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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDiFi....Does it again! "Releases FAKE NSA REFORM Bill" She's just not trustworthy.
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Feinstein Releases Fake NSA Reform Bill, Actually Tries To Legalize Illegal NSA Bulk Data Collection
Despite Dianne Feinstein's supposed "conversion" earlier this week about the NSA being out of control with its spying, and the associated performance of NSA folks claiming that they were screwed, it's quickly become apparent that this was all pure theater to make people think that real reform might be coming. Feinstein claimed she was shocked about this and called for a full investigation... and yet, just two days later, she held a markup of her planned "reform" bill for the collection of intelligence by the NSA (and held the markup in secret -- because nothing says "let's increase transparency of the NSA" like keeping the debates and votes secret). That bill was moved out of committee today by a vote of 11 to 4, leading Feinstein to release the bill with a bunch of misleading claptrap designed to make people think it's real reform.It even confused some folks who know this stuff into thinking, after a quick first pass, that it "banned" the bulk data collection. And you might think that's the case because her description says:
Prohibits the collection of bulk communication records under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act except under specific procedures and restrictions set forth in the bill;
Establishes criminal penalties of up to 10 years in prison for intentional unauthorized access to data acquired under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by the United States;
Prohibits the bulk collection of the content of communications under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Ac
Reading that, you might think it actually banned the bulk data collection that's been reported on, but it does not. That "except under specific procedures and restrictions set forth in the bill" just takes the highly questionable reasoning of the FISA Court in approving the bulk data collection and makes that the "exception." In other words, it does exactly the opposite of what Feinstein claims. Rather than banning bulk data collection, it legalizes it. That third point on the "content" is just a red herring -- the same red herring that Feinstein and others have been waving about wildly for months, pretending people are upset about the collection of actual recordings, rather than the collection of metadata. She's wrong. People are upset about the collection of metadata, which this legalizes.
Even more ridiculous, the focus (both in the marketing and the bill itself) on collection of content "under Section 215" is another red herring, since it appears that much of that collection actually happens under other programs anyway. So this doesn't change a damn thing.
Other supposed "changes" in the bill -- including limiting who can perform queries on the data, how many "hops" they can analyze and how long they can retain the data, all match with current practice and don't change a thing. Even though James Clapper and Keith Alexander more or less seemed to concede at yesterday's House hearing that they'd be okay with cutting back on the data retention from five to three years, this bill keeps it at five. There are a few other minor changes, but this bill is almost entirely as expected, simply codifying the status quo, even though Feinstein has insisted that it was legal all along. The one minor "concession" which many had expected -- having a third party at the FISA Court who could fight for civil liberties -- is watered down. Rather than an actual adversarial setup, with this person representing civil liberties, it's set up as an appointed "amicus cureia" or "friend of the court," where they basically just advise the court on the issue.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131031/12394625090/feinstein-releases-fake-nsa-reform-bill-actually-tries-to-legalize-illegal-nsa-bulk-data-collection.shtml
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)Cleita
(75,480 posts)I wish someone that is really progressive and who has a strong following would primary her, maybe Gavin Newsom.
Shemp Howard
(889 posts)To each his/her own, but I will not hold my nose and vote for the lesser of two evils. I'll find a third-party candidate I like, or I will write in someone.
But as you said, the key here is the primary election.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)must go, period. This stuff has been accreting steadily since 9/11 (and likely before). We need to strip it all away immediately.
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)Or fool?
SomethingFishy
(4,876 posts)in there somewhere. These people are unashamed war profiteers. She has a history of voting for something and then her husband magically gets a contract involving whatever she voted on..
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)was a huge expose on Di Fi, ("The Bohemian" was the newspaper.)
And the expose revealed how she uses her positions of power as a conduit for inside information she passes along to her husband/contractor Richard Blum.
So it is not just that she votes for a project and then her husband does his research and goes out and gets contracts. She basically sees to it that the contracts are secured for him by her position on Defense Committees and Surveillance/Intel committees etc.
She saw to it that the entire senate Ethics Code was re-written so that as long as there is any another reason other than personal gain for voting on an issue, then she can vote the issue in. That way, insider deals are exempt, conflict of interest concerns are non-existent, as the whole "ethics" code no longer lets such petty concerns as insider trading or conflict of interest exist!
However, every so often there is enough outrage over her abuse of power that she is forced out.
In 2007, Feinstein was forced to resign from the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee. As previously and extensively reviewed in the Sonoma County monthly newspaper, The Bohemian, Feinstein was chairperson and ranking member of MILCON for six years, during which time she had a conflict of interest due to her husband Richard C. Blum's ownership of two major defense contractors who were awarded billions of dollars for military construction projects approved by Feinstein.
As MILCON leader, Feinstein relished the details of military construction. She then undertook micromanaging one project at the level of its sewer design. She regularly took junkets to military bases around the world to inspect construction projects. Is it any surprise that many of the projects ended up as contracts awarded to her husband's companies, Perini Corp. and URS Corp?
