Senators: Why Is Everyone So Worked Up About Verizon Spying? We've All Known About It Since 2007
from the uh... dept
Towards the end of my piece this morning about the administration's ridiculous response to the leaked evidence and confirmation that the NSA is scooping up every single phone record (confirmed from Verizon at least, though you can assume it applies to everyone else as well) was a quick note mentioning that Senator Dianne Feinstein was saying that this was a continuation of the same program that had been going on for seven years. And, now, lots of Senators are coming out and saying the same thing. In fact, it appears that our 100 Senators all knew that this has been going on for seven years without telling us:"Everyone's been aware of it for years, every member of the Senate," said Sen. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee.I love that last bit. Yes, since no citizens "complained" about the totally secret program in which their private data was sucked up by the NSA, what's there to worry about? Senator Harry Reid's response is equally ridiculous, suggesting that everyone should calm down because this is nothing new:
Chambliss told reporters that the program has been going on for seven years under the auspices of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He said he was not aware of a single citizen filing a complaint about it.
"Right now I think everyone should just calm down and understand that this isn't anything that's brand new -- it's been going on for 7 years," Reid said.Again, it's astounding how out of touch these people are. They're pretending that a secret program that went way, way, way beyond what most people believed was happening now being revealed is no big deal because they knew about it for seven years? Frankly, that makes the whole situation that much worse, because it means they supported it and did nothing to end it for seven years.
I know that Senators Ron Wyden and Marc Udall have been trying to get this fact out to the public for years -- demanding that the NSA say how many Americans they were spying on. It was obvious that Wyden and Udall knew what was going on, but couldn't say anything since such information is "classified." But shame on every other Senator for not standing up against this.
Some are arguing that they didn't know:
"If you're on the intel committee, or if you're in leadership, you might have been briefed. I'm pretty good about attending meetings; I don't remember being briefed," said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). He said he voted for the FISA reauthorization and the Patriot Act but did not intend to grant authority to collect millions of phone records at a time.But that's a lame excuse as well, because Senator Wyden spent an awful lot of time making this very point on the Senate floor, pointing out that very clearly that the NSA was using FISA to spy on tons of Americans (hinting strongly that it was all of them) and saying that the Senate shouldn't approve the reauthorization until the NSA told them how many people were being spied on. If Senator Isakson didn't pay attention to Senator Wyden ringing the alarm bell, that's his own fault.
"I never voted intentionally for any bill that would grant blanket [authority] to just monitor every phone call," he said.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: dianne feinstein, henry reid, johnny isakson, marc udall, privacy, ron wyden, saxby chambliss, senate
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Of course, that won't happen. After all, the House keeps trying to repeal Obamacare, even though they get free health benefits for as long as they're in Congress.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Response to: silverscarcat on Jun 6th, 2013 @ 1:03pm
FTFY.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
BTW: people and Governments DO, DO things about Genocide and disease.
No you should not accept (or commit) genocide and as for disease, do you have a choice here ?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
by far, it has been duly formed gummints who promote genocide...
individuals and NGOs, not so much...
(and if you want to talk diseases, i have some smallpox infested blankets to give you...)
art guerrilla
aka ann archy
eof
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It didn't go way, way, way beyond what I believed was happening. Hell, with Google scanning my every e-mail and tracking me where I go and whatever I search for- I'm not dumb enough to believe that there are not tons of organizations doing the same thing.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
/s
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Do you think that google is not providing information to the alphabet agencies in ways that would raise consitutional issues as well?
Maybe we should file a complaint with Sen. Saxby just in case they are.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
And the work around will be that the private companies will collect the data (as they are already doing) and then the government will become clients of these companies and buy or contract for the data just like the other clients/custmers/partners of these companies.
The data is being collected. And it is being sold. If government buys it, then it isn't any different than if anyone buys it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
As long as any company can collect and monitor people, it's being done. The government can put enough degrees of separation between itself and the private companies that it will be increasingly difficult to say it is a "government" function.
Here's how it is done for military operations.
Pentagon Has No Idea What 108,000 Contractors Are Doing: "According to CRS, there are now 108,000 private workers in Afghanistan, a workforce that dwarfs the 65,700 American troops still stationed there. That means there are 1.6 contractors for every American soldier in Afghanistan. This is an increase from last month, when The Fiscal Times reported that there were 1.4 contractors per American soldier."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Although I believe what they are after is not the content but the relationships and what that might tell them is still troubling.
Imagine a rogue president mandating the agency spy for security reasons on all members of congress to find out who of them are working with the "enemy".
