An Open Challenge To Rep. Peter King: Let's Talk Radicalization.

Yes, Rep. King. At the risk of derailing your ambition to become the next Joseph McCarthy, let us pause for a moment to scrutinize what it is that you seem to fear: the "radicalization" of American Muslims.

Since you reassure us (in the classic formula of bigots everywhere) that "some of your best friends" are Muslim, it is not Muslims that you fear, but "radicalization."

So let's talk radicalization. As if stripping organized labor of collective bargaining rights isn't radical; as if the Patriot Act's roll-back of civil liberties isn't radical; as if billion-dollar tax-payer bail-outs of billionaires orchestrated by the Federal government isn't radical; as if the illegal invasion and military occupation of foreign states isn't radical; and these are just a few of the highlights from the past decade.

And then there is the resurgence of white supremacist violence (I mean non-governmental white supremacist violence, as distinguished from that which is sponsored by the Pentagon and police departments all over this country).

Really, Rep. King, what planet are you living on? You are the paradigm case of a demagogue and of an American who, like so many in this country, fears the wrong enemy.

Please read the post-9/11 edition of Barry Glassner's The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrongs Things,

and then re-think your life.