Politics: Certainly Not the Gentleman from North Carolina

Now, I am certainly not a defender of Georgia Democrat Cynthia McKinney. She’s divisive, and often offensive. That said, the campaign that took her down was offensive, focusing as it did on the Israel/Palestine issue.

Of course, none of that makes this next item acceptable. According to Congressional Quarterly, The Charlotte Observer is reporting that North Carolina Republican Cass Ballenger made some interesting comments about Ms. McKinney, who is still a member of Congress (until mid-January). Ballenger (and can you believe this guy is named ‘Cass?’) said he didn’t enjoy working with Ms. McKinney and clashed with her often. He went on to say that she so provoked him that "If I had to listen to her, I probably would have developed a little bit of a segregationist feeling." He then added, incredibly, "But I think everybody can look at my life and what I've done and say that's not true. I mean, she was such a bitch."

Anyone want to explain how that’s something you can say to a newspaper? Anybody? McKinney’s out of the House in a couple weeks, and she certainly wasn’t a pleasant lawmaker, but this Ballenger guy gets to call her names and head on back up to Washington and help make our laws? Tremendous.