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"High-School Dropout Snowden Is Lying" Chairman Of House Intelligence Committee Claims
That the US "big brother" surveillance state would not keel over and die in the aftermath of the Snowden revelations is hardly surprising. But the means by which the government, and in this case the House Intelligence Committee, have set about defending, legitimizing and promoting full state intrusion into personal privacy is a comic sight to behold.
Enter today's hearing between the NSA Director Keith Alexander, and House Intel Committee's Mike Rogers (R-Mich) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md), who nearly a week after the initial Edward Snowden charges have resorted to the oldest trick in the book: calling him a liar.
From the Hill:
The NSA leaker is lying about both his access to information and the scope of the secret surveillance programs he uncovered, the heads of the House Intel Committee charged Thursday.
Emerging from a hearing with NSA Director Keith Alexander, Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and Dutch Ruppersberger (Md.), the senior Democrat on the panel, said Snowden simply wasn't in the position to access the content of the communications gathered under National Security Agency programs, as he's claimed.
"He was lying," Rogers said. "He clearly has over-inflated his position, he has over-inflated his access and he's even over-inflated what the actually technology of the programs would allow one to do. It's impossible for him to do what he was saying he could do."
"He's done tremendous damage to the country where he was born and raised and educated," Ruppersberger said.
Asked how much additional information – including other FISA verdicts – Snowden has in his possession, Rogers said, "No one really knows the answer to that today. I think we will know the answer to that shortly."
Someone will, but not the general public: because it is easy to accuse Snowden of lying when the government can claim the national security exemption when anyone demands to confirm if Snowden is actually telling the truth. In other words, it is our (classified) word over his.
Just to stir it up a little more, and invoke imagery of Daniel Craig in a tux driving an Aston Martin, the hint that Snowden was a double agent is quietly being tested:
Rogers said investigators are also trying to determine whether Snowden has any relationship with foreign governments – something national security officials don't know yet, he said.
If that fails to gain traction, there is always the accusation that he should have just follow proper whistleblowing protocol. No really.
"Some people are saying that he's a hero. He's broken the law," Ruppersberger said. "We have laws in the United States for whistleblowers, for people that think there's an injustice being done. All he had to do was raise his hand. … Under the whistleblower law, he is protected. Yet he chose to go to China."
And when all else fails, go for good old character assassination, and the media's favorite fall back plan: shooting the messenger.
"I hope that we don't decide that our national security interests are going to be determined by a high-school dropout who had a whole series of both academic troubles and employment troubles," Rogers said.
Well, there is a high-school dropout... and then there is a successful community organizer who supposedly was familiar with the constitution, until proven otherwise. Repeatedly.
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That and it shows the caliber of congressional oversight (oxymoron).
Even if one agrees with PRISM it is hard to believe that farming it out to low/no bid contractors is the best way to address privacy and national security issues.
It's not, but then that wasn't its original purpose.
The NSA (like the DHS) were post 9/11 opportunities to craft agencies that would eventually rely mostly on government contractors. The heads of both agencies left in 2005 to start their own government contracting outfits. Both became major recipients of NSA and DHS no-bid contracts and are still getting them today.
Obama and his psychopath crew just recognized it for the valuble tool it was: to collect dirt on all percieved enemies.
Hillary got a boner when she found out how useful it was to track down anyone that ever called, emailed or thought about WikiLeaks (and anyone within two degrees of contact). Keep in mind how many people might have had any sort of perfectly legal, private comminications with WikiLeaks over the years. They are a terrorist organization by FISA standards - there must be thousands of U.S. citizens being monitored right now because they communicated with someone who communicated with someone that communicated with WikiLeaks.
I'm not so sure the future president actually wants Assage dead. The NSA has to be all over the Ecuadorian embassy.
Address privacy and national security issues? Hah... well, I concede PRISM may be used for that on occasion. Congress got yer back.
Well, yeah; that is the whole political life cycle in a nutshell.
Create/expand an agency
Get lobbyied and offered campaign contributions to privatize contracts.
Award contracts
Get lobbyied and campaign contributions with profits from contracts.
Rinse... repeat.
Stated goals of any agency are just secondary to the profits to be reaped by the well connected and corrupt.
SNOWDEN reminds me a kid talking his book in College Freshman Philosophy class.
Idealism like existential democracy is a fine Libertarian Utopia...
But Snowden never brings the elephant of his dilemna into his complaint about spying...
Bombers brings bombs to a neighborhood near you. Or an airplane. Or a public space.
Boston Bombers, Times Square Bomber, Underwear Bomber, Shoe Bomber. Duh!
Snowden ignores the real threat whose ONLY defense is SPYING.
Not that I think Snowden is a liar or a traitor, but I am always skeptical and looking for an agenda. Who wants to bet that it won't be long before we see the senate start moving it's version of CISPA forward now ?
Laudable ~ but you're over thinking it...
I have a difficult time swallowing the fact that the MSM is all over this without there being another agenda.
