Rep. Pete King once again advocates destroying liberty to end terrorism

Yesterday morning a man reportedly inspired by ISIS set off a pipe bomb inside the New York Port Authority bus terminal in New York City.

While the attacker failed to achieve his goal of mass murder and destruction—not to mention missing out on 72 eternal virgins as promised by ISIS, the attack serves as a direct reminder of the threat America faces from radical Islam. Unfortunately, it also serves as an indirect reminder of how such attacks may one-day lead to the loss of liberty in America, especially if Rep. Pete King has his way.

In an interview on FOX News yesterday, the NY Republican who carries an “F” Liberty Score (30%) with Conservative Review insisted that the only way to end these random attacks is to throw away the Constitution by adding “extra vetting” along with increased “monitoring” and “surveillance” because “you can’t afford to be politically correct.”

King has a well-established infatuation with government spying. In the aftermath of a shooting in Garland, TX, a few years ago at a Draw Muhammad event hosted by Pamela Geller, King appeared on CNN and stated that “more surveillance on people living in Muslim communities” was necessary because that’s where the problems are.

King later admitted in the CNN interview that such surveillance could be considered unconstitutional, but necessary to get the job done.

When Trump was considering making King his Homeland Security Advisor last year, I documented other examples of King’s eagerness to see America exchange their Constitutional rights for a little government-provided safety, including:

• After Edward Snowden exposed the spying abuses of the National Security Agency (NSA) a few years ago, King defended them in an interview, saying that he didn’t think “everyone has to know what a spy agency is doing,” and further stating that their job should be kept secret.
• In another interview about the NSA, he defended the agency when it was discovered that it had been spying on some of our allies because of “how much they’ve done for our country.”
• He also supported NSA data gathering–which was found to be unconstitutional last year–calling them “patriots” who get it right “99.99% of the time.”

Do you remember when the pro-Trump Great America PAC called for a federal registry of Muslim immigrants similar to WWII Japanese-American internment camps? Pete King advocated the same idea back in 2011 during a series of highly controversial Muslim hearings.

It would be tempting to write off King’s Constitution-killing position, but it should be remembered that the total disregard for our Constitutional rights has been growing in frequency at every level of government, and as far as spying goes, it was just last week that we learned of a plan by the administration to create a secret spy agency that would report only to Trump and the CIA director.

 

David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that’s politically-incorrect and always “right.” His columns are featured on RedState.com, NOQReport.com, and TheResurgent.com.

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