Some who have been close to Mr. King agree. Niall O’Dowd, an Irish-born New York publisher and writer who worked with him on the peace process in the 1990s, broke publicly with him Monday on his Web site, IrishCentral.com, describing Mr. King’s “strange journey from Irish radical to Muslim inquisitor.”All the evidence shows that Muslim-Americans have actually been very helpful in combating terrorism in the US. So, why attack allies? Because it makes good TV? Because no one would care about Peter King otherwise? Because he, a la Cheney, has become so fearful of the unlikely that he is over-reacting? It is not clear what this witch-hunt will accomplish, except to repeat a sad tendency in American history to attack the innocent because of over-played fears about others--the Palmer raids, McCarthyism, etc.
In Northern Ireland, Mr. O’Dowd said, they saw a Catholic community “demonized” by its Protestant and British critics and worked to bring it to the peace table. Seeing his old friend similarly “demonize” Muslims has shocked him, he said.
“I honestly feel Peter is wrong, and his own experience in Northern Ireland teaches him that,” Mr. O’Dowd said. “He’s a very honest, working-class Irish guy from Queens who’s had an amazing career. Now I see a man turning back on himself, and I don’t know why.”
The really sad thing is that homeland security has been a trainwreck since 9/11 (and, of course, before), so it would be nice if the oversight committee worked on, well, providing oversight. But this circus will do anything but improve the government's performance on securing the country from attacks foreign or domestic.
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