Peter King (NY-03) is an Asshole! (Episode 4) 
I can just picture some poor Peter King staffer monitoring the Google news alert and having to read this series every day, LOL.
(By the way, keep your eye on Political Cortex. Big things are planned. It's got an extraordinary set of writers, a sophisticated set of "tools," and a highly motivated and energetic leader (Tom Ball). I'm predicting it's going to be one of the leading progressive blogs for the 2008 election cycle).
Anyway, here is today's episode of "Peter King is an Asshole". If you remember in yesterday's installment, I pointed out Peter King's astonishing insensitivity on the issue of diversity in the workplace. Well, as it turns out, King's knee-jerk hostility to minority-issues has a long history, as evidenced by the issues Peter King has chosen to champion during his tenure in the House:
San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright 1997 The San Francisco ChronicleJanuary 9, 1997
Section: News
OAKLAND RESIDENTS PRAISE SCHOOL EBONICS PLAN SUPPORT FOR BOARD VOTE AT TOWN MEETING
Lori Olszewski, Chronicle East Bay Bureau
[snip]
Worried that Oakland's action will spur a national trend, Representative Peter King, R-New York, said last night that he plans to introduce a resolution today that would prevent federal money from being spent to support language programs that embrace ebonics.
``Whereas `ebonics' is not a legitimate language,'' begins the King resolution. ``Now, therefore, be it resolved, that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that no federal funds should be used pay for or support any program that is based upon the premise that `ebonics' is a legitimate language.''
The House resolution, if approved, would not be legally binding. U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley already said his department and the Clinton administration will not permit the use of federal bilingual education funds for programs using ebonics. However, the King language is much broader, including federal money other than bilingual money, such as compensatory education funds.
``All (ebonics) is, is inner-city slang,'' King said in an interview last night, speaking in his unmistakable Brooklyn accent. King, a conservative and at times controversial congressman, has previously pushed legislation to make English the nation's official language.
``I am strongly opposed to bilingual education generally,'' King said. ``I believe it divides the country. . .
Um, Representative King, do you really think that "Ebonics" was the biggest problem facing your constituents in New York's Third District back in the late '90s? Is that really what you wanted to spend your time on -- hot button divisive issues that only please ideologies in Washington? How did that initiative help the economy of the Third District? And Osama Bin Laden was busy plotting throughout that time period. Looking back, don't you think you should have spent a little more time focusing on the serious issue of transnational terrorism, and a little less time on the "threat" of Ebonics?
You would have, but I forgot, you're an asshole!!
Fortunately, you are faced with a competitive race this year, and you have a challenger, Dave Mejias, who has a decent chance of kicking you out of office.
Go Dave! It's about time that the people of New York's Third had a representative who understood their priorities, rather than a representive who focused on frivolous hot-button divisive issues important only to Washington-based ideologues.
KEYWORDS: Peter King, NY-03, Dave Mejias
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