The NSA Is Dianne Feinstein's And Mike Rogers' Abusive, Cheating Spouse

Say That Again

from the you'd-think-the-head-of-an-intelligence-committee-would-know-how-to-quit-som dept

Wed, Aug 28th 2013 8:42am — Tim Cushing

The leak-and-response cycle of the past couple months has been highly entertaining and the pattern is nearly always the same.

Leak reveals evidence of NSA overreach or wrongdoing.
NSA issues statement explaining how leak is being misinterpreted or is an aberration.
NSA attends hearings and issues statements declaring it doesn't abuse its power. (Frequently qualified with "not under this program.")
New leak reveals evidence of NSA overreach or wrongdoing, proving NSA's most recent statements were pretty much "incomplete lies" or "least untruthful" answers.
Repeat.

The most remarkable aspect of this cycle is the unwavering support Mike Rogers and Dianne Feinstein continue to provide the agency. No matter how damaging the leak or how egregious the lies, Rogers and Feinstein stand by their beloved NSA like severely co-dependent spouses, firmly believing against all available evidence that the most recently disclosed act of malfeasance will be the NSA's last.

If it weren't so sad, it would be almost comical. (Granted, it is a little comical, in part because it's so sad.)

It all began back with the first leak -- the order demanding Verizon cough up metadata on millions of customers. The response from Dianne Feinstein?

"I knew -- hell, EVERYONE knew -- about the NSA's shady past when I hooked up with it. Why's everyone so outraged?"

A few days later, Feinstein (and others) attempted to justify PRISM's collection efforts by claiming it had prevented the NYC subway bombing, when actual, non-defensively-deployed evidence suggested otherwise.

"Look, the NSA has had an 'interesting' life, but it's also theoretically done good things."

It all came to a head a little over a week ago. Feinstein, standing by her ~~man~~ agency, boldly declared there was no evidence the NSA had abused its powers. This was followed almost immediately by the release of information indicating the NSA had abused its power. Repeatedly.

Even this failed to diminish Feinstein's devotion. Her response?

"Sure, the agency cheated, but it was, like, once a year."

NSA: "Um, don't be mad, but it was slightly more than that. But these thousands of violations meant nothing to us, baby! You gotta believe that!"

Actually, it was way more than "slightly more," and even Feinstein seems to be a bit nonplussed (or at least quieter), glaring as the agency explained further:

"Cheating over 2,000 times may LOOK bad, but you're not taking into account those millions of times we didn't! Perspective. That's the key."

Mike Rogers' relationship with the agency seems just as needy, but his reactions are uglier. Rogers doesn't rely on swiftly debunked denials. Instead, Rogers believes the real problem is everyone else -- all these jealous haters who have it in for the agency.

At first, it was just other pesky Congress members looking for details on the NSA. None of their business. This isn't their battle. Rogers is the one in the relationship and if there's anyone who should be worried, it's Rogers. And he's not worried.

But we're worried, Mike, they'd say. Let us in. Let us know what's going on. No deal. Then, finally, something emerges.

"Leave it alone! It needs its freedom! If it doesn't have that, then it can't be the agency it wants to. You hurt not just me and the agency, but all of us when you question its actions. Stop driving us apart!"

But we don't think it should be acting this way, they say. This isn't how a helpful agency acts. This is how an abusive agency acts.

"Shut up. You're all jealous. Just a bunch of social media know-nothings and internet freaks. You have no idea how complex the situation really is."

And as the evidence of wrongdoing continues to pile up, Rogers not only covers his own ears and shouts nonsensical syllables over the concerned crowd, but covers the ears of the crowd as well.

The deep-seated denial continues despite thousands of violations being uncovered. Rogers may be hurt but he's not willing to kick his faithless agency to the curb. He's almost vanished completely, off composing justifications that restore the agency's trustworthiness.

If nothing else, he rationalizes, the agency has just maybe prevented a bad thing or two from happening. Surely that's enough to excuse its egregious abuse of the nation's trust? Besides, it's not as if you can trust the opinion of shut-ins and Facebook users. They don't know what it's like out there in the real world, where everything is a big gray area.