It will happen eventually, chances are very good that at least somebody inside that huge government complex is contemplating the idea and thinking "why not?" because he/she doesn't remember Nixon.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Neither party in Congress has been interested in challenging opposition party Presidents on this issue. Have they been "gotten to?" Or are they just cool with the whole thing?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Well, except for Wyden and Udall, I guess. What I'm saying is that it's plain to see that this tooth of the government is rotten, so it's time for a root canal.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
-- Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.)
Can someone get these people a subscription to Techdirt?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
I know for a fact that Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) is a regular reader and one of the leading intellectuals on most matters that are valued by Techdirt's readership. I'd say he's right up there with Wyden and Udall. Here he is in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7XXVLKWd3Q
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Weird re-writing of the 4th ammendment
I think what they are doing qualifies as a illegal seizure (regardless of whether or not they've pinky-sworn not to look at it without probable cause).
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
^
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
calm?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Sanders says 'Unacceptable'
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator McCain conditionally says 'Hearings needed'
Well, Senator McCain, the allegation is that it's just "blanket started finding out who everybody called". I think your "if" there is met.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Merkley say 'Outrageous'
"This type of secret bulk data collection is an outrageous breach of Americans' privacy."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Senator Merkley say 'Outrageous'
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Senator Merkley say 'Outrageous'
Besides Oregon, Montana has both Baucus and Tester on this issue.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Paul says 'assault on the Constitution'
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Heller has questions
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Mikulski says she doesn't know what's going on
"Because often 'fully briefed' means a group of eight leadership; it does not necessarily mean relevant committees," Mikulski said. "So fully briefed doesn't mean we know what's going on.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
When was the last time the good senator actually read the bill he was voting on? This speaks far louder to me than the disclaimer he didn't know. Evidently he just threw up his hand when it came time to vote. I wonder if that coin in his pocket can still be told which is heads?
The idea that all the senate knew but couldn't be bothered to tell the public or arrange to where this was no longer secret in very much on purpose. After all the NSA is not supposed to collect info on in country citizens. Yet here they are willingly violating the Constitution with the express permission of congress. What is wrong with this picture?
This is akin to the sound engineers that couldn't figure out what was the problem with the audience that paid good money to go see a concert only to find it was lip synced. Being so close to the issue, everyone has forgotten what moral behavior is because everyone is in on it. That's a sad commentary on the state of our country.
It's even more condemning when you realize that actions like this are at the root of why the American people don't trust their government.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
even worse they supported it BUT DIDN'T TELL THE PEOPLE, THE VERY ONES THAT WERE BEING SPIED ON. how bloody stupid can people get? i fail to see how these 'officials' get voted in in the first place, let alone get voted back term after term. and dont forget the shit storm that would happen if it was them being spied on. people like Feinstein would be the first to protest!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Flake says 'Wow, that's a revelation'
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Senator Flake says 'Wow, that's a revelation'
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Senator Flake says 'Wow, that's a revelation'
SOURCE: “GOP Sen. Flake Skeptical Of NSA’s Collection Of Phone Logs”, by Tom Kludt, TPM Livewire, June 6, 2013
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Durbin says 'Disturbing but not surprising'
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Corker says 'Extremely serious concerns'
"Collection of this massive amount of detailed information about the communications of American citizens raises extremely serious concerns."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Schumer says 'Invasive'
“One thing I have not heard is what the explanation is for needing to do this,” he said.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Welcome
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Lee is 'Deeply disturbed'
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Tester points to 'Example A', has questions
"I have many questions about the scope of this program and how it affects law-abiding citizens."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Baucus calls it 'Intrusion'
"I have very serious concerns."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Complain on
Soooo OK...EVERYBODY complain to Chambliss!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
going on for 7 years
But get really upset about it now, you cant be expected to know what happens in the REAL WORLD, has always happened and will continue to happen.
get over it. (again)...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Domestic Terrorism
If this is such a good thing why didn't it stop the acts of domestic terrorism this year.
I mean with hundreds of millions of American's records at their disposal you would think they could have shown us something about how our money is being spent
Aurora, Sandy Hook and Boston.Three chances to show us how good they are and they failed miserably.
And they say "trust Us" we need this info to protect you
I say get the fuck out of my personal life and me and Mr Browning will take care of ourselves.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
CSPAN
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Franken says 'public can't be kept in the dark'
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator King is 'Nervous'
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"Qu'ils mangent de la brioche!"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Inhofe learned about program from news
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Kirk
Illinois Senator Kirk's questions and remarks occur at approximately 2:00:00 into the webcast. They have been reported elsewhere, and extracts from the video have also been published.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Graham
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Senator Thune says Congress not fully aware
"I don't believe that most members of Congress… were fully aware of how broad this program was."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]