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Comment by devx | Hacker News Reader

The description about Feinstein is wrong. She didn't backtrack about anything. She's only pretending to do it, while passing Newspeak bills with backdoors that codify and legalize NSA's mass spying.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/10/sen-feinsteins-nsa-bil...

Feinstein has done nothing but help the NSA so far. She's not going to just stop because she suddenly developed a conscience. I wish Californians would just recall her, because otherwise we're stuck with her and her pro-surveillance state bias until 2018. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, if she wasn't also the head of the Intelligence Committee, and having tremendous power in the Senate to continue things as they are.

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She continues to support the NSA while at the same time proving she doesn't know exactly what they are doing. Not really two things that should be combined.

This is the same lawmaker who wanted to ban "the shoulder thing that goes up". She should have been laughed out of office long ago, but for some reason enough people love this authoritarian idiot enough to keep her in office since 1992. It boggles the mind.

In a two party system, being in office a long time isn't necessarily a sign of being loved by your constituents, it can just be a sign of being disliked less than the alternatives that get offered when elections come around.

And there's few political organizations in the country better at producing candidates unacceptable to the the statewide constituency they are offered to than the Republican Party of California.

Feinstein (and Pelosi, also pro-NSA and representing San Francisco of all places) could easily be removed from office via a primary challenge. Doesn't necessarily need to be a Republican opponent.

So, can CA do it? Doesn't Silicon Valley have enough clout to throw behind a candidate who will stand for privacy, rights, innovation, etc.?

Dear God I hope so, but it's going to take politically-connected heavy hitters to care about it and I don't see that happening.

For instance, it's baffling to me that Ron Conway doesn't care about this issue, given his entire portfolio is internet startups. I think Arrington was right to call him out on that.

Wrong bimbo: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22the+shoulder+thing+that+g...

It doesn't say anything about her backtracking. It says she defends the program and that her "reform" bill maintains the status quo.

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