Delay & McKinney: Two Bad Bookends In Congress

One advantage of running in a safe Congressional district with a clear majority of voters of one political party is that you don't have to be very good. And this has spurred more than a few of the worst members of Congress. Unlike the Senate, where a far larger pool of voters forces far better candidates and clearly more responsible behavior, the larger pool known as the Congress clearly invites some simply awful leadership in some districts.

Tom Delay finally got a clue that after two of his aides pleaded guilty to corruption crimes and he was tarred by his relationship with convicted lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, that maybe he should step aside as being a real liability for the Republican Party. Instead of treating his seat in the Congress with the dignity that it deserved, instead he made his office into a full contact sport much like professional wrestling.

Many Republicans failed to recognize that amount of image damage that Delay did to their party. And very regrettably, many of the religious oriented voters surrounded Delay, bringing disgrace on themselves, their organizations as well as their faith.

Delay was a huge boatanchor that too many persons allowed to bring disgrace to Congress and the Republican Party for way too long. His leaving of Congress is way overdue.

But bad members of Congress is an equal opportunity and bipartisan problem it seems.

Rep. Cynthia McKinney, a Democrat of Georgia has certainly managed to prove that a safe Democratic seat in Congress can help elect a terrible member of Congress just as sure as a safe Republican seat like in the district of Tom Delay did.

Recently McKinney changed her hairstyle from one that had a dignified look for someone who is an 11 term Congresswoman to some sort of strange hairstyle that she seems to seldom bother to even comb anymore. In some appearances on CNN, she now has a crazy and disheveled look. Some member of Congressional security didn't recognize her after she rushed past security measures at the Capitol building last week not wearing her security pin. And according to claims hit a security officer. But to make things worse, appeared on CNN with her hair looking uncombed, with a new "look" that makes her look like a mentally ill person, but instead blamed racism for the incident, taking no responsibility at all for her "disheveled" makeover, and failure to wear the required Capitol security pin, or her own alleged absurd and abusive conduct toward the Capitol building security.

On her Congressional website, Rep. McKinney looks like a dignified member of Congress. Well dressed with neat hair that you'd expect of someone in such a position of authority. But the "new" Rep. McKinney with her near "Nick Nolte mugshot" makeover that appeared on CNN right after the incident with a near baglady or mentally ill look with crazy hair that looks like it never met a comb it liked, certainly would have caused Capitol security not to notice her and to question her. 99% of persons wouldn't have recognized this Congresswoman's new "look".

In this day and age with the open possibility of a suicide bomber or a mentally ill "John Hinckley-type" disturbed person that could bring a weapon into the Capitol building, why a Congressperon cannot cooperate enough to wear their security pin into the building is a good question. Rep. McKinney is endangering the security of everyone in the Capitol building if it forces any weakening of Capitol security measures.

Thankfully there are Congressional elections every two years. It gives voters an opportunity to weed out those who proved to be major embarrassments. This November is a another opportunity for voters to correct some of their past mistakes they made at the polls last time around.