In short, he's no John McCain.
We wish we could offer our endorsement to King's 2004 challenger, Democrat Blair Mathies of Babylon Village. But we cannot. Not surprisingly, Mathies opposes much that the Bush administration and King have done. But in a recent interview with Herald Editorial Board members, he offered no substantive solutions to Washington's purported ills, only Democratic Party talking points. At times he appeared to form his positions during the interview. And he didn't demonstrate a command of the diverse issues that a member of Congress must address.
Thus, by default, we endorse King. Agree or disagree with his views, he has enormous experience in Congress and understands the issues at hand. He has also done some good over the years. As an example, he was a vocal supporter of the federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994.
King said he favored the ban's renewal this year. Sadly, though, he did little to speak out when Congress let it die.
We're also concerned about the congressman's increasingly hawkish - and frankly, outlandish - rhetoric. On Sean Hannity's radio talk show, King said that 85 percent of U.S. mosques were led by Islamic extremists who have done little or nothing to cooperate with law-enforcement authorities in rounding up suspected terrorists.
His remarks immediately spawned a wave of angry protest. The 150,000-member Interfaith Alliance, comprising Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, denounced King's comments, as did the Arab American Institute and a host of other such groups. And rightly so. King's statements were insensitive, inflammatory and downright wrong. The Sept. 11 commission report states, "Most Muslims prefer a peaceful and inclusive vision of their faith, not violent sectarianism." The report also reminds us of President Bush's words after Sept. 11: "All Americans must recognize that the face of terror is not the true face of Islam. Islam is a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. It's a faith that has made brothers and sisters of every race. It's a faith based on love, not hate."
King's rhetoric only served to provoke hatred toward Muslims in general. It's the same type of thinking that led to the internment of innocent Japanese-Americans during World War II. We're highly disappointed by King's comments, given that he was such a dignified statesman during the Northern Ireland peace talks of the 1990s, which he helped broker with former President Bill Clinton, earning King international acclaim.
What America needs now are representatives who not only speak forthrightly about the war on terrorism, but who reach out to the peace-loving Muslim community in America and throughout the world to build alliances that will ultimately help us prevail. King's Muslim-bashing rhetoric isn't helping our cause.
We hope for better representation from Peter King if and when he is re-elected this November.
