Fearmonger Extraordinaire Rep. Peter King Accuses Sen. Rand Paul Of 'Fearmongering,' Says He Doesn't Deserve To Be A Senator

from the crazy-is-as-crazy-does dept

Today's daily dose of insanity from Rep. Peter King continues where he's left off before. Having already called Senator Rand Paul "a disgrace" for suggesting that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper ought to be prosecuted for lying to Congress, King decided to double down against Paul on Monday saying both that Paul doesn't deserve to be a Senator and accusing Paul of "fearmongering."

On being a Senator, King flat out said:
He doesn’t deserve to be in the United States Senate for spreading that type of misperception and absolute lies, to be honest with you.”
We'll remember that line, because we'll bring it up again in a bit.

In the meantime, sometimes I wonder if King has absolutely no self-awareness at all. Because immediately after he accuses Paul of fearmongering -- saying of Paul, "he's playing on some sort of... fearmongering" -- King immediately insists that if we did what Paul wanted (reining in the NSA), that it would allow terrorists to kill thousands of people. I'm not kidding. I'm sorry, but arguing for greater protections of privacy isn't fearmongering. Claiming that violating all our privacy to stop thousands of people from getting killed? That is fearmongering.
King also accused Paul of being "a part of that hate America crowd." Nice of King to stoop so low that he's bordering on idiot McCarthyism. He also lies (remember that statement above?) in claiming that there is no evidence that the NSA abused its powers:
[Rand Paul is] trying to create this paranoia among Americans that the NSA is spying on everyone, the fact is he has not been able to cite one abuse by the NSA.
Except, of course, there have been plenty of abuses. Even the NSA admits it. King is either lying or completely uninformed. Oh, and it's not like he hasn't lied in the past. Remember, he was the Rep. who flat out lied about Glenn Greenwald to say that he should be prosecuted for threatening to reveal names of CIA agents (something Greenwald has never done).

So, uh, if fearmongering and lying mean you don't deserve to be in Congress, shouldn't fearmongering, lying Peter King step down? And, we didn't even need to bring up the fact that King used to support terrorists himself -- the white Irish kind, which he's apparently supportive of, rather than the brown Muslim kind that he dislikes. Oops.

King is apparently preparing to run for President in 2016 on what must be the "fuck the Constitution" platform. In just the past few months, he's openly mocked both the 1st and 4th Amendments. Beyond fearmongering and lying to the public, I'd argue that both of those are pretty good reasons why someone doesn't deserve to be in Congress, let alone be elected President.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: nsa, peter king, rand paul, surveillance


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. icon
    silverscarcat (profile), 7 Jan 2014 @ 7:31am

    Too bad he's not a real animal...

    Then we could drag his sorry carcass out behind the shed and put him out of all our miseries.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    Ninja (profile), 7 Jan 2014 @ 9:04am

    And this is what's in line for presidency... Dark future eh, US?

    Who am I to say that.. Seems the whole world is heading in the same direction. Dark ages ahead.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Bob, 7 Jan 2014 @ 9:24am

    That's not a sentence, right?

    Not even an interrogative one?

    "Claiming that violating all our privacy to stop thousands of people from getting killed?"

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 9:33am

    It's Tuesday, and...

    ...Peter King is still filth.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    FM Hilton, 7 Jan 2014 @ 9:39am

    The more I see/hear of this guy

    The more I'm convinced he's technically insane and unfit to hold the position he's in.

    Really-every time I hear of him saying this or that, all I can envision is a rabid pit-bull foaming at the mouth.

    Rather absurd picture, but that's what you get when you put Irish whiskey into your body before 8 am every day-and I think he's one of those nasty mean drunks, too.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. icon
    ShellMG (profile), 7 Jan 2014 @ 9:51am

    All bets are off

    It's not like pols and press haven't been careful liars, but any illusion of "no open lie" was put to death by Barak "If You Like Your Plan" Obama.

    Schumer, King, etc. have established reputations of being less than truthful. There's no expection that will change unless the press stops sanitizing their "reporting."

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 10:05am

    Re: That's not a sentence, right?

    It is. Its a conversation style question, to me, that when read with the sentence proceeding and following it, it makes sense.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 10:07am

    'King is either lying or completely uninformed'

    or maybe he's just a total fucking retard, mixed with with a good dose of complete fucking idiot!
    (no disrespect to anyone who may be accused in other circumstances of being a retard!)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Trevor, 7 Jan 2014 @ 10:13am

    Constitution

    I can see his "Fuck the Constitution!" Platform Mission statement now...