Relationships are never simple, especially for those on the inside. Feinstein and Rogers have both had their trust abused greatly by an agency they seem to worship, and that can't feel good. Unfortunately, they seem unable (or unwilling) to make a clean break, which makes one wonder exactly what it would take to separate them from the NSA, and how unfortunate that revelation would be for the citizens they're supposed to be representing.

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Filed Under: co-dependency, dianne feinstein, house intelligence committee, mike rogers, nsa, nsa surveillance, senate intelligence committee

34 Comments

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Reader Comments

The First Word

“

Just look at their real spouses

The unwavering support Mike Rogers and Dianne Feinstein continue to provide the NSA can easily be explained by looking at their real spouses:

From Richard C. Blum's (Feinstein 's husband) Wikipedia page:

Critics have argued that business contracts with the US government awarded to a company (Perini) controlled by Blum may raise a potential conflict-of-interest issue with the voting and policy activities of his wife. URS Corp, which Blum had a substantial stake in, bought EG&G, a leading provider of technical services and management to the U.S. military, from The Carlyle Group in 2002; EG&G subsequently won a $600m defense contract. Source

and from Mike Roger's Wikipedia page:

His wife, Kristi Clemens Rogers, was previously President and CEO of Aegis LLC, a contractor to the United States Department of State for intelligence-based and physical security services. Source

—Gwiz

”

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Ninja (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 7:09am

Well, considering some people like to see their partners being banged maybe they have this secret fetish or something?

I have another theory: at least one of them is hooked by the pockets. I will not be surprised if I see they were benefiting financially from these abuses. Oh wait...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

out_of_the_blue, 28 Aug 2013 @ 9:02am

Oy. Yet more People Magazine level analysis.
Here's a real writer for contrast:

Pedestrian Reasoning on Government Spying

http://www.activistpost.com/2013/08/pedestrian-reasoning-on-government.html#more
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hephaestus (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 9:23am

Do the reporters on this have a logic diagram that tells them what to release?

if (NSA_said == "they said this bold faced lie")
{
release = "this to embarrass them";
}

or do they have so much information that anything the NSA says can be refuted immediately.
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Alt0, 28 Aug 2013 @ 9:26am

First of all OOTB I have good friends working at People so watch it! Well actually its one good friend and he recently moved to Entertainment Weekly but, whatever...)

Back to the OP ...err story.

"which makes one wonder exactly what it would take to separate them from the NSA"
What can and I predict WILL happen is when the dirt the "agency" has on the two of them is uncovered and they no longer have anything to protect.
Financial or otherwise.
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Gwiz (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 9:29am

Re: Oy. Yet more People Magazine level analysis.
Clicked report (which I usually don't do) on this one Blue.

If you want to start your own blog, go ahead, knock yourself out.

But please stop trying to ride the coattails of Techdirt's popularity to spout your inane messages and wacky notions.

Thank you,
-The Internet
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SolkeshNaranek (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 9:32am

Rogers and Feinstein
Rogers and Feinstein have no credibility left with the public.

They may as well ride that pony to death then eat its remains... or keep defending it until they get no more campaign contributions.

Either way I bet they couldn't care less. Once you sell out your self respect, nothing much bothers you anymore.
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Aug 2013 @ 9:36am

Re:
An alternate theory is that the NSA has them by the balls. (Choose analogy as appropriate for gender, culture, etc.)

After all, their allegedly private information is just as susceptible to being vacuumed up as ours. Don't you think that somewhere inside the NSA there's a unit specifically tasked with finding dirt on politicians, judges, corporate officers, civic leaders, etc.?
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BentFranklin (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 9:41am

Re: Re: Oy. Yet more People Magazine level analysis.
I didn't see anything wrong with that link.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Aug 2013 @ 9:41am

Can we get Feinstein out of California, please?
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Anthony "Wiener" Wiener, 28 Aug 2013 @ 9:42am

I like the cheating spouse analogy...
Snowden has all the incriminating 'selfies'.
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Aug 2013 @ 9:56am

what is so frightening about the reveals is that, with the power they have from the positions they hold, both Feinstein and Rogers wouldn't hesitate to use everything at their disposal to protect themselves, even if not to protect the NSA! i wouldn't mind betting that when the time is right, there will be some serious consequences taken out on some people. those people wont even know what they have done and possibly didn't do anything other than their job, but i bet retaliation will be had. the problem with people who have that power have to also have the restraint to use it only when absolutely needed, not just to prove a point!
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Gwiz (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 10:03am

Re: Re: Re: Oy. Yet more People Magazine level analysis.
It wasn't the link that annoyed me. It's Blue.

