Another Day, More Problems for USC

USC's problems continue to grow each day. Today, the LA Times reported that star receiver Dwayne Jarrett has caught the attention of the school compliance officials:

USC's football program, already embroiled in controversies surrounding Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush and quarterback Mark Sanchez, now faces a new issue involving an upscale apartment that All-American receiver Dwayne Jarrett shared with former quarterback Matt Leinart.

School compliance officials are investigating whether an NCAA rule was violated because Jarrett paid less than half of what Leinart's father said was a $3,866-a-month lease.

Bob Leinart, who picked up the difference, said he has been told that Jarrett might have to repay him about $10,000.

Reached by telephone Saturday, Coach Pete Carroll said of the investigation: "They are trying to figure it out. We'll know a lot more on Monday or Tuesday."

Bob and Linda Leinart, in New York to watch as their son was selected 10th in the NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals, said they leased the apartment in a secured building last June because fans started showing up at Matt's previous residence near campus, where he lived during the Trojans' 2004 national championship season.

"I was freaking out for his safety because people were following him home," Leinart's mother said. "He would walk out of his front door and people were waiting there for autographs."

Leinart's father said he put his son and Jarrett on the lease at the Medici complex downtown. Matt paid $650 a month, Jarrett paid $650 and Bob Leinart said he paid the difference.

"I have checks and money orders to prove it," the father said.

USC compliance officials are looking into whether the football program received an unfair advantage because, while Bob Leinart would have been allowed to make up the difference for his son, he might not have been allowed to do so for another player.

Is this the beginning of the end of USC's college football dominance?

Enough Already ESPN

I've been meaning to write about this for several days now, but I keep putting it off because the Reggie Bush story gets better and better each passing day. ESPN seems to believe that everyone in the nation is on pins and needles, just waiting for Barry Bonds to pass Babe Ruth's record. They cut into their regular coverage to show Bonds' at-bats. Whenever he hits a home run, it's the top story on SportsCenter, and they replay the home run countless times. I have one simple question, outside of San Francisco, does anyone care if Bonds passes Babe Ruth? In fact, I have a better question, outside of San Francisco, isn't everyone rooting for Bonds to not pass Ruth? I know I am. Bonds has only gotten close to Ruth by taking performance enhancing drugs and on top of that, he is one of the most loathsome characters in all of sports. I don't think I'm alone in this belief. Bonds is booed at every road game. Fans chant, "Steroids, Steroids, Steroids," and some even throw needles at Bonds. Yet ESPN somehow believes that we all are rooting for Bonds to break the record. Get a clue ESPN.

Reggie Bush's Bad Week Gets Worse

First, he costs himself several million dollars by trying to play hardball with the Houston Texans, who end up drafting Mario Williams (by the way, the Texans are morons for passing on Bush). Then it's revealed that his agents Joel Segal and Mike Ornstein have some shady past dealings. Segal was suspended from being an NFL agent for the 1997 season by the NFL Players Association when it was discovered that he gave money under an assumed to a Florida State player in 1993. Ornstein pled guilty several years back for defrauding the NFL of $350,000. Ornstein was sentenced to six months in a community correction center, ordered to pay $160,340 in restitution, pay a $30,000 fine and put on probation for five years. Seems Mr. Bush is a magnet for shady individuals.

If that was not enough, the scandal that started Bush's bad week, that Michael Michaels allowed Bush's family to live in a house rent free in exchange for Bush being a client of the newly formed New Era Sports & Entertainment just gets worse and worse:

Reggie Bush's parents received more than $100,000 in cash disbursements since late 2004 from investors in the sports marketing agency that sought to represent their son, according to a letter written by the investors' attorney to the Bush family.

Attorney Brian Watkins said yesterday Bush's parents, LaMar and Denise Griffin, asked for the money in part to resolve financial problems. Watkins said that sum included an initial payment of about $30,000 to help start up the agency, New Era Sports and Entertainment.

Watkins also said the money was disbursed throughout 2005 and was given on more than one occasion at the home of the Lake family, whose son, Lloyd, was an investor in New Era.

In the letter dated Feb. 13, Watkins asked David Cornwell, the Bush family's attorney, if he wanted to involve USC in settlement discussions.

