All Eyes on the Hammer, Until the Hairdo Steps In

"I'm going to stop you there," O'Brien said.

"You can't stop me, Soledad," the congresswoman said.

McKinney refused to describe the incident, and the two battled back and forth, with frequent interventions from McKinney's lawyer.

"We can't have this," O'Brien maintained.

"You can't interrupt me, Soledad."

"Until you answer my question, I'm not sure we can move on."

The televised dispute continued, lawyers and all, until O'Brien reminded McKinney: "This is my program."

Arriving on the floor yesterday afternoon for a series of votes, McKinney had earned pariah status. Several of her Democratic colleagues turned their backs or moved away when she approached, carrying her infamous cellphone and a bottle of Dasani water. Ignored by several colleagues, she stood alone in the back of the chamber for several minutes until rescued by Reps. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).

Enjoying this from the sidelines were beleaguered Republican leaders, who awoke to a headline in the conservative Washington Times announcing "House GOP Lacks Agenda, DeLay Says."

So desperate were GOP leaders to change the subject that they invited seven men in cowboy hats to their news conference yesterday to promote border security. The group, made up of lawmakers and sheriffs, stood in front of a banner that proclaimed "Working for America" -- 27 times. "Boy, I feel safe now," Hastert said on greeting the sheriffs.

But it was a false sense of security, as reporters quizzed him on the various schisms in his party. "I'd prefer not to talk about two wings of the party," the speaker pleaded.

An hour later, three Republican House members announced their "discharge petition" to force a lengthy House debate on the Iraq war. The three -- a moderate, an antiwar libertarian and a conservative -- stood in front of photos of the war dead and wounded.

Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.), a Marine who served in Vietnam, said he saw no "sense of urgency from this administration or from my colleagues."

"Many of us have taken heat for what we're doing," said Walter Jones (R-N.C.). "But you know what? One day I will die, and I hope I will have a chance to look at the throne where my Lord and Savior is sitting and I hope He will say to me, 'Walter, you are welcome because you sought the truth.' "

Asked if they were emboldened by DeLay's fall, Gilchrest advised: "I wouldn't even put Tom DeLay in the article."

Sorry, Congressman, but DeLay remains big news -- unless he can get McKinney to take his place. And he seems to be trying. "Cynthia McKinney is a racist," DeLay declared on Fox News. "This is incredible arrogance that sometimes hits these members of Congress, but especially Cynthia McKinney."