Yesterday, Rep. Peter King held hearings on Muslim "radicalization" in the United States. The House Homeland Security Committee Chairman has been criticized for saying Muslims Americans are not cooperating with authorities and his House colleague, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota), broke down when describing the efforts of a Muslim first responder who died on 9/11 ("Mohammed Salman Hamdani was a fellow American who gave his life for other Americans"). However, King said after the hearings, "I'm more convinced than ever that they were appropriate," and they were meant to "inform, not inflame."
One of the "star witnesses" for King was Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, who said Muslims are counseled by leaders to not cooperate with authorities without a lawyer. The NY Times reports that Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-California) was critical, "The right to have an attorney present when speaking to law enforcement is a specific principle of American civil liberty. So by what legal principle do you assert that any minority in America should waive that American principle?"
King has been dogged by reminders of his unflagging support of the IRA, the Irish terrorist group. The Daily Show took on King's attempt to laugh off comparing the IRA to Muslim radicals with gems like "first of all, the IRA never attacked the United States."
And then Daily Show correspondent John Oliver discussed growing up in Britain during IRA attacks and thinking, "This can't be terrorism, because it isn't happening in the United States."
