Senator Feinstein Outraged by CIA Spying on Senate, But She Defends NSA Spying on Citizens

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is shocked -- SHOCKED!! -- that the government has been discovered to be illegally spying and subverting the U.S. Constitution !

This, from the same madame chairwoman, who so righteously defends N.S.A. spying powers :

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and the chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee, said that the Central Intelligence Agency had violated federal law and undermined Congress’s constitutional right to oversee the actions of the executive branch. The dispute stems from the agency's illegal search of computers used by the Senate intelligence committee to investigate C.I.A. interrogation procedures at its secret Bush-era prison system. “I am not taking it lightly,” she said.

RELATED : C.I.A. Accused of Illegally Searching Computers Used by Senate Committee (The New York Times)

RELATED : Edward Snowden : Sen. Dianne Feinstein is a Hypocrite for Blasting C.I.A. Spying (NBC News)

And in a forceful editorial, the likes of which we have not read in ages coming from normally staid Editorial Board of The New York Times, the editors excoriated President Obama over the C.I.A. torture and detention programs. The Editorial Board demanded that the Obama administration release a Senate report and a C.I.A. internal review of the torture and detention practices, and the editors further demanded that President Obama reverse an earlier decision to forego an investigation into the C.I.A.'s interrogation procedures, calling for an end to the "lingering fog about the C.I.A. detentions."

Some of the comments to The New York Times's article and editorial plainly indicate that Sen. Feinstein has recourse to the rogue actions of the C.I.A :

"Congress has the power of the purse. Demand the ouster of anyone, and I mean anyone, involved in this illegal action and the appointment of an ombudsman accountable only to Congress and with full security clearance to monitor the agency's actions, or defund it and transfer its responsibilities to one of the other intelligence agencies, which also needs a Congressional ombudsman. Checks and balances must not be circumvented or short-circuited; they are our Constitution's key safeguard against tyranny," wrote Mark from Boston, MA, in response to the article.

"Senator Feinstein has been providing a professional courtesy to the CIA and the administration by withholding the committee's report since December 2012. If she wants to demonstrate that Congress really does have independent oversight authority, she could simply release the report as is. Of course, that would set off a firestorm and occupy the White House and parts of Congress for a few months, to the detriment of other pressing matters. Nonetheless, if she feels wronged by the CIA, she has a potent tool at her disposal," wrote Ken L from Atlanta, GA, in response to the editorial.

Obama's First Drone Attack Policy

Since Barack Obama became President, there have been more than 300 drone strikes and some 2,500 people killed by the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. military, The New York Times has reported.

Supposedly, the Obama administration is "still pushing to make the rules formal and resolve internal uncertainty and disagreement" about when drone attacks are justified. Prior to his reëlection, the Obama administration was in a rush to put together some kind of manual or standard operating procedure for drone attacks, to deflect criticism by liberals and progressives, of the Obama administration's reckless use of drone attacks.

Now that he has been safely reëlected, there's no more pressure on the Obama administration to finalise the administration's first formal drone attack policy. For example, The Times reported that "Mr. Obama and his advisers are still debating whether remote-control killing should be a measure of last resort against imminent threats to the United States, or a more flexible tool, available to help allied governments attack their enemies or to prevent militants from controlling territory."

Will the Obama administration finally deliver a doctrine on its use of extra-judicial "remote-control killing" ?

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