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This is an excellent and deeply disturbing article, but all I can do in response right now is suspect that if J. Edgar Hoover were still alive to see what shena

This is an excellent and deeply disturbing article, but all I can do in response right now is suspect that if J. Edgar Hoover were still alive to see what shenanigans the modern FBI gets up to when nobody is looking, he would wholeheartedly approve. It's obvious that the agency has learned all the wrong lessons from the exposure of COINTELPRO. The FBI is still The House J. Edgar Built, and Congress ought to tear it down.

chrischen 7y ago
You can't assume that Hoover would have been against increasing the power available to himself and his agency.
- Porthos9K 7y ago
  He didn't seem to mind when he was actually running the FBI. So, assuming life-after-death isn't just a fantasy, why expect that he's changed his mind? People usually don't unless forced to do so.
- wallace_f 7y ago
  No this is right. If left-, right-politics have taught me anything, it is that your personal business, emails, and bedroom behavior are the concern of the federal government and its electorate--at least the 50% that agree with it.
  - Porthos9K 7y ago
    Hoover was running his little fiefdom with minimal oversight under both Democratic and Republican administrations. Both sides used him, and doubtless both sides feared the dirt he had on them and what he might reveal if called to account by Congress. Kompromat might be a foreign word, but it's hardly a foreign concept.
    - ryacko 7y ago
      You’re kidding right? This is the history of the word blackmail: https://www.etymonline.com/word/blackmail#etymonline_v_13560 https://www.etymonline.com/word/blackmail#etymonline_v_13560
    - wallace_f 7y ago
      Yea and my comment's derision is inclusive of both halves of the 2-party system.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
bilbo0s 7y ago
>Congress ought to tear it down. ABSCAM. There is a Lavrentiy Beria everywhere. (There's probably thousands of Lavrentiy Beria's in the US alone, truth be told.) With the threat of ABSCAM-like ops looming out there, I wouldn't count on politicians saving us. Just ask black and hispanic males how well appealing to politicians for help from malicious prosecution has worked out for them historically.
- Porthos9K 7y ago
  I get what you're saying, but do you really see HN management turning a blind eye to people calling for direct action against Federal agencies when a bunch of Ycombinator startups probably do business with the Feds? Besides, Big Brother is probably reading HN as well.

chrischen 7y ago

You can't assume that Hoover would have been against increasing the power available to himself and his agency.

Porthos9K 7y ago
He didn't seem to mind when he was actually running the FBI. So, assuming life-after-death isn't just a fantasy, why expect that he's changed his mind? People usually don't unless forced to do so.
wallace_f 7y ago
No this is right. If left-, right-politics have taught me anything, it is that your personal business, emails, and bedroom behavior are the concern of the federal government and its electorate--at least the 50% that agree with it.
- Porthos9K 7y ago
  Hoover was running his little fiefdom with minimal oversight under both Democratic and Republican administrations. Both sides used him, and doubtless both sides feared the dirt he had on them and what he might reveal if called to account by Congress. Kompromat might be a foreign word, but it's hardly a foreign concept.
  - ryacko 7y ago
    You’re kidding right? This is the history of the word blackmail: https://www.etymonline.com/word/blackmail#etymonline_v_13560 https://www.etymonline.com/word/blackmail#etymonline_v_13560
  - wallace_f 7y ago
    Yea and my comment's derision is inclusive of both halves of the 2-party system.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

bilbo0s 7y ago

>Congress ought to tear it down. ABSCAM. There is a Lavrentiy Beria everywhere. (There's probably thousands of Lavrentiy Beria's in the US alone, truth be told.) With the threat of ABSCAM-like ops looming out there, I wouldn't count on politicians saving us. Just ask black and hispanic males how well appealing to politicians for help from malicious prosecution has worked out for them historically.

Porthos9K 7y ago
I get what you're saying, but do you really see HN management turning a blind eye to people calling for direct action against Federal agencies when a bunch of Ycombinator startups probably do business with the Feds? Besides, Big Brother is probably reading HN as well.