"We would not object to their (USC's) participation as we understand their wanting to be involved due to the fact this matter was ongoing during their Championship season of 2004 as well as the entire season of 2005, and any lawsuit filed might have an adverse effect on them,"” the letter from Watkins stated.

I guess the good news for Bush is that this whole scandal won't keep him from being a very, very wealthy man.

The Reggie Bush Saga Gets More Interesting

Two very different pictures of what occurred between Reggie Bush's family and those associated with New Era Sports & Entertainment LLC are beginning to emerge.

The first coming from those associated with New Era Sports & Entertainment. Michael Michaels, the man who tried to steer Bush to New Era Sports & Entertainment claims that Bush's mother and stepfather agreed to pay $4,500 in monthly rent when they moved into the Spring Valley house. They didn't pay the first few months but promised to pay when Bush turned pro and started earning millions. Michaels' attorney, Brian Watkins, claims that Bush was made aware of the situation and promised to repay the debt when he turned professional. Watkins added that the Bush family never paid a "dime...It was always, 'Don't worry, we'll pay you'… you can take it out of our profits."

In addition to living rent free, the Bush family received money from Michaels to help them travel to USC road games.

Not only was the Bush family not paying any rent on the home and taking cash from Michaels according to Watkins, but that Bush's stepfather, Lamar Griffin, approached longtime friend and documented gang member, Lloyd Lake, during Bush's sophomore season about forming a sports management business. Then the two men joined Michael Michaels to form New Era Sports & Entertainment.

Relations with the family deteriorated when Bush hired Joel Segal as his agent and spurred New Era Sports & Entertainment. Watkins sent the Bush family an eviction notice on April 3 after they had not paid approximately $54,000 in rent.

Watkins went on to say that they are planning on filing a $3 million suit against Bush's parents and possibly Bush. The suit would cover $300,000 in money that Michaels claims he and Lake, put into the business, plus punitive damages.

A far different story is being painted in an ESPN.com story, which was likely leaked by the Bush camp. In the story, it claims:

The NFL Players Association and NFL Security have concluded that sports agent David Caravantes and fledgling marketing company New Era Sports used an attorney to try and force USC running back Reggie Bush to pay them $3.2 million after Bush decided not to sign with the group, sources told ESPN's Joe Schad on Thursday.

According to the sources, Caravantes threatened to reveal embarrassing personal information about the Bush family if he did not receive the money. Sources also say Caravantes tried to evict the family from a San Diego house they rented from his business associate Michael Michaels.

The NFLPA claims in a disciplinary complaint written Thursday that Brian Watkins, an attorney allegedly representing Caravantes and New Era Sports, engaged in unlawful conduct by demanding payment in at least three letters. Those letters were dated Feb. 13, March 7 and April 26, a source said. In another letter to the Bush family, dated March 2, Watkins identifies his clients as New Era Sports and Caravantes. New Era Sports marketing materials identify Caravantes as Chief Executive Officer, according to the source.

While the arrangement that Michaels and Bush's family had and what happened after Bush spurred New Era Sports & Entertainment is far from clear at this point, one thing appears to be clear. Bush's family was living in a house that they paid little to no money in rent to a man who wanted to market Reggie Bush. If that is not a NCAA violation, I don't know what is. I have to say that I feel a little sorry for Reggie Bush because his parents are complete idiots. Ok, you're having some financial problems, fine. But find a family friend who will help you out because you're his or her friend, not because he or she wants to be able to market your son when he turns pro.

UPDATE: If you've been wondering what Michael Michaels looks like, wonder no more.
Yes, that's Michaels sporting a bolo tie and leather shirt and hanging out with James Brown.

From Bad to Worse

It has not been a good week for USC. First, Yahoo! Sports reveled some shady dealings between an wannabe sports marketer and Reggie Bush's family, which is now starting to sound even more shady(and I hope to write more on this tonight or tomorrow). Now USC's back-up quarterback and supposed Leinart heir apparent, Mark Sanchez, has been arrested today after being accused of sexually assaulting a female student. While this is certainly another black eye for USC, fear not USC fans because I'm sure Pete Carroll will make sure Mr. Sanchez does not miss any valuable practice time.

