King hearing more heat than light

Rep. Peter King had his star turn yesterday with a polarizing inquiry on radicalization in the American Muslim community. But after a rancorous debate in previous days over whether it would demonize Muslims, the hearing itself was a bust.

The 41/2-hour show gave House members a platform for statements on whether such a broad-brush inquiry was appropriate. Chief among them were King (R-Seaford), whose answer was an aggressive yes, and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a Muslim, whose answer was an emphatic no, punctuated by tears as he recounted the story of a Muslim paramedic from Queens who died at the World Trade Center site, only to be falsely accused of being in league with the terrorists.

Public discussion of any national problem is generally a good thing. And homegrown terrorism is real. But King didn't uncover much, if anything, that wasn't already known. If he insists on more hearings, he needs to find a way to make them more useful. Otherwise, there's no reason for sequels.

Have a few Muslims in America been radicalized to the point of violence? Yes. But that's hardly news, given incidents such as the attempted bombing in Times Square last May, and the massacre at the Fort Hood Army base in 2009. Do Muslims cooperate with law enforcement? Some do, some don't, and more trust and help would be better. Nothing revelatory there either.

There were moving personal stories. Abdirizak Bihi of Minneapolis told how his nephew Burhan Hassan was among a group of Somali Americans who slipped away to join an Islamic extremist group in Somali, where he was killed.

Melvin Bledsoe of Memphis told how his son Carlos grew distant after converting to Islam in college, traveled to Yemen and is now charged with opening fire on a military recruiting center in Arkansas where one soldier died. Bledsoe said he wanted to help others spot the signs of radicalization that his family missed.

Delving deeper into what those signs are, when to intervene and how to do it effectively could have made yesterday's session more productive. But congressional hearings tend to be stilted affairs where members spend more time talking than listening. Yesterday's was no exception.

What we don't need on this delicate, dangerous issue is more political theater.