I'm not sure that the way Norquist has reacted is as revealing as one might think. Imagine for a moment that he was really duped by these folks, and now he's being accused of being an active abetter of terrorists, essentially being accused of treason, for want of a better word. If I were falsely accused, and had been duped myself, I myself might react very badly to charges that I was a knowing accomplice of terrorists. In any case, though, his answer has to be better than "my accusers are racists" - that won't wash.
The problem is, Grover's done that not just in the heat of the moment back in February, but only last week on the Hugh Hewitt Show. Additionally, Norquist's comments in February were transmitted via an open letter to Gaffney that went to all of the attendees of his Wednesday meetings. Reports I've seen place that number at more than 100 recipients. On top of that, when Norquist isn't tossing out charges of bigotry, he's flat out lying. He lied last Tuesday to Hugh Hewitt about Sami Al Arian's visit to the White House in 2001. There are other lies (much of this was posted earlier, but you both came late to this thread, so I'm reposting)...
Grover G. Norquist
810 Constitution Avenue, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20002
February 5, 2003 Mr. Frank Gaffney
President
Center for Security Policy
1920 L Street NW
Washington, DC 20036 Dear Frank: I have learned that you took the opportunity during your Thursday remarks at the 30th annual Conservative Political Action Conference to impugn the loyalty of Ali Tulbah, an associate director of cabinet affairs in the Bush White House. There is no place in the conservative movement for racial prejudice, religious bigotry or ethnic hatred. This is the second time that a Muslim working for President George W. Bush has been subjected to an attack by you because of his faith. You made similarly dishonest allegations against Suhail Khan while he worked inside the White House. The conservative movement cannot be associated with racism or bigotry. We have come too far in the last 30 years in our efforts to broaden our coalition to allow anyone to smear an entire group of people, sending a signal that there is no place for them at our table. Therefore, until you have made a public apology to Ali Tulbah, Suhail Khan, and the president - and these apologies have been accepted - I am afraid that your attendance at the Wednesday center-right coalition meeting at the offices of the Americans for Tax Reform can no longer be allowed. It is important that we, as conservatives, stand up against bigotry, racism, and religious hatred whenever it raises its ugly head. You have dishonored yourself and the founding principles of the movement and the nation. Sincerely, (signed) Grover G. Norquist cc: Ali Tulbah
Suhail Khan
Wednesday Meeting attendees
Norquist letter to Gaffney (pdf)
February 5th, 2003
Now, see the National Review excerpt on the Gaffney/Norquist situation... Gaffney's remarks enraged Norquist, who responded in an open letter to conservative activists. "There is no place in the conservative movement for racial prejudice, religious bigotry or ethnic hatred," Norquist wrote. "We have come too far in the last 30 years in our efforts to broaden our coalition to allow anyone to smear an entire group of people. . . . The conservative movement cannot be associated with racism or bigotry."
(Note: this is the letter I transcribed and posted above, at #416.) The reaction was explosive. Even if Gaffney had been wrong to mention Tulbah by name, some conservatives felt, Norquist's reaction was over the top. To make matters worse, Norquist used a standard rhetorical device of the Left: If you can't win an argument with a conservative, call him a racist. "I, for one, don't see it," says David Keene, head of the American Conservative Union and an organizer of the CPAC conference. "If you read the transcript [of the panel], you can see if Frank was right or wrong, but there was nothing racist or bigoted about it." Heightening the tension was Norquist's angry assertion that the White House, and in particular chief political adviser Karl Rove, supported his racism-and-bigotry argument. One witness quotes Norquist as saying, "This is terrible. Karl's upset because we're insulting the people who helped Bush win the election." Another witness recalls that Norquist "said the president and Rove were angry at the conference." In addition, Norquist sent an e-mail to American Conservative Union board members saying that "[t]he White House and the press are increasingly angry with [the American Conservative Union] for some indefensible statements and actions at CPAC this year." The letter caused a complete break inside the conservative camp. Keene has not spoken to Norquist since it was written, and Gaffney, whose organization shares an office suite with Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, was kicked out of Norquist's famous Wednesday meeting of conservative strategists. That is where things stand now. In a recent interview, Norquist denied using the White House to support his accusations: "I never invoke the president or Karl Rove on this position - in anything." But he refused to back away from his incendiary charges about Gaffney, on one occasion calling him a "sick little bigot." "I'm sorry," Norquist said. "His whole life screams of bigotry, and what he said is just part of a pattern." Gaffney could have held higher-up administration staffers responsible for choosing who attends White House briefings, Norquist argued, but instead "decided to single out the Muslim." He continued: "Frank Gaffney and Osama bin Laden share the same view on the relationship between the United States and Islam. I agree with the president in rejecting Osama bin Laden's and Frank Gaffney's worldview."
Fight on the Right: 'Muslim outreach' and a feud between activists.
National Review, April 7, 2003, by Byron York
FR link
Note Norquist's lie: "I never invoke the president or Karl Rove on this position - in anything." This despite several accounts that he's done just that, as well as the words of his own letter to Gaffney of February 5th of this year"
"Therefore, until you have made a public apology to Ali Tulbah, Suhail Khan, and the president - and these apologies have been accepted..." The gauntlet thrown down by Norquist was that Gaffney had to apologize to the President for his remarks, and that the President had to apologize. Norquist lied when he said he didn't invoke the name of the President, just as he lied last Tuesday, when he told Hugh Hewitt that Sami Al Arian didn't attend a meeting at the White House in June, 2001. From the Wall Street Journal, June 11th, 2003...
(I'm not a WSJ subscriber, btw, so I don't have access to their archive. I've linked to a reposting at FR, and a .pdf of Gaffney's.) In 2002, Mr. Arian visited the Islamic Institute in Washington. Institute officials say his purpose was simply to drop off literature. Mr. Norquist adds that he himself has never worked with Mr. Arian and has met him only briefly at various events before Mr. Arian was indicted. Calling attention to Mr. Arian is unfair, he says. "Since I started working with Muslims, a handful of bigots have been trying to smear the president, Rove and me for working with them," he adds.
Reaching Out: In Difficult Times, Muslims Count On Unlikely Advocate --- Mr. Norquist, Famed Tax Foe, Offers Washington Access, Draws Conservative Flak --- Meeting an Alleged Terrorist
The Wall Street Journal - Tom Hamburger and Glenn R. Simpson | June 11, 2003 (FR link)
Gaffney link (cached HTML of .pdf, scroll down to page 2)
So, Norquist, in addition to his characteristic race-baiting, has been invoking both the President and Karl rove in this, both before and after he said he wasn't doing exactly that. Norquist is repeatedly lying and race-baiting. If the truth were sufficient, why would he need to do that?
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