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  1. #1

    Cool The Female Michael Moore

    July 27, 2004, 2:10 a.m.
    The Female Michael Moore
    Cynthia McKinney, America’s most malignant political figure, Returns in Triumph (Well, Sort of).

    By Bryan Preston

    It's somehow appropriate that within the same week two remarkable events happened. One, the 9/11 Commission released a long-awaited report that neither exonerates nor excoriates the Bush administration. Two, the congresswoman who accused President Bush of knowing about 9/11 beforehand, yet allowed it to happen for political purposes, won a Democrat primary and is thus on her way back to power.

    That's right. The reprehensible yet irrepressible Cynthia McKinney may be coming back to Washington after being exiled to the political wilderness.

    Two years ago — which means prior to the invasion of Iraq — McKinney went out on a bit of a limb. In an interview with a radio station in Berkeley, California, McKinney declared the war on terror a sham and George W. Bush an accessory to mass murder:


    We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11th.... What did this administration know and when did it 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?

    Much has changed in two years. Accusing President Bush of lying and allowing terrorist attacks to happen for political gain was big stuff back then. Nowadays, Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe says he believes the war in Afghanistan was really all about laying an oil pipe across that benighted country and it barely makes a blip; two years ago, few outside the lunatic Democrat enclaves would utter such thoughts in public. Howard Dean's run for the White House began to implode when he echoed the "Bush KNEW" conspiracy theory. McKinney was thus ahead of her time, a regular prophet for the wild-eyed Left. And like Dean, her campaign nose-dived and she lost. But that was then.

    Of course, something else has also changed in two years. The final report of the 9/11 Commission investigation proves that McKinney's 2002 assessment of that terrible day — and thus the war — is dead wrong. There were no numerous warnings, only little signs and portents, mostly kept away from law-enforcement officials barred from intelligence sharing. The Bush administration could not possibly have warned anyone to get out of the way of an attack it didn't see coming. The administration had nothing to hide.

    But McKinney did. She accepted large and frequent political donations from Islamist donors and organizations. They kept her campaign awash in cash. She was their best friend on Capitol Hill.

    McKinney ended up losing the Democratic primary in 2002 to Denise Majette. Majette rode to victory largely on the negative publicity that flowed McKinney's way both when the "Bush KNEW" accusation made national news and when her anti-Semitic and pro-Islamist beliefs were exposed. She supports Yasser Arafat's intifada. She was the only American to refuse to walk out on the 2001 Durban Conference on Racism, a United Nations confab that swiftly descended into an abyss of anti-American and anti-Semitic rancor. She has often taken to the floor of the House to defend her friends in radical Islamic circles — when she isn't busy attacking American policies. She has taken donations from a handful of "charities" the U.S. government has shut down for allegedly funneling cash to terrorists. And her father blamed his own August 2002 political defeat on Jews, who he claimed had "bought everybody." He even helpfully spelled it out — "J-E-W-S" — just in case anyone got confused.

    And now Cynthia McKinney is back representing Georgia's Fourth Congressional District (which is 70 percent registered Democrat, rendering a primary victory there as good as a win in the general election). Vindicated, she says, by the voters who are returning her to office.

    Not quite. She only won because Majette decided to run for the Senate, so vacating her seat in the House. McKinney won primarily on name recognition and voter amnesia. And she is already reverting to form. According to radio talk-show host and blogger Neil Boortz, McKinney's shock troops pushed and shoved a reporter from a radio station known for filing fair, and thus unflattering, stories about McKinney's antics from a post-campaign celebration earlier this week. It seems two years in the wilderness has made Cynthia a bit testy.

    But no matter. Radical Islam will get its voice back in the halls of power. America, prepare to be simultaneously entertained and disgusted as the most virulent and anti-American and anti-Semitic elected politician in the nation rejoins the Democrat fold. Two years ago, the Democrats may have been a bit embarrassed to have such a noxious presence on their side of the aisle, but much has changed in two years. Who knows — she just might get a standing ovation and a slap on the back from McAuliffe himself at the next caucus meeting.

