‘Operation Stalk My Girlfriend’
Posted on | December 28, 2014 | 10 Comments
Kevin D. Williamson has a column about NSA employees who were caught using the agency’s surveillance technology for personal purposes:
Thanks to a Christmas Eve document dump, we learn that agents of the National Security Agency, the spookiest spooks in all our vast spookocracy, are a bunch of stalkers, using the effectively boundless surveillance powers of their organization to spy on husbands and wives, overseas girlfriends, and sundry romantic partners. . . .
In a free and open society, there is a generally unspoken understanding between the citizens and the intelligence forces: We the people understand that they’re going to necessarily conduct themselves in a nefarious fashion from time to time, bending or breaking some laws along the way. We know this: That’s what spies do, being a necessary evil that is no less evil for being so acutely necessary. The spooks’ end of the bargain is: being good at what they do, not comporting themselves like a bunch of jackasses, and getting really bendy with the situational ethics only when doing so advances some legitimate national-security interest. Operation Mincemeat we can live with; Operation Stalk My Girlfriend we cannot. . . .
Read the whole thing. Kevin’s a brilliant writer.
Comments
10 Responses to “‘Operation Stalk My Girlfriend’”
THE FULL METAL JACKET REACH-AROUND AWARD
This spot rotates to honor those who link us in shameless obedience to Rule 2 of "How to Get a Million Hits on Your Blog."
HIT THE FREAKING TIP JAR!
Search
Recent Posts
- In The Mailbox: 01.27.21 (Evening Edition)
- In The Mailbox: 01.27.21 (Morning Edition)
- In The Mailbox: 01.25.21
- Manufacturing an Atrocity Narrative: How BLM Distorts the Reality of Crime
- ‘HOLY F***ING S**T!’
- Rule Five Sunday: Jayne Mansfield
- Booted!
- Lincoln Project Senior Adviser Blames Capitol Riot on … David Brooks?
- FMJRA 2.0: For Whom The Bell Tolls
- The Sanhedrin
Click here to manage your email subscription options.
RSS reader subscription
MEMEORANDUM
Recent Comments
- Animal’s Hump Day News | Animal Magnetism on Night Of The Digital Long Knives
- Wednesday Linkage « Bacon Time !!!!!! on Can I Get a ‘Roll Tide,’ Please?
- Web Links And More Yummy Hotties Than Pelosi Could Ever Impeach! (32 Pics) | HarshBrutus on Rule 5 Sunday: Rep. Lauren Boebert
- I was off, a little – Da Boom on Night Of The Digital Long Knives
- FMJRA 2.0: Broken Whiskey Glass : The Other McCain on Real Life Is Not Twitter or a Video Game
THE AMAZING GONZO FEED
Blog-Fu Ninja Masters
ADVERTISEMENT
Axis of Fedorables
- All-American Girl for the Restoration of Values
- Allergic to Bull
- Cat House Chat
- Chris Cassone
- Conservative Daily News
- DaTechguy
- Fishersville Mike
- Girl on the Right
- Haemet
- Just A Conservative Girl
- Little Miss Attila
- Marooned in Marin
- Paco Enterprises
- So It Goes In Shreveport
- SWAC Girl
- The (Perhaps Slightly Less) Lonely Conservative
- The Camp of the Saints
- The World's Youngest Blogger
- Uncoverage
- VA Right
AMAZING SAVINGS NOW!