Ultimately we manufacture our own reality. He is a fucking hero, even if only because I need him to be,
+1 ... At moments it strikes me that the Snowden thing may be the ultimate psy-op
It is working so damn well
Dissident Americans need a hero, just like you say
The political routes are closed, as Ron Paul's final effort showed
So the propped-up hero should be a 'whistleblower' ... No problem that a whole series of other NSA whistleblowers, William Binney and others going back to 2007 (!) ... were all ignored and marginalised by major media
The CIA saw how the Assange hype worked so well, as they ran it up and then ran it down
Now with Snowden, they have most of the radical dissident sector (ZeroHedge types, etc) both believing in and following the CIA-tied mainstream media again (Guardian, NYT, Washington Post ... )
And having a great 'story' to keep them distracted and involved for maybe oh about the next year, while Snowden's extradition hearings chug their way through the Hong Kong legal system
---
Veterans Today just ran an article on 'NSA Whistleblowing a Strong Tradition' ... other people way before William Binney
There was NSA whistleblower Adrienne Kinne ... article 1 July 2007 (!) ... And almost NOBODY knows who she is, or was, even back then
But somehow with a whole string of these people in the past saying the same thing as Edward Snowden, now we have CIA newspapers (Guardian, NYT, Wash Post) and a millionaire 'journalist' who is the daughter of America's top CIA consultant, and Trilateral Commission and Bildberberger guru Zbigniew Brzezinski, all pumping Snowden
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/06/12/nsa-whistleblowing-a-strong-trad...
I'm not your down arrow, but psy op for what? Why create him?
Exactly. Where's the upside to alienating another 20% of the US population and giving anti-US foreigners so much ammunition.
Everything is not a conspiracy.
Here's the thing...
~~~
Y'all attach to this bullshit like flies on honeypaper [as if the ULTIMATE solution had to be accomplished within 48 hrs.]...
Consider this:
- The ULTIMATE SOLUTION 'is NOT' a 48 hour issue
- 'Trial Balloons' are, & have been, used for quite awhile
- Most of the trial balloon FUCKS are experts at this sort of thing
- Worse ~ they've BRED 'LEGIONS' of sychophants [that wouldn't know a trial balloon from a gummy bear]...
- I could nominate a bunch of other shit if I had the time & motivation
~~~
Which leads us to 2 general outcomes...
- The guy is LEGIT... [whereby ~ just let the fucking shit PLAY OUT]
- This is a hoax... [whereby ~ this is all mental masturbation ~ with the cum ending up on YOUR face]...
Frankly ~ I don't care which one is valid because I prefer to stand away from the line of fire...
New Superman movie tie-in?
So why did they hire a no-good high school dropout?
Because of the sequester, it was all they could get (for $122,000 a year).
Because a HS dropout is cheaper.
When you understand that the US Government is just one really huge corporation (except with a flag and guns), the stupid shit they do starts to make much more sense.
Uncle Sam Inc.........or
Monsanto buys....... Xe Services.......(flags and Guns)
Maybe they thought he would be easier to control - but instead he strayed off the reservation.
Because the poor, uneducated, and unemployed usually end up being more malleable and will more easily look the other way to wrongdoings. He remembers what life was like for a high school drop out, so they could count on him to do their bidding no matter what, otherwise it's back to the poor house. Good strategy till you run into a crazy motherfucker that still actually has a moral compass.
acting very unpeasantly
+1 for "crazy motherfucker."
These fuckin govt guys, they live in a closed universe, a room full of mirrors where everyone yes and no's them to death, they think the whole world is that, they think the whole world abides by their whole self-confirming worldview. Fuck 'em in their tanned pieholes, fuck 'em six ways to Sunday!!!!
So why did they hire a no-good high school dropout?
because mcdonalds hired all the college grads...
Nothing said that was unexpected -- but Rogers' complete arrogance still makes me really, really angry.
Both of them should be brought up on treason charges.
NSA: I love you
Attack the messenger. He is a perfect NSA candidate. No public record past high school.
Smear, spin, divert attention.
This just incentivizes the US Govt to hire people with shady pasts and lack of proof of education degrees (This society's facination with shiny paper like degrees and fiat is what will kill it).
That way, when one of them bites the govt's hand, they can just respond: "See! He's just a dumb degenerate!"
.... and who hired the High School dropout?
Someone please tell Edward to just raise his hand -- everything will be fine then.
I still give more credability to Snowden than a single one of the congressional assholes. Especially if he produces more documents that cause congress to go into convulsions.
I was hoping for more, too. I don't think it matters anymore because FISA just went rouge. The Department of Justice is now the one withholding details of a federal court finding of NSA consitutional violations. Congress is going to appear all outraged (now that it has PR value) and demand their right to see the poop.
For someone with "employment troubles" he seemes to have worked in some pretty important places. Hiring standards of these companies suck and they are in the intelligence field? Confidence not high.
If he is lying than why does this pathetic group of trash in DC call him a traitor and want to prosecute him?