    — Bryan Preston is coauthor of JunkYardBlog.

    http://www.nationalreview.com/commen...0407270210.asp

    Ellie


  2. #2
    Greg Palast reveals that Mckinney never said Bush knew about 9/11 before it happened. There is no record whatsoever. You may disagree with her politics but she said no such thing about Bush.
    Read on.

    The Screwing of Cynthia McKinney

    By Greg Palast, AlterNet. Posted June 18, 2003.


    How the New York Times, NPR and others drove a U.S. congresswoman out of office based on a quote that was never uttered.

    Have you heard about Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. Congresswoman?

    According to those quoted on National Public Radio, McKinney’s “a loose cannon” (media expert) who “the people of Atlanta are embarrassed and disgusted” (politician) by, and she is also “loony” and “dangerous” (senator from her own party).

    Yow! And why is McKinney dangerous/loony/disgusting? According to NPR, “McKinney implied that the [Bush] Administration knew in advance about September 11 and deliberately held back the information.”

    The New York Times’ Lynette Clemetson revealed her comments went even further over the edge: “Ms. McKinney suggest[ed] that President Bush might have known about the September 11 attacks but did nothing so his supporters could make money in a war.”

    That’s loony, all right. As an editor of the highly respected Atlanta Journal Constitution told NPR, McKinney’s “practically accused the President of murder!”

    Problem is, McKinney never said it.

    That’s right. The “quote” from McKinney is a complete fabrication. A whopper, a fabulous fib, a fake, a flim-flam. Just freakin’ made up.



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Hi, Lynette. My name is Greg Palast, and I wanted to follow up on a story of yours. It says, let’s see, after the opening -- it’s about Cynthia McKinney -- it’s dated Washington byline August 21. “McKinney’s [opponent] capitalized on the furor caused by Miss McKinney’s suggestion this year that President Bush might have known about the September 11 attacks but did nothing so his supporters could make money in a war.” Now, I have been trying my darndest to find this phrase . . . I can’t. . .

    Lynette Clemetson, New York Times: Did you search the Atlanta Journal Constitution?

    Yes, but I haven’t been able to find that statement.

    I’ve heard that statement--it was all over the place.

    I know it was all over the place, except no one can find it and that’s why I’m concerned. Now did you see the statement in the Atlanta Journal Constitution?

    Yeah....

    [Note: No such direct quote from McKinney can be found in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.]

    And did you confirm this with McKinney?

    Well, I worked with her office. The statement is from the floor of the House [of Representatives].... Right?

    So did you check the statement from the Floor of the House?

    I mean I wouldn’t have done the story. . . . Have you looked at House transcripts?

    Yes. Did you check that?

    Of course.

    You did check it?

    [Note: No such McKinney statement can be found in the transcripts or other records of the House of Representatives.]

    I think you have to go back to the House transcripts.... I mean it was all over the place at the time.



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Yes, this is one fact the Times reporter didn’t fake: The McKinney “quote” was, indeed, all over the place: in the Washington Post, National Public Radio, and needless to say, all the other metropolitan dailies--everywhere but in Congresswoman McKinney’s mouth.

    Nor was it in the Congressional Record, nor in any recorded talk, nor on her Website, nor in any of her radio talks. Here’s the Congresswoman’s statement from the record:

    “George Bush had no prior knowledge of the plan to attack the World Trade Center on September 11.”

    Oh.

    And I should say former Congresswoman McKinney.

    She was beaten in the August 2002 Democratic primary. More precisely, she was beaten to death, politically, by the fabricated quote.



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Months before the 2000 presidential elections, the offices of Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Katherine Harris ordered the removal of 90,000 citizens from the voter rolls because they were convicted felons . . . and felons can’t vote in Florida. There was one problem: 97 percent of those on the list were, in fact, innocent.

