From the Desert - A blog from the Arizona Desert

As you’ll likely recall, The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) responded to last November’s Flying Imams Scam by backing civil litigation naming unnamed (John Doe) “whistleblowers” (who dutifully saw something and said something) as co-defendants. While unabashedly frivolous, the potential hazards of such a suit were by no means lost on most security conscious Americans.

Thankfully, this included ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security, Rep. Peter King (R-NY), who quickly drafted a proviso to shield the vigilant from such blatant intimidation-by-tort.

King’s so-called "John Doe provision" of the so-called “Sept. 11 Security Bill” passed the House in March by an overwhelming and decidedly bipartisan vote. But the Senate proved a much harder sell, with many PC-minded Democrats echoing Pat Leahy’s reckless concern that such an amendment “could invite racial and religious profiling.”

The Senate Judiciary Chairman and other Tolerance-Over-Public-Safety Dems -- including Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers – have used every technical procedure at their disposal to scuttle this crucial anti-terrorism addition.

But, thanks in large part to King’s resolve and willingness to accept silly “compromise language” specifying immunity only to “good-faith” informants – John Doe Lives. What’s more, whenever signed by the President, the bill will be retroactive to November, 2006 – affording immunity to those wrongfully persecuted by the bogus CAIR lawsuit.