Police Seal Kerry Campaign Building

[Mel]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-kerry-headquarters,1,6817392.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

By Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Police sealed off the office building that houses Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign headquarters on Thursday, and personnel in biohazard suits were dispatched to the location.

Kerry aides, who work on floors six through eight, were told they could not enter or leave the building. Access was denied to the eight floor. </snip>

What the hell is going on? I've got a bad feeling and if this has been posted I apologize this is the first I heard of it.

[wryter2000]

1. I hope they sweep for bugs afterward

Shades of Watergate

[htuttle]

4. I would hope they'd have people on staff to do that

If they don't, they should.

[mrbassman03]

45. More like shades of Rove-gate

Sounds much more like the so-called planting of the bug in Karl Rove's office in the 1980s. Although it is much more likely to be an actual bugging, not a dirty trick to smear the opposition. Well, I guess when you are dealing with the GOP, there is no certainty with things like this...

[bushisanidiot]

46. "Rove-Gate" what the hell is that?

and what does that have to do with some right wing idiot playing stupid games with white powder?

[mrbassman03]

47. Better read up...

In 1986, Karl Rove was representing candidate Bill Clements for the gubernatorial election and they were getting KILLED in the polls. The day before a major debate, Karl Rove hired a 'security firm' to search his office for bugs, on the basis that the democratic incumbent Mark White had information that could only have been obtained through a wireless bug in his office. One member of this security firm found a wireless bug unwitnessed in Rove's office. Rove immediately called the police (VERY unorthodox for this type of situation. The more traditional method is to feed the bug false information and watch for that information to come out.)

The media was informed by Rove that a bug was found in his office and a large investigation ensued. Many problems came up in this investigation, including the fact that the battery on the bug had a life of 10 hours and was 80% full when found. Anyway, White found out that he was being investigated for conspiring to plant the bug minutes before the debate started, and was a nervous wreck. With White's image tarnished, Clements and Rove won the election.

Thats what it has to do with finding a bug in a candidate's office...

[bushisanidiot]

48. And how is that like some right wing nut trying to scare people

in Kerry's campaign with white powder?

how is this "shades of rove-gate"?

[mrbassman03]

49. Do your homework before you give me sh!t...

Specifically, I was replying to the comment about "better sweep for bugs..."

[bushisanidiot]

50. I still don't understand what you're getting out with comparing

what happened today to "rove gate". are you saying that you think that if they sweep for bugs they will find one that was planted by the kerry campaign? i'm really confused..

[mrbassman03]

51. The only point of my post...

Someone mentioned that they better sweep for bugs. I brought up the incident to show that it would not be below the GOP to try a similar stunt.

[bushisanidiot]

55. So it's not beneath the GOP to bug Kerry's HQ?

is that what you're saying?

someone said "shades of watergate" and you said no, more like "shades of rove-gate". If the GOP bugged Kerry's HQ, then yeah.. that's pretty much EXACTLY like watergate. so, i'm still confused as to how a possible bug in Kerry's office is like your "rove-gate".. or, are you saying the repukes would bug their own offices again and try to point the finger at the dems? If so, what does that have to do with Kerry's office possibly being bugged?

[Tuttle]

2. Maybe Bush's practice debate tapes?

...now, watch this drive,
Tut-tut

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Haven't heard this before

and I listened to All Things Considered all the way home...must've just happened in the last 45 minutes.

[Mel]

10. your right about the time

I found another story with a little more information
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-kerry-headquarters,0,7739521.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

WASHINGTON -- Police sealed off the office building that houses Sen. John Kerry's headquarters on Thursday following the discovery of a suspicious package inside the 12-story structure.

"There is a suspicious package found on one of the floors of the building. Emergency services, fire, police and hazmat are on site. Please be advised if you leave, you will not be allowed to re-enter until authorities have given the all clear," said an internal office e-mail distributed to campaign aides.


The discovery of the package prompted authorities to order a fleet of emergency vehicles to converge on the location, and personnel in biohazard suits entered the building. </snip>

[Tempest]

5. Suspicious package found

From the cite:

Police sealed off the office building that houses Sen. John Kerry's headquarters on Thursday following the discovery of a suspicious package inside the 12-story structure.

"There is a suspicious package found on one of the floors of the building. Emergency services, fire, police and hazmat are on site. Please be advised if you leave, you will not be allowed to re-enter until authorities have given the all clear," said an internal office e-mail distributed to campaign aides.

The discovery of the package prompted authorities to order a fleet of emergency vehicles to converge on the location, and personnel in biohazard suits entered the building.

[MaineDem]

11. I hope it wasn't the package of campaign materials I'm waiting for

Seriously, I hope this was a false alarm.

[supperDem]

6. What if they find a missing Berger document?

Would that make a stink bomb?

