Howard Dean rejects Gingrich's "radical Islam" fearmongering

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/02/dean-gingrich-radical-islam/

Later this month, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-NY), who has referred to American Muslims as the “enemy living amongst us,” will hold hearings to investigate the influence of radical Islam on America. King has said that he is focused on the U.S. Muslim community because “that’s where the radicalizing threat is coming from.”

Yesterday, a coalition of civil rights and faith groups sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), advocating that King should broaden the scope of his hearings beyond targeting the Muslim community and examine “violence motivated by extremist beliefs, in all its forms.” The ranking member on King’s Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), endorsed the spirit of that request.

In his own letter to King, Thompson cited data from the Department of Homeland Security noting that neo-Nazi groups pose as much – or greater – threat than do Islamic extremists. “I believe that this Committee’s exploration of the current and emerging threat environment should be a broad-based examination of domestic extremist groups,” Thompson wrote, “regardless of their respective ideological underpinnings.” King quickly brushed off the request to broaden the scope of the hearings. “I don’t believe it warrants an answer,” King said of the letters. “I am too busy preparing for the hearings.”

The clash between the progressive and conservative visions for targeting extremism were on full display last night during a debate between former Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Gov. Howard Dean. Like Peter King, Gingrich harped on the need to confront “radical Islam,” which he said is the most dangerous threat facing the world. Dean responded:

I’m a little uncomfortable focusing on the notion of ‘radical Islam’ because the truth is radical anything is what’s bad, and people who use violence – (applause). … What radicals do is they polarize people to get this kind of reaction. … Intolerance breeds intolerance. And we can’t fight intolerance with intolerance. … The radicals that are targeting us are in fact bigoted, misogynist, and intolerant. And if we respond that way, they’ve won. I’m not gonna give up what America believes in because different individuals happen to belong to a particular religion or to a particular sect.

Gingrich responded by conceding that he’d be happy to find a different term than “radical Islam,” but then mused, “There have been, to the best of my knowledge, no radical Norwegians.”

Watch it: http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/02/dean-gingrich-radical-islam/

A few points in response to Gingrich. First, there are radical Norwegians, just as they are radicals of different faiths, cultures, and ethnicities. Secondly, he fails to concede in his story about the Times Square Bomber that the street vendor who alerted authorities to the burning car was in fact a Muslim, and that Muslims are key allies in confronting the threat of violent extremists. And lastly, the threat of “radical Islam” is actually decreasing, according to a new analysis released today.

Howard Dean rejects Gingrich's "radical Islam" fearmongering
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7AsUVUATJY&feature=player_embedded

Those guys who shoot congresswomen and their constituents, fly airplanes into government buildings and plot to shoot, kill, bomb and maim on a massive scale are simply crazy people who lived in a vacuum and never heard OxyRush, Beckerhead, Mooselini, Bachmann or O'liely speak against others.

After all, that would be nuts!

and plotted to blow up several buildings, including a courthouse and a Social Security office, certainly isn't a terrorist. His surname is Norwegian or Danish, so he can't possibly be a terrorist.

http://www.kare11.com/news/article/905080/396/Police-Man-threatens-to-blow-up-MN-buildings-calls-Loughner-hero