Vice President Biden spoke at Wake Forest University yesterday reportedly without revealing any top secret information. This marks an improvement over a dinner conversation last March where he reportedly disclosed former Vice President Cheney's undisclosed location during a dinner conversation.
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Biden speaks at Wake Forest - does not disclose nuclear launch codes
By Jimmy Orr | 05.18.09
Good news for Vice President Biden’s office! The Veep successfully delivered the commencement address at Wake Forest University without disclosing top secret information.
The problem is, he may have done that a few weeks ago.
Newsweek is reporting that Biden may have revealed where former Vice President Cheney’s undisclosed location was.
After the 9/11 attacks, Cheney’s whereabouts were frequently unknown. And that was on purpose. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer coined the phrase “undisclosed location” and it stuck. And no one, save a few with the highest of clearances, knew where it was located.
Dinner
Enter Joe Biden. Known for his entertaining conversational skills, the vice president apparently thought the topic might be interesting. So while chatting at the Gridiron Dinner last March, he brought it up.
He reportedly told his companions that the secret location was a “bunker-like room” at the the Naval Observatory. This is where all the vice presidents have lived (not together) since 1974.
Writes Eleanor Clift:
“He said the young naval officer giving him a tour of the residence showed him the hideaway, which is behind a massive steel door secured by an elaborate lock with a narrow connecting hallway lined with shelves filled with communications equipment.
“The officer explained that when Cheney was in lock down, this was where his most trusted aides were stationed, an image that Biden conveyed in a way that suggested we shouldn’t be surprised that the policies that emerged were off the wall.”
The Vice President’s office has not yet issued a clarifying statement. Nor has Robert Gibbs explained to the press what Joe Biden meant to say.
Update: The Vice President’s office has issued a clarifying statement (they are very good at these).
“What the vice president described in his comments was not - as some press reports have suggested - an underground facility, but rather, an upstairs workspace in the residence, which he understood was frequently used by Vice President Cheney and his aides,” said Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander.
“That workspace was converted into an upstairs guestroom when the Bidens moved into the residence,” she said. “There was no disclosure of classified information.”
——
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2. Rod | 05.18.09
Unfortunately for the rumor-mongers, Cheney was in the “undisclosed location” in the days after 9/11 - as in fall, 2001.
But the neighbors of the Naval Observatory were complaining about the construction noise (and rather obvious underground construction under the N.O.) in the fall of 2002 - a year later.
Furthermore, a careful reading of the Clift passage shows that the location in question was used by the ~~aides~~ to VP Cheney. Nothing indicates this was actually Cheney’s “undisclosed location.”
3. Jim R. | 05.18.09
It is so nice to have the role reversal situation we now have. In the previous administration, the vice president ran things and the president was the buffoon.
4. wmrfisher | 05.18.09
And why should the Vice President not have disclosed the location of the bunker built by one of the most secretive of Vice Presidents? From his comments one gets the impression that he thinks such a place comical and unnecessary? Why should Mr. Biden be bound by the paranoia of his predecessor? And, what gives this commentator, it’s certainly not journalism, the standing to decide what the Vice President should or should not reveal. It is no wonder newspapers are failing left and right.
5. flatrock | 05.18.09
Is Biden going senile? I have a hard time believing he got this far in politics while being so inept at thinking before speaking.
Is he just under the spotlight a lot more now, or is he slipping?
6. ED | 05.18.09
Why do people have to go to Twitter to read the clarficiation? It is not just lazy but dishonest and unprofessional; other website include a short update within the original story, just include here this clarification from the VP’s office:
“What the Vice President described in his comments was not — as some press reports have suggested — an underground facility, but rather, an upstairs workspace in the residence, which he understood was frequently used by Vice President Cheney and his aides. That workspace was converted into an upstairs guest room when the Bidens moved into the residence. There was no disclosure of classified information,” said Vice President Biden’s spokeswoman, Elizabeth Alexander.
Why not include this very short response here? Why make it harder for people to know the full story, if that’s your intention? Just wondering.
7. conservativenorthwest | 05.18.09
It’s a nice story, but I would doubt it’s truth. It would stand to reason that there’s a bunker, similar to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center beneath the East Wing of the White House, for the Vice President…and it’s been there since before Cheney…but there are better, more secure locations to take the VP so that he would have access to the resources he would need should anything have happened to President Bush.
Oops! I inadvertely gave away the classified location of the PEOC? Don’t shoot me, I got it from Wikipedia.
