Illinois's newest Senator, Mark Kirk (R), has turned rapidly into a far-right Teahadist asshole. His latest scheme: supporting radicalization hearings on not just "Radical Islamists," but all groups that are (allegedly) extremist.
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) is uncomfortable with singling out Muslims in House inquiries into radicalization, telling reporters that he favors a broader look at terrorism. Rep. Pete King (R-NY) is set to conduct hearings on Islamic radicalization Thursday amidst complaints from critics that that they'll be used to stigmatize Muslim Americans.
More reasons why Peter King's McCarthy and Stalin-like tactics to hold hearings about alleged "radical Islamists."
King wants Wikileaks designated as a terrorist organization.
King supports torture of Guantánamo detainees.
On the Laura Ingraham radio program, King was asked what would have happened if Jared Loughner had been a Muslim, and he responded: “The first statement [from the left after past instances of Islamic terror] was we have no right to judge an entire community by one person. This is a deranged gunman who in no way reflects what Islam stands for, and it would be terrible if Americans tried to even look at Islam as being responsible for this. It would have been a total defense of Islam, a total isolation of this person as an individual acting by himself, and an implied attack on anyone that would even question whether or not his religious beliefs were involved.” Perhaps he needs to speak with Sarah Palin about her attack on anyone that would even question whether or not inflammatory rhetoric might encourage violence, and why only the deranged gunman is responsible.
King wants to eliminate the Dept. of Education. He wants to privatize Social Security. He wants to consider ending birthright citizenship. He wants to repeal Health Care reform. He did not support the balanced budget amendment. He voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation, and YES on making Patriot Act permanent. You can see his Congressional voting record here. You can see his record on civil rights here.
There is proof that Peter King DID support a terrorist group:
Naturally, King has all kinds of ornate rationalizations that justify his support for the I.R.A., spanning from his I.R.A.-touting days of old to his more recent yen for Islamophobia. The New York Times covers the whole spectrum in an article today:
Here are some of the biggest phony claims about American Muslims:
Claim that MUSLIMS DON’T SPEAK OUT AGAINST EXTREMISM AND TERRORISM is a lie
Actually many individuals who have been arrested for terrorist plots and activities were turned in by members of the Muslim community. These include: Craig Monteilh, Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, Times Square bomber, the Oregon jihadist, Lackawanna six, Paintball 11 in VA, Matin Siraj plot in NY , Daniel Boyd in NC, 5 Muslim men who went to Pakistan from VA, Farooque Ahmed subway plotter. Muslims have also helped by infiltrating al Qaeda. There are many American Muslims promoting non-violent solutions including people like John Muhammed Butt working with Taliban.
More proof that the "not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims" phrase is just outright bogus Islamophobic propaganda:
CLAIM THAT MOST TERRORISTS ARE MUSLIMS IS A LIE
TAM has a lengthy article collection Claim that all terrorists are Muslims ignores history This article lists studies, government reports, and other documentation, and incidents from the 1970’s to the present time. Since 2000 alone here are some of the terrorist incidents involving non-Muslims
In fact, American Muslims ARE against radicalized Muslims, such as the Taliban, the Wahabbis, and Jemaah Islamiyah, and NOT aiding such groups.
Claim that AMERICAN MUSLIM’S HAVE NOT RESPONDED TO RADICALIZATION is a lie
MPAC published its first policy memo as the Counterterrorism Chronicles in 1993, and produced its first policy paper on counterterrorism policy in 1999. In September 2003, MPAC published its second counterterrorism policy paper entitled “A REVIEW OF U.S. COUNTERTERRORISM POLICY: AMERICAN MUSLIM CRITIQUE & RECOMMENDATIONS.” General Brent Scowcroft, former Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs to Presidents George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford, said, “MPAC’s Counterterrorism Policy Paper is a serious and thoughtful document that should be valuable to all policy-makers. Counterterrorism analysis from an American Muslim perspective is critical to the decision-making process. I found the paper to be serious and in-depth, and the recommendations should be reviewed by the policy-making community.”
Only a select few mosques are "radicalized".
PERCENTAGE OF RADICAL MOSQUES claims are a lie
This claim by Rep. King and others is based on nothing at all. The first time it was stated was by Sheikh Hisham Kabbani in 1999. It is a number taken from thin air. There have been no studies or anything else to support such a baseless claim. And, Sheikh Kabbani subsequently said that his criteria of an “extremist mosque” was one that was “focus[ed] on the Palestinian struggle.” A history of this claim and how it spread here.
It is one of what I call “everyone knows” claims about Islam and Muslims that has no basis in fact.