back to article I want NSA chief's head on a plate for Merkelgate, storms Senator McCain

John McCain, the US senator who lost to Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential elections, wants General Keith Alexander, head of the NSA and US Cyber Command, to resign over revelations that US spies bugged the telephone of Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel. In a strongly worded interview with Der Spiegel McCain blamed "the …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How on Earth did McCain choose Palin?

    A Republican moderate who would probably have made as good a President as Obama - and he chose (or had inflicted on him) Palin.

    Mind boggles.

    1. asdf

      Re: How on Earth did McCain choose Palin?

      He did for the same reason why he didn't get elected. He is bat shit crazy and far too impulsive when he shouldn't be.

      1. despairing citizen

        Re: How on Earth did McCain choose Palin?

        "He did for the same reason why he didn't get elected. He is bat shit crazy and far too impulsive when he shouldn't be."

        Yes, has insane ideas like senators and congressmen should work for the voters, not big corp cheque books

        That the US should not use torture, introduced a law on that very point

        His crazy ideas on reforming US political funding, is the reason the republican party machine spent more effort keeping him off the ticket in previous elections, than they did on trying to keep the democrats out of office.

        He could only be considered crazy, as being the last sane US politician.

        1. asdf

          Re: How on Earth did McCain choose Palin?

          I won't deny McCain as a Senator (as opposed to POTUS) is not so bad. He still a crazy war hawk but yes he does often buck the system especially when it comes to standing up to big pork on the defense projects. And yes on torture and campaign finance reform he is on the right side of history. The problem has always been with John is his crazy leads to a lot of inconsistency between issues and even from year to year on the same issue. About the year 2000 I might have voted for him but after seeing what a flip flopper (no I didn't like Kerry much for that either, forgot Mittens Romney) and warmonger he has become no way now.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: How on Earth did McCain choose Palin?

      He was forced by the demographics of the republican party to move right of where he really is, and even then his handlers were worried that some far right voters would stay home so they brought in someone they could relate to. For an added bonus she was a woman, so they hoped to grab the disillusioned Hillary supporters. They were foolish for thinking anyone who supported Hillary would think Palin is an acceptable substitute.

      I would have voted for the real McCain in a heartbeat, and I suspect that's true for a lot of people who don't really identify with either party, so surely it cost him more votes than it gained. I think the far right people would have voted against Obama anyway, so worries about losing votes were probably groundless unless they were worried about someone making a third party run to his right.

      1. asdf

        Re: How on Earth did McCain choose Palin?

        > I think the far right people would have voted against Obama anyway

        John was delusional enough to think he could just use Karl Rove's playbook and get all the religious crazies to mail in ballots so he could just cruise to victory (problem was John didn't speak Born Again unlike W so they didn't bother voting). McCain and his handlers knew they were done by the middle of September though when Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy.

      2. Squander Two

        Palin an acceptable substitute for Clinton.

        > They were foolish for thinking anyone who supported Hillary would think Palin is an acceptable substitute.

        You've obviously never followed Hillbuzz.org.

    3. despairing citizen

      Re: How on Earth did McCain choose Palin?

      John McCain's big goal over the years has been to reform political funding, something that would have been impossible with a VP from the usual bought and paid for stooges found in most US political offices. (for example senators willing to try and kick off a trade war with the EU, because their banana growing funders had lost a crop to bad weather, and wanted protection from caribean imports)

      That left a really thin field to choose a VP from, Palin was probably the least worst choice, unless he wanted to ditch any possibility of reforming political funding if he won the vote.

      It should be noted that as the losing candidate, he did actually manage to get more votes (60m), than several previous presidents (for example junior Bush had 50m in 2000)

    4. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: How on Earth did McCain choose Palin?

      "A Republican moderate who would probably have made as good a President as Obama - and he chose (or had inflicted on him) Palin."

      Wanted a "Trophy" VP*?

    5. fishman

      Re: How on Earth did McCain choose Palin?

      Obama picked Biden as his VP. So McCain figured that he needed to pick a total idiot, too.

      1. despairing citizen
        Happy

        Re: How on Earth did McCain choose Palin?..idiot VP's

        "Obama picked Biden as his VP. So McCain figured that he needed to pick a total idiot, too."

        It is possible that the Secret Service are advising canidates about potential VP's, remember that even an insane person would not have shot Bush senior when president, as they would have got Dan as the president.

        Having a VP that nobody would want as the preseident seems like a good life insurance policy if you are the president.

    6. James Micallef Silver badge

      Re: How on Earth did McCain choose Palin?

