Congressional Oversight? Dianne Feinstein Says She's 'Not A High-Tech Techie' But Knows NSA Can't Abuse Surveillance

from the oh-really? dept

As the NSA and defenders of NSA surveillance are trying to minimize the damage from the latest leak, which revealed the details of the XKeyscore program, they're bending over backwards to insist that this program is both limited and immune from abuse. We've already mentioned that the claims that it can't be abused are laughable since there's already a well-documented history of abuse. However, even more bizarre is the following quote from Senate Intelligence Committee boss, Senator Dianne Feinstein (a staunch defender of the surveillance programs):
Feinstein said, “I am not a high-tech techie, but I have been told that is not possible.”
Note that among Feinstein's jobs is oversight of this program. Yet, what kind of "oversight" is it when she admits that she's not qualified to understand the technology but "has been told" that such abuses are not possible? That doesn't seem like oversight. That seems like asking the NSA "can this system be abused?" and the NSA saying "oh, no no no, not at all." That's not exactly oversight, now is it?
Hide this

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, nsa, nsa surveillance, oversight, surveillance, technology


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • icon
    Ninja (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 4:32am

    So we found a person who falls for the Nigerian Prince scam.

    "You know, he told me the guy was a prince so I gave him all my belongings. I'm sure I will receive all the gazillion dollars he promised me."

    It's amusing and depressing to see how these people ignore how the mindless defense of an illegal and failed scheme makes them look like complete dumb-asses.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 6:42am

      Re:

      Q: How many Senators do you have to have dirt on to make them ignore you?

      A: None, if you tell them it can't be abused.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Hephaestus (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 7:46am

        Re: Re:

        Q: How many senators does it take to turn on a computer?

        A: What's a computer.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Hephaestus (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 7:48am

        Re: Re:

        I got nothing on this ... could someone finish it?

        Q: How does a Senator screw in a light bulb?

        A:

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Rekrul, 2 Aug 2013 @ 7:54am

          Re: Re: Re:

          A: He/she calls maintenance.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Cixelsid (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 7:55am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Writes up a bill to screw in lightbulb. Get into partisan disagreement. Rewrite bill to allow for the provision to have a lightbulb screwed in.

          Have congress vote the bill down.

          Sit in the dark.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 8:14am

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Don't be absurd. For something as simple as screwing in a lightbulb there would easily be bipartisain support for a budget that allocated 3.5 million dollars in a no-bid contract for a private firm to screw in 1500 light bulbs per-year followed quickly by bipartisain support for a budget that allocated an additional 7 million dollars in a no-bid contract for a private firm to determine the number of light bulbs that actually need to be screwed in per year.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Cixelsid (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 9:03am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Damn. You are of course correct. The appropriate response to Hephaestus' riddle would have been.

              Q: How does a Senator screw in a lightbulb?

              A: MONEY!!!

              Bonus points if you said trickle down economics.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          David Muir (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 7:57am

          Re: Re: Re:

          A: Using the Incredible Shrinking Machine, both the senator and the sexually provocative intern can fit inside the light bulb. We're not high-tech techies, but we're told this is perfectly possible.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            New Mexico Mark, 2 Aug 2013 @ 10:05am

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Oops... missed this one, and better than mine. Plus one, sir.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 7:57am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Probably the same way they screw the public.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          drkkgt (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 8:38am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Buy stock of light bulb company via the subsidiary of their shell company. Promote said Company's light bulbs as brighter thus allowing for better security from terrorists and child molesters. Also fight for local light bulb installer union and how the LED consortium is trying to take away good American jobs,
          Then after all the lobbying, fighting, delaying tactics, and closed door trade agreements are done: we pay 16.63 million for a guy with a top secret security clearance to come in and screw in a light bulb.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 8:59am

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            And next year we'll pay 13.33 million for two guys to to a study on congressional light bulb expenditures. We'll conclude there needs to be reforms then redo the whole process again the year after the results of which will, of course, be exactly the same only with different labels.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          New Mexico Mark, 2 Aug 2013 @ 10:03am

          Re: Re: Re:

          A: First, entice an intern to get into the light bulb with them...

