Should Shays Be Arrested?
by Big Dog on Jul 21, 2007 at 10:31 Uncategorized
Republican Christopher Shays got into a shouting match with a Capitol Police Officer and reports are that he grabbed the officer. Shays has apologized for the incident and hopes to speak to the officer sometime next week. This incident reminds us of the Cynthia McKinney incident where she slapped a Capitol Police Officer. Of course, she immediately screamed racism and did not apologize for her actions until pressured by the Democrats who were anxious to recover the majority.
Should Shays be arrested for the incident? On any other day I would say he needs to face the same music that any other citizen would under similar circumstances. However, since the Capitol Police and the DC Grand Jury already determined that such acts are OK by dismissing McKinney’s outburst, the bar has been set and Shays should receive the established punishment, nothing.
The incident with McKinney showed that it was OK to abuse a police officer if you are a member of Congress. Shays should have the same standard applied to him. For anyone to ask for a different standard would demonstrate discrimination. This is what happens when we refuse to follow the law ans when we allow our elected officials to live above the law. Of course, the Capitol Police do not do themselves any favors by treating members of Congress like royalty as they did with Patrick Kennedy. If everyone in Congress were held to the same standards as the rest of us there would be no special treatment.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out especially given that Shays was immediately repentant as opposed to Cop Socker McKinney.
Source:
The Politico
Tags: Political Commentary
Shays and McKinney BOTH should have gone to jail, let a Judge figure it all out, you do NOT put your hands on an officer of the law, you do NOT strike an officer of the law, not without having to face the consequences of your actions…
Yes he should be going to court, if it was a normal surf like me, i would be in jail…..But he’ll just go to rehad and blame it on alcholism or some lame excuse instead of actully accepting any responsibility
C’mon, Big Dog. You’re not fooling me. You don’t mean that. You’re a law and order kind of guy.
If Congressman Shays interfered with, verbally abused, grabbed or so much as put his hands on the person of a United States Capitol Hill Police Officer, then he has violated the law.
He should be arrested, charged, prosecuted and if convicted, sentenced for his crime(s).
Furthermore, if convicted on these charges, he should resign his from office.
I really don’t care that Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney got away with assaulting a Capitol Hill police officer. That’s no excuse to overlook this.
Besides, FORMER Congresswoman McKinney’s constituents made sure they didn’t overlook her outrageous conduct.
Well, the reports conflict as to whether he grabbed the guy. If he just yelled at him then there is no problem. On any other day I would say you are right.
I am for law and order but I also know that the CP and the DC Grand Jury have decided what is appropriate. Far be it from me to change how they do business.
I do think that his constituents can deal with him, but he apologized almost instantly so they will forgive him.
Once again, I would love to see him (if he grabbed the cop) get what he deserves but I do not want to set a precedent that only Republicans have to answer for their misdeeds. They already have a higher standard to live up to based on treatment by the MSM and the Democrats.
Well I would hope a Republican Congressman like Shays would have enough respect for law enforcement to not attempt to physically intimidate one of them. But even if he verbally abused the officer, while in the performance of his duties, that could be considered interfering with a police officer, which is also a cirme, probably a misdemeanor. If convicted, he wouldn’t necessarily have to resign, but he would probably be censured.
What happened in the McKinney case was wrong, she should have served time for that. But at least her constituents threw her butt out of office.
Big Dog: Always happy to lower the bar even further.
I guess this is just a logical extension of the Republican “But Clinton did it!” mindset: Justify your actions by comparing them to those whom you find most despicable.
Why don’t Republicans – especially God fearing ones – set the bar higher and ask themselves, what would Jesus do instead of what would [insert hated Democrat name here] do?
Interesting that people are willing to have different rules for different people. DC and the CP have established the way they will handle these things. Now, If Shays had been first and got away with it and then McKinney came along people would scream racism and Jackson and Sharpton would be marching down the streets.
I guess because Shays is a white guy…
As for the whole Clinton did it idea, BT is way off. What most of us are pointing out when we say something like that is how come Democrats are upset that a Republican is doing something that they were happy with when Clinton did it.
Clinton fired EVERY federal prosecutor in order to get rid of one who was investigating a friend. Bush got rid of some of them and there are major investigations. Clinton pardoned one of his men before the investigation was ever complete and that was OK, Bush commutes a sentence and all hell breaks loose. It is a matter of why were you complacent when it was being done with Bubba in office but now act like the world is coming to an end. Be consistent.
Clinton was also impeached. I just hope the congressman didn’t grab the cop or he is no better than McKinney.
I agree. He should be dealt with but any outcome other than no punishment will smack of partisan politics.
I imagine the cops will be more open to him because he did not call them racists and apologized quickly. They will probably accept his apology and move on.