CQ.com said Shays arrived on the scene and confronted the officer “in a profanity-laced tirade.”
Shays “delivered a tongue-lashing, including several instances of the ‘F-word,’ to the officer before grabbing the name tag on the front of his uniform.” CQ.com said.
What actually led Chris Shays to go ballistic and act like a like a crazy person? According to the Hartford Courant:
The incident unfolded like this. Shays was waiting to meet constituents on the east front steps of the Capitol for a photo Thursday afternoon. But the intern guiding the constituents was on the opposite side of the Capitol.
The intern was unsure how to find Shays, so the congressman called on a cellphone and advised the intern to go to the nearest officer and hand him the phone so the officer could help.
But officers apparently can't talk on cellphones while on duty.
Shays, though, thought there could be an exception made in such circumstances because it was raining hard and the constituents were getting soaked. He walked through the Capitol and joined the intern and the constituents, where he confronted the officer.
He "walked through the Capitol and joined the intern and the constituents"? In light of what happened, it sounds more as though Shays "stalked" through the Capitol.
Now let's review exactly what Cynthia McKinney did that made the national media and the Capitol police go bonkers on her. When the officer who didn't recognize McKinney placed his hand on McKinney's shoulder, she reportedly turned around and hit the officer in the chest with her cell phone.
McKinney's brief confrontation with a Capitol police officer seems to pale in comparison with Shays' sustained profanity-filled rant punctuated by his physical contact with a police officer. But it was enough to send the Capitol police into a rage, and they went all out to prosecute her. They launched an investigation and filed charges of assault against a police officer.
By contrast, look how differently the police treated Chris Shays.
“After personally meeting with the officer, Chief of Police Phillip D. Morse, Sr. and Assistant Chief of Police Dan Nichols discussed the matter with Congressman Shays who acknowledged he acted inappropriately in the heat of the moment and took full responsibility for his actions.
“The Congressman stated his full support and admiration for the officers of the U.S. Capitol Police and offered his apologies.”
So when McKinney hits a police officer in the chest with her cell phone,
the police file assault charges against her. But when a 6' 2" congressman "grabs for his name tag" on his uniform, there's no problem, save a polite conversation from the Capitol police chief.
When it comes to a conservative Republican congressman, there are no assault charges, no subpoenas, no witnesses called to testify to his laying of hands on a Capitol police officer. They simply have a polite chat and the matter ends. No tantrums from Fox News or Michelle Malkin either. Hey, he's not black, he's not a Democrat. He's a Neocon supporter of the Iraq War who backs George Bush's unlimited right to wiretap American citizens without a warrant. So why make a big deal out of it?
Sounds fair and balanced to me. |
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