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Argonel (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 10:34am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Start by hiring an intern and arranging a junket to somewhere with amazing scenery and an extremely large lightbulb.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          John Fenderson (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 10:57am

          Re: Re: Re:

          A: I don't know, but I bet it's a shocking story.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      jon reid, 2 Aug 2013 @ 6:21pm

      Re:

      SwineStein is a pig dog that would fall for it.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    silverscarcat (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 4:40am

    Seriously...

    I gotta wonder...

    Are the people these morons go against THAT bad that people continue to vote for them?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      jupiterkansas (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 7:30am

      Re: Seriously...

      They are in my state.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      jupiterkansas (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 10:03am

      Re: Seriously...

      To elaborate, a lot of the candidates I've seen against incumbents are single-issue candidates (usually abortion). It's hard to vote for someone who only has one goal.

      Also, the incumbent's job is basically full-time campaigning. That's how they spend most of their time - raising money to get re-elected.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Guardian, 2 Aug 2013 @ 4:55am

    they are itching for me to leak a 40gb hard drive a mine

    that shows how someone trolled all the data on my web forum then used quotes by me out of context during the bush years....
    hell the proof was right on national tv as bush and Colin Powell rammed off bullshit....

    they better quit lying , its already been abused

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Scote, 2 Aug 2013 @ 5:02am

    "Feinstein said, “I am not a high-tech techie, but I have been told that is not possible.”"


    Right, just like it's impossible for a contractor to exfiltrate classified training documents with details on the program... :-/

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 5:04am

    "That's not exactly oversight, now is it?"

    It's the OTHER definition of oversight.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 5:12am

    I am not a highly competent law maker, but I have been told the position is immune to corruption.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 5:13am

    Rule 1 of Government: Everything can be Abused.

    Anyone who thinks otherwise is not qualified to work in government.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 8:16am

      Re:

      Of course she doesn't actually think that.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      John Fenderson (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 9:10am

      Re:

      In the computer security business, there's variants of this rule such as "if it can be accessed legally, it can be accessed illegally".

      I think, really, it's rule 1 of living with other human beings, not just government.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Capt ICE Enforcer, 2 Aug 2013 @ 5:22am

    Question of the day.

    Maybe if she were allowed to review those leaked document she could do the oversight. But unfortunately they are classified and would pose GRAVE DANGER to the CHILDREN. She has made the right choice to rmain an idiot. Also NSA analis please fix my spelling/grammer errors before this post reaches the net. Thanks.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 5:27am

    I'm not a Senator and Chairman of the Intelligence Committee

    ...

    but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 5:30am

    How exactly does someone with no intelligence and no tech knowledge become a boss of a government committee that deals with those exact things? Just the fact that she holds this position is completely shameful and embarrassing.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      TheLastCzarnian (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 7:02am

      Re:

      Come on. I think we all agree "House Intelligence" is an oxymoron, therefore a moron is a perfect person to be part of such a group.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 8:19am

      Re:

      The statements actually belie intelligence. This is what people that vote for people like Feinstein love to hear. If their candidate actually admitted that they understood the tech they'd be a 'nerd' or a 'techie' and those people are bad. Of course she knows it can be abused she'd just never actually say it.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 1:58pm

      Re:

      Are you kidding? Having no knowledge is essential to obtaining oversight positions. It is like juries, they don't want anyone who actually knows enough to cry bullshit at their obvious lies.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Prashanth (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 5:35am

    Have you been beating your wife?

    We've already seen for a fact how the NSA can abuse surveillance, so I'm not sure why Senator Feinstein is continuing to argue that this can't happen. I should ask her: has she been been beating her husband? Because he looks remarkably...horse-ish. B-)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 5:43am

    "The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going."
    -Proverbs 14:15

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 5:58am

      Re:

      "The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps."

      Sorry, can't be dealing with thys and eths

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 5:54am

    I wonder if she feel the same way about surgeons:

    "Heck, no Senator. I'm no surgeon. But anyone can do an appendectomy, right? Now, just relax and lie there for a minute while I look for my angle grinder."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    DannyB (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 5:55am

    Dianne Feinstein is correct

    The NSA simply cannot abuse surveillance. It simply is not possible in a technical or legal sense.

