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	Rep. Peter King's Hearings on Islamic Radicalization: Fuel for the Bigots By Richard Cohen Washington Post March 9, 2011 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/07/AR2011030703896.html Unlike Moses Herzog, the eponymous character of the Saul Bellow novel "Herzog," I do not feverishly compose mad letters to public figures and sinister government agencies (the IRS, for instance). But I often yell back at the TV set. This happened Sunday when CNN's Candy Crowley asked Rep. Peter King what his hearings into Muslim radicalism are really about. "Good luck, Candy," I yelled, having asked the same question of King's staff just the day before. Here, I am sure, is the answer: The hearings are about Pete King. King is the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. On Thursday, he will inaugurate hearings into something or other. Their official title is "The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and That Community's Response." The last part - "that community's response" - is already clear when it comes to King. The Muslim American community has taken umbrage and has demonstrated its outrage in, among other places, King's Long Island district. King thinks it is being overly sensitive. It happens to be an awkward fact that just last month, a University of North Carolina terrorism expert, Charles Kurzman, reported a drop in attempted or actual terrorist activity by American Muslims - 47 perpetrators and suspects in 2009, 20 in 2010. This does not mean that there is no threat, but, when measured against ordinary violent crime, it is slight. In fact, the threat from non-Muslims is much greater, encompassing not only your run-of-the-mill murderers but about 20 domestic terrorist plots, including one in which a plane was flown into an IRS building in Austin. Herzog merely wrote imaginary letters. King is the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. On Thursday, he will inaugurate hearings into something or other. Their official title is "The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and That Community's Response." The last part - "that community's response" - is already clear when it comes to King. The Muslim American community has taken umbrage and has demonstrated its outrage in, among other places, King's Long Island district. King thinks it is being overly sensitive. It happens to be an awkward fact that just last month, a University of North Carolina terrorism expert, Charles Kurzman, reported a drop in attempted or actual terrorist activity by American Muslims - 47 perpetrators and suspects in 2009, 20 in 2010. This does not mean that there is no threat, but, when measured against ordinary violent crime, it is slight. In fact, the threat from non-Muslims is much greater, encompassing not only your run-of-the-mill murderers but about 20 domestic terrorist plots, including one in which a plane was flown into an IRS building in Austin. Herzog merely wrote imaginary letters.
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