      It's sad to see how McCain went from being a quite moderate republican to going further and further right just to nab the nomination. I'm also surprised at his tactics of moving further to the right once he got the nomination, since in effect all he had to do to gain the votes of the rabid right was point to his left and say "If you don't vote for me, that's who's getting elected". I'm sure he didn't need to point out himself that his opponent was brown and had 'Hussein' as a middle name, the right-wing talk shows did all this dirty work for him anyway.

      What especially saddens me about McCain is how he switched positions to back the torture regime of Bush II, just to cover his party's back, when this is a guy who himself was tortured in Vietnam. He of all people knew that the point of torture wasn't to get information. The point of torture is torture.

    7. fajensen

      Re: How on Earth did McCain choose Palin?

      Obama is the more effective evil so The Ruling Party decided to fix the election?

  2. Prndll

    lol

    I've got something for McCain to kiss....

    While we're on the subject of sell-outs.....

    Snowden is the least of our concerns.

  3. Nate Amsden

    THANKS

    Just wanted to say THANKS again to Ed Snowden for doing a great job in opening the world's eyes to more of what goes on in secret.

    Damage or not, I'm amongst those who believe firmly that it is worth it.

    SO THANKS FROM ME.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: THANKS

      I agree, and in all honesty I can't see how what he did was wrong, the US was doing worse...

      I think Germany should be trying to extradite the head of the NSA for hacking & illegal wire tap charges...

      I really hope they do start legal proceedings... And if GCHQ have been doing similar things, then yes they need to be prosecuted as well, not the guy on the floor following orders, but the person who authorised the illegal actions!

      1. Vimes

        Re: THANKS

        but the person who authorised the illegal actions!

        That would be the foreign secretary with his blanket warrants authorising this sort of thing.

        Personally I'm not holding my breath though: Cameron has appalling judgement when it comes to choosing who he surrounds himself with. First it was Coulson, now he has Ian Livingston as an unelected trade minister.

        This is the same Livingston that had a hand in BT's activities when they were trialling Phorm, and violating the privacy of hundreds of thousands of their own customers in the process.

        But then that's par for the course I guess: violate the privacy of a few hundred and get taken to court. Do the same to the entire country and get given a position in government...

  4. asdf

    you kids get off my lawn John yelled

    Somebody must have forgotten to give old man McCain his daily meds. McCain is proof that if you torture and brain wash a POW long and hard enough you can make anybody not only crazy but all for war in every case no matter what as well. John's just mad the NSA didn't come up with more dirt to justify bombing Syria.

  5. Vimes

    'How dare those damned democrats used legislation "we* introduced to spy on people! That's *OUR* job!!!!' whines failed republican presidential wannabe...

    One guess as to how the likes of McCain voted on the PATRIOT act, FISAA and other nastiness that in many respects forms the legal foundations for much of the invasive practices that we're currently seeing.

    1. asdf

      low blow

      You leave a true Patriot like John alone. Who cares if he was such a privileged f__k up that he finished last in his military school class and ended being a crappy pilot who got shot down? Who cares if his grandfather due to incompetence was as responsible as anyone for the worse naval defeat the US had in WW2 (Battle of Savo Island)? That man is royalty and Keating 5 scandal aside we should worship the ground he walks on.

      1. asdf

        Re: low blow

        And for the history buffs out there John would not even be with us today due to a aircraft carrier top deck fire in 1967 (I think) if not for a number of Navy firefighters giving their lives to fight that fire (carrier came within a sliver of sinking). He was sitting in fighter on deck when everything went up and munitions off the planes started going off.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @ Vimes you are right

      So many of our freedoms are being eroded by the bills McCain helped pass. The Campaign finance reform bills are really just attacks on free speech. Look up the various campaign finance reform bills and the penalties you face if your free speech might be found supporting a candidate.

      Look up the Swift boat vets. Not for what they were saying but for all of the hoops and legal expenses they had to go through just to exercise their right to free speech. All because of the campaign finance reform act that McCain helped pass.

      Some of the earlier posters commented how Obama and McCain are similar. They are right. Neither believes in the Bill of Rights

      1. asdf

        Re: @ Vimes you are right

        Wow you are really defending the Swift boat "patriots" huh? I guess if outright lies and political smears are what pass for free speech these days you have a point. After all corporations are people too my friend so they should get more influence and free speech than the dumb peons that actually pay taxes due to not having tax shelters.

      2. Lapun Mankimasta

        Re: @ Vimes you are right

        "Bill of Rights"? Aren't they still trying to find the Duck that lost it years ago?