    1st Amendment - HIPPIES NEED TO SHUT IT AND STOP HATING AMERICA

    2nd Amendment - Assign everyone a gun (And subsidies the manufacturing costs with tax breaks for S&M, and require all 'Muricans to pay full price)

    3rd Amendment - IF YOU HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE, IT AIN'T NO PROBLEM (Also, The NSA is already in your family room, bedroom, bathroom, and every other room you use electronics SO THIS IS MOOT)

    4th Amendment - IF YOU HAVE NOTING TO HIDE, DON'T WORRY 'BOUT IT...AND ONLY GUILTY PEOPLE RESIST!

    5th Amendment - IF YOU HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE, WHAT'S THE PROBLEM? (Unless you are an executive or elected official, in that case this is still fine)

    6th Amendment - TRIALS GO MUCH FASTER IF THEY ARE PRIVATE (secret) AND ONLY ONE SIDE GETS TO TALK. YOU CAN'T HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO! also, Lawyers are dumb (Unless they grow up to become elected or appointed officials, so they can stick to defending DUIs and stuff)

    7th Amendment - There's a 7th Amendment? SINCE WHEN? THANKS ALOT OBAMACARE. $20 adjusted for inflation from 1776 to today is like $50948873 dollars. YOU ONLY GET A JURY IF YOU ARE WORTH $50948873 DOLLARS. Plus, Terrorists don't get juries!

    8th Amendment - EXCESSIVE BAIL IS BAD. THEREFORE, NO MORE BAIL FOR THOSE WHO ARE "TERRORISTS" ("Terrorist" hereinafter refers to someone arrested for "terrorist activities" as defined by ME BITHCES)

    9th Amendment - WHY DO MANY AMENDMENTS? JUST STOP AFTER #2! THESE ARE YOUR ONLY RIGHTS. That way, they can't conflict with others you think you have. YAY SIMPLICITY.

    10th Amendment - STATES RULEZ, CONSTITUTION DRUELZ. (Also, My state > your state, SO LISTEN UP.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 10:18am

    King has no shame. He believes his own lies. That's apparent through his insane rants. A man that supported the IRA terrorism now wants to get in on it in the US by supporting the police state.

    He sounds like he's a few bottles short of a six pack. What really disturbs me, is he is a congress critter responsible for passing laws.

    Until the news media starts calling out and making uncomfortable these bald faced public liars and the public gets the idea they can throw these idiots out of office, nothing is going to get better.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 10:18am

    Thousands of deaths?

    So the justification for all this NSA overreach and violation of citizen's privacy is to avoid the equivalent of a week or two's worth of traffic fatalities?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 10:23am

    King / Rogers 2016

    How's that for a terror attack?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. icon
    Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased) (profile), 7 Jan 2014 @ 10:50am

    Rep. King, do you know who else likes to hype up terror attacks?...Terrorists!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. icon
    Spaceman Spiff (profile), 7 Jan 2014 @ 10:57am

    Then there is that little thing

    about the Presidential Oath of Office. Doesn't it have a little bit in it about swearing to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States? Here it is - short but sweet:

    “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” (thanks Wikipedia).

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Trevor, 7 Jan 2014 @ 11:00am

    Re: Then there is that little thing

    I see no conflict here.

    Protect the Constitution.

    Have secret interpretations that drastically alter the way the Constitution is applied.

    CONSTITUTION IS FINE, BUT IT DOES NOT MEAN WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS.

    Also, It's in a nice sealed box/frame thingy to protect it from the elements / terrorists / Nicholas Cage, so his job is basically done, right?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 11:22am

    Peter King,
    I was thinking the very same thing about you.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. icon
    DOlz (profile), 7 Jan 2014 @ 11:25am

    A bit of advice

    Rep. King, just fes up to the fact you like to fuck goats and the NSA has the texts and pics to proves it. After all it's better to merely thought to be a pervert than a lying, hypocrital, contemptable, brain damage shill.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 11:32am

    Re: Thousands of deaths?