The Case Against Barry Bonds

I just finished reading the book Game of Shadows and I thought the best way to take a look at this book would be to evaluate the case the authors, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, make that Barry Bonds knowingly used steroids, which will likely be at the heart of any perjury charges Bonds faces. Here is the evidence that they lay out against Bonds:

• Drug calendars seized during the raids at BALCO and Greg Anderson's home which show what days Bonds was to take the steroids like the Clear, human growth hormone, EPO, etc.
• Records seized at Greg Anderson's home reflecting payments for drugs for Bonds.
• A secret recording of Greg Anderson in which Anderson acknowledged that Bonds was using an undetectable steroid in 2003 to beat baseball's drug tests.
• The grand jury testimony of Kimberly Bell, Bonds' former girlfriend. She testified that Bonds confided to her that he was using steroids. She also testified that she saw signs of Bonds' steroid use such as acne on his back, violent mood swings (including leaving threatening messages on her answering machine), and his testicles shrinking.
• The statement of BALCO vice president Jim Valente, who told IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky on the date of the BALCO raid that Bonds has received steroids from him after Anderson asked for steroids that would not show up on drug tests.
• The statement of Victor Conte on the date of the BALCO raid to Novitzky, who gave an account similar to Valente. However, it should be noted that Conte later changed his story and claimed that Novitzky fabricated some of his statements.

Now will this evidence alone be enough to convict Barry Bonds of perjury? Probably not because there's problems with all of this evidence. Outside of the grand jury testimony of Kimberly Bell, the evidence I've listed above does not show that Bonds knowingly took steroids. It only shows that Anderson, Conte and Valente knew that they were providing Bonds with steroids. And the prosecution is going to need a whole lot more than Kimberly Bell to convict Bonds of perjury. Bell has the huge credibility problem of being the jilted ex-lover and a good defense attorney will paint her as someone who is trying to get back at Bonds.

I see two ways the prosecution can strengthen their case and get around the problems listed above. One, find additional witnesses who Bonds told that he was using steroids, and in the book it sounds like those witnesses are out there. Citing an anonymous source, Fainaru-Wada and Williams claim that Bonds sought third party medical advice on steroids like Winstrol and then ignored that medical advice when doctors told him that steroids like Winstrol will reek havoc on his body. They also cite an anonymous source who claims that after Gary Sheffield stopped working out with Bonds, but still wanted steroids like the Cream and the Clear, Bonds called BALCO and offered Conte $100,000 if he would refuse to give Sheffield any more of "the shit". As to the credibility of these anonymous source(s), who the hell knows. But finding witnesses who can corroborate Bell will significantly strengthen the prosecution's case. Another way the prosecution can strengthen their case is to present testimony on Bonds' controlling nature which would cast significant doubt on Bonds' defense that he just took whatever substance Anderson or Conte or Valente gave him. There are a number of incidents described in Game of Shadows that show Bonds' controlling nature. For example, before a game in 2001, Bonds was napping and his stretching coach, Harvey Shields, was standing around with nothing to do. Shields saw Willie Mays in the clubhouse and began showing him some stretches. Bonds woke up and when he couldn't find Shields right away, Bonds went off, telling Shields, "What the fuck are you doing?"

Now as I say all this, it would not surprise me in the least that the smart people in the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco have already thought of this and have presented such witnesses in their grand jury investigation. And if they have, Bonds is in a whole lot of trouble.

USC is in Some Potential Hot Water

If the NCAA has any stones what so ever, the USC football program could be in some serious hot water:

In this sprawling hilltop community with a breathtaking view of Sweetwater Lake, it was no secret who lived in the 3,000-square-foot house at the corner of Apple Street and Luther Avenue.

That home, residents would tell you, was where Reggie Bush's family lived.

That is, until this weekend, when the family abruptly packed up and vacated the residence-less than 24 hours after Yahoo! Sports approached Bush's mother about information linking the property to Michael Michaels, a man who is alleged to have tried to play a role in steering Bush toward an agent and who also has ties to a sport marketing company.

If you think that bad, don't worry it gets worse later in the story:

State records show the Apple Street home was built in late 2004 and early 2005, then purchased by Michaels on March 29, 2005 for $757,500. Around that time, neighbors say Bush's family moved in. Whether they had visited the house while it was being built is unknown, but there is an inscription in one of the cement slabs in the driveway reading "The Griffins '05."

Michaels is the only person who has been listed on the deed to the home.