Mike Rogers: "This pathetic comment attempts to apply logic to the situation, but how can we trust the logic of someone who so clearly used the word 'than' when the gramatically correct word would be 'then'??"
Do I need a sarc tag?
Exactly. Is it illegal to lie about having secrets and access to classified information that, allegedly, would be "impossible" for him to have access to?
Sadly, the reality that this gubbmint is run by criminal sociopaths who will say anything to simply keep the sheep distracted and contained continues. This might cause a stir, but eventually the media will focus on something "big" and equivalent to a whitehouse blowjob while leaking a few tid bits trying to further discredit this guy, and the sheep will forget all about it.
Thou doth protest too much...
Exactly. If Edward Snowden was lying or clueless - they would not be foaming at the mouth attacking him.
Not really
If it is a big psy-op they want to run for a year or so
Distracting American dissidents with 'Support Snowden' over a year of Hong Kong court extradition hearings
They would have a few shills criticise Snowden in stupid ways
What they may have found in Snowden, is that like a lot of people who had it tough for a while, he has acting skills
Snowden might be grooving on the James Bond aspect of it
Secret funding for him in HK ... He perhaps could barely give a shite about that girlfriend, a lot of guys his age don't have much girlfriend-loyalty
CIA papers backing him and hyping him, millionaire 'journalist' daughter of America's top CIA consultant and Trilateral Commission overlord pumping him too ...
All a bit dodgy
Yup. Official Denial.....
Why didn't they say not that Snowden lied, but that he is telling the least untruthful statements? I hear that works.
+1 Ha ha ha... clapper, good one
That's their best shot? "Liar, liar, pants on fire?"
I will give Rep.Rogers credit: he does know a liar when he hears and sees one.
He's an expert at the subject, considering the guy has LIED EVERYDAY OF HIS FUCKING LIFE.
<== UP ARROW for pointing out a LIAR
<== DOWN ARROW for giving 'credit' to the man who, ostensibly, should be applauded [sardonically] was capable of identifying his lying brethren...
~~~
lol
WABOB
Well then...no harm no foul...
Anytime you see one of two parties get personal and thus off topic by ridiculing another, you are witnessing the deceptive side. Also known as the losing side. Ridicule is simply a form of desperation.
I was going to say just about everything that you all have said already but ya beat me to it. Congressweasel say somebody's a liar, then uses dropout as a perjorative. Ha. Funny.
well, the high school dropout that you mock was given sys admin privleges by the NSA. and he successfully avoided detection by you before skipping out to Hong Kong. so how about changing that quote to:
Info wars.
So let me get this straight. Snowden was okay to be hired and hired again in the spook world, he was okay to earn well into 6 figures, but on the other hand he's a high school dropout that doesn't know shit.
So if he's such a dumbass, why pay him the 6 figs? And have these guys seen his girlfriend? He must rate something somewhere!
Girlfriend doesn't register with this element. They're interests are in children, pun intended.
That's cold, show some respect for high school drop outs.
Rogers was in the army, and then an FBI agent.
He's a cop. The accused is always guilty (especially after you plant a gun or drugs).
Not to say all cops are as such. The majority are honest. That's just the vibe I get from his remarks.
Whole lotta smart "lettered people" with stupid debts these days.
And there is one thing we do know for certain. All that trillion dollar privacy infringing bullshit ain't good enough to catch two morons armed with pressure cookers.
Let the overpaid geniuses and their beltway bandit buddies explain that please.
At the same time, two morons with pressure cookers and a high school dropout sequentially uncover the rank inadequacy and bumbling abuse of said trillion-dollar privacy (and property) infringing national security apparatus.
False Flag Inside Job.
Corzine steals billions from Americans and these clowns don't say a word.
Wish we had people willing to go on general strikes and no confidence votes to show these politicians how it's done.
I
If none of this is true, then exactly how can it be harmful from a security standpoint?
Yep, Bagbalm if it's all a lie why worry about it?
And if it is a lie then what can they prosecute about?
These scumbags will never let go...That guy has a pension, college tuitions to pay, second and third homes...tier one medical benefits....of course he'll say anything, do anything to prevent this corrupt ponzi from ever imploding. This scumbag will cruch dissent; he wouldn't hestitate using crying abandoned babies as fuel for his carbon burning generator to keep his margarita glasses frozen...
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” Upton SinclairFirst, they mock you.
Yeah,you need a Harvard degree to be a systems administrator, I forgot.
A warning from H.L. Mencken: "Patriotism, though it is based upon the natural and indeed instinctive love of home, has been elevated in the modern world into an unparalleled congeries of imbecilities. What it demands of the individual citizen, as a practical matter, is that he yield not only his judgment but also his property and even his life to whatever gang of scheming politicians happen to be in power."
Patriotism is supposed to rally us together to defend the homeland, not to go bopping around the world killing people who threaten the oil supply.
I always find it interesting that citizens are guilty until THEY prove themselves innocent, yet when a whistleblower comes forward, they are guilty, and the criminals twist the publics opinion on the truthsayer and defuse the truth..
