McKinney’s comments are disgusting

Congressperson Cynthia McKinney’s (D-GA) assertion that President Bush not only knew about the attacks on the World Trade Center, but allowed them to happen so his father could earn profits from the ensuing conflict, is one of the most disgusting things I have heard during my lifetime.

In fairness to Ms. McKinney I did some homework on her views and what she has stated on the record on the House floor and in Louis Farrakhan’s magazine “The Final Call,” to which she is a contributing commentator. I also perused many newspaper and other articles to find out “who” this congressperson “is.”

McKinney is an African American Catholic and has one son, who is a Muslim. She has been a congressperson from the state of Georgia since 1989 and has positions on two committees and 3 sub-committees. She is a person with influence on what happens in America, and in our lives. This means what she says, and to whom she says it, means something.

After the WTC and other terrorist attacks, a Saudi Prince, Alwaleed bin Tala offered to New York City, an $11 million check to help the city recover. While he was doing this, his people were handing out pamphlets describing how America was responsible for the attacks on the WTC and other targets. Mayor of NYC, Rudy Giuliani, respectfully returned the Prince’s money because Giuliani was disgusted by those assertions.

In comes McKinney, who, in a letter of apology to the Prince, makes serious misrepresentations of fact and asks the prince to give the money to American charities.

In her letter she states “… Eighty percent of people in prison in the United States are people of color.” But, according to the 2002 Congressional Information Service, Inc. report, white men were 33 percent of federal and state prisoners. Unless it is possible for something to contain 113 percent, she is wrong. She then goes on to describe how the American government, through the FBI, runs a Counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) to discredit and ruin black people and organizations. Interestingly enough, this program did exist, but was ended in 1971 and the last reference I could find to it was in 1976. How fortunate for McKinney she ignored the fact that this information she was giving to the Prince was at least 25 years old. Of course, it would not have served her purpose to have given him all the information.

She goes on in her letter to say how “grim” Black America has it and how this group of people needs his charity.

Now McKinney has been trying to make a case that President Bush not only knew about the WTC and Pentagon attacks, but purposely let them happen so ‘his fatcat friends and father’ could make money off the ensuing war. Other Georgia officials commenting on her assertions have said she is crazy and that her comments were not only false, but inappropriate.

In an April 12, 2002 Washington Post article she is quoted as saying, on a radio show in Berkeley, Calif., “We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on Sept. 11 … What did this administration know and when did they know it, about the events of September 11th? Who else knew, and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered? … What do they have to hide?”

So there you have it. The administration had “numerous warnings” and just let the people die. Which is the same as saying they let it happen on purpose and, by McKinney’s innuendo, they let it happen so a few people could get rich off the ensuing war.

This kind of tripe makes me ill, and this person is in Congress. No wonder the country is going to hell in a handbasket. From what I could ascertain from my investigation McKinney is a very good politician. She’s also a manipulative power-monger who will take up any issue no matter how asinine to show her base that she “cares” so she can gain power and influence. Her reputation in Congress is that she is crazy and makes ludicrous statements on a continuing basis.

I believe in finding out as many facts as possible before making public statements, and in this regard McKinney is a dismal failure. Although, I doubt she needs facts in her world as she can throw innuendo around and make her case, after all, the ends always justify the means.

McKinney should be embarrassed by her tactics and for misrepresenting facts from over 25 years ago as if they are current and should apologize to Prince Alwaleed, America and anyone else she has slandered in her career for her personal benefit. She’s up for re-election in 2002, and it is my sincerest hope that the people of Georgia will see her for what she is, a person who will try to divide the country by asserting the President would knowingly let thousands of people die so his friends can make money.

Using the terror of the World Trade Center tragedy for her own personal benefit is disgusting, and it is my sincerest hope the people of Georgia will not re-elect her to the U.S. House of Representatives.

T. John McKeown is a junior in business and a production designer at the Vanguard