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# Dianne Feinstein, the NSA and the Left
July 03 2013
Written by Brian Leubitz.
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POLITICS - Sen. Dianne Feinstein has had of a bit of an on-again/off-again relationship with the Left. But to the NY Times, our senior Senator is a "liberal lioness", whatever that means.
Clearly she has done a lot for progressive causes, from gun control to fighting for reproductive freedom and many other issues. However, the issue that keeps coming up again and again is the balance between individual liberty and the importance of intelligence.
And her position on the NSA leaks, PRISM, and the prosecution of Snowden doesn't help the rift:
She fought so hard to outlaw assault weapons that the National Rifle Association deemed her efforts tantamount to proposing the largest gun ban in American history.
Well before the Supreme Court took up same-sex marriage, she sponsored a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
And she urged President George W. Bush, and later President Obama, to shut down the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
But Senator Dianne Feinstein - California Democrat and liberal lioness - has taken on a role that is leaving many of her allies on the left dismayed: as perhaps the most forthright and unapologetic Congressional defender of the National Security Agency's surveillance programs.([NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/us/politics/feinsteins-support-for-nsa-defies-liberal-critics-and-repute.html)) e
Perhaps some on the Left would have expected something different, but for most, this is exactly what we expected. For better or worse, Sen. Feinstein has placed the needs of intelligence on a pedestal, there is nothing new here.
(Brian Leubitz holds a law degree from the University of Texas and a Master of Public Policy (M.P.P) from the Goldman School at The University of California, Berkeley. He is the publisher and editor of Calitics.com where this piece was first posted.)
–cw
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CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 54
Pub: July 5, 2013
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