If he doesn't like the reporting here, why is he here every single day? Why the obession with commenting on every single article?

He comes here to mooch off the popularity and reputation that Techdirt has spent 15 years building. If he believed half of what he spouts about copyright, common law, attribution and ownership he'd realize that he undermines his whole argument by his attempts to "infringe" on the hard work and sweat of others.
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Gwiz (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 10:14am

Just look at their real spouses
The unwavering support Mike Rogers and Dianne Feinstein continue to provide the NSA can easily be explained by looking at their real spouses:

From Richard C. Blum's (Feinstein 's husband) Wikipedia page:
Critics have argued that business contracts with the US government awarded to a company (Perini) controlled by Blum may raise a potential conflict-of-interest issue with the voting and policy activities of his wife. URS Corp, which Blum had a substantial stake in, bought EG&G, a leading provider of technical services and management to the U.S. military, from The Carlyle Group in 2002; EG&G subsequently won a $600m defense contract. Source

and from Mike Roger's Wikipedia page:
His wife, Kristi Clemens Rogers, was previously President and CEO of Aegis LLC, a contractor to the United States Department of State for intelligence-based and physical security services. Source
[ link to this | view in thread ]
BentFranklin (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 10:24am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Oy. Yet more People Magazine level analysis.
You should report posts, not people, and only for specific reasons. Auto-reporting people also undermines Techdirt.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
slinkySlim, 28 Aug 2013 @ 10:45am

Re: Just look at their real spouses
Insidious.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jeff (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 10:54am

Re: Re: Just look at their real spouses
Darth Insidious....
[ link to this | view in thread ]
SKP, 28 Aug 2013 @ 11:03am

Waiting on the Self-Redacted Speech where only the Sentence Lead-Ins are Spoken with LONG Pauses between

Politicians Make the BEST Comedians (unknowingly)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ninja (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 11:03am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Oy. Yet more People Magazine level analysis.
Considering almost 100% of what he posts is complete bs I don't see much losses here. While the link may not be bad at all and actually a valid source the comment itself is obnoxious. And from all the time I've been here he's a lot worse lately.
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Gwiz (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 11:08am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Oy. Yet more People Magazine level analysis.
You should report posts, not people, and only for specific reasons. Auto-reporting people also undermines Techdirt.

I don't auto-report people. I rarely use the report button at all. You can get off of my back about that, please.

I reported this comment because of Blue's rude and discourteous reference to a so-called "real writer". That's no way to treat your host. If Blue wants to start his own blog and spout his inane ramblings and link to whomever he thinks is a "better writer" to his heart's content, then he should go for it. He just doesn't need to do it in the comment section at Techdirt. Just my 2�.
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Ninja (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 11:10am

Re: Re:
Indeed but usually comes back to the pockets, legal or illegal. Maybe some of them have some kinky tastes yeah.. And nobody wants to keep things secret right? After all our society is very evolved and accepts people that like scat bsdm sex... /sarcasm
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Ninja (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 11:19am

Re: Just look at their real spouses
That. Have my insightful vote as I don't have any first words to give this month...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
New Mexico Mark, 28 Aug 2013 @ 12:08pm

Re:
Good luck with that. The way I see it, neighboring states are starting those California fires to create an actual "firewall", preventing dangerous people like Feinstein from crossing their borders. Its temporary containment until the moats and alligators are in place. :D
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Aug 2013 @ 12:51pm

How does the saying go? "If you love something set it free...."
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Aug 2013 @ 12:54pm

Re: Just look at their real spouses
*dons tinfoil hat*

Those people are just robots designed to lie to Congress so that Feinstein and Rogers can steal from the Government!

*removes tinfoil hat
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W Klink (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 1:09pm

Or maybe the NSA isn't really that stupid...
The NSA has the ability to literally monitor every phone call, email and all internet activity of anyone. Abuses are self-reported.