8. Baffoon? | 05.18.09
It’s within a few miles from the White House and Pentagon, I would think we could protect an underground bunker on our own territory if it became necessary. If not, we’re in bigger trouble than we think. Biden was commenting on it’s obsurdity and how he isn’t so scared of the world to hide in a underground bunker. This is an example of his extreme lack of tactfulness, but why such a big deal when Obama’s home address is open for tours 7 days a week.
10. SG | 05.18.09
wmrfisher, I suspect this top-secret bunker was built when Algore was the occupant of the VP house at the USNO. Our government has a responsibility to provide protection to the President, VP, and other leadership, and has had similar hide-outs for decades. It has nothing to do with “paranoia” and everything to do with being diligent. I matters little if it is a Democrat or Republican in office, they still require protection for the good of the country. And actually, the VP does have a responsibility the country, and to himself, by virtue of respect for his office, not to reveal State Secrets. I suspect the present VP is suffering from the type of mild dementia often seen in patients who have similar neurological maladies, so he probably cannot be held fully responsible for such spontaneous inappropriate verbal outbursts.
11. dom youngross | 05.18.09
In case of a national emergency, Biden now will be dropped off at the sporting goods department of an undisclosed WalMart.
12. Fred | 05.18.09
I wish there was an entrance test or an IQ test for anybody who wants to run for the presidency or the vice presidency of this country. Why do we have SAT and ACT tests for high school students who want to go to college but no minimum standard for the people who want to run this country? If there was a test, Schmuck Biden would never have passed it.
13. Phillip, LA, CA | 05.18.09
Great, not we have to spent more billions to build another bunker, because this loud mouth can’t keep his mouth shot. Obama, do us all a favor and loan him one of your TelePrompTer.
14. joseph | 05.18.09
@rod;
Just because there was construction in 2002 doesn’t mean there wasn’t a secure location their previously. Maybe the use of the facility in 2001 realized the necessity of expansion if it was to be used again. And in regards to the “aides” location, I believe that was the equipment filled “hallway”.
wmrfisher;
Regardless of your opinion of the original post, there is the old phrase “loose lips sink ships”. This applies to the United States as a whole when the heads of the ship are the ones with loose lips.
16. Gene, Philadelphia, PA | 05.18.09
You don’t get this far in politics without knowing exactly what you are doing. Bush was an idiot from the public’s point of view but will we ever really know what was behind the scenes.
The same goes for every administration. When you’re that high up.. well, you’re not a government janitor or a customer service rep that just barely has a secure job. You have to be very careful with what you do and say.
It is unlikely that these words slipping out meant very little.
You should ask yourself. Why would someone do this? What ground are they trying to gain?
Every word, every action has a political purpose when you devote your life to politics.
18. DDS | 05.18.09
You can bet your bottom dollar that if Biden were to disclose the launch codes, Eleanor Clift could be depended upon to publish them.
19. Nick | 05.18.09
The “Secret” Bunker was never a secret. The noise of the construction was heard blocks away. Don’t let anyone know the “secret” code names of the President, First Lady and V.P.
20. Concerned Mother | 05.18.09
By chance might there be a secure sandbox for this infantile v-p with ADHD to spend his days out of the public sphere where he can stab baby birds and choke newborn kittens in peace. Seriously, there is something very, very wrong with this character. His schizoid comments are becoming more frequent and more bizarre. Good grief, this fruitcake is next in line for Psychotic Of The United States.
21. SMRTNUP | 05.18.09
From where I stand, . . THIS IS CALLED “HIGH TREASON”. . . To provide AID and COMFORT to ANY ENEMY is taught as TABOO to even a first day recruit in the U.S. Military ! . . . This is what YOU get for voting for people who have ABSOLUTELY NO QUALIFICATIONS NOR EXPERIENCES to make them appropriate to serve as the Nation’s TOP LEADERS, . . Yeah, . Right !!!
I would not be surprised to hear that these TWO BOZOS had gotten us into the THIRD WORLD WAR by opening their big mouths when they SHOULD KNOW BETTER !!! . . . BUT OBVIOUSLY, . THEY DON’T. . .
YES WE ” C A N ‘ T ” !!! . . .
22. Brian Schend | 05.18.09
If anyone can explain how disclosing this hurts America, I’m all ears. The bunker-like room at the Naval Observatory probably describes half the building. And, unlike top-secret weapons, it’s not exactly difficult to move a veep and staff if you need to. Well, maybe Cheney…
23. SandraL | 05.18.09
Sounds like this was just a panic room, not Cheney’s “darkened underground lair” (to quote Jon Stewart). As Rod pointed out, the construction at the house took place in 2002 and Cheney was known to be hiding out in the “undisclosed location” well before that.
24. Doug in Everett, WA | 05.18.09
Hey, flatrock, at least Biden’s slips offer some lighthearted homor….as opposed to the past eight years where Dubbya did not even recognize what he has said was downright stupid.
