[SeekAndFind]

More here

Another smear against Rep. King by the former 'paper of record'

By Richard N. Weltz

It's not surprising, but it is another blood-boiling instance of the self-proclaimed "paper of record" acting more like the propaganda organ for the left wing of the Democratic Party than a legitimate news venue.

Just a day after a very strongly worded editorial slam at Congressman Peter King over his committee's planned hearings into the radicalization of domestic Muslim community members, the Gray Lady follows up with a two-pronged smear attack.

Right on the front page of the March 9 edition, the paper ran an article headlined: "For Lawmaker Examining Terror, a Pro-I.R.A. Past."  Reporter Scott Shane, reaching back into the past some 30-plus years, advises readers:

As Mr. King, a Republican, rose as a Long Island politician in the 1980s, benefiting from strong Irish-American support, the I.R.A. was carrying out a bloody campaign of bombing and sniping, targeting the British Army, Protestant paramilitaries and sometimes pubs and other civilian gathering spots.

Although the article delves deep and wide into King's support for the Irish Republicans -- one shared by a considerable number of Americans at the time -- he does admit that King eventually played a key role in settling the conflict:

In later years, by all accounts, Mr. King became an important go-between in talks that led to peace in Northern Ireland, drawing on his personal contacts with leaders of I.R.A.'s political wing, Sinn Fein, and winning plaudits from both Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, the former president and the British prime minister.

Meanwhile, on its Web-site blog, "City Room," one Noam Cohen mocks King with claims that the Congressman's 2004 book, Vale of Tears, is nothing but a "barely veiled ... thriller" about King himself, which Cohen would have readers believe shows the Republican Representative to be a hypocrite at best, a long-term schemer at worst:

As Mr. King takes the spotlight this week with his hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims, "Vale of Tears" shows he has long been considering the dangers posed by radical Muslims, as well as what role a mere congressman can play in protecting his country.

Those of us who are not in the business of denying Islamic radicalism, apologizing for it, or painting it with whitewash will welcome the opening of hearings which are long past due to attempt to discover the causes of why so many domestic terrorists are able to be enlisted in a jihadi cause against their own country by one particular group following one particular book.

[Georgia Girl 2]

WE need to stop Muslim immigration or we are going to end up like the UK and France. Now that they are in a pickle they are not sure how to extract themselves.

[vetvetdoug]

What do you Freepers think about Keith Ellison's big show at the hearings this morning? I found him insincere and had little sympathy for his readings, at least those he was able to murmur while crying and sobbing for Muslims.

[Fantasywriter]

You’d better get onto this thread fast and straighten out the misinformation. You were just telling us a few days ago that Islam is a peaceful religion, and it’s only a few fanatics we have to worry about. You said the vast majority of Americans understand this, so I guess you think Freepers are in the ignorant minority [i.e.: most of us think Islam, not radicalization, is the problem].

So here is a golden opportunity for you to sow your seeds of multicultural wisdom. Show up and explain how wrong we are, and that will display a modicum of courage and integrity on your part. I think you owe that much not merely to us, but to the Islam you know so well and defend (when you think no one is looking) so eloquently.

[dagogo redux]

Islam is a cancer. The natural history and the prognosis for this disease, if left untreated, is clear. The treatments needed will be based on those for cancer. Will we have the stomach to understand and implement that?

[Gopher Broke]

Found the webmail link for Peter King....please join me in sending him a THANK YOU for his courage!

http://peteking.house.gov/email.shtml

[Crucial]

With over a billion Muslims in the world, it stands to reason that there must be champions of a process to liberalize and de-radicalize orthodox Islam.

[Fantasywriter]

Jamese, this is now the fourth invitation I’m extending to you to repeat on an actual Islamic thread what you’ve so far confined to ‘birther’ threads. Namely, your liberal-letter-perfect defense of Islam. If you really believe it, then why confine it to threads not related to Islam? Why not put it out there for broader FR consumption?

I’ll make it easy for you. Multiple choice. Do you believe:

(1) Islam is a bloodthirsty cult that requires, according to the quran, its adherents to cut the throats of infidels, or

(2) Islam is a mainstream, peaceful religion hijacked by a minority of extremists. I.e.: that it’s the moral equivalent of Christianity, save for a handful of radicals that enable Islamophobes to unfairly malign it.

Given the hours you spend harassing people on eligibility threads, surely you can spare a few seconds to clarify this point. Even your sole defender, Kenny Bunk, admits you’ve gone overboard on the shadenfreude. [I.e.: you’ve done a whiz-poor job of concealing your gloating over the courts’ refusal to rule on the Natural Born Citizen issue.] How about a veneer of balance? It’s not asking too much, is it?