NRC says Dean violated federal law

[BeyondGeography]

<The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says former Governor Howard Dean and other Vermont officials violated federal law by releasing secret protection plans for its nuclear power plant in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

<The NRC's charge had Vermont officials scrambling to impound top-secret nuclear documents the Democratic front-runner wrongly made public.

<Some of the documents regarding the Vermont Yankee nuke plant include the so-called "safeguards information," which is to be released under "need to know" requirements and "not publicly releasable," said NRC spokesman Scott Burnell.

http://news.bostonherald.com/national/national.bg?articleid=409

[OrAnarch]

1. Public! I want them all Public!!!!

WAAAAAH WAAAAH


There are consequences, wether its saftey, or the right of privacy, which follows publicizing everything. Disgression most obviously has to be taken, despite the whines of his opponents.


Did Dean personal seal or unseal them, or was this handled by his attorney general as is normal?

[goforit]

11. Check out the violations in Texas when Bush was Gov.!!!

Oh all his documents are hidden, I forgot.

Boy oh boy......Bush is desparate or what!!!!

[cthrumatrix]

2. the law can only be abused by shrub...we all know that

[papau]

3. So not secret - just "need to know" rules - god - the public does not need

to know

Heck we will stop terror with our mystery plan!

Indeed the tests of plant security at the 103 plants that every plant fails would have those plants failing "worse" if the intruders knew the not secret but need to know security plan!

As always, not a damn bit of context in our right wing GOP controlled media.

"They have been made aware that these documents aren't supposed to be publicly available," said Burnell. "They have assured us that steps are being taken to remove the documents from public availability." - where does the right wing Boston Herald get "secret" out of this quote!

and the Vermont Vermont Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz, a Democrat, said her office is equally to blame for the gaffe."Because of the very quick and intense interest in Gov. Dean's records, we simply missed this batch," Markowitz said. "It was ultimately a result of the pressure our office had, we weren't ready for it."Markowitz said governors are supposed to exclude data not subject to public records laws. But, she said, her office is the last check. ``We're the custodian of the record. The buck stops here,'' she said. <snip>

[OrAnarch]

6. ahhh....

I didn't see that. Perhaps releasing documents of this kind is benificial, as it actually forces the plants to address the problems. :) Too bad same can't be said about 9/11 documents.

[underpants]

4. So Dena is damned if he does release them and damned if he doesn't

Okay so a mistake was made but that doesn't mean that he personally was responsible. This is crap and I'm not an all out Dean supporter.

[Hobarticus]

8. Agreed.

The Secretary of State even said, "the buck stops here", meaning her office.

[KittyWampus]

39. You May Have Missed Where It Says VISIBLE WARNINGS-Papers Were Marked

"Burnell said visible warnings on the records weren't heeded by Dean's office, the Vermont secretary of state and the state archivist - making civil or criminal charges a possibility."

[GalleryGod]

41. Dean's Conduct was "Murky"-Look at TIME this Week

We "set him up " (the Kool Kidz) now they're stuck with him...time to tear him down!:wtf:

:crazy: Who's his Running mate?
DON'T hand me Clark,either..the General's on his way to
the '08 Express.

Nor Kerry...
Nor Gephardt
Nor Dennis K


Does he CARRY VERMONT?

UPstate maybe (College towns)...


"But Sir!? This sure SMELLS like 1972 all over again,Professor!? Will the DUMB-o-crats be bewitched once more":tinfoilhat:

[deminflorida]

5. If he wasn't running for President...they probably wouldn't....

bring charges, but now that Ashcroft has this little weapon at his disposal...You can bet on it...in the General Election...they'll go after him, big time.

Of course they wouldn't think of looking into the White House CIA leak affair....

"The documents are included in files Dean made public - even as he opposes the release of other records on the grounds that they may include similar security or personal information.

``They have been made aware that these documents aren't supposed to be publicly available,'' said Burnell. ``They have assured us that steps are being taken to remove the documents from public availability.''

Burnell said visible warnings on the records weren't heeded by Dean's office, the Vermont secretary of state and the state archivist - making civil or criminal charges a possibility.

``If warranted, there is going to be an investigation,'' Burnell said."

[0007]

13. The media whores will be crawling out of the woodwork now, huh?

[Ramsey]

21. That would backfire

If Bush went after Dean on this, it would look petty and corrupt. It would drive people to Dean!!

[Capablanca]

23. My thought exactly

This is the kind of crap that really pisses me off.

[aquart]

7. So? They gonna prosecute?

What is the point of this article about a 3 year old error in the wake of 9/11? Is it on a par with dragging us into two wars neither of which have made us safer?