Archives
- January 2021 (65)
- December 2020 (77)
- November 2020 (81)
- October 2020 (84)
- September 2020 (94)
- August 2020 (75)
- July 2020 (68)
- June 2020 (83)
- May 2020 (77)
- April 2020 (65)
- March 2020 (85)
- February 2020 (94)
- January 2020 (95)
- December 2019 (88)
- November 2019 (60)
- October 2019 (113)
- September 2019 (92)
- August 2019 (91)
- July 2019 (88)
- June 2019 (80)
- May 2019 (74)
- April 2019 (97)
- March 2019 (100)
- February 2019 (85)
- January 2019 (93)
- December 2018 (90)
- November 2018 (83)
- October 2018 (96)
- September 2018 (79)
- August 2018 (107)
- July 2018 (98)
- June 2018 (86)
- May 2018 (78)
- April 2018 (78)
- March 2018 (97)
- February 2018 (61)
- January 2018 (70)
- December 2017 (62)
- November 2017 (68)
- October 2017 (67)
- September 2017 (70)
- August 2017 (68)
- July 2017 (52)
- June 2017 (60)
- May 2017 (56)
- April 2017 (80)
- March 2017 (80)
- February 2017 (102)
- January 2017 (104)
- December 2016 (65)
- November 2016 (86)
- October 2016 (77)
- September 2016 (81)
- August 2016 (66)
- July 2016 (83)
- June 2016 (81)
- May 2016 (65)
- April 2016 (64)
- March 2016 (81)
- February 2016 (74)
- January 2016 (66)
- December 2015 (64)
- November 2015 (85)
- October 2015 (71)
- September 2015 (80)
- August 2015 (67)
- July 2015 (79)
- June 2015 (69)
- May 2015 (72)
- April 2015 (94)
- March 2015 (122)
- February 2015 (71)
- January 2015 (93)
- December 2014 (99)
- November 2014 (67)
- October 2014 (109)
- September 2014 (87)
- August 2014 (106)
- July 2014 (132)
- June 2014 (154)
- May 2014 (126)
- April 2014 (145)
- March 2014 (144)
- February 2014 (142)
- January 2014 (185)
- December 2013 (192)
- November 2013 (174)
- October 2013 (175)
- September 2013 (181)
- August 2013 (172)
- July 2013 (147)
- June 2013 (135)
- May 2013 (128)
- April 2013 (105)
- March 2013 (162)
- February 2013 (191)
- January 2013 (206)
- December 2012 (190)
- November 2012 (176)
- October 2012 (240)
- September 2012 (206)
- August 2012 (235)
- July 2012 (223)
- June 2012 (161)
- May 2012 (230)
- April 2012 (269)
- March 2012 (282)
- February 2012 (247)
- January 2012 (267)
- December 2011 (285)
- November 2011 (300)
- October 2011 (302)
- September 2011 (297)
- August 2011 (288)
- July 2011 (297)
- June 2011 (245)
- May 2011 (260)
- April 2011 (344)
- March 2011 (293)
- February 2011 (201)
- January 2011 (263)
- December 2010 (265)
- November 2010 (266)
- October 2010 (305)
- September 2010 (280)
- August 2010 (272)
- July 2010 (230)
- June 2010 (244)
- May 2010 (256)
- April 2010 (222)
- March 2010 (271)
- February 2010 (286)
- January 2010 (229)
- December 2009 (21)
- October 2009 (1)
Wombat's Wizards of Blog
SHAMELESS CAPITALISM
The Other McCain is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for this blog to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Can't Get Enough of That Hot Bloggy Stuff
- All-American Blogger
- American Glob
- American Power
- Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
- Athens & Jerusalem
- Barney Quick
- Bartholomew's Notes On Religion
- BatesLine
- Bear Creek Ledger
- Bearsears Patriots
- Blog de KingShamus
- Blueshelled
- Bride of Rove
- Cold Fury
- Dr. Helen
- Dustbury
- Five Feet of Fury
- I Own The World
- Legal Insurrection
- Little Miss Attila
- No Runny Eggs
- Obi`s Sister
- Piece of Work in Progress
- Pirates Cove
- Rhetorican
- The Conservatory
- The Sundries Shack
- VodkaPundit
- Zilla of the Resistance
Blogroll
- 90 Miles From Tyranny
- A Conservative Shemale
- AmSpec Blog
- Bad Blue
- Caffeinated Thoughts
- Calvin Freiburger Online
- Carol's Closet
- Cassy Fiano
- Catholic Bandita
- Catholic Tide
- Caught Him With A Corndog
- Cecil Calvert
- Charles G. Hill
- Clever S. Logan
- Common Cents
- Common Cents
- Conservative Girl With a Voice
- Conservative Hideout
- Conservative Watch News
- Conservatives for America
- Conservatives For Palin
- Crazy For Liberty
- Creative Minority Report
- Crush Liberalism
- Cubachi
- Cynthia Yockey
- Dad 29
- Daria DiGiovanni
- Dateline Zero
- DC Damsel
- Dr. Flap
- Dyspepsia Generation
- Effing Conservatives
- Election Dissection
- Ennui Pundit
- Eric Reasons, IT Genius
- Evil Blogger Lady
- Eye of Polyphemus
- Fausta's Blog
- Finding Ponies. . .