      3. This post has been deleted by its author

  6. Chris G

    Because they could.

    McCain: " He said he thought the NSA had bugged the German chancellor's phone for at least a decade because it could, and in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001 the agency had determined that all potential sources of information should be tapped."

    Personally I would be surprised if there ever was a time since the war when the Chancellor's Office was not bugged.

    Lets face it, after WWII no one was going to trust a recent enemy, then the cold war was on and germany was smack bang in the middle of the most probable area of contention, followed by the reunion of the two Germanies. Reuniting with one of the most reviled parts of the old Eastern bloc would definitely warrant a bit of eavesdropping and after that it would be because they could and who knows what kind of Liberal pinkos are hiding in Europe anyway? Then of course we had 9/11 which made everything okay to do in the name of 'National Security'

    Although a reasonable guy in many ways and a genuine war hero, I don't think I would describe someone who insists the Iraq war should be fought to a successful conclusion to be a moderate.

    He is however right about having the heads of the bosses of the NSA on a plate, the trouble is that will never get the real fomenters of that particular piece of US skullduggery.

    1. Paul Shirley

      Re: Because they could.

      What makes you think this is exclusively political? The US has never been afraid of supporting US commercial interests by fair means or foul. I find it implausible that commercially advantageous information would just be filtered out, that they were really only looking for the claimed communist/terrorist/crime info.

      It just wouldn't be the American way.

      1. Don Jefe

        Re: Because they could.

        Financial stability and competitive economic advantage are considered cornerstones of our national security and have had the same resource allocation priority as military defense since the early 19th century.

        As you say, the US has no problem doing flat out nasty stuff to gain those advantages. From installing lunatic dictators and teaching them how to torture their citizens to maintain low prices for agricultural exports for us and our allies to underwriting forced labor operations so we can have cheap bananas, our leaders don't need politics to engage in awful behavior.

        What's really crappy about it all is that a few articles over people are rushing to defend cockroaches but would rend many clothes and pull many beards if the price of their shitty milk chocolate goes up in price because companies weren't allowed to deforest vast swaths of land and displace villagers to plant more palm trees or coffee bushes. People have such odd priorities.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Because they could.

          would rend many clothes and pull many beards

          Don, this The Register not the Bible. Normal English will suffice.

          1. Don Jefe
            Happy

            Re: Because they could.

            Yeah, but how many times does the opportunity present itself to say stuff like that?

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Because they could.

            "Don, this The Register not the Bible. Normal English will suffice"

            Have you written to Will Self yet to demand that he writes in language the average 12 year old can understand?

            Slightly OT, back in the 70s there was a (rather unusual for the time) magazine called Bike, which despite its title contained what was frequently some rather good writing. A teacher of remedial English wrote to them and complained that his pupils wanted to read it, but it was too hard for them.

            The correct answer, of course, was "if you want to read Bike you'll have to work harder at your lessons".

        2. Squander Two

          "companies weren't allowed to deforest vast swaths of land"

          I would just like to say that I initially misread "deforest" as "defrost".

          That is all.

  7. Eguro
    Meh

    The problem I have with McCain is that he seems to simply jump on any bandwagon he spots!

    If the American public (say 60-80%) were to come out in support of sending a blue cheese to the moon, I feel pretty sure I know who'd be giving interviews to The Gorgonzola Herald about the wonders of cheese on the moon.

    I have no doubt that the man is pretty clever, I just think he has given up on politics, and now simply tries whatever he can think of to remain somewhat relevant.

    1. Don Jefe

      There's already cheese on the moon. Sending more would not be appropriate in these times of austerity.

      1. Identity
        Coat

        Coals to Newcastle?

        "Lord" Timothy Dexter, historic leading light of Newburyport, Massachusetts, made his great fortune by (on a drunken bet) sending a shipload of coal to Newcastle. Fortunately (sic) it arrived during a coal strike.

        Cheese to the moon? Maybe, just maybe...

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    From the NSA files ..

    Phone Rings:

    MERKEL: Ya bitte,

    OBAMA: Hi Angela, it's Barak.

    MERKEL: Borek ?

    OBAMA: No, that's a small meat filled pastry. I'm the President.

    MERKEL: Ach, sorry.

    OBAMA: Yeah, look .. about sorry. I hear McCain has done it again.

    MERKEL: McCain ? Like frozen pizza ? What is it with you Americans and food ? Kennedy is doughnut, you are small pastry, senator is frozen pizza. So difficult.

    OBAMA: Fuck, this is going from swimming pools to sausages.

    MERKEL: bitte ?

