BY CHRISTOPHER ADAMO
– This past month, Republican Congressman Peter King of New York held hearings on the radicalization of Muslims in the United States. In light of the Islam/Sharia phenomenon that has burgeoned throughout the world ever since the Presidency of Jimmy Carter, and the proliferation of attacks against America that ensued, it would only make sense to launch a high-level investigation of the conditions that spawned this mounting danger.Of course this is no longer the age of reason or sense. Particularly among the American left, such quaint notions have been replaced with “political correctness,” which demands that liberal ideology in all of its anti-American mutations must be absolutely dominant, while any conflicting thoughts or ideas are banned from consideration. And if such warped thinking puts the nation at greater risk of future terrorist acts, it is merely the price that must be paid for this “greater good.”
Consequently, instead of rallying in support of King’s valiant effort to protect the interests of his homeland, Democrats on Capitol Hill reverted to their standard back-biting antics, working overtime to erode King’s credibility and thereby derail his hearings. In this they were aided by such notable anti-American organizations as the “American Civil Liberties Union” (ACLU) and the “Council on American Islamic Relations” (CAIR), their ideological counterpart from the Muslim world.
Along with other notable anti-American/pro-Islamist organizations and individuals, the ACLU and CAIR waged a vicious public relations war on King, sullying his effort by invoking all of the monotonously predictable Alinskyite allegations of racism, bigotry, and intolerance. In their world, any genuine attempt whatsoever to identify the nature of Islamic radicalism in this country is inherently illegitimate and should be cut short.
It is beyond credibility that anyone who is not advancing an ideological agenda could actually observe the “big picture” of the metastasizing encroachment of militant Islam on Western culture and this nation, the massive toll in lives, property, and freedom that it has already cost, and the perils of the end game its proponents envision for America, while studiously professing ignorance that such a threat exists. Clearly, King’s detractors cannot be allowed the excuse of mere stupidity but, in devotion to their own hideous cause are collaborating in an effort that threatens America. Unfortunately, this group includes significant participation of the liberal establishment inside the Beltway.
Though the motivating principles of Islamists and Marxist organizations are unmistakable and steadfastly anti-American, some might believe that these represent the extreme fringe of hostile foreign interests and the far-left. Yet the latest episode of this unfolding affair reveals a much more sinister presence well inside the “mainstream” of the Washington D.C. Democrat political establishment.
In an indefensible publicity stunt cloaked as a response to Congressman King’s hearings, Democrat Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois is now conducting a counter-offensive with his Senate “investigation” of ostensible infringements on Muslim “Civil Rights.” Hardly an “outsider” lurking on his party’s fringes, Durbin is the second ranking Democrat in the United States Senate.
Known for such outrageous tirades as his fraudulent comparison of the behavior of American troops at the Guantanamo terrorist prison to Nazis and the Soviet Gulag, Durbin has a long track record of anti-American allegiances. So in some ways, this latest ruse is no surprise. Nevertheless the flagrant hypocrisy and double standards with which he makes his specious case are breathtaking.
While piously sermonizing that “Guilt by association is not the American way,” he is attempting to prove criminal abridgement of the “civil-rights” of Muslims based on such earth-shattering events as the burning of a Koran, insinuating that this happens regularly on every street corner across the nation. More tellingly, his rhetoric equates such things to “hate crimes” and physical assaults on Muslims, as if taking a match to a paperback book can be compared to slitting pilots’ and flight attendants’ throats, killing thousands by flying planes full of people into skyscrapers, hacking off heads of innocent captives, and recruiting children as suicide bombers.
Durbin was noticeably absent, as were his “politically correct” cohorts when, only a few weeks after last fall’s “Koran burning” firestorm, the Hindu icon “Shiva” was caricatured on the cover of Newsweek magazine. Nor were he and his sanctimonious minions bothered in the slightest when a desecrated Crucifix, covered in ants, was displayed at the Smithsonian Institution under the guise of being “art.” Yet now he dares to scold America, in the most strident and self-righteous of terms, that any hint of disrespect towards Islam constitutes “hate crimes” and “civil rights” violations.
Though outraged at the American people for daring to recognize that a common ideological cord runs through the Muslim world, he is perfectly willing to abandon his “guilt by association” admonition and paint the entire nation with his broad, condemning brush. The ultimate allegiances of the Democrat Party are becoming glaringly obvious. And those allegiances are not with the people of the Heartland.
However, in a roundabout way, Senator Durbin is doing America an enormous favor. His despicable conduct in this sham of a hearing, and the nearly unanimous support he is receiving from his Democrat colleagues (including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid) highlight the starkest of contrasts between liberal grandstanding and the earnest examination of Muslim threats to the nation conducted by Congressman Peter King.
As a result, America is being given the clearest possible exhibition of the irreconcilable differences that exist between the political left and right. In one body of the Congress, the real attacks against the nation that have occurred, and the real possibility of future recurrences are methodically considered with an eye towards their prevention. While in the other, Muslims are being trumpeted as the inevitable “victims” of hatred and attacks from those “bitter clingers” in the towns and cities across this land.
Let the “politically correct” continue to undermine and condemn this nation and the principles on which it was founded. Let them reveal their ultimate sympathies to those entities who work relentlessly for its undoing. And let them keep spewing their vile and baseless accusations under the guise of “tolerance” and “civility.” The public is no longer fooled by their hypocrisy and with each ensuing election will continue its task of cleaning house. Dick Durbin can be assured that this latest outrage will not be soon forgotten.