Well its not a dumb plot point when you realise that the changelings have obviously orchestrated this so the whole fleet is in attendance for another terrorist attack. Why take out half the fleet when you can take it all out in one go.
Why do you think Geordie tells everybody he's tried to overturn this monumentally stupid idea?
Hmm yeah thats a good point. Since Ro said starfleet was already compromised it's possible their level of infiltration was so high that any opposition to the Frontier Day plans would easily be quashed. Again why Geordie had tried to change this decision 3 times with no success. And he is a decorated Flag Officer.
Oh my bad
Ro couldn't even get to Janeway or the chancellor. The changelings have taken the highest levels.
Mention of the fleet being networked leads me to believe the Changelings have installed Baltar's Command Navigation Program.
I'm thinking along those same lines. The networking, plus any residual borg tech Janeway brought back that has been integrated into fleet use, plus possibly something in the Locutus body - an implant that couldn't be removed - able to issue commands and shut down the fleet.
They wanted to reassign Riker to command a starship for 13 years before he finally accepted the job. It seems like transfers are generally optional for successful officers who are in a position that works for them. If you're as unsettled as Sisko however, you don't get to say no when they send you off to command an alien space station in Space Siberia.
