One Man for Himself: Grover Norquist's War on Freedom

For more than two decades Grover Norquist has propped himself up as a financial and tax reform guru, rubbing elbows with both Bush administrations and politicians from the right/left divide, yet more and more he displays a unique and discomforting sinister entourage of coalesced hate for America and the solvency of its treasury.

To understand the grain of this issue it must be realized that notwithstanding his "pro-middle class" talking points, Norquist has never truly cared to get involved in causes beyond those directly benefiting his own lobbying group in Washington D.C. Throughout the Clinton years he banged the gavel for better tax rates--a worthy cause, yet his actions beyond this have been of questionable wisdom. When prompted to take a stand on the Iraq War in 2003, Norquist came out and slammed the Democrats for opposing the efforts of the Bush Administration and stated that  they were on the wrong side of history. But only two years later he was back, writing a New York Times op-ed that criticied the actions as based on neoconservative desires. This may best be explained by recalling that the once floundering center-left was set to take hold of Congress in 2006, and Norquist needed friends to continue profiting off of.

But perhaps the anti-taxman's greatest offense is the marked inability he has demonstrated to condemn Islamic terrorism as a threat to America's borders. In 2005, Norquist tied the knot with attractive Kuwaiti researcher Samah, a devote Muslim who would get Norquist even closer to Middle Eastern business interests--including Saudi Arabia.

Interracial or bi-religious marriage is not a crime, but Norquist's insistence on blocking any sort of inquiry or pursuit of common sense anti-terrorist justice leave his true sympathies in the dark to even his closest followers. The Islamic Institute, which received considerable money from and was founded by Norquist was embroiled in controversy when its president, Abdurahman Alamoud, was arrested and sentenced to 23 years for terrorist actions in 1999.

Only a decade later, Norquist would again choose the path of least resistance to Islamic expansionism, calling on activists to end their concerns over the Ground Zero Mosque and focus instead on tax issues, his portfolio of employment.

As far as his personal faith, Norquist seems surprisingly unwilling to say, an oddity considering his Harvard education and seeming desire to foster common ground for all peoples. To him, the question is "too much of a personal issue," yet apparently his associations with active terrorists ought to be passed off as "business contacts" in his general opinion.

Denizens of America such as Norquist pose a problem to national security because they are fully willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of a few dollars more. If Americans are wise, they will ignore Norquist's self-concerned pursuits and instead follow figureheads who are not partial to the nation's collapse as long as its brings about the lining of their own pockets.



John Lai

National Alliance Treasurer and Comptroller General