On Monday afternoon, I wrote about Peter King (NY-03) and his disparaging comments regarding the King of Pop. I received a mixed bag of responses although I think some missed my point that King was simply out of line in how far he went. I knew a little about King, but over the next couple of days have been digging up some of his past remarks. This guy is much scarier than I though and here's one example from 2007 where he disparages those who practice Islam (which I posted in a diary titled Too Many Mosques in This Country - Why We can't Let Peter King Slide on late Tuesday evening)
Michael Jackson fans have been outraged by King's remarks. Whether or not you are a fan of MJ, I believe that King has shown how Dangerous (yes pun intended) he can be toward all of human nature (yes pun intended).
Jackson fans over the past couple of days have raised around $3,000 for King's yet to be determined Democratic challenger. I've added the NY-03 Dem Nominee Fund to My Progressive Electorate 2010 page because I think that King should be judged by the entire body of his work.
While King has been mentioned as a Senate 2010 contender, this attention surely kills his bid although unless we challenge him he will likely remain in Congress. Here's more from Peter King's greatest hits that I think should be reiterated and re-examined to show that King's hate did not start this weekend.
- Requiring those of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent to undergo additional security checks Of course this ethnic profiling was dismissed as law enforcement tool by people that were considered by King to be leading counter-terrorism officials. Including a childhood friend.
- "Jokingly" called the NAACP and AARP radical organizations. I will let you judge whether or not this was purely in jest. I think they have to be considered in the context of some of these other remarks instead
- apparently called the police on some of his constituents who were disagreeing on his stance against the War in Iraq.
- Calls for tighter border control and anti-immigration stances except when it involves former IRA terrorists. King has since ended his association with the IRA although there is plenty of evidence of his support of their terrorist tactics over the years.
Conclusion
King deserves a formidable challenge in 2010 and we need this to be made on the totality of his work which is much more scary than tasteless comments about a dead superstar. Just take a look at his Congressional website (if you want to call it that) where he links a news story regarding his attack on Jackson. I believe that King is just as reprehensible as a Michele Bachmann (another one of our favorite targets). I hope this puts Kings remarks into a larger context of who he is and what he has said and will continue to say and do unless he is challenged.