• The Y2K scare proves to
be much ado about nothing, as gala celebrations
around the globe ring in the New Year and a new
millennium
• Election 2000: CBS news
now calls the state of Florida, and the presidential
election for Vice-President Al Gore
• Texas Governor George W.
Bush has won the state of Florida by several hundred
votes, providing him the necessary margin in the
Electoral College to become the 43rd president of
the United States
• The Florida Supreme Court
has ordered manual recounts of all votes…
• The US Supreme Court voted
5-4 along partisan lines to reverse the Florida
Supreme Court’s decision to conduct manual
recounts, making Texas Governor George W. Bush the
President of the United States
• Who will be the last one
voted off the island? Millions of Americans tune
in to the finale of Survivor, sparking a meteoric
rise in the reality-TV genre
(bullets 2-5 to be read in rapid fire succession)
2001
• A passenger airplane has
stuck one of the World Trade Center buildings in
New York City…no other details are available
at this time….
• A second plane has crashed
into the World Trade Center, fueling speculation
that these horrific events were planned….
• MY GOD, WE’RE UNDER
ATTACK!
(SILENCE)
• Osama bin Laden and his
terrorist network of al-Qaeda have claimed responsibility
for the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon
and the attack planned on the White House.
• The President has called
for the surrender of bin Laden from Afghanistan’s
Taliban government or risk military attack.
• The United States along
with Great Britain, has begun air strikes against
Afghan military installations and terrorist training
camps; however, Osama bin Laden remains at large
2002
• The War on Terror continues
as estimates of 2,700 suspected terrorists have
been questioned in 98 countries, yet two-thirds
of al-Qaeda’s senior leadership and Osama
bin Laden remain at large
• Civil rights take a backseat
to national security under the USA Patriot Act,
as to date, twelve hundred people have been detained
without access to lawyers or the release of their
names
• President Bush expands
the war on terror to the “axis of evil”
– his label for terrorist threats in Iran,
North Korea and most emphatically, Iraq
• A Boston Globe article
has ignited a sexual abuse scandal in the American
Catholic church – with almost 300 priests
and 4 bishops leaving the church, and 2.000 more
accused of child molestation
• The nation’s largest
energy trader, Enron, along with its CEO Kenneth
Lay, declares bankruptcy amid claims that the company
inflated its profits by as much as $600 million
• America crowns its newest
idol, Kelly Clarkson, on the FOX television show,
American Idol. With the title, Clarkson wins a CD
deal, a short spurt of media attention and what
Americans truly idolize – fame
2003
• Citing the need for regime
change, President launches Operation Iraqi Freedom,
the first pre-emptive war in US history
• The US-led campaign of
shock and awe has led to the capture of Baghdad.
President Bush declares that combat operations are
over on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham
Lincoln, in May
• By August more US soldiers
have died in the aftermath of the war than during
the official combat period
• PFC Jessica Lynch and prisoner
of war is rescued in dramatic fashion in Iraq –
although the US has been criticized for exaggerating
the heroism in her rescue. Ms. Lynch has signed
a $ 1 million book deal to tell her story.
• Domesticity diva Martha
Stewart is indicted on charges of obstruction of
justice and securities fraud, after having been
accused of insider trading in selling off her share
of ImClone stock.
• I’ll be baaack -
After the recall of Gray Davis, Californians elect
movie star and body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor of California over 134 other candidates
2004
• Outrage ensues around the
world as photos are released that depict the physical
abuse and sexual degradation of Iraqi prisoners
at Abu Ghraib prison.
• After one of the most contentious
campaigns in recent history, George W. Bush is re-elected
president of the United States, giving him what
Bush calls a “mandate from the people.”
Republicans also expand their majorities in the
Senate and the House
• Mel Gibson’s film
“The Passion of the Christ” breaks office
records and sets the country abuzz, although it
also draws criticism for being anti-Semitic and
too violent in its graphic depiction of the last
12 hours of Jesus’s life
• CBS is fined half a million
dollars by the FCC for Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe
malfunction” during a half-time performance
of Super Bowl 38
• Same sex marriages become
legal in Massachusetts, and same-sex couples race
to San Francisco and New Paltz, NY for marriage
ceremonies before an injunction brings the process
to a halt. In response, 11 state referendums banning
gay marriage pass in November elections.
• A massive earthquake
in the Indian Ocean causes tsunamis to reach the
shores from East Africa to Southern Asia, accounting
for over 76,000 deaths at latest count.
