Read and respond. 

Posted July 30, 2007 – The need for attitude adjustments from members entering the U.S. Capitol apparently isn’t confined to race, gender or political party. But it seems that the punishment for those who step out of line is.

Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) Remember all of the hullabaloo surrounding then-Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.), when she and a Capitol Police officer got into a tussle in March 2006.  Compare that to the whisper about the recent confrontation between and a Capitol Hill officer.  Earlier this month, the Connecticut Republican pummeled an officer with a profanity-laced tirade when the officer refused to speak into a lost constituent’s cell phone to help unite the congressman, who was on the line, with a party that was wandering around in the rain. (Officers aren’t allowed to use cell phones while on duty.)   After Shays arrived at the Capitol entrance in a driving rainstorm, he reportedly grabbed the officer by his badge and let him have it, WestportNow.com reported.  

Although the officer filed no charges, according to The Greenwich Time, he did lodge a non-criminal “courtesy complaint,” which is a cordial resolution of the matter. “When he returns, we’ll arrange a meeting between him and the congressman if the officer wants it,” Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman for Capitol Police told the Time.

Mighty polite, compared to the McKinney fiasco.

McKinney, who entered through the same door on most days, believed she was racially profiled by the Capitol Hill officer who denied her when she wasn’t wearing her congressional ID pin. After a heated exchange, she pushed the police officer with her cell phone in her hand and entered the building.

Before long, the chief of the U.S. Capitol Police was on national television talking about the severity of her actions in the workplace of their duty.  McKinney spent days describing what happened defending her actions to her attorneys, her colleagues, and members of the press. She faced possible criminal charges and censure from her own party.

Ultimately, McKinney apologized to the Capitol Hill Police, but even that wasn’t enough for the chief who said that dismissing charges “would be sending the message to the public that it’s OK to hit a police officer, and its not.”  By the time the dust settled, McKinney was on the outside of the Capitol looking in. She had lost her seat for the second time.
 
Last week, Chief of Police Phillip D. Morse, Sr., and assistant chief of police Dan Nichols said they met with Shays and the congressman acknowledged he acted inappropriately and would take full responsibility for his behavior.   “The congressman stated his full support and admiration for the officers of the U.S. Capitol Police and offered his apologies,” CQ.com reported.
But Jim Himes, the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee chairman, who’s challenging Shays seat next year, said, “Police officers deserve our admiration and our respect, and I think it’s embarrassing to Chris Shays and his constituents that he chose to verbally assault a police officer.”

But, like the press and the Capitol Police, Himes says it doesn’t compare to what McKinney did:

“I think there’s important differences,” Himes told the Greenwich Time regarding the two incidents.

I think there are important differences too. Shays and McKinney are a different race, gender and party.