Reply #248: McKinney has not much or wisely invested in the social contract, IMO.

[saltpoint]

She does not align herself with the community apparatus that anonymously works to get things done. She aims for the marquee headline every single time.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to lead. Not having the instincts to lead, however, is a significant impediment. The instinct for leadership, IMO, is nowhere present in the personality of Cynthia McKinney.

There is about Cynthia McKinney some oppositional instinct against evaluating self within society. As a result, her public remarks are laden with I Me I Me I Me I Me -- which is the language of victimhood. If self serves within the society, the self needs to be quite small and the society must be quite large.

An argument can be made that McKinney has valuable points to offer the public debate on key issues. A stronger one, IMO, can be made that she is not equipped to make that argument herself.

I would say she appears insufficiently aware of the need for leaders (at any level) to understand and accommodate more than one point of view simultaneously. Her refusal (or inability?) to do this results in her "victimhood." She is an ideologue and not a public servant, at least in her role as a national figure.

She is perceived by many to be a loose cannon. I think that's close enough an assessment, but she is a cannon somehow pouring oil over itself rolling around on the deck. IMO she does not speak truth to power but rather she barks inflammatory propaganda to victimhood. IMO it serves little purpose and has resulted in her extemely conclusive and richly deserved marginalization. Note the persistent impulse she has for defining herself through conflict and victimhood.

I do see in McKinney a 5-star, top-drawer 6th grade teacher. She would be in charge of 25-30 (?) kids who are 11 or 12 years old or so. I think she would do a splendid job. I think her students would greatly profit from her as their teacher and adult support. It is a public service position defined with "We" and not "I." Pay Cynthia McKinney to introduce Harriet Tubman to 6th graders. That is noble work.

If Cynthia McKinney wants to change the perception that she is not a self-promoting inflammatory look-at-me wacko propagandist, alarmist, and hothead, then I suggest she stop acting like one.