Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) gave us all a hearty chuckle last week, and again this past weekend when she suddenly decided to care about intelligence agencies having access to the private information of American citizens.
Last week, Senator Feinstein was visibly upset as she gave a speech denouncing the CIA for withholding crucial information from the Senate Intelligence Committee.
According to Salon:
As Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, chair of the Judiciary Committee that will be investigating Feinstein’s charges, noted, “in 40 years here, it was one of the best speeches I’d ever heard and one of the most important.
Yes, it was an important speech. But wait for it…
That was particularly so, given that Feinstein’s searing indictment of the CIA’s decade-long subversion of congressional oversight of its torture program comes from a senator who previously has worked overtime to justify the subversion of democratic governance by the CIA and other spy agencies.
It’s a shame that the Senator did not have the foresight to realize that these programs had the potential to become too powerful while she was helping to champion them.
Feinstein is not alone in calling out the CIA, as another senator from across the aisle also lashed out against the agency’s tactics. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) echoed his colleague’s sentiments in his own statement last week:
“There’s an incredible arrogance to me that the CIA thinks they can spy on a committee that is providing oversight for the CIA, and I think it’s a real, very serious constitutional breach. This cannot happen in a free country.”
A Democrat and a Republican agreeing with one another and speaking out in favor of civil liberties and privacy? Can it be?!
Yes, it’s true. However, whereas Senator Feinstein’s outrage was laugh-worthy and steeped in irony, Senator Paul’s statement was at least consistent with his past stances on American citizens’ right to privacy.
Here’s a quick comparison of where the two Senators stand on issues of privacy:
- Patriot Act: Feinstein was one of the original co-sponsors of the PATRIOT Act, while Paul opposes it.
- Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: Feinstein voted in favor of this act, passed under George W. Bush, which gave the executive branch the power to approve international communications surveillance of United States citizens. When FISA was up for renewal at the end of 2012, she voted for it once again, while Paul voted against it.
- Internet: Feinstein has gone on record several times stating that the Internet should be subject to full government regulation, and supported SOPA, PIPA, and COICA, while Paul is opposed to all three. (Are you noticing a pattern here?)
- On Snowden: Unsurprisingly, Feinstein has said multiple times that Edward Snowden should be arrested, and expressed anger over his now infamous NSA leaks. Paul, on the other hand, has vocally supported offering Snowden leniency, and has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Obama administration over the NSA.
But wait, there’s more!
It seems that Feinstein’s past legislative actions have come back to haunt her for the second time in less than a week:
According to Politico, Senator Feinstein is now really in favor of regulating drones:
The California Democrat said a drone spied into the window of her home during a protest outside her house, and that privacy concerns for the technology were “major.”
“When is a drone picture a benefit to society? When does it become stalking? When does it invade privacy? How close to a home can a drone go?” Feinstein said, listing questions she would like to see answered in the complex regulation process.
“I’m in my home and there’s a demonstration out front, and I go to peek out the window and there’s a drone facing me,” she recalled.
Demonstrators from Code Pink who were protesting government surveillance at the time, said the device was merely a toy helicopter, but Feinstein used the instance to sound off about the importance of controlling the technology through government regulation.
After taking such a vocal stance against drones, it stands to reason that Senator Feinstein must have been extremely supportive of Senator Paul’s anti-drone filibuster last year.
According to Raw Story, Feinstein had these kind words to say after Paul’s 13 hour filibuster:
“No drone is going to be used in the United States against an American citizen walking down a street or sitting in a cafe and, you know, and then there was a stupid example of a drone being used against Jane Fonda,” Feinstein remarked on MSNBC. “I mean, I don’t think this is befitting the Senate floor.”
Feinstein said Paul “hyped up” the situation and that his questions were already “cleared up” by the time he started the filibuster.
Oops.
For now, it sounds like the senator has had a complete change of heart about protecting civil liberties, though it’s difficult to take Feinstein seriously after she has spent years voting against them. Perhaps more members of Congress will begin to see the light, because as Senator Feinstein can now attest, it’s a terrible thing when the monster you helped create comes after you.