- Fire Andrea Mitchell
- For What It's Worth
- Founding Bloggers
- Free Will
- Funny and Jewish
- Gay Patriot
- Get Along Home
- GM's Place
- Grandpa John's
- Granite Grok
- Granny Rant
- GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD
- Hit & Run
- Hoosier Access
- Hot Air Green Room
- Hugh Hewitt
- Ignorant Me
- Inside Charm City
- Is This Blog On?
- Jackie Wellfonder
- John William Perry
- Judicial Watch
- Jumping in Pools
- Katy's Conservative Corner
- KillTruck
- KURU Lounge
- Laughing Conservative
- Laura Elizabeth Morales
- Lead and Gold
- Lee Hernly
- Libertarian Republican
- Liberty Pundits
- Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
- Live Action
- Maj. Steven Givler
- Makes My Brain Itch
- Marathon Pundit
- Martin Eisenstadt's Blog
- Media Fade
- Michael Leahy
- Mind Numbed Robot
- Mister Pterodactyl
- Monique Stuart
- Morally Right
- My Blog
- My Thoughts on Freedom
- Naked Villainy
- Nathan Martin
- Never Yet Melted
- Newsreal Blog
- Nice Deb
- noot's observatory
- Not One Red Cent
- NOVA Townhall
- Ollieander
- Ordered Liberty
- Outside the Beltway
- Pierre Legrand's Pink Flamingo Bar
- Pileus
- Pinup Girl
- PJ Tatler
- Point of a Gun
- Political Clown Parade
- Political Pit Bull
- Politicaljunkie Mom
- Primordial Slack
- Public Secrets
- Pundit and Pundette
- Reaganite Republican Resistance
- Red Alexandria
- Red Dog Report
- Red State Eclectic
- Red, White & Conservative
- Republican Redefined
- ResCon1
- Rhymes With Right
- Ric's Rulez
- Ricochet
- Right of Course
- Right Pundits
- Right Turns Only
- Right View From the Left Coast
- Right Wing News
- Right Wing Nut House
- Robipedia
- Robomonkey
- Ruby Slippers Blog
- Saberpoint
- Scared Monkeys
- Sentry Journal
- Serr8d's Cutting Edge
- SI VIS PACEM
- Sissy 'put moi in your blogroll' Willis
- Skepticrats
- Smash Mouth Politics
- Sooper Mexican
- Southern Maryland Online
- Soylent Green
- St. Blogustine
- Stacy on the Right
- Story Balloon
- Suzy Rice
- Taking Hayek Seriously
- Tel-Chai Nation
- Tequila & Javalinas
- That Mr. Guy
- The Aged P
- The American Catholic
- The Anchoress
- The Blogmocracy
- The Busted Nut
- The Classic Liberal
- The Daily Conservative
- The Daily Ramble
- The Daley Gator
- The Essex Blog
- The Frugal Cafe
- The Hay Ride
- The Indentured Servant Girl
- The Izzy Report
- The Jawa Report
- The Last Tradition
- The Looking Spoon
- The Minority Leader
- The Minority Report
- The NeoSexist
- The Nose on Your Face
- The Political Commentator
- The Prudence Paine Papers
- The Real Mike
- The Republican Mother
- The Right Sphere
- The Saint Angilbert Press
- The Snark Factor
- The Snooper Report
- The Tiger on Politics
- The Underground Conservative
- The View From LL2
- The Washington Rebel
- Three Beers Later
- Threedonia
- Thunder Tales
- Tigerhawk
- Tom McLaughlin
- Tory Anarchist
- TrogloPundit
- Ui2 — Informed Dissent
- Urban Grounds
- Valley of the Shadow
- Vets On The Watch
- Vox Day
- Watcher of Weasels
- Western Experience
- Wintery Knight
- Word Around the Net
- World's Only Rational Man
- WyBlog
- Yankee Phil
- Zingstrom's Blog
December 28th, 2014 @ 11:05 am
And what makes anyone think that Democrats aren’t using the NSA for their ow private data gathering????