[drscm]

9. Only if it was stuffed in socks. eom

eom

[West Coast Democrat]

17. Ha Ha!

You are so clever!

[supperDem]

19. thanks :-)

I have Friday off and am going swimming!

[West Coast Democrat]

21. What a funny coincidence!!

I was just thinking you ought to go jump in a lake!!

[supperDem]

22. No...I'm just giddy

I have not had Friday off for months and have a new friend going with me! I am positively in a good mood!!!

[West Coast Democrat]

23. Do you play much football?

[supperDem]

24. none.

Chess, golf and obscure 'C' are my better games.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

35. you mean .....what if they PLANT the berger documents?

[Piperay]

54. No, but

someone around here doesn't pass the 'sniff test'.

[arcos]

7. other link, with no registration required

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/ELECTION2004/072204_NW_KERRY.html

[Dover]

8. Sounds pretty suspicious to me.

Would be great to catch the GOP red handed trying to use the ruse to get at internal Dem campaign info.

[tom_paine]

15. The last time that was against the law was 1972

Haven't you noticed, it's LEGAL now, for the Imperials, anyway.

[truthisfreedom]

12. white powder found... another report

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0802_BC_Kerry-Headquarters&&news&election2004

Police seal building housing Kerry campaign

The Associated Press
7/22/04 6:10 PM



WASHINGTON (AP) -- Police sealed off the office building that houses Sen. John Kerry's headquarters on Thursday after a package with white powder was opened by campaign staff.

Kerry, D-Mass., and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., were hundreds of miles away, campaigning their way toward next week's Democratic National Convention.

"An envelope was opened and white powder fell out," said campaign spokeswoman Debra DeShong. "On the recommendation of the Secret Service, we contacted the local police who are here investigating."

[libertad]

62. they are saying it's garlic seasoning now.

[Zorra]

13. Is the eighth floor where Kerry campaign keeps it's computers/records?

Just asking:

The letter at the downtown office building brought out emergency personnel. A spokesman says he doesn't know what made the letter suspicious, adding ``there's lots of these things every week.'' He says he expects the scene to be cleared shortly.

http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=36771

Watergate....campaign records. or

My Bu$h WH sensitized suspicious mind wonders if they are looking for something regarding Sandy Berger. Perhaps Mr. Berger pulled an Ellsberg, and the republicans are desperately searching for some way to cover their asses. Or maybe they are looking for evidence that Sandy Berger was helping the Kerry campaign.

Or, maybe it's nothing.

[truthisfreedom]

14. the notion is ridiculous. Sandy has the same clearance level as Kerry

does. Kerry is on the foreign intel committee. he can see anything Sandy can see.

[Zorra]

25. Well, from what I understand, (but don't know what to believe because I

don't trust the media) Sandy Berger discarded two documents.

The Justice Department is investigating whether Berger committed a crime by removing from the National Archives documents about the government's anti-terror efforts and notes that he took on those documents. Berger was reviewing the materials to help determine which Clinton administration documents to provide to the Sept. 11 commission.

CBS Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts reports Berger returned to the archives all but two of the documents - which he believes he accidentally threw away. An FBI search of his home in January turned up nothing. And late Tuesday, law enforcement sources say they don't expect charges to be filed.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/19/national/main630625.shtml

It would be nice if Sandy pulled an Ellsberg.

"Daniel Ellsberg risked everything to help end the Vietnam War....a real life political thriller" (USA Today review of Ellsberg's book)

Truth is relative and sometimes perhaps unknowable, especially when considering that our media does not always report it. Despite the fact that John Kerry has the same clearance level, there may be other factors involved that we don't know about. I don't believe Sandy Berger would waste his time and reputation deliberately. He either made an honest mistake, or did something of vital importance to the US.

IMO, he certainly did not remove documents from the archives merely to help the Kerry campaign. The Kerry campaign does just fine on it's own.

Maybe the notion is ridiculous, maybe not. Who knows?

I don't know anything.

[Career Prole]

26. Looking for evidence

or planting it?

[Zorra]

27. Ouch. Didn't think of that. My suspicious mind is slipping.

And you can't ever be too suspicious when it comes to republican tactics and policy.

[Career Prole]

32. I hear you. Berger even said he was fuzzy on what he had taken

so they could stick anything in there after chasing out the staff.
All it would take was a biohazard suit to blend in with the crowd.
:scared:

[FlaGranny]

61. Yesterday,

Randi Rhodes said that Berger was taking notes from his OWN reports and that he removed 3 pages of notes - not the original reports. He said he took the notes in order to refresh his memory for his testimony. When he became aware (not sure how) that he shouldn't have removed the notes, he returned 2 of the 3 sheets, but could not find the 3rd one.

