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October 13, 2004

Dayton Little

MN "Senator" Mark Dayton shut down his Washington office yesterday.

Other NARN blogs (Captain Ed, Fraters and the Powerguys) hit this one yesterday.

According to a Senate staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity, the briefing included a report of possible terrorist surveillance around the Capitol.

A separate government official said Dayton and other senators were shown a CIA document that projected a worst-case scenario of a terrorist attack based on an uncorroborated piece of intelligence that did not contain any specifics. The official said CIA analysts projected a doomsday scenario in which synchronized attacks would be attempted in multiple cities.

But, despite concerns that Al-Qaida might try to disrupt the U.S. elections with an attack, the official also said that a different CIA analysis concluded that Al-Qaida has been so damaged by arrests that it currently lacks the ability to carry out a spectacular attack.

Dayton, who flew back to Minnesota late Tuesday, said: "I cannot leave Washington for the relative safety of Minnesota and leave the people I employ exposed to the risks [of] which I have been made aware."

Not to make political hay out of the real fear of terror - but I think Mark Kennedy's job just got a lot easier.
Dayton said it would be illegal for him to disclose specifics of the threat.
Ah. So he got it from one of Kerry's foreign leaders, then...

Posted by Mitch at October 13, 2004 07:39 AM | TrackBack
Comments

"None of us can predict the future," Mark Dayton says. "I hope the precautions I've taken prove unnecessary."

Seems like the Senator takes the same approach to terrorisim that he does to legislation -- he can't predict the future, but that doesn't stop him from proposing unnecessary legislation.

Market Dayton -- Free Market Champion?
http://craigwestover.blogspot.com/2004/10/mark-dayton-free-market-champion.html

Posted by: Craig Westover at October 13, 2004 07:58 AM

I haven't commented on this yet because I still don't know quite what to make of it. It seems like Dayton is panicking a bit--although if the capitol gets bombed next week, he'll look like a genius. I don't know what his deal is.

However, I do object to you putting "senator" in quotes. Mark Dayton is not my favorite senator, and as I've noted before, I didn't vote for him--I proudly cast my ballot for Dancin' Jim. But he was duly elected by the state of Minnesota, and whatever you think of the quality of his service, putting his title in quotes is wrong.

I've been guilty of putting "president" in quotes too, but I stopped that several months ago. I realized that it's demeaning, not just to the current occupant of the Oval Office, but to the office itself. The attack on Dayton does the same thing to the Senate. Please stop.

Posted by: Jeff Fecke at October 13, 2004 02:57 PM

No, it doesn't do the same thing to the Senate. It does it to Dayton, who is the most grossly-unqualified man to ever hold the office.

However, I'll take your point. Dayton's dubious grip on sanity is not the fault of the Senate, so I'll stop putting "Senator" in quotes. Except for that one in the previous sentence. It's the fault of the "intelligent, well-informed, responsible voters" who put him in office.

A mistake I'm dedicating the next two years to fixing.

Posted by: mitch at October 13, 2004 04:51 PM
hi