Democratic Senator Defends Phone Spying, And Says It's Been Going On For 7 Years

[FarCenter]

Senators on both sides of the political aisle moved to defend the National Security Agency's collection of data from millions of Americans' phone records, saying it has been an ongoing practice that has kept the United States safe.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) told reporters on Thursday that The Guardian's revelation of the court order that compels Verizon to give data on millions of Americans' calls is a standard three-month renewal of a practice that has been ongoing for about seven years.

Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence committee, also defended the practice.

"It's called protecting America," she said, according to reporter Jamie Dupree. Both she and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) said the practice was legal under the Patriot Act.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-phone-records-scandal-lindsey-graham-dianne-feinstein-obama-2013-6

Secrecy, lying, and spying are all part of any competitive organization's toolkit. We all learn how to do them by playing games as small children.

[truebrit71]

1. Not unexpected that DiFi Inc. would defend this...

...When will Ca replace her with a Democrat?

[Eleanors38]

27. You mean AK Forty-Feinstein?

[Brickbat]

2. "It's called protecting America."

Funny how so very many things are called that! How come none of it seems to work, and we keep needing MORE?

[randome]

3. The reason this won't be another GOP-generated scandal.

FISA warrants require Congressional review. Both parties signed off on this.

Thanks to FarCenter for researching this: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022956410#post16

Reid/McConnell
Boehner/Pelosi
Mike Rogers / Dutch Ruppersberger
Diane Feinstein / Saxby Chamblis

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[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
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[FarCenter]

4. The real "Gang of Eight" -- forget the immigration reform gang of 8.

The Gang of Eight is a common colloquial term for a set of eight leaders within the United States Congress. Specifically, the Gang of Eight includes the leaders of each of the two parties from both the Senate and House of Representatives, and the chairs and ranking minority members of both the Senate Committee and House Committee for intelligence.

The President of the United States is required by 50 U.S.C. § 413(a)(1) to "ensure that the congressional intelligence committees are kept fully and currently informed of the intelligence activities of the United States." However, under 50 U.S.C. § 413b(c)(2), the President may elect to report instead to the Gang of Eight when he thinks "it is essential to limit access" to information about a covert action.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_of_Eight

[randome]

11. If I was in Intelligence, I would be VERY curious about who leaked the court order.

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[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
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[FarCenter]

26. Of motive, means, and opportunity, motive is the far most interesting

Why was it leaked? Why now?

To pressure Obama on Syria? Iran?

Possibly it came from a foreign source wanting to pressure Obama?

Possibly some group inside the national security establishment is upset enough to be pissing in the soup?

[jmowreader]

49. Look a little closer to home

The GOP is attempting to paint Obama as the most scandal-ridden president in history. Because Obama is running possibly the cleanest administration in history, they're ginning up all sorts of faux outrage (Benghazi), pinning every outrageous-sounding thing they can on him (an IRS field office is crawling through teabagger groups' asses when they ask for tax exemptions? Obviously Obama's fault!) and now seem to be pinning Bush-era outrage on him.

I wonder if the GOP has visited the White House yet: repeal Obamacare, end social spending and permanently repeal the death tax and the scandals will stop.

[sulphurdunn]

47. Since members of Congress

knew about it, you probably should look there first.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. No, Dianne, your defense of it is called CYA.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

6. With so much bashing of Southern states in these pages...

...it's only fair that I apologize to Southerners and residents of every other state for the ongoing behavior of the senior Senator from California. Her husband is a death merchant and a war profiteer, and she is doing active harm to this nation. Go to your $16 million Pacific Heights mansion, Diane Feinstein. We don't want you.

[Starry Messenger]

18. And her husband is behind selling off New Deal post offices.

Just to add insult to injury...http://www.lajollalight.com/2013/01/09/berkeley-preservationists-question-senator%E2%80%99s-ties-to-post-office-sales/

[DisgustipatedinCA]

38. I hadn't heard about that

I've long regretted the screen name I chose in 2001--not sure what I was thinking, but today it seems to fit.

[Ilsa]

36. I'm so sick of congresscritters getting rich

off of wars, insider trading, Undeserved pensions and benefits, and lobbyists. Our Congress is chock-full of crooks.

[spanone]

7. time to repeal patriot act.

[RobertEarl]

8. Government can wiretap us

But we can't wire tap our government?

They claim they are protecting America, but we are not allowed to protect ourselves from bad government?

[Brigid]

9. And that makes it OK?

[Savannahmann]

10. I wonder if they would have defended Slavery

After all, it went on for a long time, and why change it?

[arely staircase]

48. for the record conservatives defended slavery

who were democrats back in those days.

[OnyxCollie]

20. Both parties had anti-Asian planks in their platforms pre-WWII.

Both parties were eager to exploit Japanese labor for corporate profits.