    Or about a month's worth of suicides.
    Although maybe it'll be a week or two after the fear of being watched starts getting to people...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 11:37am

    Re: The more I see/hear of this guy

    It is a common mistake: If you climb far enough into a tree, you will have to either lose face or double down. An interesting fact about being shrill is that it flies in the face of profesionalism in almost any job and the deeper you go, the less facts are there to support your claims.

    Peter King has climbed the tree of 100 % faith in the NSA being perfect and any mechanisms to hold their power back being the downfall of civilization. He has already ramped far past anything with a shed of evidence or reason to justify it. Now he is just doubling down to try to avoid "humiliation". McCarthyism and that way of arguing is a comfortable way to go about these things since it keeps people focused on your target instead of your own absurd justifications for attacking it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 11:52am

    This guy is like the national enquirer of politicians.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 12:32pm

    what I want to know is who are the morons who keep voting for people like this?

    If guys like this are representative of their constituents then America surely is doomed

    link to this | view in thread ]

  22. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 12:45pm

    Brother knows what's best for you.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  23. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 12:54pm

    Peter King, IRA supporter and previously the IRA spokesperson to America.

    "What really bothers me is the hypocrisy of the man,"
    says a victim of a 1990 London bombing




    That dickwad supported the same IRA that blew my school up. For real
    That dickwad supported the same IRA that planted car-bombs which scared the shit out of me when I was a kid. When I tried to get away there was another bomb round the corner, then hoax bombs everywhere else.



    Seriously Peter King is a fucking scum bag.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  24. icon
    Rapnel (profile), 7 Jan 2014 @ 2:17pm

    Mr. King..

    Consistently
    Under-performing
    Neocon
    Tool

    link to this | view in thread ]

  25. icon
    BeeAitch (profile), 7 Jan 2014 @ 5:43pm

    'Misperception'

    I admit, I had to look it up, it sounded too much like a politically made up word.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  26. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 6:38pm

    At a September 2011 hearing in England concerning terrorism, King said the PIRA used British torture as a recruiting tool, but that it has no parallels with American treatment of suspects after 9/11. Labour MP David Winnick commented to King that "there’s been some surprise in the United States but also in Britain that you have a job looking into and investigating into terrorism" and added that King "seems to be an apologist for terrorism".

    Comments about American mosques

    In 2004, King claimed in an interview with conservative talk radio host Sean Hannity that "no American Muslim leaders are cooperating in the war on terror," and that "80-85 percent of mosques in this country are controlled by Islamic fundamentalists .... This is an enemy living amongst us."[49] The Council on American-Islamic Relations denounced the comments as "Islamophobic bigotry" and Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe called on President George W. Bush to "condemn this latest example of hate-filled language."[49] In a September 2007 interview with the website Politico.com, King said that "There are too many mosques in this country... There are too many people sympathetic to radical Islam. We should be looking at them more carefully and finding out how we can infiltrate them."[50] King later said he meant to say that too many mosques in the United States do not cooperate with law enforcement.[51]


    Wikipedia: Peter T. King (New York's 2nd congressional district)

    Wikipedia has a great dox on Mr. Pete, he is a cartoon character, if you ever need an image for in power hillbilly stupid, biggoted he is it, no doubt about it, look at all his statements over the years and a pattern emerges of someone that should never be granted a seat in government ever.

    N. Yorkers you wanna know why you keep getting less safe and why the police is so rude, ask Mr. Pete that question he is after all one of the enablers of such things.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  27. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2014 @ 8:07pm

    Between Senator Spystein, Misrep. Rogers, and Peter the Fearmonger King. I just can't keep up with all their FUD spreading lies.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  28. identicon
    Clownius, 8 Jan 2014 @ 3:41am

    Re:

    Throw in some Faux news and word from the great Rupert Murdoch and this guy could very well end up your next President with mass astorturffing, big PACs and a supportive media.....

    Im sure he can make all the right sounds for the Tea Party and then after the election promptly do exactly what hes told.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  29. icon
    Niall (profile), 8 Jan 2014 @ 9:40am

    Re:

    This is the same scumbag murderous 'terroristic' IRA that tried to blow up the Republicans second 'saint', 'Saint' Maggie Thatcher (Raygun's soulmate). Oh, and blew up lots of kids and innocents. That's who he funded and cheerled for. Good thing there weren't drones in those days!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  30. icon
    Alana (profile), 8 Jan 2014 @ 2:20pm

    Sounds like he takes his last name too literally.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.