For civil libertarians, there may be no more unsettling statements than “Dianne Feinstein is here to protect civil liberties.” Of course, it is not quite that bad. The Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has been the greatest champion for the creation of the massive surveillance of U.S. citizens and effectively blocked any demand for a perjury prosecution of National Intelligence Director James Clapper for lying about the programs. She has called for the prosecution of Edward Snowden for revealing years of deceitful or false statements made to the public. She has criticized the media for disclosing information on the programs despite admissions that of unlawful conduct by the government after the disclosures. No, none of that bothers Dianne Feinstein. However, she is outraged by the monitoring of foreign leaders and promised a “total review” surveillance program.
What is striking is Feinstein’s outrage that there is a dire need for oversight after the government was given carte blanche to grab millions of emails and phone calls of U.S. citizens. Feinstein of course first moved (as have all Democratic leaders) to protect the President. There has been a full court press to maintain that Obama was entirely unaware of the surveillance — a curious position that I have previously discussed. Feinstein’s outrage appears calculated to support that new spin. She has said Obama’s lack of knowledge is a “big problem.” She added “The White House has informed me that collection on our allies will not continue, which I support.”
Continuing to refer to the widely ridiculed secret court as legitimating the massive surveillance of all citizens, Feinstein says that this is a problem because it was not carried out under such claims of oversight: “Unlike NSA’s collection of phone records under a court order, it is clear to me that certain surveillance activities have been in effect for more than a decade and that the Senate Intelligence Committee was not satisfactorily informed.”
By the way, you will note that, as usual, Feinstein is not particularly concerned about average people or their rights. It is the leaders (like herself) that concerns her: “Unless the United States is engaged in hostilities against a country or there is an emergency need for this type of surveillance, I do not believe the United States should be collecting phone calls or emails of friendly presidents and prime ministers.”
Feinstein’s outrage therefore seem a bit forced . . . much like her concern over the regulation of drones. Clearly, the prior effort to shrug off the surveillance or even to embrace it has not gone over well. The alarm raised by Feinstein comes right on cue as the White House struggles to assure allies that Obama is not personally responsible for what his government does. It is the only avenue around the growing international crisis: the ole plausible deniability. The abuses would be officially attributed to faceless functionaries acting on their own. While that may not make a lot of sense since this intelligence had to have been shared at the highest levels, it allows people like Feinstein to implement meaningless investigations while the intelligence community burrows deeper out of the public eye. It would simply have been more plausible with someone who has shown a modicum of concern for civil liberties in the past. The current security state was created with the enthusiastic support of Feinstein and other members who have shown little inclination or interest in serious oversight.
And so the narrative is set. The surveillance of Merkel was an over-zealous group of spies and has left American leaders perfectly horrified and disgusted . . . and all will be made well by Dianne Feinstein.
Source: The Hill
And tries to get their wives/daughters in the sack. What a guy.
SwM,
Hillary has been quietly working with women’s groups in Virginia since McAuliffe announced … another small indication that gave Tex hope for 2016.
Then Bill sweeps in to seal the deal with the men.
SwM,
The Virginia situation is unbelievable … when McAuliffe announced even democrats thought he was going to get the crap beat out of him. That he has pulled up even with males is frankly, unbelievable.
And then there’s this:
“GOP Donor Hosts McAuliffe Fundraiser
Yes, from 2005 to 2007, Mr. Schar was the RNC’s finance chairman—he was also a George W. Bush Pioneer-level donor, and gave several hundred thousand dollars in 2012 to GOP PACs and candidates, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.
This summer, Mr. Schar announced he was endorsing Mr. McAuliffe instead of Republican Ken Cuccinelli, the state’s attorney general, and has backed up his candidate with $25,000. It surprised GOP lawmakers and donors in Washington and elsewhere, according to a half-dozen of them. The Democratic coup of getting a top GOP contributor to host an event for Mr. McAuliffe – with the former president along – shocked them.” ( http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/10/28/gop-donor-hosts-mcauliffe-fundraiser/ )
What Mike A. said.
Well if fanny love is so important too bad McAuliffe can’t have prisoners vote. In Chicago the Dems would get their votes…twice.
http://wonkette.com/532862/rand-paul-endorses-butt-sex-banning-virginia-ag-ken-cuccinelli-for-gov-with-gattaca-wikipage-plagiarisms
Hillary is just rallying the troops as Ron Paul is rally the troops for Cuccinelli, Bron.
Smom:
it isnt Hillary, its the perception that Cuccinelli wants to stop all abortions and prevent women from getting contraceptives. He is Catholic, I think, and he doesnt much care for sodomy either.
Some of my friends are hesitant to vote for him but they dont like McA either.
Either way they will be in your pants, its just which you mind more, your zipper or your wallet. Since there are laws preventing Cuccinelli from grabbing hold of your zipper, I am inclined to vote for him. There are far fewer restraints on your wallet.
SWM, Maybe women are better @ picking the lesser of 2 sleazeballs? I think Cucinelli is better looking.. err, ah, in a manly way of course.
Swarthmoremom, I believe that Republican legislative activity in Virginia has also been an important element in Cuccinelli’s standing among women.
In my view, Sen. Feinstein’s comments are purely self-serving. If she was truly unaware of the scope of NSA surveillance programs, then she has not been performing the oversight for which her committee exists. If she was aware of the scope of NSA surveillance programs, then she is lying. I have no proof, of course, but her past actions and statements as chairperson of the Senate Intelligence Committee suggest that the latter explanation is the most likely. Mr. Snowden’s actions were praiseworthy, regardless of his motives.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/mcauliffe-opens-up-double-digit-lead-over-cuccinelli-in-virginia-governors-race/2013/10/28/e81e2fb0-3c43-11e3-b6a9-da62c264f40e_story.html “The margin between the two major-party candidates is driven by a huge gender gap. Among men, the two candidates are running even, with Cuccinelli at 45 percent and McAuliffe at 44 percent. But among women, Cuccinelli trails by 24 points — 58 percent to 34 percent.” I think Hillary is helping with Virginia women, Bron.
Diane, Halloween is your holiday.
Two New Journalists Join the Team
October 29, 2013
Posted By: Glenn Greenwald
http://www.omidyargroup.com/newco/veteran-journalists-joins-the-team/
If past is prologue we should get some Bush, Cheney, Cruz bashing real soon. the “Yeah But Duopoloy Shuffle.” Who will be first?
Bruce:
you forget why he is where he is. Bush.
Feinstein is a typical Democrat. What is the problem? Not all democrats are into civil liberties and neither are all republicans. Both those worthless parties voted for the Patriot Act.
The NSA top spook should be thrown out of the military. but that wont happen because he has larger files than Hoover did.
There is something really wrong about one man having all that power.
But we keep voting for the same old same old. And I am going to do it in Virginia, I dont like Cuccinelli but I like Hillary Clinton even less. I figure a vote for Terry McA. or Robert Sarvis [he will draw from Cuccinelli’s base] just puts her that much closer to the White House. She would just be Obama’s third term. 2 terms of him is quite enough.
Democrats are a embarrassment to the United States. They pass a Health care law without reading it to which the president comes and lies to the American people (if you like your health care plan you can keep it and if you like your doctor you can keep him) He knew these were not true when he said them.
Diane Feinstein is a traitor.
Feinstein is an embarrassment to Democrats everywhere.