Michael's Story

When you can't deny the message, attack the messenger.

by Nicholas Hancock

Michael C. Moore, 51, is a retired Chief Petty Officer (E-7) and Vietnam veteran. He spent 20 years of honorable U.S. Navy service from 1972 to 1992 with five good conduct medals, a Master Training Specialist designation, and many other awards and letters of commendations and appreciation. He is proud to have served in the United States armed forces and feels he has earned his rights as a citizen under the U.S. Constitution.

The interior of Michael Moore's modest home outside of Goldston, North Carolina is decorated with his Navy medals and commendations and photos of ships he as served on. His computer mouse pad has a U.S. flag design and the head of a bald eagle on it. A U.S. flag flies daily on a staff off his screened-in front porch.

On December 10, 2002, Michael Moore was given cause, for the first time in his life, to question his country and the U.S. government. One month earlier, immediately following the November elections, Michael fired off an email to friends and relatives venting his anger and disgust at the statewide and national election results. In that email, he called George W. Bush Satan and wrote that Bush was, in his opinion, the third anti-Christ. Michael Moore was not a happy camper. He had seen the direction his country's government had been taking since the installation of the Bush administration in January 2001, and he felt that direction was wrong and detrimental to his country. He felt he had to speak out about it and he did, in that email.

At approximately 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2002, two unfamiliar cars and two SUVs turned off Goldston-Carbonton Road and into Michael Moore's driveway. The vehicles continued up the driveway and stopped at the front of Michael’s house under a huge white oak tree. I'll let Michael tell you the rest of the story in his own words.

"I went out to greet whoever was in the vehicles and asked if I could help them with something. The gentlemen introduced themselves by name and stated that they were from the Secret Service. They showed me their identification, and then asked if I was Michael Moore. I said yes. One of the men was the Chatham County Sheriff. The Secret Service agents said they worked with the FBI and the National Security Agency (NSA) jointly on national security issues. One of the Secret Service agents (all were wearing side arms) approached me and explained why they were here to see me. He said they had intercepted one of my emails in which I had expressed my outrage over the election results where I called Bush Satan and that he's the third anti-Christ among other things. They said that they had to assess the situation regarding my email to see if I posed a national security risk to the president.

"I allowed them to come inside my home after they asked if they could. They said they needed to ask me some questions and fill out some forms, which they said would take about 30 minutes of my time. Actual time was more than an hour. They asked questions from what drugs I am on all the way to my ex-wife's contact information. They had me sign a form to allow them access to all my medical history in San Diego Veteran’s Hospital to the Veteran’s Hospital in Durham, NC. They asked for all my family members' names, addresses, and phone numbers. I was also asked for any friends’ names, addresses, and phone numbers. They wanted to know if I had a history of mental illness, what I thought about assassinations, was I going to Washington, DC to shoot the president, when was the last time I was out of the state, had I had any sniper training while in the military, what work I did in the Navy, if I had a grudge against the Navy, and on and on.

"They wrote down information from my military retiree’s I.D. card, my driver’s license, and my vehicle license plate number. The sheriff and one of the agents wandered through my house casually while I was being interrogated by another Secret Service agent in my dining room. The agents wrote down all my medication label information. When all of this was over, one of the agents took four Polaroid pictures of me without my permission and asked me in an unkind way to not go to Washington, DC."

Michael said the Secret Service agents and the local sheriff went out of his house, got into their vehicles and drove down his driveway. They turned onto Goldston-Carbon Road toward Goldston and were gone. The visit changed Michael Moore’s life forever. It also changed his feelings and opinions about the country and government he had served diligently and honorably for 20 years.

"What kind of democracy is this in our so-called great nation when we cannot even write an email message without the fear of our government intercepting it, and violently raping us through intense personal and very sensitive investigations?" he now asks. "I now have been pegged as a possible domestic terrorist by this government – the government that I served 20 years and 3 days to defend this country in the United States Navy."

"I served this great country with high honors, patriotism, pride, distinction, gratitude, dignity, and respect recognized by the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of Defense, and President George H.W. Bush. What I experienced on December 10, 2002 was KGB-like activity justified by our government. I believe we all deserve more respect than this malicious violation of our privacy, solitude, and Constitutional freedoms and liberties," Moore said.

Michael Moore still strongly believes in the principals, laws and guidelines set out in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, but today he is a changed man. He no longer passively, or inattentively, accepts whatever comes out of Congress or the White House. He has become the bane of neocons everywhere: an active, informed participant in the democratic process. His senators and representative in Congress are probably already tired of hearing from him. He’s joined anti-Right activist groups on the Internet. He’s told his story of the Secret Service visit through radio interviews. He had a major role in Christine Rose’s documentary film, "Liberty Bound," a film about the loss of personal freedoms in the U.S. since 9/11.

Michael has asked a lot of questions himself since his interrogation on that Tuesday in December, 2002, and he’s not been happy with some of the answers he's received or discovered.

"It has become clear to me that the radical right-wing neocons orchestrated and carried out the 9/11 attacks on our own country in order to implement their war plans in accordance with their extremist Project For The New American Century in controlling the world’s oil supplies for a One World Order. The proof is all around us, but this administration, by controlling what the media can cover, keeps the public ignorant of their scheme to control dissidents in this country who already know the truth," he said.

Moore’s story is certainly an anomaly in small-town rural North Carolina, but it hasn’t been unique in the U.S. since November, 2002.

A South Dakota man made a joke in a bar in Sioux Falls about "a burning Bush," and he was arrested and thrown in jail as a possible threat against the president.

An attorney and his son wore anti-Bush T-shirts in a shopping mall in Vermont. They were arrested after they were told to leave the mall and they refused to leave.

Professor Ward Churchill of the University of Colorado at Boulder wrote an essay in which he said the attacks on 9/11/01 were payback for way the U.S. has treated Muslims and others in the Middle East. Churchill came under intense fire from Republican officials and the radical right. His job is still in jeopardy and just last Sunday (April 3, 2005) former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani told a University of Colorado audience Churchill should not be allowed to teach.

Three people who had tickets to attend one of Bush's town hall meetings in Aurora, Colorado are looking into filing a lawsuit against the Secret Service for being removed from the meeting merely because they arrived in a car that had a bumper sticker that read "No Blood For Oil."

Michael Moore said he’s now proud to be one of the dissidents the Bush administration is trying to control and silence. He feels he's in good company. He said he has the Secret Service to thank for that.

©2005 by Nicholas Hancock