An Open Letter to Dianne Feinstein, Head of the Senate Intelligence Committee
Dear Senator Feinstein:
On Thursday, when you responded to news about massive ongoing surveillance of phone records of people in the United States, you slipped past the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. As the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, you seem to be in the habit of treating the Bill of Rights as merely advisory.
The Constitution doesn’t get any better than this: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
The greatness of the Fourth Amendment explains why so many Americans took it to heart in civics class and why so many of us treasure it today. But, along with other high-ranking members of Congress and the president of the United States, you have continued to chip away at this sacred bedrock of civil liberties.
As The Guardian reported the night before your sudden news conference, the leaked secret court order “shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of U.S. citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk — regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing.”
One of the most chilling parts of that just-revealed Surveillance Court order can be found at the bottom of the first page, where it says “Declassify on: 12 April 2038.”
Apparently you thought — or at least hoped — that we, the people of the United States, wouldn’t find out for 25 years. And the fact that we learned about this extreme violation of our rights in 2013 instead of 2038 seems to bother you a lot.
Rather than call for protection of the Fourth Amendment, you want authorities to catch and punish whoever leaked this secret order. You seem to fear that people can actually discover what their own government is doing to them with vast surveillance.
Meanwhile, the executive branch is being run by kindred spirits, as hostile to the First Amendment as to the Fourth. On Thursday night, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper issued a statement saying the “unauthorized disclosure of a top secret U.S. court document threatens potentially long-lasting and irreversible harm to our ability to identify and respond to the many threats facing our nation.”
That statement from Clapper is utter and complete hogwash. Whoever leaked the four-page Surveillance Court document to Glenn Greenwald at The Guardian deserves a medal and an honorary parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in the Nation’s capital. The only “threats” assisted by disclosure of that document are the possibilities of meaningful public discourse and informed consent of the governed.
Let’s be candid about the most clear and present danger to our country’s democratic values. The poisonous danger is spewing from arrogance of power in the highest places. The antidotes depend on transparency of sunlight that only whistleblowers, a free press, and an engaged citizenry can bring.
As Greenwald tweeted after your news conference: “The reason there are leakers is precisely because the government is filled with people like Dianne Feinstein who do horrendous things in secret.” And, he pointed out, “The real story isn’t just the spying itself: it’s that we have this massive, ubiquitous Surveillance State, operating in total secrecy.”
Obviously, you like it that way, and so do most other members of the Senate and House. And so does the president. You’re all playing abhorrent roles, maintaining a destructive siege of precious civil liberties. While building a surveillance state, you are patting citizens on the head and telling them not to worry.
Perhaps you should have a conversation with Al Gore and ask about his statement: “Is it just me, or is secret blanket surveillance obscenely outrageous?” Actually, many millions of Americans understand that the blanket surveillance is obscenely outrageous.
As a constituent, I would like to offer an invitation. A short drive from your mansion overlooking San Francisco Bay, hundreds of us will be meeting June 11 at a public forum on “Disappearing Civil Liberties in the United States.” (You’d be welcome to my time on the panel.) One of the speakers, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, could explain to you how the assaults on civil liberties and the wars you keep supporting go hand in hand, undermining the Constitution and causing untold misery.
Senator Feinstein, your energetic contempt for the Bill of Rights is serving a bipartisan power structure that threatens to crush our democratic possibilities.
A huge number of people in California and around the country will oppose your efforts for the surveillance state at every turn.
Sincerely,
Norman Solomon
Read more by Norman Solomon
- Historic Challenge to Support the Moral Actions of Edward Snowden – June 10th, 2013
- Bradley Manning Is Guilty of ‘Aiding the Enemy’ – If the Enemy Is Democracy – June 5th, 2013
- Our Twisted Politics of Grief – May 27th, 2013
- Has the Left Made Peace With the Warfare State? – April 24th, 2013
- The Orwellian Warfare State of Carnage and Doublethink – April 17th, 2013
An Open Letter to Dianne Feinstein, Head of the Senate Intelligence Committee
June 7th, 2013 at 9:27 pm
[...] This article originally appeared on: Antiwar [...]
RickR30
June 8th, 2013 at 12:05 am
No one else bothered by these fake "judges" signing away our Constitution every time the government asks for it? We know about politicians, we know about the president, we know about the zombie employees who do as their told. We know that with the "patriot" acts Congress is convinced they've repealed the Constitution. But what the hell is going on with these "judges". They're not there to protect the "patriot" act, but the Constitution. Politicians at least will feel the heat over this, at least a little bit. But these bastards like Vinson? They just continue to make hundreds of thousands a year robosigning our liberties away.
Richard Steven Hack
June 8th, 2013 at 2:32 am
Note how the media today has bent over backwards to backtrack the reports of the last couple days. The word has come down and even "digirati" like Declan McCullough are falling in line.
Cognitive dissonance has set it. People don't want to believe that the government is getting ALL their Internet, phone and social media access data. So they don't. And when it's thrust in their faces, they back away.
The reality according to former NSA whisteblower William Binney is that the NSA is getting it ALL. All these stories you're reading about PRISM being "just another program" that is all legal is BULLCRAP.
