I didn’t realize what a perfect representative Peter King is of all that is ugly about right-wing politicians until I googled the dude. King, a Republican congressman from New York, is the racist twit holding congressional hearings on “the extent of the radicalization of American Muslims.” In fact, his record indicates a distrust and dislike of almost everybody, not just Muslims:
- He opposed the 2009 stimulus package and the Lillie Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, signed into law by President Obama in January of 2009.
- He’s supported the Iraq war since 2002.
- He supports earmarks – the special congressional provisions that provide monies for pet programs and projects.
- He’s been called one of the Patriot Act’s biggest fans. The Patriot Act, signed into law by Dubya in October of 2001, authorizes government to monitor any religious and political institution it wants, jail suspects indefinitely without charges, deny lawyers to Americans accused of crimes and search and seize Americans' papers and effects without probable cause, among other intrusive provisions.
- He opposes closing the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay.
- He voted for the Wall Street bailout, supported Dubya and the Maverick from Phoenix, and supports torturing suspects during interrogations.
- He voted against repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ the policy barring openly gay, bisexual and lesbian people from serving in the American military.
King sure does have the whole Republican hypocrisy thing down. Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart skewered him recently for investigating Muslim terrorists when he himself was a major advocate for the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the revolutionary military organization that waged a guerrilla campaign against British rule in Ireland.
The guy’s on record stating that we have too many mosques in this country and we should find ways to infiltrate them. Now that he’s chair of the House Homeland Security Committee – thanks again, electorate – he can showcase his Joseph McCarthy impersonation for the national media, which loves this kind of acrimony and controversy. (My youngest reader, my 11-year-old daughter, might not know that Joe McCarthy was a US senator from Wisconsin who used a congressional gavel he wielded in the 1950s to go on a Communist witch hunt. During his hearings, he was famously asked by US Army lawyer Joseph Welch, “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?” Decency remains a foreign concept to a significant number of our nation’s elected officials.)
One observer described King's hearings as “not designed to uncover facts and resolve conflicts, but to fuel fear, suspicion and hatred.” Although one of King’s contentions has been that Muslims aren’t doing enough to cooperate with law enforcement on rooting out Muslim radicals intent on destroying the good ol’ US of A, he’s chosen not to invite testimony from the law enforcement or intelligence communities. (The lone cop thus far, Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy Baca, was invited by Democrats.) In fact, US Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough and National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael Leiter are all on record gratefully acknowledging the contributions of the Muslim community toward this very end.
According to the Islamic Society of Greater Lansing, “Muslims…support sober and objective hearings on the subject of countering violent extremists because we know that a fair series of hearings would let our community shine. Given the facts, a reasonable person cannot be blamed for concluding that so far the [King] hearings have more of an air of angry villagers with torches and pitchforks than objectivity and sobriety.”
If you had any decency, Mr. King, you would be ashamed of yourself.
Sources: ABC News, Islamic Society of Greater Lansing, Washington Post, CNN, New York Times
No comments:
Post a Comment