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StarfishSaver

StarfishSaver's Journal
StarfishSaver's Journal
October 24, 2019

Wouldn't it be funny if Trump's obsession over Biden got him impeached and

Biden ends up not being the nominee after all?

Before anyone goes berserk, I'm not suggesting or even hoping that Biden not get the nomination. Just making a point about Trump's obsession and unintended consequences.

October 24, 2019

Gloria Steinem: "A white man told me 'A black woman took my job' I said 'Who said it was your job?'"

She just said this on Chris Hayes's show.

God, I LOVE that woman!

October 23, 2019

Matt Gaetz's stunt backfired

Pelosi and Schiff didn't take the bait and throw the Republicans in the briar patch by escalating the situation, Maetz and his people didn't get what they wanted - footage of them being arrested and hauled away - but instead, they look silly and desperate, the press is calling it a stunt, and now the situation looks like it's back to normal with the testimony about to continue and impeachment still very well on track.

And the world can see that Trump and his henchmen have NOTHING to fight back with other than theatrics.

Nicely done, Democrats - way to stay focused and not get thrown off your game by a bunch of two-bit nitwits.

October 23, 2019

Mieke Eoyang breaks down why the GOP breach of the SCIF is a national security outrage

https://twitter.com/MiekeEoyang/status/1187032800572125191?s=20
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1187032800572125191.html


A few words on why Gaetz stunt to storm the SCIF to disrupt Laura Cooper's deposition is a VERY serious national security problem.

Note, I worked in that SCIF for HPSCI and handled cybersecurity issues while there.

Aside from disrupting the testimony of a DoD official shedding light on the President's attempts to extort a sham investigation into the child of his most feared political rival by withholding military aid that Congress gave to resist a Russian invasion...

Storming the SCIF without respecting the security protocols that require people to leave their electronic devices *outside* the space, is actually compromising our national security.

First, the SCIF itself is a secure facility designed to prevent electronic eavesdropping so members of Congress can receive highly classified information about how the nation collects information on its adversaries, and on *very* sensitive intelligence operations.

Foreign adversaries are constantly trying to figure out what goes on inside those rooms to figure out what the US knows about them, to out US high-level sources in their governments, to know what the US government knows and use it against us.

The facilities are carefully designed and controlled to ensure that electronic signals, surveillance methods, or other listening devices do not compromise the information discussed in these rooms. I will not, for obvious reasons, go into details.

Bringing electronic devices into a SCIF, and this SCIF in particular is *very* problematic, especially when done by members of Congress.

Because Members of Congress (and their electronic devices) are high-value targets for compromise by foreign intelligence services.

Members of Congress have access to a wide range of sensitive information, including, in the case of these members, conversations with the President of the United States. They travel internationally, receive emails from the public, and meet with foreign dignitaries. As politicians, they're also highly sensitive to revelations of derogatory information, which means that foreign adversaries are very interested in collecting same.

They also tend to be lax in their security protocols. This means they may not know they have been compromised. For example, their phones can be turned into listening devices without their knowledge.

Are you looking for a way to remotely turn on someone’s cell phone microphone to listen to their conversations or to listen to their surroundings to find out what they are doing? The world has become…
https://www.ttspy.com/how-to-turn-on-someones-cell-phone-microphone-remotely.html

This is why outside HPSCI there is a security guard and a series of cabinets for people to leave (and lock) their electronic devices while they are inside the room.

Failure to follow this protocol can violate the security of the entire SCIF.

After an incident like this happens, countermeasures have to be taken to ensure the SCIF is not compromised. It is a time-consuming, technical process, which again, I will not discuss.

But in "storming the SCIF" without observing the security protocols, Rep. Gaetz et al, endangered our national security & demonstrated they care more about a political stunt than protecting intelligence information.

I cannot emphasize enough how serious this is.

To ensure that the information was secure, the members should give over their electronic devices for scanning to ensure no malware was on them, and that they have not compromised the SCIF.

If they don't want to give them up, they should have checked them before entering.

So, to recap:

To disrupt testimony from a DOD official on how the President endangered national security for both the US and Ukraine by withholding military aid, the President's allies further endangered national security by storming the SCIF with their electronic devices.

October 23, 2019

Who would have thought a few months ago there'd be a possibility of a bipartisan House impeachment

and we'd actually be talking about a conviction in the Senate?

At least one person I know of:

October 22, 2019

A few months ago, some people were really upset at the thought that Mueller and other witnesses

might testify out of public view.

Some of us tried to explain that testimony need not be public to be effective and, in fact, testimony out of public view is often much more useful. Among other things, the committees can elicit more information, reduce the reality show "did he look good on teevee" obsessions, and shut down the opportunities for Republicans to turn the testimony into a shishshow.

Now we're seeing the value of testimony being given in closed session.

October 22, 2019

A girl can dream, can't she?

My fantasy scenario: Trump and Pence are removed. Nancy Pelosi becomes president.

The next day, Hillary Clinton is elected Speaker. Pelosi resigns the presidency effective immediately.

President Hillary Rodham Clinton is sworn in. She runs for and wins two full terms, becoming the second longest serving President in American history.

October 22, 2019

Trump's lynching comment wasn't a gaffe. It was a call to action

I have no doubt Trump used the word "lynching" with full intent of putting the word and notion into the heads of his supporters in hopes the violent ones get the message and act accordingly.

And, sadly, I fear someone will.

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