Excellent newsletter: Bravo. It reminds me when they were conjuring up the Patriot Act after 9/11.
Most of the surveillance law changes in the Patriot Act were part of a longstanding intelligence and FBI wish list that had been previously rejected by Congress on several occasions.
Congress only reversed course because it was pressured by the Bush Administration in the weeks after 9/11. And the rest is history—a federal appeals court knocked out most of the mass surveillance, which unfortunately under this administration is back with a vengeance.
The government may not be spying on us anymore (TBD), but it doesn’t apply to private companies who contract with the government; can you say DOGE and Palantir?…:)
One might still ask Tulsi: "so...you didn't know that the position you had accepted might essentially have been 'Director of National Nothing' when you took it? Seems to me that with even a little research, she'd have come across former DNI director Clapper's observations, or Sen. Specter's commentary (and is there an explanation as to why he voted for it, BTW?)
My subscription to the KLIP renewed and the caption 'Photo depicting intelligence "leader" role' confirms again it's worth every penny. News and entertainment. Bravo.
I’m always curious about something. If 9/11 hadn’t happened, would bills like the Patriot Act exist? Every time I read another article about the expansion of the US intelligence apparatus I wonder…
Great column, Ken. Yet another example of a useless, yet sometimes dangerous, Congress.
I doubt it! With the Cold War over, there wasn’t really a major enemy for the national security system to obsess over. My guess is things would look very different had 9/11 not happened
We don't have a government. We have competing pieces of government notions, all political- and power-based. If the Executive Branch is supposed to reconcile differences and debates on behalf of the nation, then we have not had a government since at least the end of WWII. It seems that in peacetime we are only looking for the next war, and who gets to run it.
Great piece, Ken. Best thing about a democracy is the veneer of transparency it provides. "We-the-people" run the show. We can always vote the bastards out. Not like "authoritarian" Russia and China, whose relentless militarism must be contained through massive "defense" budgets.
At least Hegseth changed the name to Department of War.
Like RFK Jr., Tulsi revealed herself as a major phony and sellout. In addition to the reasons Klip laid out, she was just a rat abandoning a sinking ship; likely with the goal of preserving some credibility for future political aspirations. Much like Joe Kent, for whom I do at least have a modicum of respect.
The core of power under both Hitler and Stalin was the secret police within a system of organization that while respecting the absolute authority of the leader made sure that there was a distribution of responsibility among competing agencies so that each agency would not only be suspicious of the others and spying on them but would try to expand its turf. At any time, the leader could select any individual or group, no matter how high in the organization to be dismissed or, under Stalin, openly accused of disloyalty, put on trial for show and executed.
With the exception of the SS whose members were personally selected by Himmler, there was intentionally no security for anyone. No individual no matter how important, could be sure of his position and this was precisely what was intended. Everyone was disposable.
Trump is no Hitler or Stalin but a buffoon who is so in love with himself that his actions are both uncoordinated and unpredictable except for the motive to become wealthier. He hasn't the intelligence to amass total power and enough remains of our legal system that he can be checked in his scarcely concealed and often laughable efforts to elevate himself.
Nevertheless, the "security state" has been steadily built with little opposition. Though 9/11 recedes into the past the drive for more authority for what is the US version of a secret police distributed among various agencies proceeds, all accountable to the leader, the president. Someone who has more ability than Trump, meaning greater than that of a 15- year-old boy, could well take things to a higher level, the danger being high already.
Starting with the midterms, it is essential that we the people act to dismantle the panopticon built to date. Opposition to AI, a gift to power and the 1% must be a big part of that effort. Technology must serve mankind, not be its master. Trump is helping make popular resistance to power by the 99% driving his popularity lower by the week. but with the apparatus of power largely built a future president could fit quite well into the driver's seat to become The Leader.
Excellent newsletter: Bravo. It reminds me when they were conjuring up the Patriot Act after 9/11.
Most of the surveillance law changes in the Patriot Act were part of a longstanding intelligence and FBI wish list that had been previously rejected by Congress on several occasions.
Congress only reversed course because it was pressured by the Bush Administration in the weeks after 9/11. And the rest is history—a federal appeals court knocked out most of the mass surveillance, which unfortunately under this administration is back with a vengeance.