Perhaps she resigned from MILCON because she could not take the heat generated by the Bohemian's expose of her ethics (which was partially funded by the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute). Or was her work on the subcommittee finished because Blum divested ownership of his military construction and advanced weapons manufacturing firms in late 2005?
The MILCON subcommittee is not only in charge of supervising military construction; it also oversees "quality of life" issues for veterans, which includes building housing for military families and operating hospitals and clinics for wounded soldiers. Perhaps Feinstein is trying to disassociate herself from MILCON's incredible failure to provide decent medical care for wounded soldiers.
Two years ago, before the Washington Post became belatedly involved, the online magazine Salon.com exposed the horrors of deficient medical care for Iraq War veterans. While leading MILCON, Feinstein had ample warning of the medical-care meltdown. But she was not proactive on veteran's affairs.
leftstreet
(36,111 posts)FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)2) Us
AZ Mike
(468 posts)[img][/img]
....we are her children.
hootinholler
(26,449 posts)I thought this would be the case.
D23MIURG23
(2,850 posts)I never trusted her outrage, because no one in the caucus has a bigger hard-on for the surveillance state and torture "enhanced interrogation" than her. Someone get this woman a primary challenger. There is no reason we should have to put up with a fake democrat from a state like California.
bobduca
(1,763 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)KoKo
(84,711 posts)I'd love a Clever photo shop of DINO /dinosaur with something obscene posted to blend in on it's tail.
DON'T DO IT! I don't want a DU ALERT ON ME!
QuestForSense
(653 posts)FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)Write in someone good...
Let the puke win...
Then, when DiFi's no longer the incumbent, run someone worthwhile.
We can't afford to wait for her to die.
NorthCarolina
(11,197 posts)I agree, her health insurance is likely TOO good for that.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)So...there's that... Not wishing an untimely death...but, at some point "some folks" sort of need to think about "retirement."
It can't come TOO SOON for SOME!
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)She'll be 85 and hopefully will call it quits.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)that she's "Locked In." And, there was nothing voters for her could do about it because there wasn't a good challenger to her..because we don't have a Dem "Back Bench." And mostly, though, about Supreme Courts Decision on Citizens United...which we Dems couldn't do much about given the Court's composition.
So...It's NOT OUR FAULT...but, the fault of this CORPORATE SYSTEM. That's the EVIL under all this. IMHO.
Sirveri
(4,517 posts)So she won the vote with something like a 40 point margin.
Why the hell isn't the establishment taking her out for a talk behind the woodshed. I guess they don't care so long as she plays ball the way they want her to play ball. Either that or she is the establishment.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)They are not interested in following the Constitution.
And they have no interest in responding to the public, only "managing" us.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)It's downright Republican.
I imagine Senator Feinstein considers the NSA bulk-collection progarm her to be "legacy".
ancianita
(36,130 posts)She's the kind of bullshitter that pisses me off about the Democrats. She and soft-sell Dick Durbin.
QuestForSense
(653 posts)They are a couple of the biggest of dicks in Washington. Don't ever turn your back on Rahm Emanuel either.
ancianita
(36,130 posts)QuestForSense
(653 posts)Rahm road in on Obama's coat-tails. Today, most would like to see him ridden out on a rail.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)". . . the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
Google it if you want to find out.
Is this the philosophy of our intelligence agencies right now?
zeemike
(18,998 posts)People could benefit from the Google if they don't know.
And that principle has been worked on us for decades now.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)dares to admit it. We have gone down the slippery slope and are already on our bellies in the mud. We just haven't realized that the stuff we are lying in is not just mud but something much more disgusting.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)She's been defending the surveillance for some time now.
madrchsod
(58,162 posts)takes a lot of money for upkeep and taxes.
Coyotl
(15,262 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,389 posts)Thanks for the thread, KoKo.
adirondacker
(2,921 posts)CountAllVotes
(20,877 posts)I cannot force my hand to mark the D box on the ballot next to her name.
She is what she is ... another greedy liar it seems eh?
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)So it looks like the best course of action is for good progressive Dems to hold their noses and vote R to try and get her out. Then in 6 years find a solid progressive candidate to elect to that Senate seat. By hook or by crook, DiFi has got to go.
CountAllVotes
(20,877 posts)When she took over as mayor of San Francisco after the Moscone/Milk murders and boy she stepped right up to the plate and TOOK that job over and from there ... off she went with her political career!
Never have never will vote for "Dear Dianne"!
Politicub
(12,165 posts)I imagine they have something about everyone holding public office and can use it to get whatever they want congress to do. The NSA's reach is scary indeed.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)People say that we have two Democratic Senators in California.
And they are wrong.
K/R
silvershadow
(10,336 posts)Hutzpa
(11,461 posts)but she is the democratic Halloween mascot for this year.
She continues to hamper progress in the Senate, just wished Harry can replace
her as Committee Chairwoman.