Snowden/Corzine for president
Oh good grief. What's next? Name calling and bringing Snowden's mother into it?
I should not be surprised at the character assassination as it is standard fare in politics. Remember when the Clinton team was going after Lewinski as a slut and a dreamer until the blue dress arose? It is all about distracting from the spying and trying to put the focus on Snowden. It has taken years, but it is such a reliable technique that we should both expect it and ignore it. We need to point and laugh at the people attacking Snowden's character and overstating the importance to national security of the the program.
Joe Scarborough called Snowden a 'weasel'. Another talking head called him a 'punk'. 'Geek', 'nerd', and lately 'high school drop out'. The government and MSM are in full personal attack mode - it's what they do when they have no coherent response. By the way, I have a name for Snowden - 'patriot'. And a damn courageous one.
Talk like that and you'll get him audited
Look at my post a little above yours to see "Who is trusted to give us the News"
As to high school dropouts: I'll take any one of the many, many people I've known who didn't finish high school long before I'd ever hire Rogers. He needs to go soak his head, as we used to say, to get the **** out that's keeping him from thinking clearly.
Seems to me this country was successfully built by millions upon millions of people who never attended high school, and is now being successfully torn down by millsions upon millions of those who did!
Sir Alan Sugar left school at 16 and has done very well for himself!
Thomas Edison, Albert Einstien, Walt Disney (who forged documents to enlist in the army...majorly illegal), J.D. Rockefeller, Charles Dickens, Ray Kroc (made McCrapples what it is today), Quentin Tarantino, Peter Jennings, Dave Karp....
All million to billionaire status. Right quitting school makes you completely invalid to society. Seems going to Ivy League Schools and being "in the club" makes you completely invalid of human function and devoid of reason.
Even got Andrea Mitchell (who tells us on CNN "How" to understand the news) as a wife.
Good friends with Mika Brzenzinski(father Zbigniew) in the morning. Tucker Carlson swanson fortune. Anderson Cooper, Vanderbilt, Christiane Amanpour is married to James Rubin, a former Assistant Secretary of State and spokesman for the State Department during the Clinton administration
Just so America gets the RIGHT version of reality.
Just like the Assange case but in his case it was alleged rape
College logic 101 would label the comment an ad hominem attack. Typically used when one is desperate and can't form a justifiable defense.
I hope that we don't decide that our national security interests are going to be determined by a high-school dropout who had a whole series of both academic troubles and employment troubles
"Chairman Of House Intelligence Committee Is Lying" High-School Dropout Snowden ClaimsI hope the American people remember who Rogers and Ruppersberger are. Oh well, hope in one hand and ___ in the other, right?
Pro Bailout faggot congresssmen they are, He should sue them for slander and libel
"And if he does have what we say he doesn't have, then he's going to be on double-secret probation..."
"Oh, and he doesn't brush after snacks too."
What a bunch of fucktards.
Can't even muster the ability to produce a semi-creditable lie.
Must really suck to be made a complete fool by a "high school drop-out".
Rogers said investigators are also trying to determine whether Snowden has any relationship with foreign governments – something national security officials don't know yet, he said.
hahahaha.
But..But...You know everything...Billions of dollars spent...
"What can I say? You fucked up. You trusted us."
Sorry Flounder...
If he is a liar, why the uproar? Just as they fucking tell all of us "IF YOU HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT" If it's all a scam for attention as they are iderating, then no threat to national security has been done.
Fucking hilarious, I've seen children come up with better lies about shit.
Whats the poster child for oxymorons?
Oh yeah..
Military Intelligence
I've seen that fat slob, fake tanned, cockersucker, Ruppersberger around my parts down South Balmer (Baltimore) way. He's a piece of shit phony if I've ever come across one.
Right on. From the land of pleasant living too and that bloated fuck doesn't handle criticism well. Call out that fat piece of shite next time you see him. I'd love to see the we are change folks or Alex jones confront him. That would make MSM news- I guarantee it.
Rogers and Snowden...
...neither are telling the truth.
Personally, I prefer the old days when all of this dirty laundry stayed in the hamper until it was washed clean...
...for all of you outraged by this "news", it's not "news".
I guess this is the mock you phase.
Then you win.
Then they kill you.
It's close but Snowden's got more balls than that tank guy in China had.
Fuck these rolling tanks & fuck this Socialist Amerika
this guy is a hero.
nuff said
This will work!..BANK ROBBERY SUSPECT WANTS NSA SURVEILLANCE RECORDS FOR DEFENSE
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/13/Bank-robber-NSA-records
Surprising it took so long...
I need a refill on my case of scotch..
I saw that, too. AJ had it from BBart. Classic, that. F'ing classic.
AVALANCHE
Sure, i believe that.
As the First Black President said recently, if you don't trust us we may have a problem.
Isn't it amazing that we can get this guys school records in five days and we can't get Obama's in five years?
Cue riotous laughter.
Bawhawhawhawhaw. Haw.
Good one.
