3 ms·

Don't forget that when Feinstein accused the CIA of doing this, the director replied that it was simply absurd that the CIA would do so.

by jstalin 12y ago

LordKano 12y ago
Senator Feinstein isn't the best person to have speak out against this. She is rabidly hated by nearly half of the country, so any complaints she makes are ignored by them. These complaints need to come from a McCain/Lieberman-type coalition of Senators in order to gain any traction.
- rdl 12y ago
  Having the sitting chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee speak out is pretty much the ideal person. I don't know if she has more or less credibility based on having been so pro NSA spying in the past. Ideally you'd get the ranking members of the same committees in both houses of congress to do it; it's a powerful position so it tends to go to more partisan people, and thus each will be hated by approximately half of the voters, but you'll have 2 and 2 each hated by different halves.
  - LordKano 12y ago
    You are completely right about that. She was so very much in favor of US being surveilled that her complaint about it happening to her rings hollow. I had no idea that my previous comment would spark such a negative reaction from the mods. I don't think I've ever seen a -3 on a comment that wasn't obviously a deliberate attempt at trolling.
    - fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
      FYI, it isn't mods, users with >= 500 karma can downvote a post.
      - LordKano 12y ago
        Thank you for the information. I guess I'm too used to how things work at /.
AlyssaRowan 12y ago
I note that's not actually a denial, just an admission that what they do is absurd. :-)
- mapt 12y ago
  "Nothing could be further from the truth" is an explicit denial.
astrodust 12y ago
It's absurd that they would get caught doing this.
cryoshon 12y ago
Think for a moment about how effective that kind of defensiveness is. Think about the word absurd, as stated by a public official. By stating that it is absurd (unthinkable, out of bounds, paranoiac, laughable) the director has cleanly shoved people accusing the CIA of political coercion into the same camp as "conspiracy theorists"-- people who are too ridiculous of a parody to be trusted or listened to. Who was objectively correct on this one? Whose statements were reality, and whose a falsehood? The CIA, or the conspiracy theorists?
- rhizome 12y ago
  I'd put it this way: who's livelihood is predicated more on an ability to lie? Evading and/or interfering with oversight should be a per-se federal crime.
fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
Yup, here is the denial. from March. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il7jV27l7pU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il7jV27l7pU

Don't forget that when Feinstein accused the CIA of doing this, the director replied that it was simply absurd that the CIA would do so.

by jstalin 12y ago

Don't forget that when Feinstein accused the CIA of doing this, the director replied that it was simply absurd that the CIA would do so.

LordKano 12y ago

Senator Feinstein isn't the best person to have speak out against this. She is rabidly hated by nearly half of the country, so any complaints she makes are ignored by them. These complaints need to come from a McCain/Lieberman-type coalition of Senators in order to gain any traction.

rdl 12y ago
Having the sitting chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee speak out is pretty much the ideal person. I don't know if she has more or less credibility based on having been so pro NSA spying in the past. Ideally you'd get the ranking members of the same committees in both houses of congress to do it; it's a powerful position so it tends to go to more partisan people, and thus each will be hated by approximately half of the voters, but you'll have 2 and 2 each hated by different halves.
- LordKano 12y ago
  You are completely right about that. She was so very much in favor of US being surveilled that her complaint about it happening to her rings hollow. I had no idea that my previous comment would spark such a negative reaction from the mods. I don't think I've ever seen a -3 on a comment that wasn't obviously a deliberate attempt at trolling.
  - fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
    FYI, it isn't mods, users with >= 500 karma can downvote a post.
    - LordKano 12y ago
      Thank you for the information. I guess I'm too used to how things work at /.

AlyssaRowan 12y ago

I note that's not actually a denial, just an admission that what they do is absurd. :-)

mapt 12y ago
"Nothing could be further from the truth" is an explicit denial.

astrodust 12y ago

It's absurd that they would get caught doing this.

cryoshon 12y ago

Think for a moment about how effective that kind of defensiveness is. Think about the word absurd, as stated by a public official. By stating that it is absurd (unthinkable, out of bounds, paranoiac, laughable) the director has cleanly shoved people accusing the CIA of political coercion into the same camp as "conspiracy theorists"-- people who are too ridiculous of a parody to be trusted or listened to. Who was objectively correct on this one? Whose statements were reality, and whose a falsehood? The CIA, or the conspiracy theorists?

rhizome 12y ago
I'd put it this way: who's livelihood is predicated more on an ability to lie? Evading and/or interfering with oversight should be a per-se federal crime.

fnordfnordfnord 12y ago

Yup, here is the denial. from March. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il7jV27l7pU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il7jV27l7pU