    They weren’t felons, but they were guilty . . . of not being white. Over half the list contained names of non-whites. I’m not guessing: I have the list from out of the computers of Katherine Harris’ office -- and the “scrubbed” voter’s race is listed with each name.

    And that’s how our President was elected: by illegally removing tens of thousands of legal African American voters before the race.

    But you knew that . . . at least you did if you read the British papers -- I reported this discovery for the Guardian of London. And I reported again on the nightly news. You saw that . . . if you live in Europe or Canada or South America.

    In the USA, the story ran on page zero. Well, let me correct that a bit. The Washington Post did run the story on the fake felon list that selected our President -- even with a comment under my byline. I wrote the story within weeks of the election, while Al Gore was still in the race. The Post courageously ran it . . . seven months after the election.

    The New York Times ran it . . . well, never, even after Katherine Harris confessed the scam to a Florida court after she and the state were successfully sued by the NAACP.

    So, I can’t say the New York Times always makes up the news. Sometimes the news just doesn’t make it.


  3. #3
    At BBC Television, we had Florida’s computer files and documents, marked “confidential” -- stone-cold evidence showing how the vote fix was deliberately crafted by Republican officials. Not a single major U.S. paper asked for the documents – not from the state of Florida nor from the BBC. Only one U.S. Congressperson asked for the evidence and made it public: Cynthia McKinney of Atlanta.

    That was her mistake.

    The company that came up with the faux felon list that determined the presidency: a Republican-tied database company named “ChoicePoint,” one of the richest, most powerful companies in Atlanta.




    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Before I started with the BBC in London, I took a one-day television training course with the Washington correspondent for Fox News.

    We filmed Al Gore. Specifically, we filmed the eleven seconds of Gore’s impromptu remarks . . . which we’d been given two hours earlier by his advance ladies. They wore blue suits.

    The man for the Associated Press wrote a lead paragraph of Gore’s impromptu remarks one hour before Al walked in and said them. The network reporter copied down the AP lead line. I copied down the AP lead line.

    After we got Al Gore’s eleven seconds and footage of someone in the crowd saying, “Wow, Al Gore really talked different from the way Al Gore usually talks,” we set up in front of the hotel where Al Gore talked. The important network reporter looked sternly into the camera and spoke in a very important voice. I squinted into the camera and spoke in a very important voice.

    I can’t remember what I said.

    He can’t remember what he said.

    No one can remember what we said.

    No one should.



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Did I mention to you that (ex-)Congresswoman McKinney is black? And not just any kind of black. She’s the uppity kind of black.

    What I mean by uppity is this:

    After George Bush Senior left the White House, he became an advisor and lobbyist for a Canadian gold-mining company, Barrick Gold. Hey, a guy’s got to work. But there were a couple of questions about Barrick, to say the least. For example, was Barrick’s Congo gold mine funding both sides of a civil war and perpetuating that bloody conflict? Only one Congressperson demanded hearings on the matter.

    You’ve guessed: Cynthia McKinney.

    That was covered in the . . . well, it wasn’t covered at all in the U.S. press.

    McKinney contacted me at the BBC. She asked if I’d heard of Barrick. Indeed, I had. Top human rights investigators had evidence that a mine that Barrick bought in 1999 had, in clearing their Tanzanian properties three years earlier, bulldozed mine shafts . . . burying about 50 miners alive.

    I certainly knew Barrick: They’d sued the Guardian for daring to run a story I’d written about the allegations of the killings. Barrick never sued an American paper for daring to run the story, because no American paper dared.

    The primary source for my story, an internationally famous lawyer named Tundu Lissu, was charged by the Tanzanian police with sedition, and arrested, for calling for an investigation. McKinney has been trying to save his life with an international campaign aimed at Barrick.

    That was another of her mistakes.