December 28th, 2014 @ 11:07 am
If only we had some body of people, accountable to the citizens and with the power to make laws and rules on their behalf, who could oversee these spooky agencies. You know: tell them what they can and can’t do, where the lines are drawn, &c? And, it goes without saying, with the smarts to know when to keep their mouths shut about things we DON’T need to know.
Another brainstorm! What if there was a profession dedicated to bringing information to we the people, one that investigated potential wrongdoing by the spooky agencies (and that other body of everseers I mentioned) and shone a light on abuses and malfeasance? Natch, they’d have to restrain the urge to do this for partisan or plain selfish reasons, but that shouldn’t be too much to ask.
Is it?
December 28th, 2014 @ 11:39 am
Don’t be silly. If the surveillance agencies were beneath the people, then they would’ve been disbanded and replaced many years ago. We can deduce their status from their existence.
December 28th, 2014 @ 1:06 pm
It’s not just NSA that spys on spouses and partners. Where they have plate scanners police and others with access will track them.
December 28th, 2014 @ 3:46 pm
I can just hear the typical Dim, “They would never do such a thing. But, if they did, I have nothing to hide.” I’m sure there were people that learned the hard way the meaning of “nebel und nacht” under the Nazi Regime, or the equivalent with Stalin’s NKVD. Having nothing to hide didn’t save several million people in the Soviet Union.
December 28th, 2014 @ 4:16 pm
Yep. Any technology that can be misused, will be misused. Which is why the statement, “If you’re not doing anything wrong, you don’t have anything to worry about”, is a clear sign of gross stupidity, and anybody saying it should not be allowed to vote or to be in charge of children.
December 28th, 2014 @ 5:31 pm
They are much like the armed forces and the various police agencies: they perform a task that is regrettably necessary in this sorry, makeshift world (how sane is it to give another man a baton or a gun and tell him, “You can use this on me if I break the law”?). They have served as well at various points in the past, and I think we’d be f*cked without them. The fault lies in a long succession of Congresses and presidents who were too lazy, disinterested, bedazzled or feckless to keep the spooky agencies firmly in check.
December 28th, 2014 @ 6:29 pm
As Kevin’s article notes none of the these NSA employees were prosecuted. This is typical across all government agencies whether the infractions are violations of rules or statutes. This is pervasive up and down the ladder of government work, from lowest GS-1 to Cabinet Secretaries there are no consequences for violating rules or statutes. This is only going to get worse over time no matter who is in the White House. The unaccountable Fourth Branch snubs the authority of the Inspectors General in their departments refusing provide access to documents based on privacy rules or other regs that do not trump the IG’s authority. The EPA has it’s own little Homeland Security department, it’s purpose is to thwart the EPA’s IG oversite of their activities. At what point does the Fourth Branch determine that they aren’t subject to any oversite? That they aren’t subject to legislative or even federal LE investigation and oversite.
In another article Kevin D. Williamson reports that ” 47 inspectors general — the officials charged with fighting corruption, waste, and wrongdoing in federal agencies — sent a letter to Issa’s committee complaining that organizations ranging from the EPA to the Justice Department were impeding their investigations by withholding information”
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/395337/irs-just-one-dozens-uncooperative-agencies-kevin-d-williamson#comment-1758801044
This is the part where I’m confused. The Inspectors General control the SWAT teams of their departments at least in those Departments not specifically tasked for LE.
This should become a major issue in 2016. If the Fourth Branch isn’t reigned in from within the government it will have to be reigned in from without.
December 28th, 2014 @ 8:06 pm
We have the perfect example of the IRS being used by Democrats (not that the Liberals believe anything wrong was done) and NOT A SINGLE PERSON WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE !!!
December 28th, 2014 @ 8:22 pm
This is what pisses me off, that none of these people faced even the least consequence for their crimes. When I was working in signal intelligence in the Army, we were frequently lectured on the dire consequences of screwing around with classified information or using our equipment on civilian targets. Guess the boys and girls at the Puzzle Palace are above such punishments, the bastards.