UPDATE: DAYTON THE COWARD #13
Star Tribune Editorial: Dayton's alarm/A self-defeating take on terror
We join the Capitol Hill security chief, the Homeland Security leadership, the mayor of Washington and, apparently, every other member of Congress in scratching our heads at Mark Dayton's preemptive shuttering of his Senate office. What can he really be thinking?
His stated rationale could not be plainer: A top-secret intelligence report, whose details he cannot disclose, convinced him that the Capitol buildings won't be safe to work in or visit until after Election Day. As a matter of policy, he tried to persuade the Senate (Republican) leadership to meet and discuss this threat; they rebuffed this suggestion (from a swing-state Democrat). So, as a matter of conscience, he decided he could not ask his staff to remain at risk in Washington while he spent the recess in Minnesota.
No doubt anticipating the rejoinder that terrorist threats can't be allowed to interfere with government business, Dayton said his office will continue to function from other locations in Washington and Minnesota. And, he said, if his precautions prove unnecessary, he "will accept the inevitable judgments made with perfect hindsight."
It doesn't take perfect foresight to imagine what the principal judgment will be: In staking out this Cassandra's position, Dayton has added considerably to unfortunate aspects of his reputation: loner, loose cannon, flake.
In fairness to Dayton, it must be said that these criticisms are often overbroad; in fairness to his critics, it must be acknowledged that he seems at times to invite them. Tuesday's press conference was one of those times.
It's simply impossible to take Dayton's alarm seriously in the absence of any other lawmaker or security official, so far, coming to a similar conclusion. Take it as political theater, it is farcical -- and counterproductive.
The vulnerability of this nation and its institutions to terrorism is an urgent and vital subject, one that is generating too much sloganeering and too little scrutiny in this election season. If Dayton's purpose was to underscore a legitimate issue of national security -- how much remains to be done to ensure Americans' safety from terrorist attack -- he could have chosen many a better way of making the point.
Indeed, it's difficult to imagine a worse way. Instead of pointing out the emperor's startling nakedness, Dayton has cast himself as the lone little chicken who claims the sky is falling. Source: Star Tribune, October 14, 2004
We join the Capitol Hill security chief, the Homeland Security leadership, the mayor of Washington and, apparently, every other member of Congress in scratching our heads at Mark Dayton's preemptive shuttering of his Senate office. What can he really be thinking?
His stated rationale could not be plainer: A top-secret intelligence report, whose details he cannot disclose, convinced him that the Capitol buildings won't be safe to work in or visit until after Election Day. As a matter of policy, he tried to persuade the Senate (Republican) leadership to meet and discuss this threat; they rebuffed this suggestion (from a swing-state Democrat). So, as a matter of conscience, he decided he could not ask his staff to remain at risk in Washington while he spent the recess in Minnesota.
No doubt anticipating the rejoinder that terrorist threats can't be allowed to interfere with government business, Dayton said his office will continue to function from other locations in Washington and Minnesota. And, he said, if his precautions prove unnecessary, he "will accept the inevitable judgments made with perfect hindsight."
It doesn't take perfect foresight to imagine what the principal judgment will be: In staking out this Cassandra's position, Dayton has added considerably to unfortunate aspects of his reputation: loner, loose cannon, flake.
In fairness to Dayton, it must be said that these criticisms are often overbroad; in fairness to his critics, it must be acknowledged that he seems at times to invite them. Tuesday's press conference was one of those times.
It's simply impossible to take Dayton's alarm seriously in the absence of any other lawmaker or security official, so far, coming to a similar conclusion. Take it as political theater, it is farcical -- and counterproductive.
The vulnerability of this nation and its institutions to terrorism is an urgent and vital subject, one that is generating too much sloganeering and too little scrutiny in this election season. If Dayton's purpose was to underscore a legitimate issue of national security -- how much remains to be done to ensure Americans' safety from terrorist attack -- he could have chosen many a better way of making the point.
Indeed, it's difficult to imagine a worse way. Instead of pointing out the emperor's startling nakedness, Dayton has cast himself as the lone little chicken who claims the sky is falling. Source: Star Tribune, October 14, 2004
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