Know your rights, Bear. This one's for you. Rock on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL0CCphgmZ8
NSA has them.
Wait for the inevitable mental health problems, excessive drinking and child porn on the hard drive.
From what we have seen of Snowden he will be completely unsurprised by this.
I expect he has a strategy to keep the agenda from shifting. I badly hope so.
Snowden has more credibility in his pinky finger than a boatload of these ass hat political actors. Frankly, I'd like to see these actors on trial for treason and facing a jury comprised of out of work Americans and "high school dropouts". The jury would send this cast of clowns straight to the firing squad where they belong.
This now gives me a soo much better feeling that .gov know what's it's doing
the fed better print sum-oar digital and hoard it
to cover the investigative scruples demanded here-to-
for exoneration of said mainstays in the polit bureau,
and then some extra to btfd when it really dips!
.
why not, who would know?
My older brother is a high school drop out. Just left his junior year, went to college (ok, LSU, but still. It not really calculus, it's what Tulane kids call "calculator"). Now he has two masters degrees AND can read, which I've got say is an inspiration for those of us surrounded by complete fucking retards all the time.
But I can tell you with absolute certainty that the VERY LAST people on this planet you want balancing your privacy and your security is a flag officer in the US Military. Basically to even rise the rank of full bird requires that (1) say yes to absolutely every moronic fucking order you've ever received and (2) never fuck up. And to a rational human being "never fuck up" means you're good at your job. Bullshit. It means you played the game correctly, kept your head low, never took initiative and fucked over what were once your friends at some point along the way. And that's just to full bird. Getting a star? The selection process involves selling your soul to the lowest bidder on the armed services committee.
Petraeus's Wife would certainly give you a +1.
delete
"High School Droput" is now a disqualifier? My dad never even started HS and I'd still put him up against these wankers. He's 82 and recently had a stroke and he'd still kick their ass.
Your move Edward S.
How about some of those 50,000 docs?
"It strikes me as paradoxical that someone has to struggle for the defense of privacy in a society of exhibitionists. It’s a vicious circle. The assault on privacy accustoms everyone to the disappearance of privacy. Little by little we become exhibitionists, having learned that nothing can be kept confidential anymore and that no behaviour is considered scandalous. Those who are attacking our privacy, seeing that the victims themselves consent, will no longer stop at any violation."
Umberto Eco from the ‘The Loss of Privacy’ conference speech, Venice, Sept 2000
Why would Snowden lie and put himself at risk for treason and gain what? Elected officials are the LIARS that's how they got there.
There is no true Congressional oversight or White House supervision of our agencies. They do as they please, without constraint. Only when outsiders or occassionally insiders expose their mischief will Congress or the White House get involved to cover their asses for their supervisory failures. This is what we are witnessing. We are adrift.
its called organized crime
Big Money and the NSA Scandal … How Dangerous is the "Security/Digital Complex"? Tuesday, 11 June 2013 13:17By Richard Eskow, Campaign for America's Future | Op-EdIt should be self-evident that recent NSA revelations bring up some grave concerns about civil liberties. But they also raise other profound and troubling questions – about the privatization of our military, our culture’s inflated expectations for digital technology, and the increasingly cozy relationship between Big Corporations (including Wall Street) and Big Defense.
Are these corporations perverting our political process? The campaign war chest for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who today said NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden committed “treason,” is heavily subsidized by defense and intelligence contractors that include General Dynamics, General Atomic, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, and Bechtel.
One might argue that a politician with that kind of backing is in no moral position to lecture others about “treason.”
But Feinstein’s funders are decidedly old-school Military/Industrial Complex types. What about the new crowd? This confluence of forces hasn’t been named yet, so for the time being we’ll use a cumbersome label: the “Security/Digital Complex.”
With computers and communications encompassing an ever-larger portion of human activity, we may someday learn that this new force dwarfs even its predecessors in the Feinstein camp when it comes to its impact on our democracy, our economy and our values.
There’s much we don’t know yet, so it’s wise to be cautious in describing this new force. But Edward Snowden’s revelations, and the reactions to them, are offering us a glimpse into rarely-seen intersections of Wall Street wealth, information technology, and the national security state.
Revolving doors.
Reports say that Snowden left government and joined the private sector as part of the massive privatization of government functions, including national security. His recent employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, earns more than 98 percent of its revenue from the government.
Privatization is an ideological pathway. It’s also, as with bank regulation, a path to riches for pliant officials. And, as with Wall Street, the officials feeding at the trough are entirely “bipartisan.” From a New York Times article:
That’s the revolving door in its purest form, spinning like an electron in your digital profile.
And there’s a lot of money to be made. Last February Booz Allen Hamilton announced two new contracts with Homeland Security, worth a total of $11 billion, for “program management, engineering, technology, business and financial management, and audit support services.”
Wonder who signed off on that deal – and where they’ll be working next year?
It’s who you know.