What are the chances that the NSA is NOT monitoring the heads of the committees that fund them? And what are the chances that a career politician (44 years for Feinstein; 19 for Rogers) never made a single transgressions that they would rather keep private?
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Feinstein and Rogers = Dummies or liars, 28 Aug 2013 @ 1:21pm

Feinstein and Rogers = Dummies or liars
Dianne Feinstein and Mike Rogers are either astute liars or are dummies. They have either lied to the American public, or they don't know what they're talking about. I'm siding on the side of being a dummy. I don't know how members of Congress could stand there and continually lie to the American people about something so important. there is a great SNL skit where a puppet master and his dummy are saying to each other "You're the dummy." "No you're the dummy." Well I think Feinstein and Rogers are the dummies, and the American people for voting in dummies.
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Derek Kerton (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 2:01pm

Hey, Baby. I DIDN'T Cheat 710,000,000 More Times Than I Did
Honey, I know I cheated with 5 women. But, baby, think of how good I've been. The world has about 7.1 Billion people, half of them women. And I didn't cheat with 3.55 Billion of them. I couldn't even dream of it, because I was just thinking of you.

And if you add in Pomosexuality, I didn't cheat with 7,999,999,995 people.

Math don't lie, baby. I am almost totally straight with you, and insignificantly a cheater.
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Dan, 28 Aug 2013 @ 3:04pm

I understand that Feinstein is some kind of California icon and will never lose an election there, but still. Can't the citizens of California (especially Silicon Valley) say enough is enough, and recall her? She is way off her meds.
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JTReyn (profile), 28 Aug 2013 @ 3:27pm

Coming soon: "SPIES GONE WILD"
Feinstein & Rogers are clueless. Like everybody else, they're waiting for the video, "SPIES GONE WILD," with NSA spies dressed in black and hi-fiving each other as they crowd around a monitor going gaga watching Lady Gaga on her bedroom laptop webcam. Or Kate Upton. Or Sarah Palin. Or... does it matter? It may even be you.

I'm sorry but The US Patriot Act justification doesn't wash anymore: "We're hunting terrorists. We don't need no stinking 4th Amendment."

A problem that won't go away is that, with data stored in public cloud services, a third party has access to your files and can give them away without your knowledge or permission. Plus they keep backup files forever. So even if you delete your files and close your account, NSA can find them.

The only real solution is to get a private cloud, like a Cloudlocker (www.cloudlocker.it) that works like a cloud service but stays at home where they still need a warrant to look inside.
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Aug 2013 @ 1:06am

"Cheating over 2,000 times may LOOK bad, but you're not taking into account those millions of times we didn't! Perspective. That's the key."

Classic Spystein and Mike Fogers logic!
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Jim Anderson, 29 Aug 2013 @ 4:57am

Feinstein Ad Hominen?
Senator Feinstein seems to be suffering from PTSD.It is clear that her idea of an approach to dealing with a problem is to give arbitrary power to someone official in the hope that things will get better. Even if you favour gun control her proposals in that area seem to be really out there. She is nothing less than a cheer leader for the current surveillance policies.
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babaganusz, 5 Sep 2013 @ 6:44pm

Re: Re:
the most rageworthy part (at least for me, at least at this moment shortly after being reminded) is that just like countless other putative public servants in all three branches, their profiteering puts the lie to their rhetoric -> nobody really g.a.f., mere demands they recuse themselves from conflicts {nyuk nyuk} of interest mean nothing -> they no longer bother with high-minded rhetoric outside of fundraisers -> they keep getting funded/elected -> why actually adhere to a single humanitarian principle, ever?
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Brandon Jones, 12 Nov 2013 @ 8:15pm

Feinstein covering for war pig neocons behind 911
Feinstein is part of the communist takeover that took place after 911 and she has helped plan it since the 1970s. The FBI should do a full investigation as to why she has suppressed credible, true and correct information about 911. American FBI agents you better wake up because this is your country being destroyed by these dual citizen politicians too.
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The Innovative PI, 31 Jul 2014 @ 9:27pm

Information is Power
Democrat or Republican, red or blue, progressive, liberal or rhino, they all get drunk with power and the new catapult for that power is information. Both parties may fight amongst themselves (albeit superficially) but they have banded together against the American People and this is their strangle hold.
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