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    The New York Times wrote about McKinney that Atlanta’s “prominent Black leaders -- including Julian Bond, the chairman of the NAACP and former Mayor Maynard Jackson -- who had supported Ms. McKinney in the past -- distanced themselves from her this time.”

    Really? Atlanta has four internationally recognized black leaders. Martin Luther King III did not abandon McKinney. I checked with him. Nor did Julian Bond (the Times ran a rare retraction on their website at Bond’s request). But that left Atlanta’s two other notables: Vernon Jordan and Andrew Young. Here, the Times had it right; no question that these two black faces of the Atlanta Establishment let McKinney twist slowly in the wind -- because, the Times implied, of her alleged looniness.

    But maybe there was another reason Young and Jordan let McKinney swing. Remember Barrick? George Bush’s former gold-mining company, the target of McKinney’s investigations? Did I mention to you that Andy Young and Vernon Jordan are both on Barrick’s payroll? Well, I just did.

    Did the Times mention it? I guess that wasn’t fit to print.


  4. #4
    I suppose it’s my fault, McKinney’s electronic lynching. Unlike other politicians, McKinney, who’s earning her doctorate at Princeton School of Diplomacy, enjoys doing her own research, not relying on staff memos. She’s long been a reader of my reports from Britain, including transcripts of BBC Television investigations. On November 6, 2001, BBC Newsnight ran this report with a follow-up story in the Guardian the next day:


    Wednesday, November 7, 2001

    Probes Before 11 September

    Officials Told to 'Back Off' on Saudis Before September 11.

    FBI and military intelligence officials in Washington say they were prevented for political reasons from carrying out full investigations into members of the Bin Laden family in the US before the terrorist attacks of September 11. US intelligence agencies have come under criticism for their wholesale failure to predict the catastrophe at the World Trade Centre. But some are complaining that their hands were tied.

    FBI documents shown on BBC Newsnight last night and obtained by the Guardian show that they had earlier sought to investigate two of Osama bin Laden's relatives in Washington and a Muslim organisation, with which they were linked.


    And so on. There was not one word in there that Bush knew about the September 11 attacks in advance. It was about a horrific intelligence failure. This was the result, FBI and CIA/DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) insiders told us at BBC, of a block placed on investigations of Saudi Arabian financing of terror. We even showed on-screen a copy of a top-secret document passed to us by disgruntled FBI agents, directing that the agency would not investigate a “suspected terrorist organization” headed in the US by a member of the bin Laden family. The FBI knew about these guys before September 11 (with their office down the street from the hijackers’ address).

    The CIA also knew about a meeting in Paris, prior to September 11, involving a Saudi prince, arms dealers, and al Qaeda. Although the information was in hand, the investigation was stymied by Bush’s intelligence chiefs. This is what McKinney wanted investigated.

    Why were the Saudis, the bin Ladens (except Osama), and this organization (the World Assembly of Muslim Youth) off the investigation list prior to September 11, despite evidence that they were reasonable targets for inquiry? The BBC thought it worth asking; the Guardian thought it worth asking -- and so did Congresswoman McKinney. Why no pre-September 11 investigations of these characters?

    And what was the reason for the block? According to the experts we broadcast on British television, it was the Bush Administration’s fanatic desire to protect their relations with Saudi Arabia -- a deadly policy prejudice which, according to the respected Center for Public Integrity of Washington, DC, seems influenced by the Bush family ties, and Republican donors’ ties, to Saudi royalty. McKinney, a member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, thought the BBC/Guardian/Observer investigation worth a follow-up Congressional review.

    According to NPR, her “loony” statement was made on the radio news show Counterspin. (Not incidentally, Counterspin is produced by an NPR competitor, the nonprofit Pacifica Radio Network.) I have the transcript; it’s on the web. Her charge that Bush knew about the September 11 attacks in advance and deliberately covered it up can’t be found.

