Area 51 watchers, X-Files fans, and Art Bell listeners all across the country got together in what can only be called a mutual orgy of conspiracy theory paranoia, relieved to learn that their suspicions had finally been confirmed. In attendance at the charade were several senior Democrat officials.
Key congressional leaders said yesterday the White House did not tell them that President Bush has moved a cadre of senior civilian managers to secret underground sites outside Washington to ensure that the federal government could survive a devastating terrorist attack on the nation’s capital.
Notwithstanding the fact that most ‘senior’ Congressional leaders could not find their ass with both hands and a flashlight, is this really news? This is what is known as a CONTINGENCY plan- a contingency plan “which was devised during the Cold War of the 1950s so that federal rule could continue if Washington were struck by a catastrophic attack.” Bush et. al would be DERELICT in their dutyif they had not put this plan into effect.
Don’t put it past the Democrats to attempt to use this for cheap political gain. Expect them to breathlessly use the words ‘SHADOW GOVERNMENT’ at every opportunity- God knows what Bush is doing in secret??? And who did you meet with about Energy Policy????
Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) said he had not been informed about the role, location or even the existence of the shadow government that the administration began to deploy the morning of the Sept. 11 hijackings. An aide to House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) said he similarly was unaware of the administration’s move.
Probably because neither one of them can be TRUSTED with that kind of sensitive information. If you tell them, you might as well print the location and diagrams of the secret area in Arabic, complete with weaknesses and flaws in the plan, and then air drop them on the Afghan/Pakistan border, or wherever you think Al Qaeda terrorists might exist. Daschle and Gephardt aides and other ‘undisclosed highly placed copngressional officials’ will be on the phone with Adam Clymer at the NYT so fast it won’t matter.
This is the most amusing paragraph of the entire story:
“There are two other branches of government that are central to the functioning of our democracy,” said Rep. William Delahunt (D-Mass.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee. “I would hope the speaker and the minority leader would at least pose the question, ‘What about us?’ “
Take the hint, buddy. I am willing to bet that the normally hyperventilating Maureen Dowd is going to be worse than usual tomorrow. I hope she finds a way to pin this all on Rip van Rummy, her nemesis.