    The definition of 'abuse' is a classified secret, but the American people should be assured that the NSA will operate within and honor that secret definition of 'abuse'.

    The secret definition of 'abuse' can be secretly changed without secret notice.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    dpaus (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 5:57am

    "That seems like asking the NSA "can this system be abused?" and the NSA saying.....

    [MontyPython] "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, not at all! No, no, no. No. No. Well, yes. A bit. A little bit. Well, quite a bit, actually. In fact, almost totally." [/MontyPython]

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 6:06am

    there is only one possible solution for her and that is to be removed from office. what would a boss say, any boss, if the person working for him said he couldn't do the job, but someone else had told him how to do it and that it would be 'OK'? straight out the door, exactly what should happen here.

    the biggest problem with politics and perhaps US politics in particular is that there is too much by far of this 'good speech' crap, old mates club and everything you can think of except being 'the right person for the job'. consider the amount of 'clout' this woman has and then to see she doesn't know anything about the very thing that has been/is being used to spy on just about the whole world. that is so scary, it's untrue! she may not know much about it, but she knows enough to deny what it can do, knowing full well that she is spouting nothing but lies! she needs to go and quick!!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 6:50am

      Re:

      there is only one possible solution for her and that is to be removed from office. what would a boss say, any boss, if the person working for him said he couldn't do the job, but someone else had told him how to do it and that it would be 'OK'? straight out the door, exactly what should happen here.

      So who are you going to replace her with, Wyden? He's a lawyer. Wyden chairs energy and natural resources but has no particular training in those fields. His state is a big producer of lumber and forest products, hence his interest. Before you sputter in indignation, why don't you review the credentials of all of the committee chairs and find ONE chair with specific training. And then consider that the head of the railroads doesn't know how to run a locomotive.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 8:22am

        Re: Re:

        The issue isn't that she doesn't know how to run a locomotive it's that she says she doesn't know how to run a locomotive in the exact same sentence as stating that the locomotive cannot crash.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        mcinsand, 2 Aug 2013 @ 9:07am

        to get less-unqualified replacements

        If we want a far better House and Senate than we have now, we merely have to grab people at random off the street. I'm serious. If we had a draft, then we would no longer be selectively accumulating the most self-serving and least qualified (but best self-marketing) slice of our populace.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          John Fenderson (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 9:47am

          Re: to get less-unqualified replacements

          I've long been partial to this idea (on the basis that desire for office should be disqualification for office). But a friend came up with an objection that I could never quite answer...

          if politicians are drafted, then the natural result will be that the lower-level functionaries will become the real power, simply by virtue of the fact that they will stick around while the politicians come and go.

          Once lower-level functionaries are the real power, you have a defacto hidden government and less transparency and accountability than we have even now.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            stockholderssyndrome, 2 Aug 2013 @ 10:10am

            Re: Re: to get less-unqualified replacements

            each of the lower-level functionaries leaders are appointed but the basic foundation is still there ... our problem is they seem to forget the honor that's bestowed on them and that the Constitution is the highest law of the land . and most of our elected officials are career politicians and former agents .. they and we are incapable of thinking outside the box for the most part. .. remember these words absolute power corrupts absolutely.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Tman, 2 Aug 2013 @ 10:11am

            Re: Re: to get less-unqualified replacements

            what makes you think that's not happening now?

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              John Fenderson (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 11:00am

              Re: Re: Re: to get less-unqualified replacements

              Oh, I think it is. Except it's not the lower-level functionaries who are the hidden government, but powerful industry groups.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • icon
                crade (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 3:07pm

                Re: Re: Re: Re: to get less-unqualified replacements

                No, the bureucrates that don't rotate over whom you call low-level are the ones who run things and have the power, they do the bidding of the industry groups or sometimes the elected officials, but only if they choose to. The NSA would be a good example to see how it works.

                If you think a bit, the only difference between the draft version and the current version is how the people who rotate are selected. They still rotate, and the problem you mention doesn't change.

                link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        stockholderssyndrome, 2 Aug 2013 @ 9:29am

        Re: Re:

        She'll just go to work for the lobbying industry just like the rest of our government officials.. POWER UPS aren't just for gaming ..

