Wednesday, June 26, 2002

US Representative Cynthia McKinney, one of the most racially divisive and inflammatory politicians in Congress, has accepted contributions from persons linked with terrorist organizations. She is also facing multiple counts of electoral fraud and voter intimidation. McKinney is infamous for, among other statements, characterizing the united voices of most Americans condemning terrorism as "white noise," and intimating that President Bush was aware of the 9/11 attacks before that date, and profited from the suicide bombings through his father's business interests. McKinney was also one of the most vocal critiques of the November 2000 election, calling on federal investigators to look into alleged voter fraud in Florida. Strangely, she has not called for a similar investigation in Missouri, where the St. Louis polls remained open after hours and other irregularities abounded. She has also been silent about the Democrats' attempt to have ballots from military personnel discarded. As usual, she is selective in her outrage.

McKinney was slated to speak at the State of Black America Conference in Atlanta early in 2002, but did not show as expected, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She endorsed former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell's statement, however, when he spoke on the War on Terror and said blacks were not "part of that." This, despite the deaths of many innocent people of color, several of which were firefighters and police, in the 9/11 attacks. When a Saudi prince offered $10 million for relief after the tragedy, and was turned down by Mayor Guiliani McKinney tried to get the money back for her own purposes. She has other Muslim backers, however, who have possible terrorist connections. An examination of her campaign contributors by the Southeastern Legal Foundation determined that of 397 donors who gave over $101, 83 were identifiably Arab or Middle East-connected. These donations included $25,000 from a well-known supporter of the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah, which train suicide bombers. Both organizations are on the State Department's terrorism list.

Perhaps it was this contact that gave her the notion that Bush could have prevented the 9/11 attacks. These organizations promote the notion that Israel was behind the bombings. McKinney may believe this propaganda, as she has never distanced herself from it. The contributions to McKinney can be verified on the web site of the Center for Responsible Politics (www.opensecrets.org).

Regardless, eyewitnesses have charged that McKinney and her father disrupted a voting precinct during the November 2000 elections, pleading for votes and harassing poll-watchers. The Georgia State Election Board unanimously voted to refer six counts of electoral fraud and voter intimidation to a state administrative judge.

Hopefully, the next election will be her last much to the relief of Georgians and the nation.

Sincerely,

William Fielder

Peachtree City

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