[tom_paine]

16. Well, unlike the Phony Ricin Scare that was the excuse to clean out Dem.

Senate Judiciary Theft Evidence (notice how the story died IMMEDIATELY after the Phony Ricin Scare...almost as if the evidence was suddenly...gone), this one seems to have been caused by an actual envelope of powder, which lends credence to the fact that it was a real scare, even if hopefully the powder isn;t anthrax.

On the other hand, could the Busheviks have sent the letter withtheir boys all ready with their Federal Waste Management IDs nice and neat, going in with their hand faxes to do a Watergate times 5.

Or just taken advantage of the situation and sent some of their Private Spook Army down there (with proper IDs of course, one advantage for criminals who seize the governments of Previously Free Nations is that all their Fake IDs are REAL, made on government machinery) on short notice to do the same.

Possible. Hell yes! Given that, unlike the Phonmy Ricin Scare (bye-bye Stolen Judiciary Documents Investigation), this one had an actual cause, maybe that isn;t so.

But who the hell can tell in a Totalitarian Nation like Imperial Amerika?

of course they could do it if they wanted to. Who would stop them? Who would say ANYTHING?

[Alpharetta]

18. they better set up a safe zone for receiving mail

just like Congress and the White House has.

[Hoping4Change]

59. I'm actually amazed that they don't have a safe zone for

opening mail. Given that Dmocrats were the target of the Anthrax mail why wouldn't extreme caution been in place especially when so much mail is received by the headquarters.

[Dickie Flatt]

20. Working hard despite the scare...

"Several people held up a "Firefighters for Kerry" sign in a sixth-floor window, smiled and waved to people on the street. Three firetrucks were at the scene."

[David Zephyr]

28. My Thread on July 19th (Three Days Ago) Asked About This.

I can't believe that there is no outrage over this!

Listen, Watergate was first and foremost the breaking into of the Democratic Party's National Offices by the Nixon Administration in the summer before the 1972 election.

Where is the protection that our candidate should be receiving?

Is there an update anywhere on this?

I guess I am just too old and jaded, but I just wish that there was someway that Kerry could also have his own private security there on top of the rest, too.

If this is a joke, it is really a sick joke and I hope whoever did this goes to jail for a very, very long time.

Worried.

-------------------------------------
Here's my thoughts and worries just three days ago:


Will Ashcroft Protect Our Dems in Boston Any Better Than the Dems in DC?

When John Ashcroft was itching to ramrod his "Patriot Act" through the United States Congress in the Fall of 2001, were you a little concerned that it was ONLY the leaders of the Democrats within the Senate who were the targets of the Anthrax attack?

Are you still as concerned as I am that there has been no significant activity or noteworthy effort on part of Ashcroft's Justice Department to track down the political assassin who launched America's first bio-weapon within our nation?

With Tom Ridge and John Ashcroft now making their nebulous "warnings" about terror attacks again at our convention sites, am I the only one that feels uneasy about this fox watching our hen house in Boston?

Is this something too dicey to discuss? I hope not.

Give me reasons why I should not be somewhat worried?







http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2023452

[truthisfreedom]

29. SLUDGE: ALL CLEAR

ALL CLEAR: Suspicious Package Prompted Sealing Of Kerry Campaign HQ in DC Ends Up Being Nothing... Streets around the building were closed to traffic, and firetrucks were parked outside... personnel in biohazard suits had entered the building...

[RummyTheDummy]

30. Now they need to sweep for bugs

This thing has all the elements of a Rove caper.

[bobbieinok]

31. remember anthrax scare closed offices for days,

made computers unavaialble, disrupted communication within the building and with constituents

better at disrupting work and communication that power failure

'we're working to protect even those evil democrats from terrorism....and they just sit around and complain....'

[TankLV]

43. & then we found out that the repukes had managed to gain acces to ALL

Democratic emails and computer files, which they stole and kept for THEMSELVES.

But this was just another cooincidence, right?

KERRY BETTER SWEEP FOR BUGS AT ONCE!

I would not be surprised to find out a few months hence that some bugs were discovered, or the repukes had copies of the Kerry Campaign book.

Sigh.

[LuminousX]

33. The intimidation begins

[daleo]

34. A little reminder from the BFEE

My first thought too.

[merh]

44. But gosh, aren't we safer now? Hasn't our prez taken steps to protect

us from terra?

This could very easily back fire on * & Co., a terrorist attack against his opponent. What he didn't protect him and oh my gosh, the terrorists do hate Kerry!

Could back fire, yes sir, it sure could!

[mzmolly]

36. Funny how the "mysterious white powder" is only sent to Democrats aint it?

:(

[DaveSZ]

37. I'll bet you Bushco was behind this

They are that evil.

[mzmolly]

38. Yes they are!

*sigh*

[Ganja Ninja]

56. Just like last time.

This is becoming almost a given. Bush's opponents always seem to get the powder.

