If there is a silver lining to Rep. Peter King's hearing on "Muslim radicalization" last Thursday, it's the support shown for the Muslim American community through the testimonies of folks like Rep. Keith Ellison and the head of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, who unequivocally stated that "it is counterproductive to building trust when individuals or groups claim that Islam supports terrorism." Yet it seems King himself continues to resist any opposing viewpoints, as the Daily News reports on his refusal to attend the US premiere of a movie on Muslim radicalization at the United Nations.
Rep. King was invited by the Golden Globe-winning director Julian Schnabel and writer Rula Jebreal to see the film, "Miral," and to participate in a Q&A session after the screening, but the Congressman stated he was too busy and had to "get back to Washington." King also noted that "It's the most positive response I've ever had. I couldn't even walk to the bagel shop on Sunday. I was getting people stopping in cars, rolling down windows." Plus he made Saturday's SNL monologue! As Don Rumsfeld recently pointed out, as long as some guy in a restaurant slaps you on the back, you're doing A-OK. You go to the bagel shop with the army you have. This is science!
Meanwhile today's Post offers a refreshingly balanced sample of letters to the editor regarding the hearing, with one man calling King's and the Post's support of the IRA "facile and sophomoric" and another denouncing King as a "political hack by any other name," while the "granddaughter of a man who fought side by side with Michael Collins" praises King's crusade against those who would "sacrifice security for political correctness."
Granted, it's St. Patrick's Month, but how would Rep. King react if we told him 80% of Catholic churches in Ireland were run by extremists?