    What can be read is her call for a follow-up on the revelations from the BBC and USA Today on the information about a growing terror threat ignored by Bush . . . and whether the policy response -- war, war, war -- was protecting America or simply enriching Bush’s big arms industry donors and business partners. Fair questions. But asking them is dangerous . . . to one’s political career.



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    The BBC report which got McKinney in hot water mentioned the Bush Administration’s reluctance to investigate associates of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), which the FBI secret document termed “a suspected terrorist organization.” They may be. They may not be. McKinney’s question was only, Why no investigation?

    Just after McKinney’s defeat, the courier of Osama bin Laden's latest alleged taped threat against the United States was busted in Africa: He was on the staff of WAMY. Shortly thereafter, Prince Abdullah, the Saudi dictator, invited WAMY leaders to his palace and told them, “There is no extremism in the defending of the faith.”

    So if you listen to U.S. radio and read U.S. papers, you are told this: Abdullah’s protector and godfather, George W. Bush, is sane and patriotic, and McKinney, who wants to investigate these guys, is a loony and a traitor. Got it?



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Ted Koppel’s Nightline did a kind of follow-up to the BBC elections story. Our BBC team discovered that of the 180,000 votes never counted in the Florida 2000 presidential race, a sickeningly disproportionate number came from black counties. In Gadsden County, where more than half the population is black, one in eight ballots was marked "spoiled" and, thus, never counted.

    Koppel’s team got on the case, flying down to Florida to find out why thousands of black votes were never counted. They talked to experts, they talked to important white people, and Koppel reported this: Many blacks are new to voting and, with limited education, have a difficult time with marking the sophisticated ballots. In other words, ABC concluded, African Americans are too ****ing dumb to figure out how to vote.

    Hey, if true, then you have to report it. But it wasn’t. It was a fib, a tall tale, made-for-TV mendacity, polite liberal electronic cross-burning intellectual eugenics.

    Here’s the real scoop: All races of voters make errors on paper ballots. But in white counties like Leon (Tallahassee), if you make a stray mark or other error, the vote machine rejects your ballot, and you get another ballot to vote again. But in black counties like Gadsden, you make a mistake and the machine quietly accepts and voids your ballot.

    In other words, it wasn’t that African Americans are too dumb to vote but that European American reporters are too dumb to ask, too lazy to bother, too gutless to tell officialdom to stop lying into the cameras.



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Back in the edit room with Mr. Washington Network TV Reporter, we were ready to bake the cake, the Gore story. We had all the ingredients.

    “Take out your watch,” said the Fox man.

    “You get 90 seconds,” he said. “That’s what you get. You got an intro, 40 seconds of narration, two sound bites, and end with a stand-up to camera.”

    I repeated, “Forty seconds narrate, two sound bites, stand-up.”

    He said, “Two sound bites and a stand-up. Every story. Every time.”

    He said, “What do you think?”

    I said, “I think I’m leaving the country.”

    Greg Palast is an investigative reporter for BBC television and author of the New York Times bestseller, “The Best Democracy Money Can Buy” (Penguin/Plume 2003). This article is based on his contribution to the compendium, "Abuse Your Illusions," released this month by Disinformation Press. Oliver Shykles, Fredda Weinberg, Ina Howard, and Phil Tanfield contributed research for this report.


  5. #5
    Registered User Free Member enviro's Avatar
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    90000 "convicted felons" may have been injustly removed from the rolls - doubt it, but it could have happened - doesn't mean squat to me when the democrats pushed election officials to not count the Military absentee votes until a Judge ordered them to do so.

    To me, both parties played the game. We know who minorities traditionally vote for and we know who the military traditionally votes for.


  6. #6
    Registered User Free Member enviro's Avatar
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    Note to Congresswoman McKinney: Silence is Golden



    by Michael King



    A New Visions Commentary paper published October 2001 by The National Center
    for Public Policy Research * 777 N. Capitol St. NE #803, Washington, DC 20002, 202/371-1400, Fax 202-408-7773, E-Mail Project21@nationalcenter.org, Web http://www.nationalcenter.org.
    Reprints permitted provided source is credited.


