On the March 31 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio program, Neal Boortz said that Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) “looks like a ghetto slut.” Boortz was commenting on a March 29 incident in which McKinney allegedly struck a police officer at a Capitol Hill security checkpoint. Boortz said that McKinney's “new hair-do” makes her look “like a ghetto slut,” like “an explosion at a Brillo pad factory,” like “Tina Turner peeing on an electric fence,” and like “a shih tzu.” McKinney is the first African-American woman elected to Congress from Georgia.

From the March 31 broadcast of Cox Radio Syndication's The Neal Boortz Show, with producer Belinda Skelton and talk radio host Royal Marshall:

BOORTZ: For instance, or for goodness sakes, jump in and I'm gonna say -- I'm gonna start out with something controversial. I saw Cynthia McKinney's new hair-do. Have you seen it, Belinda?

SKELTON: No.

BOORTZ: She looks like a ghetto slut.

SKELTON: Well, how is it?

BOORTZ: It's just -- it's hideous.

SKELTON: Is it braided? Or --

BOORTZ: No, it's not braided. It just flies away from her head in every conceivable direction. It looks like an explosion in a Brillo pad factory. It's just hideous. To me, that hairstyle just shows contempt for -- no, it's not an Afro. I mean, no, it just shows contempt for the position that she holds and the body that she serves in. And, I'm sorry, there's just no other way to -- it's just a hideous and horrible looking --

MARSHALL: Her hairstyle?

BOORTZ: Yeah, the hairstyle. It just, it looks like an explosion. Have you seen it?

MARSHALL: Yeah, I like it.

BOORTZ: Oh, jeez.

MARSHALL: It looks better than the braids she was wearing.

BOORTZ: No, the braids had some dignity. They had some class.

MARSHALL: The braids had dignity?

BOORTZ: They had more class than this thing.

MARSHALL: This says, you know, kinda 2000s, you know, stepping up to the plate. Contemporary look, you know?

BOORTZ: She looks like Tina Turner peeing on an electric fence.

MARSHALL: OK, so you don't like her hair.

BOORTZ: Yeah, OK, I don't like her hair. I'm sorry.

MARSHALL: That being said, I think a lot of people would say it looks a lot better than those cornrows she was wearing. You can't tell me that's dignified.

BOORTZ: Well, I'm not a big cornrow fan but I got used to her with that. OK?

MARSHALL: So she's staying the same for you?

BOORTZ: She looks like a shih tzu!

MARSHALL: I like Cynthia's new hairstyle.

BOORTZ: Well, there you go. Differing opinions.

Boortz posted similar comments on the “Neal's Nuze” section of his website, in which he said McKinney “looks like ghetto trash.” From Boortz's website:

It doesn't look like the latest Cynthia McKinney mess is going to go away any time soon. Today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that the Capitol Hill police have notified the federal prosecutor's office in Washington that they are going to seek an arrest warrant for McKinney next week. OK, Now I've seen Cynthia McKinney's new hairstyle. There is just no other way to say this. It's just hideous. She looks like ghetto trash. Get a braider over there ... quick! Nobody with a modicum of self-respect would go around looking like that. And don't give me any stuff for saying this. I've endured years of “bald” remarks. I'm entitled.

A tip from John Sugg, senior editor at Creative Loafing newspapers, contributed to this item. Thanks, and keep them coming.