Bush's mother, Denise Griffin, was approached in the driveway of the house on Thursday, but declined to comment.

"I have absolutely nothing to say," Griffin said when asked about ownership of the property, which is where Bush's mother, stepfather LaMar and brother Jovan lived during USC's 2005 season.

Before moving to the house on Apple Lane, Bush's family was listed as living in an apartment elsewhere in Spring Valley, a community located about 13 miles east of San Diego.

At some point after Bush's family moved into the residence, Michaels and an associate named Lloyd Lake are said to have contacted San Diego-based sports agent David Caravantes and offered to facilitate Bush's recruitment. A source with intimate knowledge of the meeting said it took place during the 2005 college football season and that Michaels was looking for a local agent to handle the contract negotiations for players he intended to sign to his marketing firm.

Michaels and Lake told Caravantes they were planning to start a sports marketing agency with Bush as their anchor client. It was also during this meeting that Michaels and Lake mentioned the potential name of the agency: New Era Sports & Entertainment.

The pitch to Caravantes was said to have been simple: He would be Bush's agent and Michaels' marketing creation would handle the promotion of the USC star. At some point after pitching this idea, Michaels informed Caravantes that Bush's family was living in a home Michaels owned. Caravantes isn't believed to have met with Bush and was never considered to be in the mix before the USC star hired Reebok adviser Mike Ornstein and agent Joel Segal of Worldwide Football Inc. as his representatives.

Repeated attempts to reach Segal and Bush were unsuccessful.

While it's unclear what official role Michaels played in New Era Sports, indications are that the company barely got off the ground-if at all. According to corporation filings in California, paperwork for New Era Sports & Entertainment was drawn up on Nov. 23, 2005, and records list the business address in Los Angeles under an attorney named Phillip M. Smith Jr.

Contacted late last week, Smith Jr. refused to talk about New Era Sports-even declining to give public details such as a phone number for the company, where the New Era offices were located or who was serving as the company's current president or manager.

Asked why he wouldn't provide such information, Smith ended the brief telephone conversation, saying, "That's really not an issue that I want to deal with." He has failed to return multiple follow-up messages left at his office.

So here's the recap. You have a guy looking to start a sport marketing agency with Reggie Bush as his centerpiece client. So he buys an $800,000 house and lets the Bush family live in it. Then when people start asking questions about it, the Bush family moves out within 24 hours and anyone who had anything to do with buying or living in the house all of sudden get very tight-lipped. Doesn't exactly give off the best impression. And if it turns out that this house deal stinks as bad as it appears it does right now, I hope Pete Carroll doesn't mind having a few less scholarships over the next few years.

Clausen is Irish

In the biggest recruiting coup since Ron Powlus, Notre Dame secured a verbal commitment today from quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who is probably the most highly regarded high school prospect in the past 4-5 years. Clausen plans on enrolling in January 2007 in the hopes of starting as a true freshman (Personally, I think Evan Sharpley will be your 2007 starter, but I'm probably in the minority). While there is much debate whether Clausen will live up to hype of being the Lebron James of football or the best California quarterback prospect since John Elway, I think whether he lives up to the hype is irrelevant. The commitment of Clausen is going to give Notre Dame the ability to more easily sign other top offensive prospects such as receivers Arrelious Benn of Washington, D.C., Duval Kamara of Hoboken, N.J., Greg Little of Durham, N.C. , running back and high school teammate of Clausen, Marc Tyler and other top offensive prospects who want to play with Clausen. If Notre Dame does not have the number one recruiting class this year, I would be totally shocked. If you needed yet another sign that Notre Dame is back, this was it. Notre Dame will no longer be beaten by the USCs and Michigans of the world for the superior talent. The glory days are back.

Tom Cruise Is Still Creepy

Quite possibility the unluckiest baby in the world was born today, as Katie Holmes gave birth to a baby girl named Suri. No word on whether Tom Cruise was present for the birth. If he was, I pray that he did not go through his plans that he disclosed with GQ:

"I'm gonna eat the placenta, too. I thought that would be good. Very nutritious. I'm going to eat the cord and the placenta right there."

While Cruise was thankfully kidding in the interview, why did I think for a moment that Cruise was not kidding?