[GarySeven]

39. People in D.C. -- Go to Kerry HQ and RAISE HELL

It is perfectly obvious that the Bush campaign is trying either to plant something suspicious there -- microphones, evidence of a connection to Al Queda -- or to STEAL valuable campaign information, donor lists, etc.

THIS IS A NAKED PLOT TO OVERTHROW THE ELECTION AND STEAL THE WHITE HOUSE AGAIN

Everyone in D.C., please, for the sake of the Republic, go out to the Kerry HQ RIGHT NOW. STORM the place if you have to, like the Thugs in Florida who stopped the recount. MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD so that the 2004 election is not stolen and Bush is able to declare himself dictator for life.

I am getting a plane ticket right now. It's time for WAR!!!!

[JDPriestly]

40. Let's hope we don't have to start spending the night

in the HQ just to keep the Republicans out. Just joking -- but seriously I wouldn't put anything past the Bush crew this year. I think they are really scared this year.

By the way, who was the chairman of the Republican Committee for the Nixon campaign at the time of the Watergate break-ins?

[GarySeven]

41. John Mitchell

was chairman of the appropriately named CREEP (Committee to Re-elect the President.)

[glitch]

42. They need to receive mail in an entirely different location from

campaign headquarters. Standard operating procedure, just like the White House.

[The Doctor.]

52. Democrats should play the same games...

They're just not as organized at corruption, underhandedness, and downright treachery as the Repub's are. If the Democrates can't play as dirty - we are going to lose this country to the New Nazis under the dictatorshiip of the Karlyle group.

-Just glad I'm not a key Democratic figure in an airplane before an election... (Brown, JFK Jr., Wellstone, Carnahan... this is getting ridiculous! - I'm SURE it's a coincidence...)

[LiveWire]

53. So then...

Why exactly would I want the Dems to get just as dirty at the Repubs? It would be like trading Hitler for Stalin. Or at least Hitler or a slightly bit nicer Hitler under the dictatorship of the Heintz Corporation.

What this country is lacking is a leader with balls. It needs someone to stand up and say, "Hey, this is f@#Ked up, and here are the reasons why." But instead we get a talking Mr. Potato Head and a Frankenstein impersonater. Dont get me wrong, Im voting for Kerry, but hes the lesser of two evils (or at least the smarter of the two). Just forgive me for my bitter sarcasm at this whole thing we call politics.

[The Doctor.]

60. What's the price of vision?

I am in complete agreement. I pray that instant run-off voting hits soon. It seems to be the only way we will be able to empower other parties and shake things up a bit. But for the moment we seem to have a truly Evil presence in place at the top... not Bush per say; he's no mastermind, but the powers that put him there have quite a grip right now. Although I am a Republican in beliefs - I've found the party has been hijacked by ultra-right and very selfish forces with NO vision for the future whatsoever. I am terrified that very few of the 'Republicans' I speak with have a grasp of real facts or the capacity to view events of the last 20 years with any real perspective. This is one of the few sites I have found where people see the REALLY scary stuff that's going down.
The people in power are no longer a party of the United States- their purpose is power-mongering, war-mongering, and fear-mongering. The people that call themselves republicans are merely brainwashed automatons- most of whom don't even know the Republican Platform or anything about why the party was founded. I love pressing them on it because I hate hypocrites. If you want to have a good time- study up on the party and test a 'lock-step' "Republican" on their own party- then watch the gears seize up.

We gotta break this "go along at any cost" mindset.

[0007]

57. Couldn't have said it better!

Welcome home -

[Bernardo de La Paz]

63. No. An Eye for an Eye Leaves Everybody Blind

No, the Democrats should not stoop to the gutter of dirty tricks and worse, such as we have seen too many times from Republicans.

Martin Luther King Jr. said that the problem with "an eye for an eye" retributive "justice" is that it ends up leaving everybody blind.

The nugget in your post is the notion that the Democrats must fight very hard against a ruthless foe. Part of this is to monitor and expose dirty tricks fully, including manipulative legislation (think Patriot Act), manipulated "intelligence", manipulated citizen's rights (think "enemy combatant status"), and manipulated media. There is actually a principled right wing which has surprising amounts in common with Kerry and the Democrats in these days of Bush.

Regarding media, the Dems need to get wise to the way the gOp frame the debate by choice of language, guided by right wing think tanks. It is good to see Kerry fighting back with some forthright talk on real "values".

When you list the deaths by aircraft of Brown, JFK Jr, Wellstone, Carnahan, ..., it makes me wonder if a similar list has happened in recent history to Republicans. I'm doubtful.

[maxrandb]

58. See! He can't even protect himself. How can he be trusted

to protect the United States?

Sorry, just channeling what I'm sure the Rush and Hannity spin will be.

Great to see we are so much safer.