Is the point of the article to highlight the secrecy of other Dean records? Yet no reason is given for either the secrecy or the revelations.

I just hate a crappy hack job, don't you? Come on, fellas, a little skill here, a little style. Show some class.

Wait a minute. Is the NRC saying it took them THREE YEARS to notice that the security of a nuclear plant was at risk? THREE YEARS?????? Well thank God that Dean is running for president or they would never have noticed, would they?

[deminflorida]

10. Ashcroft is going to wait until the General Election....

Then he'll prosecute....

[Jim Sagle]

28. Prosecute, hell. W will declare him an enemy combatant

and put him in Gitmo.

[Rose Siding]

15. It looks like these were part of the 60% of his records

that were released to the hungry media/oppo. *If* this article is accurate (and tells the whole story), I don't see how he'll avoid some kind of hit. He can't let the sec of state take the fall.

They are gunning for him now. Yeah, HE'S the one Rove wants :eyes:

[joefree1]

9. Is this the best you can do?

>>Dean's campaign said Saturday it ultimately was the NRC's responsibility to ensure security at the plant, but that he badgered Vermont Yankee's operators and the NRC to make improvements during the 1990s. It noted the NRC's safety budget was cut in the 1990s.
"After September 11, Governor Dean decided the buck stops here in terms of security and personally ran this effort, creating a Cabinet-level agency," spokesman Jay Carson said.
Carson acknowledged there were weaknesses before 2002 in Vermont's nuclear preparedness, and Dean moved quickly afterward to place state troopers and National Guardsman at the plant, distribute radiation pills to civilians, demand a federal no-fly zone over the plant to prevent an aerial attack, and increase emergency preparedness funding.
"As many have said before, hindsight is 20-20 and no one could have predicted what could have happened on a terrible day in September 2001," Carson said.<<

http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040104_1048.html

Keep trying.

Images from Dean Rocks the House of Blues, Hollywood
From wtmusic http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=919849
From Joefree1 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=921300

[goforit]

12. Take it to court!!!

Dean will be vindicated!!!

[joefree1]

19. LOL, it is in court

And has the Dean campaign has had to repeat ad nauseum they let the impartial judge decide what the public can see and what should left sealed.
:boring:

[BeyondGeography]

14. Yeah, right, "hindsight is 20/20"

As in, nobody's to blame for 9/11. Another Dean campaign verbal flub.

Keep trying.

[joefree1]

18. You blame Dean for 9/11?

Or are you trying to connect Dean to a Blame Bush for 9/11 in some sort of parallel universe? :shrug:

[BeyondGeography]

22. It's like this, Joe

The Dean campaign, when defending the lowest-in-the-country safety rating of Vermont Yankee, NEEDLESSLY said that the events of 9/11 were unpredictable and all hindsight is 20/20.

The quote was needless because the federal government, not the state of Vermont, is responsible for plant security. But, as Carville put it, Howard Dean and his campaign doesn't understand the glory of the unexplained thought.

In effect, with one statement, they lose all ability to criticize the Bush Administration's failure to adopt an anti-terrorist policy until 9/10/01, even though the Clinton Administration (you know, those Bush Lite people) told Condoleeza Rice the week after Bush was inaugurated that OBL and al Qaeda was the number one threat facing the country. And then there were all the unheeded warnings at the FBI, the CIA, etc.

So there is a critique to be made, but not by Dean, who says 9/11 was unpredictable and all hindsight related to the matter is 20/20.

[joefree1]

24. you're twisting the quote

Here's the exact qoute:
"As many have said before, hindsight is 20-20 and no one could have predicted what could have happened on a terrible day in September 2001," Carson said."

I don't even think Bush knew what exactly was going to happen on 9/11. That doesn't absolve him from not being prepared for 9/11.

[BeyondGeography]

26. "No one could have predicted what happened"

is not absolution? Oh, ok.

[CWebster]

16. the NYtimes has a front page article today

about how one of Dean's aids had a conflict of interest with some HMO he was a lobbies for. They are going to really start searching under every stone,leaf and twig.

[w4rma]

17. It seems you have to go to the foreign press to find info like that on W.

Or if it is in the NY Times it's on page A17. And if it's from Newsweek it's a "Web Excusive", meaning that it's not published in the magazine. :puke:

[joefree1]

20. Part of being the front runner

Dean will get through it just like Clinton did. The Bushies will be worse then his Democratic rivals (hard to believe).