Indictments in the Duke Lacrosse Scandal

A state grand jury in Durham, North Carolina, today issued indictments against two Duke lacrosse players stemming out of an alleged sexual assault that took place at a Duke lacrosse team party last month. The indictments are currently sealed and will remain so until the two Duke lacrosse players turn themselves in or are arrested. I have no opinion on the indictments because I have no clue what evidence the local prosecutors currently have. Most of what has been reported in the press has been negative for the prosecutors, whether it be the lack of a DNA match or the police finding the victim passed out drunk on the date of the incident. However, it should be noted that most of the information about the case has been coming from the defense lawyers who obviously have an interest to leak potential exculpatory information to the press.

While I have no opinion on the indictment, I hope the District Attorney, Mike Nifong, is bringing these indictments because he believes he can convict these two lacrosse players and not because these indictments will placate the angry mob in Durham and therefore, aid him in getting re-elected. We should know over the next few months whether these charges are legitimate or a politically motivated witchhunt.

UPDATE (4/18): Sophomore lacrosse players, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, are the two individuals who were indicted yesterday and arrested today. The indictment can be found here. The DA's Office is still trying to identify who the third subject is. It appears that the defense is going to be that neither of them were at the party during the time of the alleged rape. Time will tell whether the defense can come up with evidence to support that.

While finding the indictment, I also found a copy of a search warrant the Durham Police filed on March 27, to search the dorm room of Ryan McFadyen, a sophomore lacrosse player, who wrote an e-mail shortly after the alleged rape about having strippers come over to his dorm room and then killing them and skinning them while "cumming in my duke issue spandex." Charming. The search warrant contains some details on the government's case including the victim's story. While the details are somewhat scant in the warrant, it appears that the prosecutors have quite a bit of physical evidence to indicate that a rape did occur.

Happy Easter

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

John 20:1-18

Bonds Under Federal Investigation

With the recent release of the book, Game of Shadows, it was only a matter of time before Barry Bonds got in the crosshairs of the federal government. It appears that time is now, as CNN is reporting that a federal grand jury has been hearing evidence for the past month or so on whether Bonds committed perjury during his December 4, 2003 grand jury appearance for the BALCO investigation. And if the information in Game of Shadows is accurate, Bonds could be facing an indictment in the very near future.

To a certain degree, the Bonds saga breaks my heart. Here was a guy who was a phenomenal player, an unbelievable talent, yet he still felt that he had to take performance enhancing drugs. On the flip side, there is a part of me that would be delighted to see Barry Bonds being led away handcuffs. I have grown weary of his woe is me shtick and his unbelievable arrogance in media interviews and that god awful show Bonds on Bonds. Bonds has tarnished the game and it would be an absolute travesty if he were to break Hank Aaron's record (and believe it or not Barry, your race plays no factor in this belief).

One Thing To Avoid After Law School

Having to do depositions down in Texas.

Hat tip to Lucas for the link.

This is Creepy

Some Craiglist ads looking for roommates are offering to accept sex in lieu of rent.

Warning Rant Ahead

So I finally figured out where I'm going to law school. It was actually a really easy decision and here's why. I applied to seven law schools. I got rejected by three: George Washington, Illinois and Ohio State. I got wait listed by three: Wisconsin, American and Iowa. I got accepted by one: DePaul. Thus, by default, I'm going to DePaul unless I can somehow get off the wait list at one of those three schools I listed above. I'm sure I'll be happy at DePaul. I'll be returning home to Chicago and the law school has fabulous job connections to Chicago. But at the same time I'm a bit pissed off today because I feel that the law school admission process is a complete farce. I believed before I started applying, that law schools would take a long look not only at how I did on the LSAT, but also how I did at Notre Dame and then my work experiences. I knew my LSAT score was the weakest part of my application. But I figured my strong GPA and my work experiences would overshadow my average LSAT score (75th percentile). But how naive of me. I should have realized that as long as I wasn't dealing drugs before I applied to law school, and I wasn't a completely screw-off in college (above a 3.0), the only thing that mattered is how I did on a 4 hour test. I mean if that's all we're going to judge whether someone is a suitable candidate for a law school, we might as well replace admission officers with monkeys and get rid of the requirement that all law school applicants have to have a college degree. I didn't think I would get into every school I applied to, but I believed I would get into more than one. I think what frustrates me most about this whole process is that I think at a number of these schools that I did not get into, I believe I would do better than half of the kids who are actually admitted and attend the law school because guess what kids, just because you have a high LSAT score does not mean you're going to be a good law student. This may come as a shocker to some law school admissions officers but its true. I think back to a story that one of the attorneys in my office shared on how he got only a 154 on his LSAT and then there were all these other kids in his class who scored in the 160s and got all this scholarship money. Guess what happened? The attorney in my office with the 154 did significant better than a lot of those 160s students, many of whom found themselves on academic probation after their first semester. I'm sorry if this post came off as bit petty, but I'm just a bit frustrated at the moment.