The government may not be spying on us anymore (TBD), but it doesn’t apply to private companies who contract with the government; can you say DOGE and Palantir?…:)
exactly - so much data is just available commercially now
One might still ask Tulsi: "so...you didn't know that the position you had accepted might essentially have been 'Director of National Nothing' when you took it? Seems to me that with even a little research, she'd have come across former DNI director Clapper's observations, or Sen. Specter's commentary (and is there an explanation as to why he voted for it, BTW?)
My subscription to the KLIP renewed and the caption 'Photo depicting intelligence "leader" role' confirms again it's worth every penny. News and entertainment. Bravo.
😂
Klipstein Unplugged! It doesn't get any better.
I’m always curious about something. If 9/11 hadn’t happened, would bills like the Patriot Act exist? Every time I read another article about the expansion of the US intelligence apparatus I wonder…
Great column, Ken. Yet another example of a useless, yet sometimes dangerous, Congress.
I doubt it! With the Cold War over, there wasn’t really a major enemy for the national security system to obsess over. My guess is things would look very different had 9/11 not happened
And that’s the reason I always wonder, in retrospect, about 9/11.
Congress is a joke; has been for a long time.
A bad/sad joke.
Gabbard out is not a win. We are fools. Same shit different day, decade after decade. History matters.
Great reporting - I did not know the details about this position.
This doesn't improve my opinion of Gabbard, either.
thanks ellis!
Tulsi refused to release the 2024 photos of Hunters Hawg
So true
You had me until the last line. Poor Tulsi? I think not. I don’t trust her any farther than I can throw her.
We don't have a government. We have competing pieces of government notions, all political- and power-based. If the Executive Branch is supposed to reconcile differences and debates on behalf of the nation, then we have not had a government since at least the end of WWII. It seems that in peacetime we are only looking for the next war, and who gets to run it.
It's amazing what the 9/11 Commission ended up doing vs. what they initially claimed they were doing.
Great piece, Ken. Best thing about a democracy is the veneer of transparency it provides. "We-the-people" run the show. We can always vote the bastards out. Not like "authoritarian" Russia and China, whose relentless militarism must be contained through massive "defense" budgets.
At least Hegseth changed the name to Department of War.
Thanks Bonnie !
Like RFK Jr., Tulsi revealed herself as a major phony and sellout. In addition to the reasons Klip laid out, she was just a rat abandoning a sinking ship; likely with the goal of preserving some credibility for future political aspirations. Much like Joe Kent, for whom I do at least have a modicum of respect.
The core of power under both Hitler and Stalin was the secret police within a system of organization that while respecting the absolute authority of the leader made sure that there was a distribution of responsibility among competing agencies so that each agency would not only be suspicious of the others and spying on them but would try to expand its turf. At any time, the leader could select any individual or group, no matter how high in the organization to be dismissed or, under Stalin, openly accused of disloyalty, put on trial for show and executed.
With the exception of the SS whose members were personally selected by Himmler, there was intentionally no security for anyone. No individual no matter how important, could be sure of his position and this was precisely what was intended. Everyone was disposable.
Trump is no Hitler or Stalin but a buffoon who is so in love with himself that his actions are both uncoordinated and unpredictable except for the motive to become wealthier. He hasn't the intelligence to amass total power and enough remains of our legal system that he can be checked in his scarcely concealed and often laughable efforts to elevate himself.
Nevertheless, the "security state" has been steadily built with little opposition. Though 9/11 recedes into the past the drive for more authority for what is the US version of a secret police distributed among various agencies proceeds, all accountable to the leader, the president. Someone who has more ability than Trump, meaning greater than that of a 15- year-old boy, could well take things to a higher level, the danger being high already.
Starting with the midterms, it is essential that we the people act to dismantle the panopticon built to date. Opposition to AI, a gift to power and the 1% must be a big part of that effort. Technology must serve mankind, not be its master. Trump is helping make popular resistance to power by the 99% driving his popularity lower by the week. but with the apparatus of power largely built a future president could fit quite well into the driver's seat to become The Leader.
VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO!!!
DHS needs to be dissolved. It has done nothing for us, but has done plenty to us.