    Georgia residents have an embarrassment on their hands. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has planted her foot so deep in her throat it may take surgery to remove it. So much so that her constituents ought to remove her from office.

    When Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal visited Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center remains, he offered New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani a $10 million check to help with relief efforts. Along with the check came a letter condemning terrorism and offering condolences to the people of New York City. Attached to the letter was a press release from the prince pointing out that the disaster and associated problems were directly related to American middle east policy in general and the Israel-Palestine face-off in particular.1

    "Rudy the Rock," to the collective cheers of most of the country, turned down the prince's money.2 The next day, Prince Alwaleed called into CNBC to salvage his reputation. He told the network, "The crime that took place in New York will have no justification whatsoever," but added that there are those in the Arab world who believe the United States is siding with the Israelis over the Palestinians.3

    Then Congresswoman McKinney jumped into the fray. The same day the prince called CNBC, she sent him a letter apologizing for Giuliani's rebuke. She suggested the prince instead donate the money to "the poor" and "people of color" in the United States who "could use the $10 million." McKinney essentially agreed with Prince Alwaleed's political machinations, writing that reports of "excessive, and often indiscriminate, use of force by Israeli security forces... breeds a hotbed of anger and despair that destabilizes peace in the Middle East and elsewhere."4

    McKinney further suggested accepting the money was a free speech issue. "Whether [Giuliani] agreed with you or not," she wrote, "I think he should have recognized your right to speak and make observations about a part of the world which you know so well."5 Unfortunately for her, her views and those of Prince Alwaleed run counter to that of the heart and soul of America.

    Zell Miller, one of Georgia's U.S. senators and a fellow Democrat, called McKinney's letter "disgraceful." Many of her 4th District constituents are also upset with her, including many of her black constituents. Surprisingly, and shocking to me, many people in the poorer sections of DeKalb County - which comprises her core constituency - reportedly support her actions.6

    Congresswoman McKinney issued a written statement defending her stance and the letter, saying: "My point was simply that the $10 million donation should have been accepted whether or not we, as Americans, agree with every position taken by the prince."7 But, wait, it gets better. In the midst of all of this, it's been revealed that she was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at a function hosted by the Council for American-Islamic Relations, a group which allegedly has ties to terrorist organizations.8

    By the way, this isn't the first time McKinney has been an embarrassment. She whined loudly when her oddly-shaped congressional district was redrawn from a shape that facilitated the election of a black candidate to one that more correctly reflected the geographic area. After initially making a racial issue out of it, she stopped yelling when she won reelection.

    In Congress, McKinney is known for camping out on the House floor for five to six hours to get a choice seat when the President speaks. This ensures that this "aisle bird" will be seen on national television.9 Her colleagues reportedly call her "the cutest Communist in Congress" for some of her policy stands.10 Her advocacy for African leaders who've wooed her have some critics charging she does more for people in Africa than she for her Georgia district.

    But, with her letter to Prince Alwaleed, Congresswoman McKinney has outdone herself. She has tried to equate the number of black prisoners in jail in America with the problems facing Israel and Palestine. In her letter, she essentially said, "Prince, you're right. We Americans are so insensitive and stupid that we deserved to have four planes hijacked and used like missiles, killing more than 5,000 people. Oh, by the way, can I have that check for $10 million now?"

    All Americans should be insulted by Cynthia McKinney's behavior. Many Georgians, myself included, are insulted. Her actions indicate she does not have the comportment to represent the interests of American citizens. Let's hope that her constituents are insulted enough to trundle her out of office in the next election.