Lighten uup, kiddo. As Obama suggested a few months ago, “…because I won.”
25. dan | 05.18.09
“And why should the Vice President not have disclosed the location of the bunker built by one of the most secretive of Vice Presidents?”………are you retarded or simply too stupid to comprehend the fact the BIDEN himself stated this was the location that “This is where all the vice presidents have lived (not together) since 1974.”????
26. coffee | 05.18.09
@wmrfisher .. “From his comments one gets the impression that he thinks such a place comical and unnecessary” - seriously? you really think Biden knows what is comical and unnecessary? So if he thought nuke codes were unnecessary he would have every right to go a spew them off to somebody at a dinner table? ..point to take away from this: It is classified. Don’t talk about it.
“And, what gives this commentator, it’s certainly not journalism, the standing to decide what the Vice President should or should not reveal” - umm its classified? Isn’t that standing enough? Or are we just going to let Biden decide what he wants to keep a secret? ..point to take away from this: It is classified. Don’t talk about it.
How are you serously going to defend this guy?
27. MSfStl | 05.18.09
wmrfisher, while I agree with most of your comments, your comment/question regarding the commentator doesn’t apply here. This is a Blog, this should not be confused with journalism anymore than a Twitter should be. Just like anything from Rush Limbaugh comes from the “Talk” division, not the “News” division, actually they don’t have a “news” division, of the Premiere Radio Network. I think if more people understood where they were getting their ‘information’ from, perhaps, we would have a more realistic, rather than divisive society. Alas, me thinks that is asking too much.
28. cynthia | 05.18.09
Seeing as former VP Cheney used it, why would Biden feel safe there after a man who might be motivated to blab it to any enemy for political/personal reasons? I certainly wouldn’t use it after Cheney did. That would just be common sense. It’s probably bugged, seeing as they were the bug happiest administrations in history, and the least honest to boot.
30. Rod | 05.18.09
Sorry, Joseph… good try, but the actual “undisclosed location” was revealed way back in 2004 by the Boston Globe and several other papers.
It’s the venerable Alternate Joint Communnications Center AKA Raven Rock Mountain Complex, near Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. It was built in the early 1950s and as been, with regular updates, a National Command Authority alternate control center ever since.
And it’s about as “secret” as Cheyenne Mountain.
31. Nobody | 05.18.09
Biden didn’t mess up. He stated that the place was the residence of all past VP’s. On the history channel a year or so back was a TV show about this same place. They toured that underground facility that you are complaining about. The same one with all the constructions. This is not breaking news or even news worthy. It is Biden just acting out the role of a bus driver who tells the passengers what to look at and some of the history.
32. hemsly | 05.18.09
That’s the funniest headline I’ve ever read! Does Biden have some type of tourettes or is he trying to make his boss look better by distracting us from his policies?
33. Phillip, LA, CA | 05.18.09
We are talking about Biden to survive if something happens to this president. I didn’t vote for them, and if you libs defending this loud mouth jeopardizing his own security, go for it. Why should I care?!
34. Guytar | 05.18.09
Dick Cheney faked his way through 5 deferments to avoid military service during the war in Vietnam. At the same time, George W Bush failed to complete his priviliged assignment in the Air National Guard.
Like hundreds of thousands of other young men, Al Gore and John Kerry served in combat. Bush junior and Dick Cheney are disgusting beyond belief.
35. aGringo | 05.18.09
I wonder if Phillip has forgotten that Cheney revealed the identity of a covert CIA operative to he press, and he did it deliberately. If that’s not treason I don’t know what is.
36. Michael | 05.18.09
It’s a shame the right-wingers did not pay as much attention to the major failings of their representatives as they do the the minor missteps of the Obama administration.
37. Jim | 05.18.09
You mean people should leave Joe alone. So what if he gets us all killed. If good people like Joe get all Americans killed, they won’t have to pay-off all the trillions of pork that the democrats spent. Also, if all Americans are killed then think what a positive effect that would have on climate change.
Besides just think, George Soros and Warren Buffet could make a lot more money that way! They both really need more money so they can destroy another country - maybe China this time or Iran.
I love Obummer and his wife Aunt Ester and do not want him to die of kidney disease like Rush.
38. Jim | 05.18.09
There is nothing secret about these locations. Anyone with half a brain could easily deduce their existence. In addition, the entire neighborhood knew about the construction.
39. Joseph | 05.18.09
Joe Biden has revealed nothing but how far the media will go to fabricate a “story”. Is this really the best you can do?
40. Jim | 05.18.09
Next time, try reporting the facts, instead of your opinion; much more useful to readers.
