Too bad the Ohio State University Lantern got it so wrong in its story entitled “Congresswoman distressed about homeland security, War on Terrorism,” because it would have been very easy to get it right.
The first instance of getting it wrong occurs in the second paragraph of the story, which is supposed to be a quote from me. The correct quote should have read as follows: “I voted against every bill that passed the Congress having to do with homeland security.” Sadly, The Lantern didn’t even come close. Perhaps what was put in quotations was what the newspaper wanted me to say. But surely that is beneath OSU journalism standards.
The second instance in which the story gets it wrong comes in very next quote that is supposedly taken from my remarks. On Page 2 of The Lantern, the continuation of the story begins with another quote that is so far off the mark it seems the paper was at another event. The story quotes me as saying it is a “privilege” to vote.
As a child of the civil rights movement and a participant in it, I would never say that voting in a republic is a “privilege.” It is a right, and the correct quote should have read: “I remember when the U.S. thought Martin Luther King, Jr. was a terrorist because he wanted black people to vote.”
The third instance of the story getting it wrong makes me question whether or not anyone from the newspaper was even in the room, because the reference to the 100 who have been released from death row — having been found innocent long after their trials — was to their status of poverty and the type of justice they got. This is as opposed to, for instance, Marc Rich, and the type of justice he got.
Cynthia McKinneyFormer Georgia Congresswoman
