The American Spectator

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This was, in fact, a grotesque analysis, but you would be wrong to dismiss it or others like it. So know now that some of Mugabe's domestic political opponents were here last week, trying to drum up support for a democratic transition in Zimbabwe. They turned up at the State Department, Congress and the Council on Foreign Relations. They also met, unhappily, with what one of them called their "African-American brothers."

Most of the brothers, it seemed, did not want to take any kind of stand against Mugabe. According to the Zimbabweans, they had bought into the idea that he was a revolutionary leader and that any attempt to unseat him would play into the hands of his country's old white rulers. The Zimbabweans were disappointed, of course, but there you are. McKinney may deal in paranoid absurdities, but they are not without effect.

Meanwhile McKinney is patronized by her congressional colleagues, at least some of whom, it seems, even admire her political acumen. The Washington Post story about her September 11 accusation also quoted Georgia Congressman Jack Kingston, a Republican no less, whom it identified as a friend of McKinney's.

Kingston said McKinney was adept at raising "red-meat" issues that appeal to her political base. "She's not as random as people think," he said. "People always want to hear a political conspiracy theory."

Indeed they do, and McKinney no doubt will continue to offer them. So yes, she is a flake, but above all, she is a menace.

topics:
Military, Africa