Booz Allen Hamilton is now a part of the Carlyle Group, the leverage-buyout firm which has contributed to the personal enrichment of a number of very well-known public figures from Administrations of both parties. They include:
Former President George H. W. Bush; Bush’s Secretary of State, James Baker, and Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci; Arthur Levitt, Bill Clinton’s Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); and Mack McLarty, Clinton’s White House Chief of Staff.
The Bin Laden family was a major shareholder, too, until both parties concluded that the relationship with the Al Qaeda leader’s family (and the source of his wealth) was “receiving more attention than it deserved.”
Carlyle invests in both old-school and digital defense contractors. Members of the Carlyle Group’s Board also have board seats or other affiliations with corporations that include ExxonMobil, MCI Communications, Sprint Nextel, Duke Energy, Reuters, and Ford Motors. Bank affiliations among Carlyle’s leaders include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America.
As a “leveraged buyout” firm, the Carlyle Group purchases companies with borrowed money, and then lays the debt onto its acquisitions. That means it relies heavily on Wall Street connections, Wall Street wealth … and Wall Street’s solvency, which was protected by the 2008 bailouts.
It also means that those companies, including government contractors have to be very profitable. They need to pay off those debts and enrich their new owners, while seeing to it that the financial institutions which underwrite these loans are kept whole.
(Note to Carlyle Board: Sen. Feinstein will be available in 2018 when her current term ends.)
Birth of the Booz
Booz Hamilton Allen is a $5.9 billion company. Most of the work it does would have been performed in by military or civilian government employees – at no markup whatsoever. Thanks to privatization, Booz Allen earned nearly a cool billion in taxpayer-funded profit for those two years alone.
Booz Allen has profited greatly from the explosive growth in national security privatization since 9/11. (It created a chart to illustrate its growth between 2001 and 2010, which we’ve reproduced below. It’s impressive.)
The Times informs us that roughly 23 percent of the company’s revenue over the last decade has come directly from intelligence contracts. Booz says it has a backlog of $10.8 billion in additional “sold” work, which means it’s on track to receive nearly another billion in taxpayer money as profits (if current margins hold).
Booz says it has approximately 25,000 employees. More than three quarters of them hold government security clearances. Roughly half hold clearances of “Top Secret” or higher.
Private Eyes
And yet, for all that, it’s only eighth on the list of the top 100 government contractors.
Dana Priest and William Arkin conducted an intensive two-year investigation of national security for the Washington Post. They identified 1,931 private companies working in “about 10,000 locations” around the country, with 854,000 of their employees holding top-secret clearances.
They also found enormous redundancy and waste, along with an inability for human beings to effectively absorb and use all the information produced. Analysts were then publishing some 50,000 intelligence reports each year. And since this report was completed nearly three years ago, things can only have grown worse.
The huge drain on public coffers is only one of the downsides of this behemoth. Another is the lack of accountability when private employees do government work. That danger was eloquently described to the Times by Stewart A. Baker, former General Counsel to NSA and ex-Homeland Security official.
Cold Fusion
A lot of people are getting rich from national security data contracts. And, coincidentally or not, this corporate-driven national security apparatus seems especially interested in protecting Wall Street banks and bankers.
We’ve seen collusion between corporations and law enforcement on the local level, especially after then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani started renting out the New York City police force to big banks as rent-a-cops under a program called “Paid Detail.” That cozy relationship made it unsurprising, if no less deplorable, when city police officers teamed up with private security guards to evict Occupy demonstrators from Zuccotti Park.
A report on regional “fusion centers, which the Department of Homeland Security created to support inter-agency cooperation and data sharing,suggests that this relationship has been replicated on the national level through the Federal security apparatus. The study by DBA Press and the Center for Media and Democracy is an exhaustively researched glimpse into the cozy relationship between corporations and the National Security State.
The report’s author, Beau Hodai, documents the exhaustive use of government anti-terrorism resources against Occupy, a legal and nonviolent protest movement. Hodai also includes an interesting case study: the Arizona Fusion Center’s close collaboration with bank security personnel at JPMorgan Chase to protect CEO Jamie Dimon during a 2011 visit to Phoenix.
Booz Allen appears to be heavily involved in fusion centers. Its white paper on the topic reads like a sales pitch, and as of this writing more than 500 Booz employees on LinkedIn include the phrase “Fusion Center” in their job titles or descriptions.
JPMorgan Chase, whose CEO received such personal service from the Arizona Fusion Center, has close ties to Booz and the Carlyle Group, with projects that include backing Carlyle’s 2012 acquisition of a Philadelphia refinery; help in finding a buyer for aerospace company Arinc (which was part of Booz); reviewing Virgin Media for a possible takeover bid; and handling the initial share offering for Carlyle itself.
Complex Temptations
Our government’s accelerated dependence on Big Data technologies – one might even say its “fetishization” of them – has troubling implications for the workings of democracy and the apparatus of state.
In naming the “military/industrial complex,” General-turned-President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us that, in meeting crises, “there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties.”
“Spectacular.” “Costly.” “Miraculous.” “Temptation.”
And they say the General was a taciturn man.