Also, “has yet to issue” might scan better than “has not yet issued”…
41. Techbooks | 05.18.09
34 Guytar you are right on. Cheney is a fraud. The only thing left of the Republican Party are a bunch of right-wing GUMBY dolls like Phillip in LA and Smartnup who cries “High Treason” get real and unqualified RRRRIGHT and Sarah P was qualified!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
42. Jim Bob Joe Jack | 05.18.09
“I wish there was an entrance test or an IQ test for anybody who wants to run for the presidency or the vice presidency of this country. Why do we have SAT and ACT tests for high school students who want to go to college but no minimum standard for the people who want to run this country? If there was a test, Schmuck Biden would never have passed it.”
Hey Fred, we have an intensive election process in which millions of citizens (of varying degrees of intelligence and education levels) get to listen to and judge presidential candidates on a massive public forum tour for a number of months. They are elected by millions of people who form their opinions after processing all those months of campaigning, that is how presidential elections work in the USA, I’m calling into question your faith in your country young man. I’d also wager to say you were hopped up on goofballs when you wrote that comment, what kind of thought process is that?
43. Bill | 05.18.09
After previous the gaff about the swine flu the White House announced last week Mr. Biden was suddenly going to be touring the Balkins. If Mr. Biden keeps up his mispeaking he may be the first public official to visit Mars!
44. Jeremy | 05.18.09
Does it matter? Really? Do you think the dude who just lost his job gives a flip about this? Liberals hated Bush/Cheney. Conservative hate Obama/Biden. Same game different names. It’s all B.S. Americans need to stand together and rethink this whole United States thing. Our government is inept. [period]
45. Dave | 05.18.09
Mr. Orr needs to find a topic to poke fun at other than Joe Biden’s loose tongue. It was funny at first, but that dead horse has been beaten to a pulp just 4 months into the new administration.
47. billy | 05.19.09
breaking top secret news! the vice president’s top secret bunker, is at the vice president’s home! OMG I could never have guessed that.
48. Greg | 05.19.09
VIDEO or it DID NOT happen.
The presence of an underground bunker/tunnels at the Naval Observatory has been an open “secret” in D.C. since neighbors complained of construction noise back in 2002. All Eleanor Clift did was bring this open secret to national attention by publishing the open secret.
I wish someone could offer proof that Biden did, in fact, say this. To any reasonable skeptic, there is ZERO evidence. Whatever happened to “prove it.”
49. Wirkin | 05.19.09
To quote a recent movie. How come disclosing classified info will put me in jail, but “when the (VICE) president does, it it is not a crime.”? In Fact it is comical and humorous. BTW this goes for Cheney too (re. CIA names). If the POTUS were to apply for my job, his clearance would have been denied, but win an election, and your in the club. Screw up and give away secrets, no big deal, we’ll just build another bucker. Oh wait, We should be thanking VP Biden for “creating” another shovel ready project. Thank you so very much.
50. Lee Brewer | 05.19.09
Respect is just that - respect. Writing a smear using a negative is a ploy to hurt a reputation in a deniable manner. If you want to smear Biden, do it with a different, and perhaps more courageous headline. He is not a Cheney - but thank you God for that small favor.
51. Rod | 05.19.09
Let’s see… Jimmy Orr was a White House spokesperson during the Bush/cheney administration. That would strongly suggest that he had at least someknowledge of the actual “undisclosed location” - now publicly known to be in Pennsylvania.
Yet he riffs off Clift’s typically uninformed writings to snark on Biden anyway - and feeds the trolls who don’t pay attention to details.
Nice link bait, Jimmy.
52. rodney | 05.19.09
I am not a american but as a canadian looking at whats happening in america,i only feel sorrow.I was once a big supporter of america but since obama took over ,from the outside it looks like he is intentionally trying to destroy your great country has anyone thought he might. be a sleeper cell terrorist.If you laugh at that, consider this,if i told you in the year 2000 that terrorist would fly planes in to the world trade center nest year you would have laughed at that….please impeach this terrorist[ obama] before he destroys your great country,along with china…………….
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Jimmy Orr has worked in politics for the majority of his professional career working for two U.S. Senators, two Governors and one President. Most recently, Orr served as White House Spokesman and Internet Director for President George W. Bush and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger for Internet Communications.
David Cook is Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts. He was the Monitor's editor from 1994 to 2001. Cook is a graduate of Principia College, served in the U.S. Army, was a Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and is a member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization.
1. Phillip, LA, CA | 05.18.09
Are him and Obama trying to compete who will release more US secrets to the entire world?
We should try them in court for releasing secrets that harm US national security, and put them in jail for treason.