RUTHFULLY YOURS

Jan 19

Written by: Diana West
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 7:21 AM 

Politico features a story today headlined “Muslim groups nervous about King hearings.” It goes on to discuss Muslim apprehension regarding upcoming Congressional hearings led by Rep. Peter King (R-NY) “on the threat posed by radical Islam in America.”

That phrase — “radical Islam” — is truly a marvel, a 14-ct., bullet-proof, titanium shield for Islam itself, which, sorry guys and gals, is the source of all things we deem “radical” in Islam. “Islam is Islam and that’s it,” as Turkey’s Erdogan so memorably put it.  But since we don’t want Islam to be “it,” we pretend and operate and make policy and even war based on some mythic radicalism of “twisted” or “hijacked” or “perverted” Islam.

If these King hearings turn out be about the threat posed by “radical Islam” — and not about the threat posed by what is radical about Islam — “nervous” Muslims have nothing to worry about.

Hope I’m wrong, but it looks like any analysis of jihad of sharia is already off the table.

In a move that will come as a relief to Muslim leaders, King told POLITICO that he’s not planning to call as witnesses such Muslim community critics as the Investigative Project on Terrorism’s Steve Emerson and Jihad Watch’s Robert Spencer, who have large followings among conservatives but are viewed as antagonists by many Muslims.

“Community” — another shield-word. Imagine if the sentence read: “King told POLITICO that he’s not planning to call as witnesses any Muslim jihad critics or Muslim sharia critics….” Then everyone could see that this committee already has its blinkers on and is ready to go.