Diary of a Mad Black Congresswoman

I have been meaning to write about this alleged assault of a Capital Police Officer by Congresswoman McKinney after the Capital Police Officer did not recognize McKinney as a member of Congress and tried to stop her from entering a House office building when she did not present identification. What has fascinated me about the story is not so much the actual incident, but Congresswoman McKinney's attempt to spin the incident. Here's a short snippet from her interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN:

BLITZER: Welcome back. We're continuing our conversation with Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of Georgia and her two attorneys, James Myart -- he's in Washington, D.C. -- and Mike Raffauf. He's in Orlando. Congresswoman McKinney did you strike one of those Capitol police officers during this incident on Capitol Hill?

MCKINNEY: Wolf, before you bring on my two attorneys, let me just say for the record -- and this is something that you might want to do a little further investigation on. But I'm sure that if you would look, you would find that even inside the Capitol Hill Police Department, there are problems inside with the treatment of -- or the respect for diversity, let me say.

BLITZER: Because you know there are many black officers on Capitol Hill, Congresswoman?

MCKINNEY: I think you should look at some of the proceedings that are going on right now with black officers and white officers inside Capitol Hill Police Department. And you might reach a different conclusion.

While that performance was pretty impressive, she saved her best for Soledad O'Brien on CNN's American Morning:

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: First, Congresswoman, can you tell me from the very beginning, what happened on that day, Wednesday? You're trying to come in to your office to go to a meeting, I know. What happened?

REP. CYNTHIA MCKINNEY, (D) GEORGIA: Good morning, Soledad. Thank you so much for having us on this morning. Let me say that this has become much ado about a hairdo. And the real issue . .

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Well, and I hear you, but I'm going to stop you there because -- let me . . .

MCKINNEY: You can't stop me, Soledad. The real issue is . . .

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Well, I want to get to what happened first, and then we'll get into the real issue because we need to establish what happened.

MCKINNEY: The real issue is face recognition and security around the Capitol complex. And I have an e-mail here from a former page saying that 16-year-old pages are required to know by name and by face all of the members of Congress. Shouldn't Capitol Hill police officers be required to do the same?

I have a few thoughts. One, whoever in her office decided that it would be a good idea to go on all these interviews should be fired. Two, which is related to point one, if you're not going to talk about what happened, why do these interviews? I understand for legal reasons you might not give the whole story, but if you don't want to say anything, then don't do the interviews. Don't try to dodge these questions about what happened by talking about how you're a victim of racial profiling or that the Capitol Police lacks diversity. When Congresswoman McKinney did that, she looked absolutely foolish and frankly, a little racist (one of the few times I kind of agree with Tom DeLay). My third and final thought is, how has McKinney won multiple elections? I mean I know there's 535 members of Congress, and there's bound to be a few crazy ones, but you would think the crazy ones would be weeded out after a term or two. Yet McKinney has won, according to my count 6 terms (1992-2002, 2004-Present). Who's running against her in the Democratic primary, the Grand Wizard of the KKK?

Unfortunately for comedic sake and for the Republicans, McKinney has smartened up a little bit and issued an apology for her actions (a potential indictment and becoming a pariah in your own party will do that). But I hope for the sake of having one less crazy person in Congress that the fine people in McKinney's district get a couple of neurons firing in their brain and elect someone, I don't know, who's somewhat sane.

Boys Will Be Boys at Ohio State

When I saw that a Ohio State football player had gotten arrested for a DUI and Jim Tressel refused to suspend him from any practices or any games, I was going to do this beautiful comparison between this situation and the Rasheon Powers-Neal situation last season. But then Sean at Kelly Green beat me to the punch.