Mark Dayton: An extreme but necessary precaution

This is from an editorial Mark Dayton wrote for the Minneapolis Star Tribune explaining why he closed his office:


http://www.startribune.com/stories/562/5034996.html

The Senate has adjourned until after the upcoming election, and most senators, including myself, have left Washington. I have temporarily closed my Capitol Hill Senate office to protect the lives of my staff and Minnesotans who would visit that office.

I acted, based upon a top-secret Intelligence Report, dated Sept. 15, 2004, from the Counterterrorism Center in the Directorate of Central Intelligence. One officer of the Senate described the report as "the most declarative statement" from the national intelligence community that he had seen during his 30 years in intelligence and law enforcement….

My concern was not about my own safety. I accept whatever risks come with the job I was elected to do. Whenever the Senate has been in session, I have been in Washington and my office has been open. When the Senate returns to session after the election, I will be back at the Capitol.

For now, however, the Senate itself is closed. I considered it irresponsible and immoral for me to return to the relative safety of Minnesota and leave my Washington staff exposed to unacceptable risks, of which I was aware and they were not.

Some have said, from their own safety far away from Washington, that my action sends the wrong "message." My staff are not "messages." They are real people, named Jack, Chris, Laura, Demian and Delta. Most of them are young, and many are the sons, daughters, and grandchildren of Minnesotans. Their lives are precious, and they are my responsibility.

Leaders lead by their examples, and they lead from the front lines during times of danger, not from the rear. If senators had wanted to send a message to the nation or the world, the Senate should have remained open through the election. There is plenty of unfinished work, which is scheduled for completion in a postelection session. Instead, at the decision of the majority leader, the Senate closed the earliest in my four years there, and members left town, leaving their staffs behind….

Temporarily moving my office off Capitol Hill, while the Senate is not in session, is an extreme, but necessary, precaution to protect the lives of my staff and other Minnesotans. I hope and pray that my action proves to be unnecessary. However, the heightened risk surrounding the Capitol until the election is real, and it cannot be wished away. I could not face myself or the people for whom I am responsible, if I had not stood up to it.

Also, there was a letter to the editor written by someone who knows Mark. I had forgotton that about 25 years ago a bomb did go off at one of the Dayton's department stores.


I have known Mark Dayton for 26 years. In 1980, we attended a retreat in Mankato for an organization within the DFL. The board members were asked to talk about what motivated us to political action...

Dayton said that event (the bombing) had shaped his life too. He had discussed it at length with his father and worried about how someone could hate his family business to such an extent. The Daytons had no idea that a disgruntled former employee would put a bomb in a ladies restroom.

I can understand how Mark Dayton would read a national security report that offered a worst-case scenario and decide to err on the side of caution. It speaks to the kind of employer he is that he would risk this ridicule to make sure his staff is safe.

Did you catch mid-morning on MPR on Friday? Gary interviewed him for the 1st hour. Some good calls, Mark sounding very certain, very correct and determined.

When I first heard the announcement this past week, it sounded as though he had received a threat. Now, it sounds as though it is a general threat or a threat to legislators buildings? Now, the references to the bomb at a Dayton store kind of brings it back to a threat to him. ?????

This is truly scary, if valid.

"I acted, based upon a top-secret Intelligence Report, dated Sept. 15, 2004, from the Counterterrorism Center in the Directorate of Central Intelligence. One officer of the Senate described the report as "the most declarative statement" from the national intelligence community that he had seen during his 30 years in intelligence and law enforcement…."

This coupled with more information about how Bush is intolerant of dissent keeps us depressed and angry at our leaders because possible all of it is quite concocted with Ashcroft and Bush acting together.