McKinney In the News Again

For poor Representative Cynthia McKinney, it seems to be swiftly becoming a habit. All the hullabaloo over her assault of a Capitol Police officer (which she referred to yesterday as a "discrete incident") still has not died down, and yet she's already jumping back into the fires of controversy again.

After abruptly walking out of a press conference this weekend in which reporters continued to question her about the capitol offense, McKinney apparently forgot that her lapel microphone was still attached and active. After leaving the room, McKinney was overheard uttering some derogatory remarks. But the truly remarkable part was her response immediately after:

"Oh, crap! Now, you know what?" McKinney asked an unidentified aide. "They lied to Coz and Coz is a fool!"

Realizing that her microphone was still on, McKinney returned to the room where the interview was being conducted and, knowing that she was on camera, told Starzyk: "Anything that is captured by your audio, that is captured while I'm not seated in this chair, is off the record and is not permissible to be used. Is that understood?" McKinney said.

Once again, just as in DC last month, McKinney's first response was not to apologize or even take responsibility for her words or actions. Instead, she immediately attempted to turn the tables and cry fowl. In the DC incident, it took weeks before her fellow politicians basically forced her into making a non-committal, non-repentive half-baked apology. I wonder how many community leaders and fellow Democrats will stand beside Ms. McKinney today to blame the reporter for her own lack of discretion.

UPDATE: You can see CNN's video report, including McKinney laying down the law to reporters, at Expose the Left. -- 4/24/06, 8:58am