Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) is the new chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and in that capacity he is going to launch a series of modern-day HUAC hearings with American Muslims playing the parts of Commies. It is something he has clearly been very excited about for some time, but now that he's actually in a position to make it happen, he is running up against the fact that reality does not quite conform to his fantasies of millions of home-grown Islamic terrorists waiting for one heroic crusading congressman to weed them out. In an interview with the National Review, he attempts to manage expectations, by making the hearings sound marginally less McCarthyite than he originally promised:
“Look, when I meet with Muslim leaders, people who are successful in their community, it is clear that there is no support for al-Qaeda. I don’t sense that at all.” King says. “What I do sense is that they feel like they are under siege.” That fear, he says, is natural, but unfortunate. “If they did speak out, it would make them a much more positive force.”