Let’s assume US Rep. Peter King means well by calling hearings on the dangers posed by Muslim extremists in the US. (Okay, given King’s track record you can’t assume that but bear with me.) Doesn’t this seem like the job of the behemoth-sized Dept. of Homeland Security and all the internal agencies monitoring such activities? When did this become a matter of congressional oversight, and what good could even a well-meaning committee do?

The answer of course is a) it is b) it’s not and c) none whatsoever. But King, largely on the defensive now (as Russell Simmons announced to a rain-soaked crowd of protestors in Times Square yesterday, “We’re bigger than Charlie Sheen — we are the number one trending topic on Twitter!”) started accusing unnamed members of New York’s Muslim community of not playing ball with the FBI when they were investigating evil-doers planning evil in area mosques. It’s up to him to fix it, I reckon. That’s why he’s the King.

The good news in these sad show trials the GOP is mounting in the House (look for Darrell Issa to start subpoenaing every one in the White House who has ever done anything soon) is that they smack of desperation on the party’s part. It’s as if they collectively said, “Well, what about Joe McCarthy move? He ruled the airwaves for a while in the fifties!” And with right wing intellectuals like Ann Coulter defending the dead witch hunter, maybe they think they’re onto something. How many Muslims does your average Americans know?

The fear card may not play this time, though. First of all, the growth and disapora of Muslim Americans has made it harder to stereotype anyone in a burka. (During the floods in KY last year, a woman in labor was rescued by a Muslim man who helped get her the help she needed. I read about it in Reader’s Digest!)

Secondly, if this is their build-up to next year’s election, I don’t think most Americans, worrying about their jobs (or lack of), their towns going bankrupt, their schools closing etc. are going to blame the Paki next door. Islamophobia will grow if unchecked, but this is one of those cases where I think people are actually smarter than the pols who would push the buttons. King, thou art a knave.