The American Heritage Dictionary defines "McCarthyism" as "the practice of publicizing accusations of political disloyalty or subversion with insufficient regard to evidence" and "the use of unfair investigatory or accusatory methods in order to suppress opposition."
Add to this, "SEE ALSO, Kingism. . ."
If ever a bloodless coup were in order, its in New York's 3rd Congressional District, where Representative Peter King has once again reaffirmed our belief that he's not only arrogant, but downright dastardly.The Chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security (quick, lock the doors), has labeled his opponent in the fall contest, David Mejias, as some sort of radical terrorist supporter, this for receiving campaign contributions from members of the Muslim community.
Never mind that King himself received political contributions from the same quarters -- thank goodness for campaign finance reporting. King has taken the "govern by fear itself" MO of W and company down to the next level -- if the fear doesn't get votes anymore, try spewing hate!
King, who has always been that schoolyard bully, ranking on his own constituents when they dare to question either motives or actions, and attempting to silence the press (or more particularly, Newsday) when they dare to exercise that little observed First Amendment right -- would, if he could, put Mejias on the next plane to Guantanamo Bay (via Syria, for a little secret torture to go).
He of the "terrorist profile" and "Valerie Plame deserved to be outed" would, no doubt, place Mejias and his Muslim/Terrorist (to King, these are interchangeable) ilk in internment camps, this for the duration of the Congressional campaign, at least. "Enemy combatants," one and all, as is practically anyone who risks dissent from the perverse views of Peter King.
The problem with Peter King is not so much that he is full of himself, humility not typically the trait of an elected official. It is more that King is simply full of it -- boastful, brazen, baseless words, founded upon principles that are nowhere to be found in either our Constitution or the true spirit of America.
In many ways, Peter King reminds us of one of his predecessors in Congress. Another self-indulged crusader against the freedom of thought; a calculating purveyor of fear and hate. Senator Joseph McCarthy. [There really is much more than a striking physical resemblance. What a fantastic campaign "morph" that would make, if only today's voters had the slightest idea who Joseph McCarthy was...]McCarthy eventually got his, not at the hands of the voters in his home State of Wisconsin, but rather, by those who, heeding the words of Edward R. Morrow, understood that "We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."
"We will not walk in fear, one of another," said Morrow. "We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes which were for the moment unpopular. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of the Republic to abdicate his responsibility."
We can only hope voters of New York's 3rd CD take a page from history on November 7th and accept their responsibility, taking the liberty to remove this far from benevolent King from power!
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The New York Times reports that Congress has a 25% approval rating. With the likes of Peter King holding the reigns, is it any wonder?
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For poignant insights on life, death, the terrorists and the terrorized, read Fear Itself, by Washington Post Columnist Gene Weingarten.
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