    OBAMA: Bad to Worst.

    MERKEL: Enough !

    OBAMA: geez, another Sour Kraut. ... hello ? Angela ?? ... hello ???

    1. Denarius
      Coffee/keyboard

      Re: From the NSA files ..

      best post in ages

  9. Vociferous

    Well, they're right about the flying pigs.

    I'd bet good money at least the Chinese and probably the Russians have every document Snowden's got.

    1. Will Godfrey Silver badge

      Re: Well, they're right about the flying pigs.

      Seeing as he hasn't got any, that would not be especially difficult.

      1. Vociferous

        Re: Well, they're right about the flying pigs.

        You mean apart from the ones on the four laptops and various thumbdrives he brought to China?

    2. despairing citizen
      Big Brother

      Re: Well, they're right about the flying pigs.

      Yes they probably had every document Snowden's got.

      But they probably had them before Snowden did.

      Probably the only people in the dark on this are the US voters being monitored by Uncle Sam's eldest nephew

      1. Vociferous

        Re: Well, they're right about the flying pigs.

        > But they probably had them before Snowden did.

        Oh almost certainly. It's hard to see any other reason why China kicked him over to Russia instead of thoroughly debriefing him (like the Russians do now).

    3. Schultz

      Re: Well, they're right about the flying pigs.

      The Russians and Chinese probably have all documents because they found many less-principled administrators who chose to sell to the highest bidder instead of going public.

      Let's face it, the NSA messed it up badly. Snowden is just bringing the bad news.

    4. Vimes

      Re: Well, they're right about the flying pigs. @Vociferous

      http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/18/edward-snowden-no-leaked-nsa-documents-russia

      1. Vociferous

        Re: Well, they're right about the flying pigs. @Vociferous

        Hahahaha yeah, so only China has all his material then. If that was true, which it clearly isn't.

  10. Chris Miller

    Faux outrage

    I wonder what the nice people at the Bundesnachrichtendienst (German foreign intelligence and security service) get up to all day. I don't imagine their time is occupied solely in playing Scrabble. Nor do I think the British Embassy in Berlin send all their messages in clear because they know our German allies are far too polite to open another gentleman's mail.

    1. Soap Distant

      Re: Faux outrage

      Faux outrage

      But of course not! How is your wife?

      /smiley

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Faux outrage

      The BND are vasalls and would never dare to touch the Imperator.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Faux outrage

      If they DO play Scrabble then "Bundesnachrichtendienst" on a double word score would be a winner!

      Yes I know, proper names and all..

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It should be Snowden's head

    Snowden's the one who has endangered the lives of many by divulging appropriate security measures that all countries use. McCain is just shilling for votes like all politicians. If you look up the definition of politician in the dictionary you'll find then top be a: POS

    1. MrDamage Silver badge

      Re: It should be Snowden's head

      Why should it be his. Because he committed "treason during a time of war"?

      This being an illegal war, where the Geneva Convention has been breached innumerable times by the "Good Guys"?

      Where enshrined Constitutional Rights have been trampled into the dirt?

      Where corrupt politicians wrangle lucrative deals for their mates to supply equipment and rebuild infrastructure that was destroyed by the very people who invaded a sovereign nation on false pretences?

      Yeah, there are a few heads that deserve to be put onto platters, but Snowden's is'nt one of them.

      1. Hud Dunlap
        Headmaster

        Re: It should be Snowden's head @ Mr. Damage

        What war? War has never been declared.

        1. Don Jefe

          Re: It should be Snowden's head @ Mr. Damage

          'What war'?

          That'll be how the last 13 years will be recorded in history books and talked up by the politicians of that time: 'Look for yourself, there was nothing important going on back then. There were wars on 'stuff' but that was just hyperbole, we weren't really at war. The invasion of 'x' I'm currently talking up is nothing like the nothing what was happening then'.

          The shitty part is that far too many people will buy into that crap. Nothing ever really changes.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: It should be Snowden's head

        You say the Geneva Convention has been breached?

        You are clearly not familiar with the Geneva Convention, but please enlighten us as to which policies have been breached, and who are the combatents

        1. DavCrav

          Re: It should be Snowden's head

          "You say the Geneva Convention has been breached?

