New York Rep. Peter King is holding puppet hearings on the risk of radical Muslims in the United States. As noted back on November 1, 2010, fear-mongers like this hack should be a greater concern to all of us than his “shock doctrine” paranoias.
The first time I heard the term “shock doctrine” used was Tuesday night on the “Rachel Maddow Show.” It is a term that defines the radical right and the conservative agenda for at least the past decade, probably longer. A related term is “disaster capitalism.” Both come from a book of the same name, “The Shock Doctrine,” by Naomi Klein. The basic gist of “shock doctrine” is to take advantage of the painful aftershocks of a terrible national tragedy or disaster like 9-11 or the Wall Street collapse to weasel nasty conservative legislation (e.g. the Patriot Act) into law.
Why does this approach by the radical right not surprise me one bit? Only human weasels (my apologies to real weasels) sneak nasty legislation through the process when society is in shock or mourning. Catch everyone off guard and then pounce is their modous operandi.
Personally, if anyone should be investigated, it is those on the radical right who are trying to circumvent the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, voters, and collective bargaining agreements across the nation. If HB 4214 of 2011 passes and is signed into law in Michigan, the new governor will have the sole ability to declare a fiscal emergency in any jurisdiction (township, village, city, county, or school district) and have it taken over by a dictatorial person or corporation. You read that correctly. First the U.S. Supreme Dorks declared corporations as humans and now they can become our community task-masters. And Peter King is worried about Muslims? I have good friends who are Muslim and I trust them more than I trust radical conservatives.
Thank you, Peter King, for wasting another wad of taxpayer money on your kangaroo court and for setting the bar even lower than it has already been set by your fellow conservatives. You and your ilk on the radical right are the real threat to America.
Rick Brown
