To the extent that there was a moment during Rep. Peter King's hearings today that crystallized the conservative perspective on the hearings today the way Rep. Keith Ellison's testimony summarized the liberal case against them, it was expressed by Melvin Bledsoe, the father of Carlos Bledsoe, who killed a service member at a military recruiting center in Arkansas in 2009.
Democratic Rep. Jackie Spier said that she found the stories of the family members "interesting" and noted that they weren't experts. Republican Rep. Joe Walsh asked Bledsoe if he thought his experience was "interesting," and Bledsoe basically hit it out of the park, saying "I would describe it as a tragedy." Bledsoe added, "I'm wondering how they got on the commission to speak about some of the things they speak about," and for the first time, the chamber filled with laughter.
Bledose continued:
We're not talking about how much of a professional expert. ... We're speaking about what happened to our children. And we're speaking about what may happen to your children; we're speaking about the danger. Most of the people talking on the other side are talking about political fear. That's what I mostly hear here. There is a small population that we're talking about, Islamic extremists, we're worried about stepping on their toes, and they're talking about stamping us out. Not just stamping us out, but everything that America stands for. I'm wondering why don't the people pull their blinders off.
This the strongest version of the conservative arguments for the hearing that was heard today, exactly what they wanted out of the witnesses they called.
