One of the most interesting moments on day one of the King hearings yesterday was the performance of Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA). Speier not only questioned Dr Juhdi Jasser on whether he was an expert on the topic of Islamic extremism, but she also pooh-pooed the testimony of Melvin Bledsoe, whose son joined the jihad and is now awaiting trial on murder charges, but also the testimony of Somali immigrant--Abdirizak Bihi, whose nephew disappeared from the Minneapolis area to join the Somali terror group, Al Shabob. (He was killed.)
http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/03/10/rep-jackie-speier-radicalization-hearing-witnesses-dont-qualify-experts
That is all very perplexing given Speier's own personal history with religious radicalism. Remember the Jonestown Massacre in Guyana back in 1978?
At that time, Speier was an assistant to San Francisco congressman Leo Ryan. Jim Jones, founder of the People's Temple, had taken about 1,000 of his followers from the Bay area to Guyana where he founded Jonestown, a religious colony. When Ryan's office began receiving complaints from local constituents that their family members had been brainwashed by Jones and were possibly being held against their will, Ryan, accompanied by Speier, flew down to investigate. When it was all over, Ryan was shot dead, Speier was also shot multiple times (but survived) and 900 people took poison and died.
Would not one think that Ms Speier would be more sympathetic to the stories of Bledsoe and Bihi?
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6 comments:
For the millionth time: just because a story is sympathetic, that doesn't make it any less anecdotal.
Secondly, what exactly are Zuhdi Jasser's qualifications and credentials that make him an expert? So far as I know, he's just a medical doctor. This sort of reminds me of the various "experts" in non-related fields calling climate change a hoax.
If you ask me, Jasser is just the token Muslim brought out to parrot the views of those carrying out these hearings.
Anonymous,
What do you know about Jasser and his group-The American islamic Forum on Democracy? Jasser is intimently involved in the issue. Maybe you prefer "experts" like Amir Abdel Malik Ali.
BTW, as one who has testified as an expert in drug trials, there is a legal definition of expert witness. An expert is one who has more knowledge on a topic than the average person. I would say Jasser qualifies. Keep in mind that he puts his life on the line to express his beliefs-then has to suffer the disrespectful reception he gets from the Dems on the committee.
I suspect the American public will learn many lessons in these hearings.
"What do you know about Jasser and his group-The American islamic Forum on Democracy? Jasser is intimently involved in the issue. Maybe you prefer 'experts' like Amir Abdel Malik Ali."
Like I said, I know that Jasser is merely a medical doctor and has ZERO relevant credentials to qualify him as an actual expert on these matters. That's about all I need to know. I'm sure there are plenty of people with credentials that are actually relevant to the subject who could have testified.
Hell, I probably know more than the "average person", I guess I could have testified as an expert, right???
And quit with your narrow-minded, binary reasoning. Just because I see Jasser for the hack-for-hire that he is doesn't mean that I automatically support the likes of people such as Malik Ali, because I don't.
Lastly, I suspect that all the American public will get out of these sham hearings is a bunch of one-sided propaganda. Most will be able to see right through it. The only people this garbage appeals to are those in the fringe base whose minds are already made up anyways, such as yourself.
Anonymous,
I'd say your mind is pretty much made up too. Strange how you are so eager to slam a true peaceful moderate like Jasser who opposes shariah and radical Islam-at the risk of his life because he himself is a devout Muslim.
So tell us, Anonymous, what is your perspective on Islamic terror as it pertains to the US? Is someone making this all up?
Does Islamic terror pose a real threat to the United States? Absolutely, yes.
Are these hearings, which single out Muslim-American citizens for scrutiny and demonization the right way to approach that threat? Absolutely not.
Is the threat overblown by fringe conservatives? You betcha.
It does not seem to me that Dr. Jasser has to be an "expert" to be credible. He is a practicing Muslim. His family has, I infer (absent evidence to the contrary) been Muslim for some generations. He is an American citizen. What more does an American citizen need to make known to our elected representatives his or her concerns on a subject of public interest?
While I am a devoted fan of "Fighting Bob" La Follette, I have both a conservative reservation and a libertarian reservation (the two are not the same thing) about the Wilsonian "progressive" fad of turning our government over to "experts." Even when I hear good friends harp on the fact that Scott Walker lacks a college degree, I am not impressed. There are more telling criticisms to make.
Gary also has a good point, if his summary is reasonably thorough, about Speier pooh-poohing a father testifying about his son being recruited to the Shabab. If this is a factual recitation, known to the man personally, that's all that is required to make it relevant testimony.
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