www.DemocraticUndergound.com: “John McCain must reject and denounce Steve King's bigoted remarks”

Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor: “These comments have no place in our politics, and we hope Senator McCain will repudiate them like he has previous offensive comments from his supporters.”

www.ThinkProgress.com poster: “ALL I CAN SAY IS, Steve King BETTER NOT CROSS MY PATH OR COME WITHIN FOUR FEET OF ME UNLESS HE WANTS TO WALK FUNNY, SPEAK IN A HIGH VOICE AND HAVE HIS NOSE ON ONE SIDE OF HIS FACE AND HIS MOUTH WHERE HIS FOREHEAD IS CURRENTLY!!!!! WHAM!!!!!”

www.rightwingnews.com: “The Obama campaign are outraged over the true words spoken by Steve King… I sure hope McCain doesn't feel that he needs to apologize for the truth.”

McCain traveling press secretary Brooke Buchanan quickly told Fox News that Steve King, a Republican Congressman from Iowa, was not affiliated with the McCain campaign and that Senator McCain had “been clear that he intends to keep this campaign about the issues,” “condemned similar comments by [radio talk show host] Bill Cunningham,” “doesn’t agree with King’s comments,” and “intends to run a respectful race and keep it about the issues.”

What had Congressman King said?

This:

"I don't want to disparage anyone because of their race, their ethnicity, their name - whatever their religion [or the religion of] their father might have been. I’ll just say this: When you think about the option of a Barack Obama potentially getting elected President of the United States -- I mean, what does this look like to the rest of the world? What does it look like to the world of Islam?"

"I will tell you that, if he is elected president, then the radical Islamists, the al-Qaida, the radical Islamists and their supporters, will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11 because they will declare victory in this War on Terror."

"Additionally, his middle name [Hussein] does matter. … It matters because they read a meaning into that in the rest of the world. That has a special meaning to them. They will be dancing in the streets because of his middle name. They will be dancing in the streets because of who his father was and because of his posture that says: Pull out of the Middle East and pull out of this conflict."

“There are implications that have to do with who he is and the position that he's taken. If he were strong on national defense and said 'I'm going to go over there and we're going to fight and we're going to win, we'll come home with a victory,' that's different. But that's not what he said. They will be dancing in the streets if he's elected president. That has a chilling aspect on how difficult it will be to ever win this Global War on Terror."

Congressman King told the person interviewing him for an Iowa newspaper [The Daily Reporter] that his comments were not meant to demean Obama but to warn how an Obama presidency would look to the world.

Congressman King was right to call attention to how the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States would be received and his opinion makes great sense.

The McCain campaign owes Congressman King an apology and the Iowa Congressman is right to reiterate his position and reject the McCain campaign’s disavowal of him.

In an interview with Fox News, Congressman King did not back way from his assertion that voters “should be looking at” Obama’s middle name — Hussein — because Middle East terrorists will infer something in that name.

Congressman King: “My point is that first he [Barack Hussein Obama] declares defeat, they declare victory, they dance in the streets, and there is an implication that the identity that they would infer in that name [Hussein] is different in the rest of the world than it is in the United States. … What I’m pointing out is that our enemies will view this differently, and I think that’s something we should be looking at.

Fox's Geraldo Rivera told Congressman King that “Senator McCain has apparently disavowed your remarks.”

King responded: “…I reject his disavowal. And I reject the Democrat webpages that call me the names that they have. I’d ask them to point to the quote that I have said that offends them. And if I am wrong, Geraldo, and we elect Obama to the presidency and he declares defeat, if they don’t dance in the streets, I will come and apologize to you and everybody in America. But I’m saying, I’m right.”

It would be better for America if Congressman King is not proven right, of course, but only a fool would risk finding out for sure.

I agree with Sher Zieve, whose article, “Rep. Steve King: Vilified for Telling the Truth,” not only put it perfectly, but also identified the underlying problem—political correctness—and recalled her own prescious prediction:

“In 2005, I wrote the article ‘Will Humans “PC” Themselves out of Existence?’ Tragically—but predictably—today the answer appears to be an unambiguous and resounding “Yes!” The purveyors and proponents of “political correctness” have now reached the apex of their inherent goal: that of—once and for all—shutting down the truth….

“I am, of course, referring to the firestorm created by the media over a statement made by Rep. Steve King (R-IA). Rep. King said of candidate Barack Obama: ‘I will tell you that, if he is elected president, then the radical Islamists, the al Qaeda, the radical Islamists and their supporters, will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11, because they will declare victory in this war on terror.’ That was and is a truthful statement. King went on to say: ‘Additionally, his middle name does matter….’ This is also a truthful statement.”

In addition to vindicating Congressman King, Ms. Zieve pointed to some of Senator Obama’s disconcerting, but litle appreciated, connections:

“Obama is being supported by anti-American Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Obama’s church ‘Trinity United Church of Christ’ has given Farrakhan an award for ‘lifetime achievement’ and service to the African-American community. Note: Obama’s church is a black-separatist organization. We are known by the company we keep.”

“For over 15 years, Obama has been firmly and irrevocably tied to Syrian born Real Estate developer Tony Rezko who is currently on trial for federal corruption charges. Rezco has contributed heavily to Obama’s campaigns and has been both a fundraiser and friend to the Senator and now presidential candidate. Rezko and Obama are also tied to Iraqi billionaire and alleged Baathist member Nadhmi Auchi. Auchi is expected to play a part in Rezko’s current trial. Barack Obama—who apparently still refuses to say the American Pledge of Allegiance—is tied to Auchi. Obama also claims friendship with former terrorist leader of the Weather Underground William Ayers. Whew! Obama seems to have his fingers in many illicit and anti-American cookie jars—doesn’t he?”

“I suggest that the leftist and/or terrorist reaction to Rep. King’s telling the truth about a terrorist response to the potential election of Barack Hussein Obama as president of the US is the least of our concerns.

“Candidate Obama’s actual record and associations should sound alarms for all of us and be our primary worry.”

Telling the ugly truth is NOT dirty politics, Senator McCain.