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Ask and you shall receive - Cynthia McKinney grand jury called

Tim Russo - Posted on 05 April 2006

Wonkette is beside herself with glee.  So am I.  I want full 24 hour news cycle coverage, a parade of reverends, media tents outside the courthouse, days and days of character testimony from fellow congressmen, and Al Shapton to boot.  Manna from heaven for bloggers.
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I disagree.
Submitted by Blogesque on Wed, 04/05/2006 - 10:10pm.

The McKinney Incident is a sideshow, and not incidentally a gift to the GOP. Besides, it will all hinge upon a subjective interpretation of "Breach of the Peace" as enumerated in Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution:

The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

Since it boils down to a case of he-said-she-said, we don't know what happened -- we weren't there. The legacy media will push the "drama on Capitol Hill" or some similarly-phrased nonsense while ignoring [insert relevant issue or event here].

Given the number of people in and out of that place, McKinney's contention that all Capitol security officers should be trained to recognize all 535 lawmakers on sight is impractical and ridiculous.

OTOH, she was stopped because she wasn't wearing a certain piece of jewelry? HELLO, pre-9/11 thinking there. Why not a goddamn photo ID badge with a passcard reader, like many corporate offices? That would make sense...oh, never mind, I answered my own question.

Maybe that's why Sherrod makes such a big deal out of that friggin' canary.

side shows are fun!
Submitted by Tim Russo on Wed, 04/05/2006 - 10:24pm.
besides, the provision you quote only applies to arrest.  she wasn't arrested, and if charged, will likely just report, and if not, will certainly not be arrested in the house, or going to or returning from it.  not one damn thing will "hinge" on this.  keep trying. 

btw, if you can't enjoy a good bit of absurdity, i.e., a congresswoman literally punching a police officer with a cell phone, then you need to get yourself a stiff drink.
that's called the speech and debate
Submitted by RMC2000 on Wed, 04/05/2006 - 10:26pm.
clause and it has already been interpreted.  she's only protected from prosecution for statements made in the house chamber or committe rooms.  for example, from slander or libel (can never remember which one is spoken and which is written).   they are expected to pay parking tickets, even if they never do. 

i, too, love this story.  this woman is a disgrace to the democratic party and the house of representatives, and watching her fall is a delight. 
finally someone with a sense of humor
Submitted by Tim Russo on Wed, 04/05/2006 - 10:29pm.
btw, did you notice delay filed an ethics complaint against her?  hilarity.
i did not
Submitted by RMC2000 on Wed, 04/05/2006 - 10:35pm.
did this happen recently?  oh please say it did.  this is my favorite story of 2006, by far. 
delay is threatening it today
Submitted by Tim Russo on Wed, 04/05/2006 - 10:49pm.
here. greatness.
unreal
Submitted by RMC2000 on Wed, 04/05/2006 - 11:01pm.
absolutely unreal.  i want to say that this could not get any better, but i have this feeling that it will.  congresswoman mckinney "frog marched" down the front of the capitol steps?  could it happen?  where's the rev. jesse jackson?  this is the best story since that woman in cleveland lied about losing her winning lotto ticket. 
This could be telling
Submitted by AmberCat on Thu, 04/06/2006 - 12:35am.
Obviously, this ranks about 3,069,468th among recent ethics violations committed by members of the House, almost all of them Republicans. If DeLay does do this (I'm betting on it's being a lot of hot air), the Democrats HAVE to fill hundreds of ethics charges against their colleagues just to prove they have ANY spine at all. Shitting on the Constitution is a greater violation of ethics than a spat about an ID. If DeLay does this, Pelosi better spring into action or she's a wuss.
Let's work together to retire Ken Blackwell from politics
also,
Submitted by RMC2000 on Wed, 04/05/2006 - 10:38pm.
ever since those 2 guys took over, wonkette has gone to the dogs. 
agreed.
Submitted by Tim Russo on Wed, 04/05/2006 - 10:50pm.
you need a female voice there.  big difference.
You don't need "breach of the peace"
Submitted by modernesquire on Thu, 04/06/2006 - 11:07am.

Grand juries don't hear cases where the complaint is a misdemeanor, they only return indictments on felonies.  Therefore, even if the "speech & debate" clause would apply to the Congresswoman's activities at the time, the fact that she is alleged to have committed a felony would render it inapplicable.

But another poster is correct in saying that the "speech and debate" clause does not apply to her activities at the time.

becareful.
Submitted by ezeddie on Thu, 04/06/2006 - 7:31am.
    She needs to be careful, making it a racial issue may end up hurting her.  If she did wrong, just confess, ask forgiveness from your voters, and move on.  The more she protest the worst it will get.  She above all people, should know to becareful when she uses the race card.  Sometimes it is a vaild issue, but in this case, she needs to prove the case.  Republicans will try to use this against the Democrats, which is to be expected.  But they too must be careful, because they may take it too far, and that would prove, to me, that the extremist are in control of 'God's Only People".
You forget her audience
Submitted by staff on Thu, 04/06/2006 - 7:33am.
back home is Black...She will be a hero to many.

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