Friday, April 16, 2004

The Arrogance of the King

Peter King can't take criticism or tough questions. When confronted, King lashes out like a child. The letter to Mr. Harry Halikias as reported in Newsday is just one instance of King's unbelievable arrorance. King wrote to Mr. Halikias is "...morally, intellectually and politically wrong." It is incredible as Mr. Halikais put it "How can he judge my morality and how intellectual I am?"
That is what King does.
When King went after Sen. John McCain on the campaign finance issue, King used his usual rhetoric "McCain has been grandstanding the whole campaign finance issue to death. He has a tremendous sense of self-righteousness and moral superiority."
McCain unleashed a letter in The Hill which sums King up quite nicely with "As far as Rep. [Peter] King’s [R-N.Y.] opinions are concerned, I could hardly care less what his opinion of me is or what motives he attributes to my support for campaign finance reform. His accusation of grandstanding is laughable given that there is little in Mr. King’s singularly unimpressive legislative record to suggest that he is motivated by anything other than a compulsion to utter provocative sound bites."
This is in 1997 and even back then King was known as a do-nothing on the legislative front and a big mouth in front of the cameras. Kings recent comments about american muslims conform to the statement "...he is motivated by anything other than a compulsion to utter provocative sound bites" and of course sell books.
Indeed, McCain's words were precient when he said "...When I have a disagreement with someone, I will press my case forcefully, but I will not define my opponents’ motives or question their character. As Mr. King has chosen to question mine..."
McCain goes on "He (King) and I barely know each other. I think we have met on one occasion. I am at a loss to understand how Mr. King has grasped his insights into my character. But let me suggest to Mr. King that there are many people in Congress who may sincerely hold views on an issue contrary to the majority view in their party.
They hold these views honorably, and not because they put their ambition before their party, but because they put their principles first. No doubt this comes as a shock to Mr. King, but should he ever consider adopting a principle or two himself, he might find, for the first time, that people consider his views worthy of respect."

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