President Vincente Fox as we speak. We’re expecting videotape and possible comments from that meeting a little later in this hour. As soon as we see it, you’re going to see it, right here on Fox.

Well, it’s expected to be a very touchy meeting. The issue: Illegal aliens from Mexico pouring over the border on a daily basis, sure to be high on the agenda. Welcome everybody, I’m David Asman in for Neil Cavuto, this is Your World.

One area on immigration reform that both Bush and Mexican President Fox do see eye to eye on is the guest worker program. Critics say that amounts to basically amnesty to illegals. So is that fair to legal immigrants who played by the rules to get into this country? No way says Claudia Spencer, a Mexican immigrant who became a legal citizen of the U.S. She joins us now from San Diego. But Maria Elena Salianas, news anchor for Univision disagrees. She is also the author of I Am My Father’s Daughter: Living a Life Without Secrets. Thanks to you both.

Claudia, first to you. Now, you immigrated legally from Mexico, you went through the whole process. Is the guest worker program fair to those people who came here legally?

Spencer: It is not fair at all. But most of all it is not fair to people who were born in this country.

Asman: Why not?

Spencer: It is not fair because people come here illegally are breaking the laws. And nobody that breaks the law deserves to be in this country and be granted with amnesty.

Asman: Sounds very simple, clear, to the point Maria Elena.

Salinas: Well, I can tell you one thing, I was born in this country, I am an American citizen. I do think it’s fair, I do not think it’s not fair. As a matter of fact, my father was an undocumented immigrant and I’d hate to categorize him as a criminal. I believe that undocumented immigrants…

Asman: But he was breaking the law Maria Elena.

Salinas: I don’t like to call them illegal aliens, I like to call them undocumented immigrants, have a lot to contribute to this country. They have been contributing to this country for decades from all over the world, not only the ones that have come in the recent years from Mexico and other Latin American countries. They add to our economy. They contribute at least $22 billion a year to our economy. The do the jobs that American citizens just do not want to accept.

Asman: But Maria Elena, bottom line is… Hold on a second ladies. Maria Elena, if you’re illegal, you are, by definition, breaking the law, are you not?

Spencer: Exactly. You are illegal.

Salinas: Not necessarily.

Spencer: You are breaking the law.

Salinas: There’s a lot of people who jaywalk and are breaking the law. I don’t think any human being can be considered illegal. A person who does not have documents, who is not a citizen or resident, a legal resident, is an undocumented immigrant.

Asman: Claudia?

Salinas: And this is a reality of this society. It has been for many years.

{crosstalk}

Asman: Hold on a second, Maria Elena. Go ahead Claudia.

Spencer: Then if you think these people are not breaking the laws, why do you think the laws were made? Just to laugh at them? There is no reason to break the law.

Salinas: No Claudia, I am sure, I’m sure that there’s law abiding citizens, there’s law abiding legal immigrants, as I’m sure you are. And there are law abiding undocumented immigrants who are here only to work.

{crosstalk}

Asman: Go ahead Claudia.

{crosstalk}

Spencer: There is no reason to come to another country and invade it just because we are hungry. Because we need to work. I was work. You were born here. I was born in Mexico. I was born in a very poor, a very poor environment. I was living in a very, very poor house made of cardboard. And you know what? My father worked so hard in Mexico and I went to college. I am an architect today as well as my siblings.

Asman: God bless you Claudia. Maria Elena, that’s testimony.

Salinas: I come from a poor family, and we didn’t live in a cardboard house, but we did live in a house that had a lot of cockroaches unfortunately. So, my father also worked very, very hard to be able to support three daughters and a wife. And I must say that two sisters and I have been very productive citizens of this country. We have contributed very much…

Spencer: Okay Maria Elena… let me tell you…

{crosstalk}

Salinas: Not only with the taxes that we pay, but to culturally, we’ve contributed to this country.

{crosstalk}

Asman: Claudia, go ahead. Hold on Maria Elena. Go ahead Claudia.

{crosstalk}

Spencer: Maria Elena, the issue here…

Salinas: Yes Claudia.

Spencer: is that people are breaking the laws. There is no reason to break the laws. No reason. If people are hungry they should…

{crosstalk}

Asman: Hold on Maria Elena, let her make her point Maria Elena. Go ahead Claudia.

Spencer: You know what? The United States doesn’t have to pay for the consequences of poorness in Mexico. You know? There is no reason. The United States …

Salinas: Or any other part of the world too.

Spencer: Yes. So, if people want to come to this country, they are very welcome to come. But they should have permission to enter the country before they get here. Be sure…

{crosstalk}

Salinas: I agree with you…

Spencer: Okay.

{crosstalk}

Salinas: A guest worker program that allows the legal means to allow some of these workers to get in. You have to deal with the necessity in this country for a workforce. And you also have to deal with the ones that are already here.

Asman: Ladies, we have to leave it there. Maria Elena Salinas, of course you did great, we’ve seen you on television before. But Claudia Spencer you also did great. I guess this is your premiere on television. Thank you very much.

Maria Elena kept interrupting Claudia Spencer and didn’t seem to want to let her get her point across.

I think that the most important quote here was from Claudia Spencer:

“The United States doesn’t have to pay for the consequences of poorness in Mexico.”

John Hawkins busts illegal alien myths here* and Michelle Malkin documents the undocumented here.

* fixed link

I was at work as an accounts receivable clerk for a fairly large corporation. We heard on the radio that President [tag]Reagan[/tag] had been shot. We had a Western Union machine, so I called up UPI or AP on the machine and printed the story out right from the “wire”. What a day.

So many changes since then. Now we can just go “on the net” to find out information. How many offices have telex machines any more? You used to have to type out your message which then produced a piece of paper tape with holes in it. Then you fed the paper tape through the machine which sent the message. Now you just type on the screen. And if you make a mistake, you just backspace and retype. Then you had to start over again from the beginning…

Showing my age, I guess.

Where were you and what were you doing?

Betsy has thoughts as well.

(image via Michelle Malkin)
[tag]US Flag Code[/tag] (4 US Code 1)

Section 7: Position and Manner of Display

(c) No other flag or pennant should be placed above or, if on the same level, to the right of the flag of the United States of America, except during church services conducted by naval chaplains at sea, when the church pennant may be flown above the flag during church services for the personnel of the Navy. No person shall display the flag of the United Nations or any other national or international flag equal, above, or in a position of superior prominence or honor to, or in place of, the flag of the United States at any place within the United States or any Territory or possession thereof: Provided, That nothing in this section shall make unlawful the continuance of the practice heretofore followed of displaying the flag of the United Nations in a position of superior prominence or honor, and other national flags in positions of equal prominence or honor, with that of the flag of the United States at the headquarters of the United Nations.

and

(g) When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time of peace.

And before anyone says we are in a war, we are not at war with Mexico…

Section 8 – Respect for the Flag

(a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.

As Michelle says, you won’t see this picture on the front page of The New York Times.

This country is in distress, the “protesters” didn’t know how right they were…
[tags]illegal immigration, protests, Stars & Stripes[/tags]

My five-year-old and I created some train tracks this morning with [tag]GeoTrax[/tag]. We used the Clock tower and ramps and built a really neat track.

You can see the triple-levels in this side-view picture…

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