Radicalization: Muslim, Left, and Right

The recent hearings on Muslim radicalization got Common Sense thinking about the issue of radicalization in American politics and society.

Consider first the issue of Muslim radicalization.  Are there radical Muslims in the United States?  There is ample evidence that the answer is clearly "yes but" given the number of radical Muslim terrorist plots involving United States citizens.  But, of course, there are also many terrorist plots by the radical right given events such as Oklahoma City.  Some years ago there were also terrorist plots by the radical left such as Brandon Darby who helped foil left wing plots against the Republican national convention.

It seems to Common Sense then that radical behavior is not limited to Muslims but is rather a dysfunctional feature of American politics and society.  Common Sense believes that radical politics of whatever stripe is simply wrong, that it is un-American and undemocratic.

That brings us to the issue of the hearings instigated by Peter King, R-New York.  What purpose do these hearings serve?  Are they a reasonable exercise in democratic government or are they a witch hunt by the radical right designed to inflame opinion against a minority group of Americans?  Common Sense fails to see what can be gained by the hearings given that the vast majority of Muslims in the United States have by their actions demonstrated convincingly that they are honest hard working Americans.  To single out a group such as Mr King has done while failing to deal with the real issue of radicalization across the political, religious, and racial spectrum is at best disingenuous and hypocritical.  It does little to reduce radicalism.  Quite the contrary it inflames the radical right against Muslims.

Common Sense thinks Mr King should be ashamed as should all those committed to radical politics.