last night, councilwoman doris minton-mcneill got arrested. if you piece together the news reports, here's what happened: she called the police about someone she didn't like in her home. by the time the police showed up, the man she'd called about had left. after talking to the cops for a minute, she tried to run into her house, apparently bumping into a cop and knocking her over.

that's why she was arrested: for bumping into a cop. surely not her best day, but hardly a high crime, either. of course, from the way republicans like tom john are reacting, you'd think she'd murdered someone.

i knew gary welsh would be all over this—a black democrat getting arrested is his bread and butter. sure enough, not only does he have a post about it, but he takes it to the next level, claiming that minton-mcneill pissed herself in the back on the squad car—exactly the kind of classy detail i expect from him. (when called out for his tactlessness, he responded with more tactless allegations. compare this to his reaction when news or eric dickerson's arrest got out: gary threw a fit that lasted two full months about how it the allegations were untrue and it was all a democrat dirty trick.)

so there you have it. a politician bumps into a cop accidentally, and within hours, people are online howling about how she pissed on herself. from now on, right-wingers will insist it's a fact that she pissed on herself, regardless that this "fact" has not appeared in any reputable media source, only as an uncredited claim in a smear merchant's blog.

update: the police report alleges that she willfully pushed the cop out of her way.

2nd update: an eyewitness claims that she didn't push the police officer, and that furthermore "the officers wouldn't listen to Minton-McNeill's requests for help [...] or look for the man" who minton-mcneill had called them about. ¶

I was the one who posted the comment about why we needed to know that she peed her pants over there. I've read Gary's blog for a couple of years now, but I think this is about the last straw for me. There is so much negativity there that it's baffling. There's no grace for anyone... it's all just zero-tolerance, let's fire so-and-so or so-and-so needs to step down immediately.

After posting that comment, all the wingnuts came after me as a liberal, how I live in la-la land, why I'm ignoring the fact that she's also a racist, etc. As someone who would classify himself as "independent, but leaning conservative", I don't understand why stating that she should have her day in court is as anti-American as they seem to think, but to me, it was a comment made from a bunch of strangers that came after another stranger whom they know nothing about. ¶

I can't really remember the last time I knocked anyone over by "accidentally bumping into them," much less a well-trained police officer. And I'm not a small guy. Why was she running into the house away from the police anyway? And why was she giving them her business cards, other than to use her position to try to get out of trouble.

I don't think much of Gary Welsh, but I think even less of Democratic politicians who embarass the party and break the law in doing so. ¶

It just sounds like there are so many conflicting reports about what happened, and it sounds like the officers may not have given her any lee-way. She claimed that there was someone at the house that needed to be removed, but that fact is completely ignored because she was drunk and supposedly pissed herself.

Anyway, Ron Gibson got off... who's to say she won't either? ¶

She is a lot smarter and humane than that crazy arrogant Ron Gibson. I am afraid that she is a victim of getting herself cocktailed and it got out of hand. She is my district councilor and she has made a good first impression. This is very unfortunate but what is worse is the why that Gary Welsh is gloating over someone else's misfortunes.....he should look at his own GOP office holders including the one who just got thrown out of his house for 'servicing' his secretary. Wait until that becomes public. It will never appear on Advance Indiana. ¶