Let's Go To The Videotape

Fortunately for Paul LoDuca and the New York Mets, Major League Baseball does not have instant replay [review], because they would surely have given up the tying run in yesterday's home opener. LoDuca clearly dropped the ball in trying to apply a tag to Alfonso Soriano who was trying to score on a hit to left field.

Unfortunately for the Senators, that quite possibly cost them the game and would be my turning point in the game.

For another Washington, DC inhabitant, videotape could also play a key role. That is, if it actually showed the actions claimed.

A security video shows McKinney entering the building and moving around the metal detector and X-ray machine.

It does not show her encounter with the police officer, according to officials familiar with it.

Rep. Cynthia McKinney claims that she was manhandled by a Capitol Police office, who in turn claims he was assualted by McKinney when she did not present herself as a member of Congress or wore a pin showing her to be a member of Congress.

A pair of Congressmen are preparing a resolution commending the Capitol Police for their actions.

The resolution, by Mr. McHenry and Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Florida Republican, which could be voted on this week, comes after increasingly harsh accusations by Mrs. McKinney, the Georgia Democrat who was stopped by Capitol Police last week for bypassing a metal detector.

McKinney released a statement on the matter, and you can judge her for yourself.

Channel 2 Action News has acquired a copy of McKinney's original statement that she decided against posting on her website.

In that original statement she complains that Capitol Hill police officers often fail to recognize her. She calls her treatment by Capitol Hill police being "harrassed at work."

In light of these statements and those made by her supporters over the past few days, it is understandable that instead of dropping the matter, the Capitol Police are pursuing the possibility of criminal charges against McKinney, since the outcome of those charges could vindicate their officer and the credibility of the agency.

The lack of videotape of the situation means that witness testimony will be key to the case. It remains to be seen whether the prosecutors believe that there is sufficient evidence to go for a criminal indictment.

UPDATE:
Added the link to the LoDuca tag in the Mets/Nationals game for those of you who didn't know what I was talking about.

UPDATE:
McKinney's histronics aren't particularly helpful to Democrats who were hoping to gain in the polls on GOP ethical lapses. Wizbang has more. I think the Democrats would be better with Paul LoDuca running things than Howard Dean - as LoDuca magically made something out of nothing with the sell of his 'catch' yesterday to the umpires. Dean and the rest of the Democrats are still trying to come up with a policy and have nothing to show for it. That, and that DeLay effectively resigned takes yet another potential weapon out of the Democrats hands yet they still have to deal with the fallout from the McKinney incident.