I said it was a delicate decision because it has so many potential results. Putting the decision to show before some kind of governmental group for approval is not something I'd support under the constitution. I think that ABC realizes the gravity of the potential, not only for influencing the election, but for the security of our country and for ONCE, does not want to jeopardize either. And in the long run, ABC is darn'd if they do and darn'd if they don't.
IIRC, the "Gang of Eight" already has to constitutionally sign off on all major intel decisions as they have oversight powers.
If there is significant violence on Election Day, it is possible adjustments (reschedulings) may have to be done in a way not contemplated under the constitution (voting occurred during the Civil War and the constitution did not foresee the postponement or rescheduling of elections).
9/11 was on a primary election day in NYC and they had to be postponed. But it was a local matter. It is an open question what will happen next week on a national basis, if something happens. Our system delegates most decisions regarding the elections to the states. This creates problems. Florida 2000 was all about how to delegate Florida electors as the constitution explicitly delegates that power to the states. The Supreme Court overturned because the Florida Supreme Court was in effect making up election law as they went. If they had set forth a coherent and legally sound way of counting votes across Florida, the Supreme Court would have had no basis to intervene. (Though months after the election it was determined that Bush would have won either way the votes were "counted".)
Tommy Franks after his retirement all but said CONUS use of WMD will result in some form of martial law. Some bio scenarios require a type of national lockdown.
If would be a good insurance policy to set this precedent for major Homeland Security decisions (if it is being done already - - to expand this practice as a precedent). If Kerry/Edwards is elected, and a nuke goes off early next year, I want them consulting congressional leadership before they declare martial law in all or a portion of the country. The congress has been negligent in addressing these continuity issues. They need to step up to the plate. The constitution did not envision the unrestrained power of the executive.
Every President has to inform the Gang of Eight of major intel decisions in a timely manner. (Speaker of the House, House Minority Leader, Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, and the Chairs and Vice Chairs of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees).
Also important as Speaker is next in line of succession after the VP and President Pro-Tempore of the Senate is fourth. In "continuity of government" issues (which this is), the legislative branch under the constitution needs to be on board from the start or we risk the repeat of Truman being left out in the cold as VP, and when FDR died, he then learned about the bomb and had little time to get his bearings.
If it is Hillary Clinton who takes the oath of office in 2009, and she has to declare states of emergency because of that nukes scenario, you may have different feelings about the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches.
If the fourth plane had made it to DC as planned, it was scheduled deliberately to hit while congress was in session. Most would have been dead (I was on the phone with one of the offices that morning).
If the Congress had been hit and most perished, and the President had survived (Pentagon flight was looking for the White House but was flying into the morning sun and could not locate the target, so they went for the secondary), he would have been faced with no quorum in the House for several months.
The constitution does not allow the President to declare war or spend money or raise armies without congress. He would have had to assume dictatorial powers (at least temporarily). We may never know what else was going on that day. There may have been very good reasons why the President was forced to scramble across the country - - like the threat called in that morning that "Angel is next" (Secret Service codeword for Air Force One)
9/11 was carefully planned as an initial decapitation strike with secondary (anthrax in congress) and tertiary strikes (NYC and DC Oct/Nov 2001 nuclear threats) in the pipeline.
This has been carefully planned.
If ABC doesn't put it out when the terrorists want it released, the internet will be brimming with copies to circumvent their partisan censorship.