Ronald Reagan used to say, 'There you go again.' The Gipper was known for using that phrase every time someone distorted the truth. He probably never gave a thought to Cynthia McKinney, but he was familiar with her type of behavior.

Sadly, we live in convoluted times, an era it which it has become commonplace to see people at all levels of society twist the facts like saltwater taffy.  Cynthia McKinney, the Georgia congresswoman who hauled off and slugged a Capitol Police officer, said the officer started the incident by "inappropriately touching and stopping" her after she walked past a security checkpoint at a House office building.

'Let me be clear. This whole incident was instigated by the inappropriate touching and stopping of me, a female black (emphasis added) congresswoman,' McKinney said.

Are you as tired as I am of hearing people use their race, gender, religion, immigration status, ad nauseam as a get—out—of—jail card every time they break the law? It's quite evident that we have fostered a culture of spoiled brats who have learned how to absolve themselves of any responsibility for their illegal, immoral and unethical behavior.

When the police are on the lookout for a black male, driving a grey van, they're told not to stop vehicles merely because a black male is driving a grey van. You see, that would be 'profiling.' That spawned another phrase known as, 'driving while black.' Now we have illegal immigrants, who have quickly learned how to alibi their way out of any punishment for breaking our laws by using the phrase, 'walking while brown.'

The fact that Ms. McKinney was not wearing her identifying lapel pin, as is required, when she tried to skirt the checkpoint, is being spun as, not her fault, but the officer's fault for not recognizing her. (I wonder if McKinney routinely assaults anyone who doesn't recognize her.) 

As is the case in most of these attempts to cloud the issue and put certain people above the law, she was joined at a news conference by a couple of celebrities. Harry Belafonte and Danny Glover, who usually only make appearances at prisons to call for an end to capital punishment when a black murderer is scheduled for execution, said they were there to 'support our sister.' They were, of course,  there to politicize another incident involving law—breaking. 

Next, there was the other spectacle we've become used to: the gunslingers, known as defense attorneys, prepared to shoot down any attempt to put blame where it belongs. James W. Myart Jr., one of McKinney's lawyers, said he will be seeking an investigation against the officer.

'Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, like thousands of average Americans across this country, is, too, a victim of the excessive use of force by law enforcement officials because of how she looks and the color of her skin," he said.

(Excuse me while I put my finger down my throat.)

The fact is several witnesses have said the officer involved asked McKinney to stop three times. When she refused, he placed a hand on her shoulder, at which time she whirled around and struck him on the chest with her cell phone. My question is this: why wasn't she thrown to the ground and handcuffed like anyone else would be if they assaulted an officer refusing to identify herself?

This ill—tempered, bigoted woman has already been given preferential treatment based on her sex, her color and her title — a title that she never misses an opportunity to abuse. A few years ago McKinney complained about being questioned by 'white people' when she tried to force her way into the White House without being stopped.

How many white members of Congress could get away with saying they don't like being questioned by 'black people'?

A few years ago two officers were killed by a gunman who got into the Capital Building. We live in an age of terrorism and the nation's capital is one of the most favored targets of our enemies. Inasmuch as these officers are risking life and limb to protect the nation's lawmakers, it shouldn't be too much to ask that the solons help out by wearing proper ID. If that officer did anything wrong, it was his reluctance to make an arrest when a crime was committed, not only in his presence, but directly against him.

Ms. McKinney should have been peering out of a jail cell 10 minutes after she committed what amounts to an assault with a weapon. Ironically, she's complaining about being treated poorly because of her race. It's her race that kept her from being forced to don a striped wardrobe.

Bob Weir is a former detective sergeant in the New York City Police Department. He is the excutive editor of The News Connection in Highland Village, Texas. BobWeir777@aol.com