THIS FAR AND NO FURTHER
A Timeline of Events Surrounding the Radical Right's Attempt to Subvert American Democracy
Written and Compiled by Black Max
2000:
March
- March: An FBI agent involved in the e-mail surveillance program "Carnivore" supposedly destroys all copies of e-mails intercepted from Osama bin Laden's colleagues in the Denver area. The story never rings true, and a Justice Department official later confirms that the e-mails were not destroyed. That same month, the FBI releases information that claims bin Laden is preparing attacks that will attempt to destroy any of the following American targets: landmarks, specifically the Statue of Liberty; nuclear power plants; skyscrapers; ports; and airports. (From the Wilderness)
- Interestingly enough, when a wiretapping program similar to Carnivore was proposed by the Clinton administration in 1995, then-Senator John Ashcroft and other Republicans bitterly opposed any such new provisions, including Orrin Hatch, who intoned, "We must ensure that in our response to recent terrorist acts, we do not destroy the freedoms that we cherish." However, the same Republicans come to the fore to defend Carnivore, the USA Patriot Act of October 2001, and other laws which go much, much farther in violating constitutionally-protected civil liberties than the Clinton proposals. (Eric Alterman and Mark Green)
- March 12: In Florida, presidential candidate George W. Bush rolls out a new attack strategy against opponent Al Gore: "The vice president is someone who will say anything to get elected," Bush intones during a press conference, and hammers the phrase home, repeating the phrase four times in 20 minutes. The idea to portray Gore as a "say anything" candidate comes straight from Karl Rove, and is wildly successful, especially after the mainstream media enthusiastically picks up on it. David Corn later observes, "Bush was moving quickly to define the remaining campaign as a contest in which the other guy was the liar." Rove also decides to attack Gore in states perceived as Democratic strongholds, most notably Tennessee, Gore's home state, and West Virginia, a state seen as a Democratic lock. The decision to work West Virginia works brilliantly; the Gore campaign all but ignores the state, assuming it is a given to go Democratic; Rove has Bush and other prominent Republicans such as the NRA's Charlton Heston make repeated appearances in the state, and to the surprise of most pundits -- but not Rove -- West Virginia narrowly goes Republican in the November elections, giving Bush a critical three electoral votes. (James Moore and Wayne Slater)
"In return for the votes of West Virginia, the state got record unemployment, cuts to services for veterans, the elderly, kids and lower income people, tax giveaways to the wealthiest, and an unnecessary war that is eating up the lives of many of the state's young men and women." -- Charleston Gazette/Buzzflash, May 2004
- March 17: Osama bin Laden meets with a group of supporters. He appears weak and gaunt, and is reported to be trying to acquire a kidney dialysis machine. He gets the dialysis machine in early 2001. (CCR)
FBI stymies investigations into Islamic terror organizations
- March 21: FBI agent Robert Wright files a formal complaint against fellow agent Gamal Abdel-Hafiz, alleging that Abdel-Hafiz, a Muslim, is hindering investigations into the 1998 embassy bombings by refusing to perform surveillance on fellow Muslims. Other agents and Federal prosecutor Mark Flessner support the charges, and show that Abdel-Hafiz interfered with the investigation into suspected terrorist Sami Al-Arian, a professor at the University of South Florida, by refusing to tape-record their conversations. Complaints to superiors within the FBI are ignored. Later, Abdel-Haziz is promoted to one of the FBI's most important anti-terrorism posts, the American Embassy in Saudi Arabia. In February 2003, he is finally suspended after the charges against hm make the international press. On March 4, 2003, Wright is scheduled to appear on Fox News to discuss Abdel-Haziz, when he receives a phone call from the FBI one hour before airtime. Wright is apparently threatened with the loss of his job if he goes on the air. Wright cancels his appearance. (CCR)
- March 28: Conservative radio host and right-wing columnist Dr. Laura Schlessinger, known for her moralistic diatribes against the Clintons, is angered when nude, crudely posed pictures of her taken in the 1970s by her then-lover turn up on the Internet. (In 2002, Schlessinger will announce her intention to run for president against Hillary Clinton in order to block her election, claiming that Clinton "is not a role model" and, with her husband, is "perverse, disturbed, and destructive.") Schlessinger first denies that the photos are of her, then admits the photos are of her but says that she was younger when they were taken, and her "past errors of judgment" should not be held against her. (Schlessinger is known for excoriating ABC's Barbara Walters for appearing on her show The View in her bathrobe.) Schlessinger, a theocratic moralist who regularly thunders about the necessity to observe the Ten Commandments, seems to have forgotten the Fifth Commandment -- honor your parents -- when, in 2003, her mother is found dead in her apartment, where the body had been lying undiscovered for three months. She defends her failure to keep in touch with her mother by saying that the two of them were "estranged," and counter-attacks by calling criticism of her hypocrisy a left-wing "hate campaign." The issue is, like so many other examples, indicative of the hypocrisy of the conservative, pseudo-moralistic right. (Adult Industry News/Mark Crispin Miller)