    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Footnotes:

    1 "Saudi Prince Donates $10 million to NY, But Giuliani Sends Check Back to Him: Prince Alwaleed Criticizes U.S. Stand on Palestinians", New York Times article reprinted by Atlanta Journal-Consitution, available at http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/ter...donation.html.
    2 Melanie Eversley, "McKinney Apologizes to Saudi for Snub in NY," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 14, 2001.
    3 Allison Romano, "CNBC Gets Royal Phone Call," Broadcasting and Cable, October 12, 2001.
    4 Letter from Congresswoman Cytnhia McKinney to Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, available at http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/new...eyletter.html.
    5 Ibid.
    6 Melanie Eversley, "Letter to Saudi Prince: McKinney Isn't Sorry for Comments on Israel," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 17, 2001.
    7 Ibid.
    8 Alexander Bolton, "Rep. McKinney to Headline Muslim Fundraiser," The Hill, October 3, 2001.
    9 Neil Boortz, "This Time Cynthia's Not Just Pathetic... She's Disgusting," available at http://www.boortz.com/oct15-01.htm.
    10 Ibid.



    (Michael King is a member of the African-American leadership network Project 21 and an Internet and radio broadcaster in Atlanta, Georgia. He can be reached at mhking@bellsouth.net and http://www.geocities.com/mhking1/. A downloadable photo of Michael King is available at http://www.nationalcenter.org/StaffP21MHKingHead.jpg.)


    Note: New Visions Commentaries reflect the views of their author, and not necessarily those of Project 21.


  7. #7
    Registered User Free Member enviro's Avatar
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    Democrat Implies Sept. 11 Administration Plot
    By Juliet Eilperin
    Friday, April 12, 2002

    Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) is calling for an investigation into whether President Bush and other government officials had advance notice of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 but did nothing to prevent them. She added that "persons close to this administration are poised to make huge profits off America's new war."

    In a recent interview with a Berkeley, Calif., radio station, McKinney said: "We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11th. . . . What did this administration know and when did it 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?"

    McKinney declined to be interviewed yesterday, but she issued a statement saying: "I am not aware of any evidence showing that President Bush or members of his administration have personally profited from the attacks of 9-11. A complete investigation might reveal that to be the case."

    Bush spokesman Scott McLellan dismissed McKinney's comments.

    "The American people know the facts, and they dismiss such ludicrous, baseless views," he said. "The fact that she questions the president's legitimacy shows a partisan mind-set beyond all reason."

    In the radio conversation, McKinney delivered a stinging attack on the administration. In 2000, she charged, Bush forces "stole from America our most precious right of all, the right to free and fair elections." With the September attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, McKinney said, "an administration of questionable legitimacy has been given unprecedented power."

    She suggested that the administration was serving the interests of a Washington-based investment firm, the Carlyle Group, which employs a number of high-ranking former government officials from both parties. Former president George H.W. Bush -- the current president's father -- is an adviser to the firm. McKinney said the war on terrorism has enriched Carlyle Group investors by enhancing the value of a military contractor partly owned by the firm.

    Carlyle Group spokesman Chris Ullman asked: "Did she say these things while standing on a grassy knoll in Roswell, New Mexico?"

    During her five terms in office, McKinney has often given voice to radical critiques of U.S. policy, especially in the Middle East. She defied the State Department to investigate assertions that international sanctions are brutalizing innocent Iraqis.

    With her comments concerning Sept. 11, McKinney, 47, seems to have tapped into a web of conspiracy theories circulating during the past six months among people who believe that the government is partially -- or entirely -- to blame for last year's attacks, which killed more than 3,000 people.

    "What is undeniable is that corporations close to the administration have directly benefited from the increased defense spending arising from the aftermath of September 11th," McKinney charged. "America's credibility, both with the world and with her own people, rests upon securing credible answers to these questions."

    None of McKinney's colleagues has embraced her allegations, but a few said they are familiar with the theories.

    "I've heard a number of people say it," said Rep. Melvin Watt (D-N.C.), who quickly added, "I can't say that it would be a widely held view" among lawmakers.

