You know it is bad when even Salon agrees with me.
From coverage of Feinstein's intellectually indefensible activities with respect to FISA re-authorization:
From coverage of Feinstein's intellectually indefensible activities with respect to FISA re-authorization:
The worst offender during the debate was Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who repeatedly argued that requiring even minor disclosure of NSA activities would definitely lead to More Terrorism Everywhere. Feinstein worries that more public oversight of the NSA’s massive spying authority could have a chilling effect on their spying. She claimed that many arrests of “terrorists” on U.S. soil have been linked to information obtained by the NSA’s domestic spying, which is a pretty handy indication that they’re engaged in a whole lot of domestic spying. (It’s also wholly unverifiable and likely bullshit.)
Feinstein then pulled the classic awful senator trick of claiming to support a measure currently up for debate, but explaining that she would still vote against it, because of timing:
In addition to Wyden, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) has offered an amendment that would require the government to declassify the FISA Court’s opinions on surveillance requests. Feinstein said she supported that aim and offered to add his amendment to the intelligence reauthorization bill next year, rather than have it considered in the FISA measure.
“The problem is we have four days and this particular part of the law expires,” she said. “I think this is a reasonable request … we will do another intelligence authorization bill next year and that can be certainly added to that bill.”
There’s simply no time to vote for this thing I ostensibly support! The Merkley amendment failed. Feinstein pulled a similar obnoxious Senate move with Patrick Leahy’s amendment to renew the FISA Amendments for only three years instead of five, initially supporting the measure in committee and then voting against the amendment on the floor — where it, too, failed. Rand Paul’s amendment, which would have required individual warrants for all government requests for electronic records and communications, never had a chance in hell.
Comments
California's primaries are single-open primaries, in effect, general elections, rigged to quash any internal party challengers. The top two finishers then "compete" in a general runoff.
What makes sense is that she is angling to get close enough to toss her hat into the ring in 2016.
I'm betting, shy a scandal, she's one of those vying.