Rep. Mike Rogers Angrily Defends Bathroom Spycam
from the as-long-as-they-don't-know-about-it dept
Ken White blogs at Popehat. He's a litigator and criminal defense attorney at Brown White & Newhouse LLP in Los Angeles. His views are his alone, not those of his firm. This post is cross-posted from Popehat with permission.And, because we here at Techdirt have had issues with Mike Rogers' office in the past, we hope that they have a dictionary and a copy of the Constitution -- though, given the comments that inspired this post, it seems like he might need a remedial refresher course.
Dateline: Washington, D.C.: Representative Mike Rogers (R-Michigan) was defiant today in the face of accusations that he had installed a small digital camera in the women's bathroom in his office at the Capitol.
"This is just politics," said the ten-term Congressman. "I would argue the fact that we haven't had any women come forward with any specificity arguing that their privacy has been violated, clearly indicates, in ten years, clearly indicates that something must be doing right. Somebody must be doing something exactly right."
When reporters asked how women would know to complain — the spycam, funded by the government, was expertly hidden — Rogers asserted that was the point. "You can't have your privacy violated if you don't know your privacy is violated," said Rogers.
Rogers went on to explain that the nation's Capitol — which has housed figures like former Congressman Bob Filner and former Senator Bob Packwood — presents known dangers to women, and that the spycam is calculated to make certain they are protected from those dangers. "If the women knew exactly what that spycam was about, they would be applauding and popping champagne corks. It's a good thing. it keeps the women safe. It keeps the Capitol safe," Rogers asserted.
Rogers then abruptly concluded the interview, threatening to sue reporters if they wrote about it.
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Filed Under: mike rogers, privacy, satire
Reader Comments
The First Word
“Also, Ken missed a great opportunity to dust off his old Henry II hand-puppet and picture Rogers holding it, sighing dramatically and declaiming "Will no one rid me of this troublesome privacy in yon privy?" to his adoring but churlish interns, thus distancing himself from some of the ickier consequences of bathroom camming.
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Ah, toilet humor for 13-year-olds. That'll make NSA change.
Techdirt! When tired of substance, get fluffed here!
10:26:26[l-677-8]
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Re: Ah, toilet humor for 13-year-olds. That'll make NSA change.
____________________________________________________________
Techdirt! Where people have freedom of speech and no matter how much I scream and shout about fraud, it doesn't make it true!
10:28:39(ζ-451-β)
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Re: Re: Ah, toilet humor for 13-year-olds. That'll make NSA change.
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Does that say zeta-451-beta, whats up with the Greek letters?
Is that some kind of secret troll code or something?
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Re: Re: Re: Ah, toilet humor for 13-year-olds. That'll make NSA change.
Yes. There's a decoder ring in every box of "Trollios", The Breakfast of Ex-champions.
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N.
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Re: Ah, toilet humor for 13-year-olds. That'll make NSA change.
Popehat left out that Rogers had met his obligation for oversight by informing himself of the uses to which the cam was to be put and swearing that the veiwing would only happen in a windowless room with the lights off.
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Re: Ah, toilet humor for 13-year-olds. That'll make NSA change.
Be careful not to contradict yourself in the process ;)
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Mike Rogers - going on sexual predator list?
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I would guess this is the only reason he still has a complete copy of the constitution.
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This would be sort of amusing if...
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Also, Ken missed a great opportunity to dust off his old Henry II hand-puppet and picture Rogers holding it, sighing dramatically and declaiming "Will no one rid me of this troublesome privacy in yon privy?" to his adoring but churlish interns, thus distancing himself from some of the ickier consequences of bathroom camming.
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Dirty Pope Tech Hat?
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(too much champagne) :)
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Fortunately...
Oh wait, they did that already. I wonder if the NSA has access to those machines. It'd surely beat any bathroom spying program.
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Someone, anyone please arrest and/or kill this motherfucker.
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You can make all of the excuses you can think of, it is still ILLEGAL to install any kind of recording equipment in ANY bathroom. It's a violation of an individuals privacy to do this and NO court in this country will decide in your favor if you do this.
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The NSA would then request a warrant to conduct surveillance on all women's restrooms.
The FISA court would then authorize it, on the STRICT UNDERSTANDING that ONLY foreign persons would be recorded, to which the NSA would agree.
The NSA would then come to the conclusion that, sure, they may be meant to be monitoring only foreign persons, but actually it was impractical to attempt to identify foreigners based on the shapes of their bottoms, and besides there's nothing to stop them using information on Americans they 'inadvertently' record.
And besides, it's not really spying until somebody actually watches the footage.
Boom. Job done. All legal and above board, for the NSA says it is so. And if the NSA says it's conducting all its operations perfectly legally and above board well then ... who are we to question the NSA? There's bound to be a US senator they can get to tell the press it's all legal.
Provided, of course, that leader of a foreign country isn't snapped in a restroom. That's when it all will hit the fan.
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Mike Rogers, Quantum Politician.
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restroom uses you.
Can you spell lawsuit? Yes you can!
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Mike Rogers' quote
"If the women knew exactly what that spycam was about, they would be applauding and popping champagne corks. It's a good thing. it keeps the women safe. It keeps the Capitol safe," Rogers asserted.
Actual Rogers quote:
"If the French citizens knew exactly what that was about, they would be applauding and popping champagne corks. It's a good thing. It keeps the French safe. It keeps the U.S. safe. It keeps our European allies safe," Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.
Why the mis-quote, Techdirt? You are damaging your credibility.
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rodgers
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The Last Word
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