The would-be miracle du jour at the core of today’s scandal is “metadata”: data about data. The corporate and intelligence worlds are infatuated with it. You might even call this wave of fascination a “bubble.”
The Data Bubble
Like any bubble, the “metadata” craze takes something of genuine value and inflates it far beyond its worth. This corporo-bureaucratic fashion trend is contributing to the new Complex’s explosive growth. But, as Priest and Arkin observe, the problem isn’t that there isn’t enough data or “metadata.” It’s that the data isn’t sifted, refined, and evaluated by human beings with human judgment.
“Metadata” is all the rage on Wall Street too. When “market makers” like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase capture a large chunk of the trades in a given area (the top five US banks control well over 90 percent of all derivatives trades, for example) that data gives them extraordinary economic power.
In a very real way, financial institutions are now data institutions – and the “too-big-to-fail” ones are grabbing all the power that comes with the hoarding of information.
Still, it’s a sign of Big Data’s limitations that these banks would have failed anyway if taxpayers hadn’t rescued them. We’ve forgotten that metadata, whether it’s used for credit scores, algorithmic trading, or national security, is inherently subject to flaws – flaws which can’t be fixed when it’s operated in secret or purely out of self-interest.
Metadata as Ideology
Eisenhower warned that the Military/Industrial Complex’s “total influence – economic, political, even spiritual (emphasis ours) – is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the Federal government …”
We face, in Eisenhower’s words, a spiritual threat, that of Metadata as Ideology. We idealize this algorithmic methodology, even surrender our liberties to it, while overlooking the flawed human origin of the process itself. Speaking as a former designer of large information systems, I recognize that it’s a very useful analytical technique. But as an ideology it’s antithetical to a democratic society:
Where democracy serves the human, metadata serves the mechanical and quantifiable.
Where democracy serves a society, metadata serves its masters.
Where democracy values the individual, metadata values the “set.”
Where democracy is self-correcting (at least in design), metadata is self-replicating and self-reinforcing.
The Long Struggle
The technology is new, but the struggle is old: Corporations like the Dutch East Indies Company and the British East India Company used traded goods to drive a wave of global colonization. Corporations in the Military/Industrial Complex made money from mass-produced weapons of iron and steel.
The weapons of the 21st Century are made of electrons, not metal. But human nature doesn’t change. The Military/Industrial Complex robs our nation of its wealth and many people of their lives. the Security/Digital Complex takes our wealth and has the potential to invade and monitor virtually every aspect of our lives. In the end, that could make it even more powerful than its predecessor.
Booz Allen Hamilton’s corporate slogan is “Delivering results that endure.” Results that endure? That’s exactly what should worry us.
(UPDATE: I chose the word “whistleblower” with care. The AP Standards Editor says that term means “a person who exposes wrongdoing.” I believe there is clear evidence that “exposing wrongdoing” is precisely what Snowden has done.)
(Graph: Booz Allen Hamilton’s Post-9/11 Growth)
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
No. It is with the full lknowledge and guidance of Congress and The White House these things are done, all to ensure over sight of you.
it is not a depression it is a larceny with
the added attraction of the windfalls from
a global ... what do they call it when they intentionally
burn the place down after obtaining maximum insurance?
...
whatever, that is the scenario we call the future, hope and change.
the public needs to be stupid and on the hook, like debt slaves
or other forms of fraudulently induced suckers.
It's called ARSON!
thank you for that moment of linguistic clarity.
He would say that, wouldnt he...too late mate, cat out of the bag!
Govmint is pissed. Snowden was such a great fucking liar they could have used him at the BLS or IRS or as Carney's replacement. People in those jobs are suffering from liar's fatigue and this strapping 29 yr old is full of piss and vinegar.
"Rogers and Ruppersberger"? Didn't they write and compose "The Sound of Music"?
I believe it was Sound of Whining.
Sound of Fascists.
The Emperor HAS CLOTHES I tell ya, I CAN SEE THEM. YOU JUST GOTTA BELIEVE
A few noteworthy high school drop outs.
Princess Diana dropped out of school at 16.
Thomas Edison had only three months of formal school. He was then home schooled by his mother.
Benjamin Franklin. He spent two years at the Boston Latin School before dropping out at age ten and going to work for his father, and then his brother, as a printer.
Albert Einstein dropped out of high school at age 15. Deciding to continue his education a year later, Einstein took the entrance exam to the prestigious Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, but failed.
John D. Rockefeller, Sr. dropped out of high school two months before graduation.
Walt Disney dropped out of high school at age 16. He received an honorary high school diploma at age 58.
Sir Richard Branson quit school at age 16.
George Burns left school in the fourth grade to go to work shining shoes.
Colonel Harland Sanders dropped out of elementary school.
Charles Dickens left school at age 12 and began working ten-hour days in a boot-blacking factory after his father was imprisoned for Debt.
Elton John dropped out of school at 16.
Ray Kroc dropped out of high school at age 15.
Ehrich Weiss (aka Harry Houdini) dropped out of school at age 12.