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 6:06am

    Hello NSA. If your reading this, Well done on pulling the wool over everyone eyes and when that truth is reveal people still don't want to understand. You have silky skills.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 6:08am

    Hello NSA, you guys rock :D Would it be possible to leak the emails of the writers of breaking bad. Totally want to find out how it ends :)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 6:08am

    Oh, come now. We all know she outsourced her oversight duties to a call center in some other country.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Jasmine Charter, 2 Aug 2013 @ 6:09am

    I ain't a smart woman...

    So, because of idiotic bimbo says it's ok... it's ok?!

    How do these people get elected?! And even more curious is how such a complete techno-moron gets put on this sort of committee, which by it's very definition requires a member to be somewhat of a "high-tech techie".

    How about we start requiring members of certain committees to take tests to demonstrate their ability to actually be useful before being allowed on a committee.

    If it's a committee on agriculture, then they should have SOME agricultural experience. If it's a committee that deals with high tech issues, then they should have more knowledge about computers than just knowing where the on switch is.

    MORONS.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 6:11am

    "These are not the surveillance abuses you are looking for."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 6:38am

    Lets be real

    Her job is to provide oversight of the process, not the mechanics of software.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      TheLastCzarnian (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 7:11am

      Re: Lets be real

      This is true. However, you have at least several hundred, if not several thousand employees all trained in security who are able to break any system in the world... except their own. The system that they made.
      And we're just supposed to swallow that, because the lunatic fringe said so. No rational or technical reason.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      crade (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 8:54am

      Re: Lets be real

      Despite what useless managers will tell you, you can't oversee without understanding. If you are taking someone else's word without understanding, then they are the ones doing the overseeing.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Spaceman Spiff (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 7:30am

    Time to retire Dianne...

    Feinstein was a maverick who helped break the "glass ceiling" when she was first elected. Unfortunately, she is now part of that ceiling... :-( Dianne, it is time you retired, or get retired by your constituents - you don't understand the new tech modus, and if you don't, you cannot possibly represent your constituents properly. Hopefully, they will realize, and act upon that.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      John Fenderson (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 9:49am

      Re: Time to retire Dianne...

      I remember when "maverick" was a good thing, rather than meaning "reckless and irresponsible".

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    FM Hilton, 2 Aug 2013 @ 7:35am

    Credits

    I'm not a Senator and Chairman of the Intelligence Committee,

    but I play one on TV.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rekrul, 2 Aug 2013 @ 7:57am

    In other news, Farmer Brown says his chicken coop is completely secure. The fox assured him that it was.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    crade (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 8:00am

    I'm not a preachy preacher but I've been told the Bible says God is an empty kraft dinner box.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 8:14am

    The more comes out on this mess, the more pissed I get. The whole thing is a sham. From start to finish there is no oversight, there is no legality outside the changing of words to mean what they aren't, and with oversight from idiots like this you can be assured no ability to actually oversee anything.

    No wonder out government is in the mess it's in. It's the rich leading the rich and no one else has a clue.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Kurt, 2 Aug 2013 @ 8:40am

    A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the highway. Nothing is moving.

    Suddenly, a man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down the
    window and asks, "What's going on?"

    "Terrorists have kidnapped Congress, and are asking for a $10
    million dollar ransom. Otherwise, they are going to douse them all
    in gasoline and set them on fire. We are going from car to car,
    taking up a collection."

    "How much is everyone giving, on average?" the driver asks.

    The man replies, "About a gallon."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 9:02am

    If she knows anything about the field she administers has nothing to do with competence in politics and I know that the writer knows that too.

    Just attacking the poor fool in the committee is pretty worthless since it is a systemic problem with no easy solution.

    A politician is a person who is either arrogant and stupid or has no specific opinion on most issues. They are elected based on their ability to speak and endear the old media and because of donations. When they are in office the people who donated is lobbying to get their moneys worth.

    Last I heard, politicians often do not look at laws because they haven't got the time. Instead, they read every lobby-opinion or has people finding the most important to read through. By doing that, they are assuring they know the arguments for or against a law, which in a mudthrowing-debate is more valuable. After that they look up who donated the most and what opinion they had on this law, they determine their stand on that issue.

    That system somewhat works when there are more or less equal and opposite opinions among those lobbying, but it is completely bullocks in terms of copyright and any kind of security spending.

