A TIME TO VENT

Occasionally, I simply feel the need to "get it off my chest" on this space. That, after all, is a large part of what blogging is supposed to be. There are at least a couple of issues that have bugging me during the past couple of days, so for what it's worth, here's my take:

1) Senators and Representatives are used to getting their way around Washington, DC, but they need to follow simple rules of common sense some times. Unfortunately, that's too much to ask of some.

So we come to the case of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D - GA), who admits to hitting a Capitol Police officer who grabbed her after the representative failed to heed his order to stop at a security checkpoint. At the time, she was not wearing the lapel pin identifying her as a Member of Congress. CNN reported late last night that prosecutors have decided to present the case to a grand jury for possible indictment.

I noticed that on her Web site, she is defending herself by using the Constitution:

Article I, Section 6
"The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place."

Ms. McKinney embarrassed herself even worse by using the race card, claiming that racial profiling was involved in the incident.

Friends, if you or I are ordered by a law enforcement officer for any reason, YOU STOP...SIMPLE AS THAT! It doesn't matter who you are, if you fail to heed a lawful order you can be detained, if not arrested on the spot. Congresswoman McKinney was very fortunate that she was not arrested for assulting a police officer.

And playing the race card is simply embarrassing. If she had simply stopped at the security checkpoint as requested instead of pulling the Whitney Houston/Naomi Campbell diva act, there would have been no story to tell. Sadly, racism is still a part of our society. Even more sad are those people who see racism in everything and use that to their personal advantage. Ms. McKinney should be ashamed, but it's clear she is not.

2) Department of Homeland Security Deputy Press Secretary Brian J. Doyle appeared in court for the first time Wednesday after his arrest the night before at his Silver Spring, Maryland home on 23 felony counts filed in Polk County --- seven of use of a computer to seduce a child and 16 of transmission of harmful material to a minor. Doyle believed he had been communicating with a 14 year old girl, sending her obscene movies and pictures of himself and engaging in sexually explicit conversations. The "girl" was actually a member of the Polk County Sheriff's Office's Computer Crimes Unit.

This unit has actually been in existance for nearly a decade, and have investigated everything from child exploitation to identity theft and Internet fraud. The PCSO was one of the first among a growing number of law enforcement agencies that are proactively persuing pedophiles and other predators seeking out minors on the Internet to satisy their sexual fantasies. The real concern is that, in worst case scenarios, such folks travel long distances to hook up with the teenagers they communicate with.

While this is a big story because of who they caught, this is just another case these fine deputies in their continuing effort to keep the 'Net as safe as possible from such scum. A huge "Attaboy" to CCU for another job well done.

BTW: Don't expect Mr. Doyle in Bartow for some time. The Lakeland Ledger reported this morning that during a bond hearing in Maryland Wednesday, Doyle declined to volunatrily be extradited to Florida. No surprise there. There will be another hearing May 4 to determine if he should be brought to Polk County.

And thanks to Mustang Bobby at the South Florida-based Bark Bark Woof Woof for reminding us this is not the first such embarrassment for DHS. It was only six months ago --- almost to the day --- that newly appointed Tampa Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Frank Figueroa was busted in Orlando for exposing himself to a teenage girl in the food court of a mall. He pled no contest to the charge Wednesday in Orange County Circuit Court and now faces sentencing next month. Figueroa had been in charge of the ICE programme Operation Predator...set up to catch pedophiles.