    Some lawmakers have a less charitable view of McKinney's penchant for publicity. Rep. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) said McKinney is simply trying to impress her constituents.

    "She's demonstrated at home an ability to win," he said, "and she's demonstrated in Washington a total lack of responsibility in her statements."

    Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), a friend of McKinney's, said the Georgia Democrat is adept at seizing on "red-meat" issues that resonate with her political base and have helped her fend off a series of GOP challengers.

    "She's not as random as people think," Kingston said. "People always want to hear a political conspiracy theory."

    (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)


  8. #8
    enviro
    Forget about if the election fraud happened or not. That's water under the bridge. The point is Mckinney was pushing for an investigation, and that, along with her call for an investigation into Bush41's dealings, made her a target for one of the biggest hatchet jobs I've ever heard of.


  9. #9
    enviro
    Greg Palast blew your article out of the water (did you read all of Greg's article?). He checked the transcripts to the radio show in question and she said no such thing. All she wanted was an investigation into intelligence failures.


  10. #10
    Registered User Free Member enviro's Avatar
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    You're probably right Eddie - but I think she could have chosen her words a bit more carefully. She sounded fanatical and her own constituents were embarrassed to the point to elect someone else. Even her fellow congressmen and senators that were basically questioning the same things as her distanced themselves from her.

    She didn't cover her own six on this one. I don't feel sorry for her.


  11. #11
    Registered User Free Member enviro's Avatar
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    (April, 2002) Came under slight scrutiny when it was reveled over 75% of donations given to her after 9-11 were from Arab-Muslim organizations outside her district. Her campaign manager, in her defense, responded in such way as; not everyone who contributes to her has to like America.

    (August, 2002) McKinney's bizarre comments and questionable campaign donations cost her the primary election as she was voted out. The Congresswoman blamed democracy for losing her election.


  12. #12
    She crossed the Bush family and got hammered for it. I don't feel sorry for her, because she is obviously a strong woman that doesn't need any pity from me.


  13. #13
    Registered User Free Member enviro's Avatar
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    No Eddie - your guy disputes a direct statement that she said Bush DID know about the attacks prior to 9-11.

    What she said OFFICIALLY is what I posted above. Unedited:

    "Instead of congress investigating what went wrong, President Bush placed a phone call to Majority leader Tom Daschle asking him not to investigate the events of Sept. 11. And hot on the heels of the president's phone call was another phone call from the vice president asking that Tom Daschle not investigate," McKinney told Flashpoints host Dennis Bernstein. "My question is what do they have to hide?"

    And for that matter, her mouth got her exactly what she deserved. Her point was the same as the paraphrased version of her comments. It was only after she took so much heat that she and a few supporters said she didn't say that.

    She pulled a Clinton. "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" - and later "Oh, when I said that, I didn't think a blow job was sexual relations"


  14. #14
    I don't see all Arabs and Muslims as terrorists so I wouldn't be concerned about these organizations. When you connect the groups that contributed to McKinney to terrorism then tell me about it. American Arabs and Muslims have every right to participate in our political process. Bush was getting Saudi money when he was drilling dry holes in Texas. How many of the hijackers were from Saudi? See how the game can be played with both the left and the right?


  15. #15
    enviro
    It's true that Bush didn't want the 911 commission. Only political pressure from the families forced him into creating it. When she asked what did Bush have to hide what she meant was intelligence failures. I was asking the same question. If you have nothing to worry about, then you should be welcoming an investigation to make sure another 9/11 doesn't happen. Bush is not an emperor or king that is above criticism. I feel the criticism was justified because the Bush administration was trying to block an investigation into the events of 9/11. Can you imagine if a Democrat were in the White House and tried to do the same thing. Republicans would have been screaming bloody murder and would have had the same type of criticism. You know Gore would have been called a despot (and worse) if he tried to block an investigation.


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