[Peace-discuss] Scary site! Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign headquarters!

[ndahlhei at uiuc.edu]

Dear Peace List subscribers and AWARE members,
    Nick Dahlheim here.  It has been a good deal of time 
since I last posted a message on your list as I have been 
out of the country.  I have enjoyed many of the postings 
during the last 2-3 weeks since I have been back in the 
United States.  The political scene appears frightening as 
both Bush and Kerry seem hell-bent on convincing the 
American people each of them can fight a better War on 
Terror (or rather a war of empire-building and imperialism 
before the coming oil energy crunch).  I have an article 
here by Wayne Madsen describing Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign 
headquarters.  They are truly a frightening bunch, and we 
must make sure any October Surprise these people might try 
or repeat of the election fraud of 2000 doesn't totally 
undermine what little electoral democracy is left in America.

Here's the article: 

The web address is 
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/072704_bush_headqua
rters.shtml

Bush-Cheney Campaign Headquarters: 
What They Don't Want You To Know

by
Wayne Madsen

JULY 27, 2004: 1000 PDT (FTW) -- Amid a towering cluster of 
office buildings in northern Virginia stands a 10-story red 
brick and glass edifice. One of many new office buildings 
rising along Arlington County's growing Rosslyn-Ballston 
business corridor, the structure nestled at the end of a cul-
de-sac at 2107 Wilson Boulevard has a special mission this 
year: to ensure that the Bush-Cheney administration is 
guaranteed another term in office.

One of three buildings in the Colonial Place office complex, 
Bush-Cheney headquarters has some special features that its 
two neighboring buildings lack: 360 degree pan and zoom 
cameras that resemble street lamps and roving private 
security guards. The reasons for the added security are 
quite understandable: working at the building full time are 
Bush-Cheney campaign chairman Marc Racicot; Ken Mehlman, 
Bush-Cheney '04 campaign manager and former White House 
assistant to presidential counselor Karl Rove; and a host of 
other GOP politicos who share the building. Common sights in 
the driveway are the parked black SUVs and sedans, drivers 
always waiting at the wheel. Sporting U.S. government 
license plates and darkened windows, the vehicles are a sign 
that 2107 Wilson receives a number of high-level government 
officials along with their Secret Service security details.
Part time employees at 2107 Wilson include George W. Bush's 
two twins, Jenna and Barbara (although the building is 
surrounded by tap rooms and bars, there have been no reports 
that the two girls, known for their late night drinking 
sprees, have patronized any of the local establishments).

Absent from the building are any campaign banners or signage 
indicating that this is the central hub of the national Bush-
Cheney campaign. But there are telltale signs that a 
political campaign is being waged here. Above the maze of 
cubicles are televisions tuned into CNN (apparently even the 
Bush-Cheney campaign doesn't put much faith in Fox News and 
its politically biased, sensationalistic reports). Tacked to 
the occasional cubicle is a Bush-Cheney '04 bumper sticker 
or sign.

Yet the Bush-Cheney operation, with all of its security 
cameras and guards, does not fully appreciate the importance 
of operational security. While recently walking past the 
building on a well-traveled pedestrian sidewalk that leads 
to the Court House Metro station, I noticed that on the 
first floor, in clear view of anyone who wanted to look, 
were two 25-inch plasma computer screens. Both had color-
coded maps of the United States. Stopping to marvel at the 
data being represented on the screens, I realized that one 
of the screens represented GOP tracking polls. In many 
cases, such internal political party polls - which are 
always highly classified - represent truer numbers than what 
is being reported by the national media organizations. 

Quickly scanning the map, I saw that the GOP numbers are a 
matter of serious concern. Using blue for its safe states 
(possibly the GOP feels that using red is too socialistic 
for its tastes), the Bush campaign sees itself in a 
commanding position in most of the wheat belt Prairie 
states, the upper Rockies, and the Bible belt South. Using 
yellow for toss-up states, the GOP pollsters seem 
particularly concerned about Louisiana, Arizona, Nevada, 
Florida, Arkansas, Colorado, and North Carolina. Solid red 
states (in this case they are Kerry states) include the same 
states Al Gore won in 2000 with the addition of Ohio, West 
Virginia, and New Hampshire. If that is how the GOP is 
reading the political tea leaves, it is very bad news for 
Bush-Cheney.

A roving private security guard chased me away from the 
sidewalk before I could ascertain what the second computer 
map represented but because Texas, California, Florida, and 
Arizona were identified by the same colors, it may have had 
something to do with GOP fundraising targets - all have 
large senior citizen populations. 

Several things stand out as striking. A recent suspicious 
package scare at John Kerry's national headquarters put that 
office suite front and center in the news. Suite 700 at 901 
15th Street, NW, Washington was evacuated and searched by 
Federal agents and local police. Bush-Cheney headquarters, 
on the other hand, opts to hide behind a post office box in 
Arlington - Box 10648 located at the small local post office 
a few doors down the street on Wilson Boulevard.

The Associated Press is reporting that its analysis of 
statewide polling shows Bush in the lead for electoral 
votes. If the computer screen at Bush-Cheney 04 headquarters 
is any indication, the AP is way off the mark. One can only 
wonder how many other "public" polls are similarly skewed.

Another amazing fact is that Bush-Cheney '04 national 
headquarters has not drawn any sizeable protests by citizens 
who oppose the Bush-Cheney and Republican Party agenda. Then 
again, the Washington office of Kellogg, Brown & Root, 
Cheney's old company and the Pentagon's favorite contractor 
in Iraq, is located a few blocks away at 1550 Wilson 
Boulevard and it has not drawn any protestors either. But 
much can happen between now and November 2.