Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is taking some heat today for remarks he made on a
local Iowa radio station yesterday when he said radical Islam and al Qaeda will
be dancing in the streets if Obama is elected President of the United States.
"I'll just say this that when you think about the optics of a Barack Obama
potentially getting elected President of the United States -- and I mean, what
does this look like to the rest of the world? What does it look like to the
world of Islam?
"And I will tell you that, if he is elected president, then the, the radical
Islamists, the, the al-Qaeda, and the radical Islamists and their supporters,
will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September
11."
Regarding Obama’s middle name, Hussein, King added:
"It does matter, his middle name does matter. It matters because they read a
meaning into that in the rest of the world, it has a special meaning to them.
They will be dancing in the streets because of his middle name. They will be
dancing in the streets because of who his father was and because of his posture
that says: Pull out of the Middle East and pull out of this conflict.
So there are implications that have to do with who he is and the position
that he's taken. If he were strong on national defense and said 'I'm going to go
over there and we're going to fight and we're going to win, we'll come home with
a victory,' that's different. But that's not what he said. They will be dancing
in the streets if he's elected president. That has a chilling aspect on how
difficult it will be to ever win this Global War on Terror."
I can understand Obama supporters being upset with King’s words because
everything he said is absolutely true and doesn’t reflect well on Barack. But
what of John McCain? Does he find any truth in King’s worlds?
Apparently not. McCain himself has so far had no comment but his traveling
press secretary, Brooke Buchanan, said today:
"The Senator has been clear that he intends to keep this campaign about the
issues. He has condemned similar comments by Bill Cunningham. He doesn’t agree
with King’s comments," Buchanan said. "He intends to run a respectful race and
keep it about the issues."
Isn’t how the war on terror will be handled by the next president a major
issue? McCain doesn’t agree with King’s comments? What part of King’s comments
is McCain in disagreement with? Perhaps he doesn’t think that Islamofascists
will be celebrating if Obama is elected? Does he think that this would not be a
victory for al Qaeda as well as the Democrats?
Last month, McCain denounced an introduction from Cincinnati talk-show host
Bill Cunningham, who referred to Obama three times as "Barack Hussein Obama."
McCain railed against Cunningham as though Bill had smeared Obama simply by
calling him by his name. Now he considers the words of Steve King somehow
offensive as well, according to his spokesman.
I can respect McCain for wanting to run a "clean campaign," but does that
mean that he has to turn on any Republican who simply tells the truth about his
opponent, simply out of political correctness? How is McCain going to fight the
war on terror if he refuses to recognize the enemy and garner the support of
those who support him? How is McCain going to win a war, or even an election,
when he’s afraid of offending his opponent, or even allowing his supporters to
do so? How much dirt will the Democrats have to throw at McCain before he
decides to stand up and fight back?
It would be nice if campaigns could be run cleanly and respectfully, but that
just isn’t the way it works today. You have to be ready to play hard ball with
your opponent and tell people what will result from him being elected. That is
just what Steve King did. But political correctness is nothing new to John
McCain.
During the Senate hearings on interrogations at Guantanamo Bay, McCain
objected to the use of waterboarding, calling it "torture," and saying "America
must take the moral high ground in this war." Nobody ever won a war by taking
the "moral high ground." Not only has McCain’s judgment been effected by his
imprisonment in Vietnam, but his concern for what Islam and Europe will think of
us if we dare be too harsh on terrorists, is going to be a real problem.
Steve King no more supported McCain in the primary elections than the rest of
us did, but he now accepts McCain as the candidate of our party and is willing
to help him win the general election. It’s time McCain started showing a little
respect and appreciation for those who are trying to help him. If he is going to
let political correctness stand in the way of winning the election, how much
will it stand in his way of winning the war on terror if elected?
