Daschle in the Shadow of Government

CNSNews.com ^ | March 05, 2002 | Linda Chavez

[Stand Watch Listen]

You've got to give it to Tom Daschle. The Senate Democratic Majority Leader has impeccable timing. Impeccably bad, that is. He chose last week to come out swinging at President Bush's conduct of the war, just as our soldiers were about to go back into combat in Afghanistan, sustaining some of the heaviest casualties of the war so far.

"I think the time has come for us to be asking a lot more questions," Daschle said on "Meet the Press" Sunday. "That is the role of Congress. We're a co-equal branch of government, and I don't think we ought to rubber stamp any president as we get into these very difficult decisions."

While Congress certainly has a role to play in declaring war under our Constitution, the president is still the sole Commander-in-Chief, and, so far, this president seems to have done a darn good job exercising that role. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the Democrats tried their best to put on a show of bi-partisanship.

But it seems to have broken down recently -- not because the war has gone badly, but because it's gone so well that the president and his party are enjoying almost unprecedented support from the American people. That's what's got Daschle and the Democrats so worried. But they've picked a particularly awful time to begin playing politics for partisan advantage.

The fighting in Eastern Afghanistan could be the toughest our troops have faced, especially since American ground combat forces are now directly involved. The first American plane was shot down this week in the 5-month-old war, and the re-grouped al Qaeda forces appear to be heavily armed and willing to fight to the death, now that their escape routes out of the country are being shut down.

Daschle's comments ostensibly were provoked because Democrats don't believe that the president has consulted enough on the overall strategy of the war, including deciding to which additional countries the United States will deploy troops. The United States has already sent soldiers to the Philippines to fight Moslem fundamentalists affiliated with al Qaeda there, and may send others to Yemen and the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.

"We're not safe until we have broken the back of al Qaeda, and we haven't done that yet," Daschle complained. But as the president has made clear time and again -- and the American people seem to understand -- al Qaeda isn't a neat and discrete army that we can locate in one place and eliminate. Its branches stem throughout the world, on virtually every continent, and certainly al Qaeda-trained forces are in Yemen and are fighting alongside the Chechens in the former Soviet republics.

Daschle also criticized the administration for deploying high-level government officials to secret locations outside Washington in case the unthinkable happened and the national government were destroyed in some cataclysmic terrorist attack. The Democrats' carping on this issue is outrageous. And the media's characterization of the plan as a "shadow government" is even worse. It's nothing of the sort.

At least since the Cold War, the federal government has had plans to remove officials to secure locations in case of nuclear attack. It is not just sensible, but downright imperative, that we protect our government from total collapse in the event of a direct hit on Washington.

Given our experience on Sept. 11, when coordinated attacks in two cities destroyed the World Trade Center and severely damaged the Pentagon, can anyone guarantee that our enemies won't be able to do something even more horrendous in the future? I, for one, sleep better at night knowing that the president has made sure that such an attack cannot destroy the federal government's ability to function.

We are dealing with an enemy as ruthless and bloodthirsty as any we've ever faced. They will stop at nothing to destroy us. Thankfully we have a president in George W. Bush who has vowed to fight this enemy everywhere he can find them and to keep fighting until they are defeated.

The Democrats won't help themselves -- much less the nation -- by making the president's conduct of the war the issue. Nothing has changed in the last six months, except the Democrats' resolve to put the good of the nation before partisan politics.

[Jen]

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[Jen]

CORRECT LINK:

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[The_Victor]

Tiny Tom....

Physical stature exceeded by his mental prowess.

Small body, smaller mind.

[ffusco]

hey good one, hear the one about steven hawking's wheelchair?

[pt17]

Our boys are getting killed over there to protect us and that SOB Daschle is trying to disunite the country for his own political gain. Some might say, "Thanks a lot, South Dakota, for electing this pondscum sucking slimeball," but I won't this time. Next election's another matter.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Did Daschole think Dick Cheney is all by himself doing nothing in his "undisclosed location"? The complaint by the limp-wristed left about the "shadow government" is as shallow as their morals.

[The_Victor]

Hmmmm, I wonder if tiny Tom has ever read A Brief History of Time, or The Universe in a Nutshell? Probably not... his lips would be worn out just perusing the intro.

[meandog]

[mulligan]

If the Senator would just go away he would not even be a shadow. It is hard to believe he ever got elected. Maybe SD has a lot of registered shadows.

[ravingnutter]

Geez...Daschle should watch CNN more often...

Officials in Washington said a "Continuation of Government" plan was activated. The activation involves a fortified facility at Mount Weather, Virginia. There was no word whether any of the U.S. leadership or ranking military officers were taken to the facility.

CNN

And maybe if he would get his head out of his arse, he could seen where he was Sept. 11th...

Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, Republican leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, Sen. Don Nickles, R-Oklahoma, House Democratic leader Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Missouri, and House Speaker Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, were taken by helicopter to an undisclosed location.

Source

Also verified here by an eyewitness.

[KC_Conspirator]

I know how the democrats could do better politically. They have attacked and smeared and nothing has worked. I know a way they could win politically. All they have to do is come up with some new ideas on how to win the war and how to shore up home security. But its not in their nature anymore to do such things. Since 1968 they have abandoned all tough stance on foreign policy as the old Trumans and JFK's used to do. They are still snakes and will act liek snakes.

[TomGuy]

Apparently, it was a secret only to Dashchle. The media madness this weekend only shows up their and Dashchle's ignorance; information about Continuity/Secret/Shadow pre-dates this weekend's blitz:

National Domestic Preparedness Office. The clearinghouse for state, local and federal weapons of mass destruction information and assistance.

FEDERAL PREPAREDNESS CIRCULAR
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Washington, D.C. 20472
FPC 65 FEDERAL EXECUTIVE BRANCH CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS (COOP)

Presidential Decisions Directives

PDD-NSC-67
Enduring Constitutional Government and Continuity of Government Operations (U)
21 October 1998

Rand
Preparing the U.S. Army for Homeland Security: Concespts, Issues, and Options. (Published 2001)

Cold War Leftovers: Continuity of Government. Started in 1998, this project is dedicated to recording the engineering and technological artifacts left behind by one of the most significant periods in American history.

FEMA-The Secret Government. (Copyright 1995).