Unfortunately there is absolutely nothing you can do about it – because you no longer control the US government – if you ever did, which is doubtful.
F. G. Sanford
June 8th, 2013 at 5:56 am
Think that just because you're not breaking any laws, you have nothing to worry about? WRONG! The data mining is conducted by contracted entities as well as government agencies. Personal information has no guarantee of security once it's been collated. It becomes available to third parties with dubious loyalties. Blackmail, industrial espionage, insider trading, extortion, antitrust violations and a host of other infractions become realistic possibilities. Speaking of dubious loyalties, how many of our elected "representatives" seem to be more concerned with the future of nations other than our own? Wake up, America, this is the clarion call to Animal Farm, Brave New World and 1984.
Bruce Richardson
June 8th, 2013 at 6:32 am
This eloquent, articulate treatise by Norman Solomon is frightening. The U.S. Government is now fashioned like and operates as a dictatorship. The irony is that our president is well-studied in law. He cannot therefore plead ignorance. With his empty campaign promises and ongoing security policies, he has taken form as a politician first and statesman-democrat last.
Generalissimo X
June 8th, 2013 at 8:50 am
nice letter but far too polite for a treacherous, lying, despicable scum sucking tyrant. if there was any legal authority left in this country she'd already be in prison. any moral authority left and she and all her kind would be drug through the streets by an angry mob and hung as an enemy of liberty of which she clearly is. zio Feinstein has yet to encounter a amendment in the bill of rights she supports or believes in.
here's a quote for the nsa: a day of reckoning is coming. you spy on us because you're afraid. and you should be. you should be.
anndoc
June 8th, 2013 at 9:56 am
Senator Feinstein decided Michael Mukasey would make a good AG even though he did not know if water-boarding was torture so its not surprising that she is also dismissive of – or ignorant of – other aspects of our Constitution and laws. She left her "best by" date behind her a long time ago.
ATM
June 8th, 2013 at 10:24 am
The worst part about this is the assumption by government officials that they have lie about what they are doing to protect a free society. Are our liberties worth so little to them? Did they not think for a second that if the greatest minds could come up with the internet that they could also come up with a ways to keep us safe without destroying our liberties. Why not put the innovation that comes with a free society to work on the problem of keeping us safe while keeping our liberties intact, instead of hiding behind a wall of secrecy and deception.
The people who have deceived and who are deceiving this great nation should be ashamed. What do they think they are protecting anyway, if not the values that are embodied in the concepts of liberty.
An Open Letter to Dianne Feinstein, Head of the Senate Intelligence Committee « Document The Truth
June 8th, 2013 at 3:10 pm
[...] An Open Letter to Dianne Feinstein, Head of the Senate Intelligence Committee [...]
goldhoarder
June 8th, 2013 at 8:05 pm
Lmao. Nobody in the government is here to help you. They are there to rule you.
goldhoarder
June 8th, 2013 at 8:09 pm
Feinstein was only there to grt filthy rich and exercise power over people. She has been a complete success.
David G
June 8th, 2013 at 9:17 pm
Letters sent to American politicians are a waste of time and effort. Politicians serve the corporations and AIPAC.
RockyRococo
June 8th, 2013 at 9:34 pm
The "values" they are protecting are corporate share values, which have the alternate name "vital American national interests". Nothing else deserves the selfless and noble protection that these heroic American warriors provide.
David G
June 9th, 2013 at 12:19 am
It's strange that my comments in this section are never moderated only in the breaking news section. What gives?
Lee Fordham
June 9th, 2013 at 3:42 am
Love your letter, Norman, but don't get too hung up on democracy. The misconception that the will of the majority overrides the rights of individuals is one of the ways creatures like Feinstein seek to legitimize and justify things like illegal surveillance and aggressive foreign policy. Democratic tyranny of the majority is tyranny non-the-less. Aggression, theft, and fraud is unacceptable behavior for individuals and states and cannot be legitimized by claims to represent the will of the majority.
Lee Fordham
June 9th, 2013 at 3:43 am
http://freedomrants.com/?p=40
An Open Letter to Dianne (Turd ) Feinstein, Head of the Senate Intelligence Committee | Citizen Journalists Exchange
June 9th, 2013 at 4:23 am
[...] Rather than call for protection of the Fourth Amendment, you want authorities to catch and punish whoever leaked this secret order. You seem to fear that people can actually discover what their own government is doing to them with vast surveillance. More… [...]
anndoc
June 9th, 2013 at 6:08 am
"They are there to rule you."
And to help themselves.
RickR30
June 9th, 2013 at 8:29 am
I'm glad someone finds this funny because I don't.
Generalissimo X
June 9th, 2013 at 9:41 am
ditz is a tool that's what.
Generalissimo X
June 9th, 2013 at 9:42 am
you need to put 5 across diane's lip fred!
Moe7
June 9th, 2013 at 10:48 am
What a disgrace politicians like Feinstein are to the United States. These people are essentially traitors as they effectively gut the constitution and we should treat them as the traitors they are!