Ringo Starr dropped out of school at 15.
Peter Jennings dropped out of high school at 16.
Dave Thomas dropped out of high school at 15.
Orville Wright dropped out of high school at 15.
and there's plenty more where these came from.....
On the other hand, both Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer were high school graduates.
So was Ted Bundy.
I'm pretty sure all the politicians are too.
You do know that the leaving age for school is 16 in England, as they start younger than they do in the USA you do not sit for a diploma you sit exams pass or fail. Back in Ringo's day it may have been 14. Charles Dickens was lucky to have attended any school during Victorian times.
Those Brits all failed the exams and became successful?
Plus hundreds of millions more, over the years, each of whose names will never have been known by more than a few.
none sat at a desk where they could monitor all
digital , which is nearly all, communications
in the world, but one, mr. snowden. and, his
point is that he had no great clearance. millions of
potential morons in the world can monitor and extract
and alter anyone's digital footprint thanks to the work
and accomplishments of the new world digital disorder!
god bless us everyone, good show and fuck it all i say!
" ..all is phony.." ... here in the digital and
virtual realm. other possibilities wxist but .....
hmmmm...
directing chaos seems to be the new normal, as if there
was something to it or beneficial in it?
millions of potential morons in the world can monitor and extract and alter anyone's digital footprint thanks...
Very good point. Access means ability to alter, and if the access is predicated on dubious or no legal authority, then there is no way I for one would ever see truth being able to come from the process.
"What is truth?"
"Behold the man"- Pilate
I saw some cockroaches this morning while bringing the garbage cans in. Those things had more honesty and integrity than these government bastards.
So they are going to investigate Booz Allen for foisting this guy off on the US Govt as a qualified contractor at nearly $200K per year plus overhead, right?
Transcript of the February 27, 2000 60 Minutes broadcast about Project Echelon.
http://cryptome.org/echelon-60min.htm
Since this interview the NSA has recieved 6 billion $ (over and above thier operating budget) to upgrade and "enhance" the Echelon (TIA) capabilities.
So...why is this all so difficult to fathom?
No whistleblower left behind.
We're supposed to believe a top consulting company (Booz!) hires high school dropouts for 200k that don't know what they're doing? Ok...
Hell even the headline is most likely wrong. I don't know this for a fact but my guess is he has a HS diploma through GED. He wouldn't have gotten the job otherwise. True he didn't finish with his HS class but I'll bet a dollar to a donut that he has his GED. Which makes him a high school graduate. I'm sure this will come out sooner or later. At which time the 2 Congressmen will undoubtedly go back on the record to apologize for their misrepresentation of the facts. Surely they would do that being the upright, honest, politicians they obviously are. (Wow even in jest it was difficult typing that last sentence without getting a little nauseous.)
I don't know anything about Snowden so the jury is still out on that point. What is an absolute fact is that Citizen Snowden has as much credibility as any of our elected folks have. Actually because I have no confidence in ANY (and I mean not a single one) of our elected officials, Snowden has more cred than they. I certainly look forward to hearing more from our boy Snowden but won't jump on the "he's a hero bandwagon" until I know more.
Mr. Chairman, you lie, and high school rejects everywhere can prove it. This is how American high school dropouts do it: @Large - The biggest internet invasion in the 90s
with no budget. Are you this bad at everything you attempt?
Cognitive Dissonance anybody ?
A six figure, living in Hawaii with a pole dancing gf, high school drop out. He needs an infomercial gig.
And all he had to do was place tiny classified ads in the newspaper!
TINY CLASSIFIED ADS!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mubCkCAEiDQ
Odd that High School Drop-out and criminal record holder DARRELL ISSA is the 3rd wealthest MEMBER OF CONGRESS.
Are you still a 911 truth denier, Lizzy?
This is the best they could come up with? The guy who has taken such a profound risk is just making it all up?
There is something incredibly pathetic in the whole 'blame the messenger' meme and the claims that "we can't do that" are equally pathetic. I don't think these folks realize how badly they are damaging their credibility.
I suspect what's actually happening here is the kind of thing one finds in people with serious social pathologies, in that they project onto others motives and methods they themselves employ. It's a sort of strawman argument, and of course since all this stuff is classified, they can claim whatever they like, but William Binney, an ex-NSA whisteblower, wrote an article a few days ago basically confirming everything Snowden said.
In any event, a cursory look at the comments here shows nobody is buying this BS, and we all know that "when things get serious, you have to lie." (My apologies to Juncker if I mangled that quote) That's the moral position authorities have gotten themselves into in a vain attempt to maintain power. And then they tell us it's for our own good. That's the real irony.
So, as a matter of course, Our entire spying agencies routinely hire High School Drop Out Liars???
That's their defense? This is REALLY getting rich.
There's a job opening at the NSA, if anyone is interested in peeling themself off the couch.
Yes what does it say about the hiring practices of our most secret government departments if they let this "high school drop out" have any access. What does it say about your run of the mill government department and the quality hire? Pre school drop outs?