It's simply amazing that someone like Peter King with his past ties to terrorists and his almost innate ability to speak out of both sides of his mouth gets elected.
King writes an op-ed for the New York Post today going way off the rails in his defense of his buddy Vito Fossella.
Cigarette-smuggling rackets originating on New York's Indian reservations are resulting in huge sums of money being transferred to Middle East terror groups, according to a report issued today by Republicans on the House Committee on Homeland Security.
"In total, law enforcement officials in New York State estimate that well-organized cigarette smuggling networks generate between $200,000-$300,000 per week," said the report, which was commissioned by Rep. Peter King, R-Seaford.
"A large percentage of the money is believed to be sent back to the Middle East, where it directly or indirectly finances groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and al-Qaida."
The report, based largely on interviews with state and federal law enforcement officials, offers no new large-scale evidence of cigarette money flowing to terrorists. (Emphasis mine.)
Instead, it recounts the 2003 case of two women from the Seneca Nation of Indians who were sentenced for their role in a smuggling ring that ended up profiting a Hezbollah-linked network in Dearborn, Mich.
I highlighted that next to last paragraph because there is no new evidence. This is just a report based on a previous incident. A previous incident that happened five years ago.
The report argues that tax increases on cigarettes will only lead to more smuggling and the report also criticized New York for its approach to this problem.
To me, this is more fearmongering and the singling out of cigarettes sold on Indian land troubles me (to say the least).
I also have to laugh at this report for this reason: We are making a big deal out of cigarettes and their possible role in funding terrorists, but why are we not worried about the impacts of oil money on terrorist groups and rogue nations? To me, that should be a more reasonable and intelligent priority instead of focusing on something that is, by comparison, a smaller problem.
United States Representative Peter T. King, a Republican from Long Island who is known for his independent streak, is quietly exploring the possibility of mounting a bid for governor in two years, according to people close to him.
Mr. King, a congressman for nearly 16 years, representing parts of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, has been in discussions with fund-raisers in the state and with local party leaders in an effort to gauge the support he might have and to begin assembling a statewide political organization, those people said.
In an interview last week, Mr. King, 63, who is running for another term in Congress this year, said he would not decide whether to run for governor until after the fall elections.
But he said he was seriously considering it, contending that there was a leadership vacuum in the state party that had left rank-and-file Republicans demoralized and ideologically adrift.
He described, among other things, a political timidity in the Republican Party that he said was preventing its elected leaders from openly confronting Democrats, who vastly outnumber Republicans in New York, on controversial issues.
...
Mr. King's supporters say that he fits the profile needed to help Republicans win a statewide race in New York: a white Republican from the suburbs of New York City who is Roman Catholic with an ethnic background, in his case Irish-American.
...
His supporters also say that his record is an asset for any Republican running in a heavily Democratic state like New York. While he opposes abortion rights and supports strong measures to stem illegal immigration, he has been seen as something of a maverick within his own party.
I'm seriously considering starting a Draft King movement because King is exactly who I would want to face in 2010. He'll be able to raise some serious dough, probably enough to scare off other potential GOP contenders, but I'm pretty sure he'd be crushed in the general, despite his rather high profile and name recognition in the state, no matter who the Dem nominee is. I just don't see New York electing an anti-choice GOP nutjob with a penchant for saying absolutely insane things in public in 2010. Period. Plus, we win his House seat and keep it a for a long, long time.
Some may disagree, but i really feel he's our perfect candidate. Oh, please, Santa. I'll be extra good this year. I promise.
A few years ago I pointed out that then executive vice-president of the Nassau County Young Republicans Alex Vassallo wrote scathing (and factually challenged) letters to the Long Island Press and Newsday without bothering to mention his position with the republican party. That is called being dishonest. See here and here. I also caught their First Vice-President doing the same here. Both young men went on to become Presidents of the Nassau County Young Republicans.
Two weeks ago the Long Island Press did a cover story about Long Island "Citizen Journalists" and featured Peter King Watch as one of the sites.
Last week, a letter appeared in the Press bashing the site and me...
WASHINGTON - Rep. Peter King attacked as "disgraceful" yesterday Republican moderates who warned President George W. Bush on Wednesday that his handling of the Iraq war threatens to damage the GOP's future.
"Members of Congress, whether in my party or the other party, who supported the war and are now turning against it because it's unpopular, that to me is disgraceful," said King. "If you can't take a political hit, then you can't send soldiers into war to take real bullets."
King, who shouldered his tightest re-election campaign ever amid last year's Democratic landslide, acknowledged he is feeling the heat as he continues to back the president despite growing public disenchantment with the war.
So Peter King calls it a "disgrace" that members of his own caucus would dare to defy Bush's marching orders; so much for the marketplace of ideas, free expression, all that jazz. King's marching in lockstep to Bush's orders so much that he can't fathom anyone seeing Iraq for what it really is: an intractable quagmire.
In the crucial test of political fund-raising, Long Island Republican Peter King flunked out this quarter. He reports
a low $99,005 in receipts, with $115,700 spent, for a grand ANEMIC total of -$16,695. That's right, he LOST MONEY this quarter!
Apparently Peter King marched in today's NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade with his fearless leader these days, Rudy Giuliani.
Now, I wouldn't expect a conservative Republican like King, or a pandering-to-the-right quasi-Repub like Rudy, to pay much mind to the fact that the parade's organizers have refused to allow gay and lesbian Irish-Americans participation in the parade...