[Savannahmann]

22. Both parties were silent when the Americans of Japanese Descent

were rounded up for our own version of Concentration camps. I had hoped we'd learned from history. That hope died of starvation, nothing showed me that we had learned anything.

[OnyxCollie]

24. The executive branch and both houses of Congress

were in Democratic control.

But, yes. Both parties approved of the internment of the Japanese. The SCOTUS approved, too.

[blm]

13. Even longer - it's the practice of renewing it every 3 months that began 7 years ago.

.

[X_Digger]

14. Of course she defended it. *sigh* n/t

[woo me with science]

15. Had enough yet?

Yet?

[LuvNewcastle]

35. Thank you, sir, may I please have another?

[Starry Messenger]

16. I knew it before I even opened the thread: DiFi.

Ok, if these are just part of the toolkit of any competitive organization, who the eff is the US government competing with? It's citizens? Kind of an uneven playing field, wouldn't you say?

[FarCenter]

28. Competition is ubiquitous

Nations compete with other sovereign nations. Now nations compete with NGO acting like nations. Political parties and factions compete for power. Finanacier compete for financial money. Businessmen compete for markets, labor, supplies.

It is even built into the Constitution -- the three branches balance each other in competition for power.

[Starry Messenger]

31. So, yes? The government is competing with its citizens?

That is the question I asked.

[FarCenter]

42. Sometimes -- depends upon their associations.

[Starry Messenger]

50. Like what?

And do we get the same consideration? All of the records of the government so we can examine their associations? On demand?

[Wellstone ruled]

19. But But,my hubby gets all those old unused Government

Buildings and Fixtures at a fire sale price(CB Richard Elis). DiFi is up to her same old CYA crap. She don't give a rats ass about you or anyone but her own personal friends.

[HiPointDem]

45. +1. locusts

[Savannahmann]

23. I don't think the Republicans would run her.

She's too obviously tied to corporate interests. The Republicans prefer that elected officials keep it much lower key than she has.

[alsame]

25. All Congress critters have

known about this for years and are just fine with it. The 'scandal' is that the American people have found out about it.

[Eleanors38]

30. She's a Controller. nt

[BlueCheese]

32. Last night I was thinking of calling Feinstein this morning...

But then I realized it would be a waste of time. She's in favor of the surveillance state from the ground up.

She even voted to amend the Constitution to prohibit flag-burning, for God's sake. Civil liberties don't mean much to her.

[Fearless]

34. Undoubtedly she already knows based on the program. Just pick up a phone anywhere and shout.

[Fearless]

33. Duration of a program does not add to it's legitimacy or illegitimacy.

What's wrong now was wrong every step of the way.

[KamaAina]

37. There's a typo in your headline

It should read "DINO Senator Defends Phone Spying..."

[Apophis]

39. Isn't it about time we start electing Democrats who are actually Democrats?

[Luminous Animal]

40. Kick.

[WillyT]

41. Kick !!!

[frylock]

43. so glad that i didn't vote for this asshole this time around

[HiPointDem]

44. feinstein is a waste of space

[blkmusclmachine]

46. It's been "legal" since 9/11,

which is their convenient excuse to do what they wanted to do all along anyway.

[MuseRider]

51. Gee thanks but I don't think most of us

want this kind of protection.

[SpankMe]

52. I have mixed feelings about DiFi.

Shes a child of pre-1960's San Francisco - before it became a liberal bastion. She's a left leaning centrist, and not a liberal. She's staunchly pro-choice, pro gun control, and pro-woman, but is somewhat law-and-order-ish and favors a constitutional amendment that would ban flag burning.

And, as we can see with the above story, is a bit of a national security hawk who has no problem with domestic spying.

She's a huge power broker in the Democratic party nationally, and has absolute power over the Democratic party in California.

Her conservative positions on certain issues irk me. But, the fact there's a "D" after her name keeps the numbers in our favor that allows us to keep control of the Senate.

She's brutally intelligent and can "play" Washington (and the California political landscape) like a violin.

She's so entrenched and untouchable politically that she has no obligation to "be nice" to people or even to meet with constituents any more. She now operates in an environment outside of any need to actually listen to her constituents.

A friend of mine - a moderate Republican who's basically stopped voting for Republicans - and his family met her in D.C. a few years ago and came back gushing about her. I don't know if he was impressed with her owing to his leftward movement of late, or if he was impressed by her moderate conservative orientation. (Most Repubs I deal with vilify her to the n'th degree, berating her as a "San Francisco liberal" even though she's anything but.)

I know this will get me flamed, but I'd rather have a not very left "D" in the Senate than an "R" of any stripe because the body count of "D's" keeps us in charge there. A true liberal (of the type I'd like to see) would lose to an R, even in this state. So, I have to take what I can get. Flame away - please...

[FarCenter]

53. On defense, foreign policy and intelligence, she's sort of like Richard Perle and Eliot Abrams