Ominous Polls:
A look at the Gallup polls over the past few moths show why Democrats are becoming increasingly nervous about putting Clinton at the head of their ticket.
In a head-to-head match up on March 20, Bush led by only 52-43 percent and Clinton was indeed within striking range. But as the weekly disclosures took their toll during the ensuing primaries, Clinton's margin fell to 54-38 percent on March 29 and then fell further to 54-34 by the beginning of April.
Edit ...
"The negatives are forming on Bill Clinton like a political stalactite, drop by drop," said veteran Democratic consultant David Sawyer. "Each drip leaves a residue that builds on his negative image."
Edit ...
Quayle campaign committee, "We're following the Napoleonic maxim: Never interfere with the enemy when they are in the process of destroying themselves."
http://www.worldandi.com/public/1992/june/cr6.cfm

"If you have no enemies, it is a sign fortune has forgot you."
- Thomas Fuller (1608 - 1661)

[yellowcanine]

25. Good use of history to quiet the nervous Nellies

The point is that if Bush is not beatable then it doesn't matter whether the nominee is Dean or someone else. However, if we conclude that Bush is beatable, then the question is, which candidate can best beat him? Certainly the candidate that is generating the most excitement among Democrats is Dean. If the base is excited, the excitement will spread to the "swing" voters. Right now the guy has got to be Dean. Perhaps Clark can excite a lot of Democrats but it has to happen soon and I don't see it. Problem is, Clark's Democratic credentials are not that great and that makes him a hard sell to the yellow dog Dems. They will vote for him if he gets the nomination but will they pound the pavement for him? I doubt it.

[J B]

27. So the Dean candidacy dies here.

I'm sick to my stomach. A federal candidate being put into Leavenworth for mishandling... intelligence.

That's it. I'm done with politics. There's not even a pretense of honesty anymore.

hear that? I'm done.

[davidinalameda]

29. let them indict him then

or shut the hell up

can we say political hatch jobs that make the Nixon White House look positively ethical

[Guaranteed]

30. So Dean releases some records, and then gets blamed

for releasing sensitive information. Which is what he's been saying all along.

FUCK THAT BULLSHIT.

[bushisanidiot]

31. ROFL! More Repuke Desperation Rears It's Ugly Head.

HAHAHAHAHA!!


twist and spin, mr. rove. but, we've got your number.

The tidal wave is coming, this November. ARE YOU READY?

[progressivebydesign]

38. Rove?

It's the democratic challengers who are digging this shit up. that way Bush doesn't have to spend a dime. The independent party is looking damn good right now.

[Moderator]

32. Hi BeyondGeography

When posting in LBN, please use the article's title for the title of your post.

"Nuke flap dogs Dean"

Thanks.

[Cocoa]

33. Moderator says BeyondGeography violated DU law

:-)

[BeyondGeography]

35. Accepted

eom

[yellowcanine]

34. This happened over 2 years ago and now the NRC complains?

Nothing political about this timing, no. Sounds as if an administrative rule was violated at best. Not the sort of thing the NRC usually makes a big deal about - and wasn't it all done in good faith to reassure the public about the safety of the plant? I wouldn't be surprised if the NRC encouraged states to release this sort of information in a general way - maybe Vermont misinterpreted an NRC directive? Did other states also release this kind of info and if so, is the NRC complaining about it?

[worldgonekrazy]

36. Well lets send him off to Gitmo

This is absolute fucking bullshit. This happened two years ago and just now the NRC is complaining about it? This whole thing smacks of malicious political planning.

[progressivebydesign]

37. Why do only Clark supporters post these things?

Wow. How much are you paid? You're only pissing people off, and guaranteeing no one will convert to Clark.

[stickdog]

40. What the hell did Dean do wrong here?

Spell it out. What did Dean do wrong?

Dean didn't release these papers. Dean isn't even in elective office right now. What the fuck does Dean have to do with this?

[bitchkitty]

42. 5:23 a.m. in Portland

and this is the first of no doubt many moronic posts trying to slander Dean.

It's not working. Good morning!

[MostlyBlackCat2]

44. i'm with you bk

it's getting tedious isn't it? makes you wonder how the hell we c an beat bush when all around the camps are lobbing stones at each other for all the world to see. You'd think that the takeover of america that we're seeing now, that was started by the rnc and the christian coalition in the 80s, would have taught us something about getting all on the same page. But no - the mudslinging and hairsplitting and slandering has begun, and it's coming from our own team. Seems to me that by the time anyone gets the Dem nomination, their own people will have made him look so bad that he won't have a chance of beating chimpy & cheney.

[Danieljay]

45. are you snowed in?

Its cold and icy here in Portland. I haven't been out since monday afternoon. Its a winter wonderland.

Daniel

[bitchkitty]

43. 5:23 a.m. in Portland

and this is the first of no doubt many moronic posts trying to slander Dean.

It's not working. Good morning!