Thread: "Peter King's Holy War"

http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny- ... 765sep21,0,

Guilt by association bad tactic in race
September 21, 2006

Rep. Peter King is playing with fire. He lit the torch when he told selected constituents in a recent letter that "radical" Muslim leaders who've branded him "a Muslim hater" are supporting David Mejias, the Democrat running for his seat in Congress. That's an ugly attempt at guilt by association.

There is scant evidence that the Islamic Center of Long Island, the group King fingered so darkly in his letter, is the hotbed of radical, 9/11 conspiracy theories that King implies. And Mejias' connection to the group is tenuous at best.

So, what's the fuss? Mejias accepted campaign contributions from some Muslim supporters associated with the center. That's it. King previously took contributions from some of the same center members. There's nothing wrong with that. After 9/11, leaders of the center in Westbury condemned the attacks and supported international action against global terrorism. Earlier this year, five young people from the center joined Jewish and Catholic youths in a study tour of the Holy Land. Those actions couldn't be more at odds with the picture King painted of leaders who "publicly stated that the CIA or the 'Zionists' may have been behind the 9/11 attacks." Ghazi Khankan, the leader most identified with such views, left the mosque two years ago.

Maybe King is running scared. He's never been bashful about taking Muslim leaders to task for, in his view, insufficiently denouncing terrorism. His full-throated criticism has, no doubt, turned off many Muslims who now support Mejias. But to indict an entire mosque for the views of a few smacks of prejudice. And for King to imply that Mejias is tainted for taking money from people whose money he himself also accepted is just plain hypocritical.

I think more of us need to take Kings stance and demand the Muslim leaders denounce terroism, my God, if asking them to do that is being so politically correct, then there is something awfully stinky going on in our country and the world!

Islamic Center of Long Island,

An extremely dangerous group.

Go Pete!

GO PETE!!

Give 'em heck!!

The silence from the Muslim community after 9/11 still rings in my ears.

Pete's on with Mark Levin right now. Explaining quite a bit about the good old Islamists from the Long Island group.


Get em Pete!

Peter King is a great conservative in a sea of pathetic, politically correct liberals.

D.W.

He should wear Newsday's contempt as a badge of honor.