Politicians, in general, tend to make me angry based on their existence alone, but Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., has spent the past two months throwing around so much bad legislation. Never in such a short time has a politician annoyed me on so many occasions.
We all know by now of the terrible shooting in Tucson. While most of us spent that time afterward being mad at alleged assassin Jared Loughner and sad for the families of the victims, King’s classic knee-jerk reaction to the shooting was to plan legislation that will make it illegal to carry a firearm within 1,000 feet of lawmakers and a few other government officials.
Don’t worry, Mr. King, Americans are not bothered at all by the innocent 9-year-old girl who died, we are just concerned that congressmen like you are safe.
I’ve written about anti-gun policies from Republicans in Name Only before, and it is seems clear that he does not realize that criminals ignore gun laws.
What else can you expect from the hypocritical warmonger who supports the IRA’s dreams of a sovereign Ireland while maintaining a strict promotion of American imperialism across the globe?
The congressman, depicted by The New York Times as “the Patriot Act’s fervent fan,” clearly gets a giggle out of the government knowing the personal business of citizens, yet he seemingly hates when the citizens know everything that is going on in the government.
When the confidential diplomatic embassy cables were exposed in November by the WikiLeaks website, King tried, and failed, to convince the United States Treasury to place economic sanctions against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.
This proposed sanction came right after a New York publisher offered Assange money for his autobiography, which he planned on using for WikiLeaks’ expenses.
What’s uncomforting to me is that many people have agreed with King’s stance against WikiLeaks.
It’s sad to see a society in which the truth is seen as taboo, especially when an honest man is declared a traitor to a government of whom he has never been a citizen.
I would hope that, if an ASU student were to find secret information revealing miscalculations in the university’s fuddled budget, the Crow administration would see the situation differently.
In a society as dynamic and fragile as ours, we must see the truth as a purifier to solidify our foundations. Never should leaked information that was previously held in the dark by the government be viewed as a bad thing.
With all of that said, I would like to honor King with the title of “First Worst of the Year.”
The award goes to the politician most likely to take away civil liberties in the name of patriotism and a defense against terrorism, all based on how mad they make me.
Unfortunately, there is no trophy to accompany this award as I have already donated money to WikiLeaks.
I propose that all politicians do their best to stay away from receiving this award by resigning for good.
Reach Brian at brian.p.anderson@asu.edu