    Copyright is made into a clusterf** of companies wanting harder laws and most of them have no upper limit on how extreme, while mostly non-donating groups are making up the opposition. Today tech industry has entered the battle on the small groups side and that is the only reason anything can ever change in that debate among politicians...

    Security spending is a problem because of the "better safe than sorry"-mentality in politics. Look at what happened in Benghazi and how Obama was grilled there! That is a sign of the real problem.
    Add to that bias, a 100 % lack of real opposing views and open debate on secret service spending and you have every red alert of a democratically estranged group with a lack of real oversight since no politicians dare challenge the better safe than sorry doctrine and an eternal downpour of spending based on lobbying activity.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Phoenix84 (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 9:18am

    Silicon Valley

    Yet she represents the tech capital of the country?
    Yet another reason she needs to go, she does not represent our state.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    stockholderssyndrome, 2 Aug 2013 @ 9:32am

    The Derpside is strong with this one

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    OldMugwump (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 9:43am

    For the person whose only tool is a hammer, every problem is a nail.

    If you're a legislator and there is a problem, your solution is to pass a law.

    Make it illegal to do something, and that thing can't happen, see? Problem solved.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Cranford Ducain, 2 Aug 2013 @ 10:20am

    Abuse? What abuse?

    How can anyone who can get elected to the Senate and put two words together,not understand that this surveillance is not already an abuse of the governments powers in a representative democracy such as ours.
    Has she not "atleast" had the fourth amendment of the U S Constitution read to her??

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 10:32am

    I think there should be a new category of articles on Techdirt called "Retards".

    Most of the Feinstein articles would fall under that.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Uriel-238 (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 11:38am

    Anti-intellectualism prevails in the senate.

    AGAIN with the Well, I'm no nerd schtick. I thought that went out with SOPA.

    Disappointed.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 12:00pm

      Re: Anti-intellectualism prevails in the senate.

      Ha, it never will, none of them will be smart enough to understand the things they legislate

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 12:20pm

    Spystein, I am disappoint.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    gorehound (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 12:24pm

    Feinstein makes me want to throw up in my Mouth ! She is one Woman I can not stand.Corrupt Freak ! Spy Queen ! A-Hole Supreme ! Bunch of dumb losers Vote in schmucks like her.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Uriel-238 (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 1:00pm

      "Bunch of dumb losers"

      Speaking of one of the bunch of dumb losers, it's not like alternatives were any better.

      She won't be getting any more of my votes, mind you, but I have good reasons to not endorse a GOP rival. Especially considering that said candidates would probably be pro-surveillance anyway.

      Same as the old boss.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 1:31pm

    It's not if it's being abused...

    It's how is it being abused... if someone or something can access it (so called 'authorized use'), then they can abuse it.
    After-all, we're talking about logic here... how the hell can a computer program tell the intent of a user, it only knows _if_ they can access it.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Uriel-238 (profile), 2 Aug 2013 @ 2:09pm

    Compare and contrast.

    Is this like the we torture only terrorists thing?

    We don't access it until there's something to be discovered. Once we discover something significant that justifies our accessing it.

    Because we magically detect when there's significant information with our magic significant information detector.

    Just like our magic terrorist detector which can determine a terrorist without due process.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 2:23pm

      Re: Compare and contrast.

      The detector that magically catches all the terrorists they create themselves but totally misses the terrorists they don't create?

      That detector?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    T, 2 Aug 2013 @ 3:38pm

    Hey, Diane. Go flog yourself. Opus Dei style.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2013 @ 3:45pm

    Somebody should tell her that "oversight" doesn't mean looking over the horizon.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Lleuad Ci (profile), 3 Aug 2013 @ 7:24pm

    Not possible

    If abuse of NSA systems is not possible they are the only branch of government to achieve uptopia.
    Thousands of Medicare, tax, social security and transport records are trawlled by government employees for 'less than professional' reasons every year. (eg: checking up on your ex-wife's new partner)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Patriot Rodney, 17 Aug 2013 @ 1:30pm

    Dianne Feinstein's overlooking oversight of NSA

    To quote fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton
    "What difference - at this point, what difference does it make?"

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.