          You are clearly not familiar with the Geneva Convention, but please enlighten us as to which policies have been breached, and who are the combatents"

          Let's go with the treatment of prisoners of war. The Taliban, and the people in Gitmo, are prisoners of war, and they are being held in conditions contrary to the Geneva Convention. Thoe captured in Afghanistan are certainly prisoners of war, those it Guantanamo are either prisoners of war, or the US has engaged in kidnap of foreign nationals in foreign countries.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: It should be Snowden's head

            "Let's go with the treatment of prisoners of war. The Taliban, and the people in Gitmo, are prisoners of war, and they are being held in conditions contrary to the Geneva Convention. Thoe captured in Afghanistan are certainly prisoners of war, those it Guantanamo are either prisoners of war, or the US has engaged in kidnap of foreign nationals in foreign countries."

            What has that got to do with the data breaches and Merkels phone being tapped, we may as well draw a comparison to the Roman invasion

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: It should be Snowden's head

          Well, a British sergeant recently admitted to breaking the Geneva Convention after shooting a wounded Taliban, and a British military court agreed with him. So we are admitting the applicability of the Convention in Afghanistan. At the same time, the US appears not to be.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: It should be Snowden's head

            "Well, a British sergeant recently admitted to breaking the Geneva Convention after shooting a wounded Taliban, and a British military court agreed with him. So we are admitting the applicability of the Convention in Afghanistan. At the same time, the US appears not to be."

            Yes I am aware of this, had Merkels phone not been hacked this attrocity wouldn't have occurred. Oh hang on they are totally unrelated.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: It should be Snowden's head

          Convetion 3. Articles 1, 2 an 3 applying

          All Convention signing country are required to abide by the rules, even if the otherside has not signed the convention.

          So Talian, et al. Non-signatures, and they can't sign unless they are recognised as a soverign entity, (e.g. as you would find defined under the treaty of westphallia, usually a UN recognised government)

          However, the US has signed, which would make Gitmo and waterboarding unlawful under the convention, and the fact that the US government has consistently sought to keep Gitmo detainees away from US legal jurisdication, kind of gives away what the legal advise to the US goverment was.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It should be Snowden's head

      Or the head of the Catholic, Absolutist King who put 100% of population under surveillance,

    3. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      FAIL

      Re: It should be Snowden's head

      Says the entity hiding behind the anonymity the NSA hates so much.

      1. Vociferous

        Re: It should be Snowden's head

        The entity is not anonymous to the NSA or GCHQ, and should the metropolitan police or RIAA want his identity they could get it. He's anonymous only to us peons.

  12. Don Jefe

    There's only one solution McCain can really understand and that's to invade them. Everybody. Just invade the shit out of them. That'll solve it. If he's proposing anything other than that it's his staff playing with their pet zombie.

    1. Eguro
      Stop

      Please stop, I do not want to imagine McCain invading Snowden...

    2. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Joke

      @Don Jefe

      "There's only one solution McCain can really understand and that's to invade them. Everybody. Just invade the shit out of them. "

      That's right. It's the only language they understand, right?

      I had that Barack Obama in the back of my cab once......

  13. John Deeb

    Fly o boy

    Mccain: ".... then you believe that pigs can fly".

    Then again, Mccain flew as fighter pilot... all bets are off!

  14. dssf

    Short of time travel with precision so as to not preempt one's own existence

    It will not be possible to have said heads delivered on platters or platens...

    But, when time T-ravel IS possible, time will face UN-ravel because in the past, there were calls for the heads of others to be DE-livered on platters.

    Thus, such an event will be made.. "unpossible".... All sorts of other unpossibilities will be "unpossibilized".

    1. DavCrav

      Re: Short of time travel with precision so as to not preempt one's own existence

      "It will not be possible to have said heads delivered on platters or platens...

      But, when time T-ravel IS possible, time will face UN-ravel because in the past, there were calls for the heads of others to be DE-livered on platters.

      Thus, such an event will be made.. "unpossible".... All sorts of other unpossibilities will be "unpossibilized"."

      Ah, I wondered where A Man from Mars had gone to.

  15. Schultz
    Facepalm

    "the fugitive leaker would most likely never return to the US"

    There was a time when a leaker would flee to / stay in the Land of the Free (US) and rely on the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech. Daniel Ellsberg is the best example. Now the US readied the tools of an oppressive regime (boundless spying and uncompromising prosecution of all enemies of the state) and Snowden went to Russia.

    It's a brave new world.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "the fugitive leaker would most likely never return to the US"

      No, it's perfectly consistent. Constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech extends to the upholding of the US Constitution, as currently interpreted. Russia, on the other hand, has an interest in ensuring that Americans who know useful things and want to say things that the Constitution doesn't like, will be looked after.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Goddam Commies!

    It's not a secret if everyone knows!!!

  17. mfritz0

    Spilling the beans

    Of course we all know why McCain feels Snowden has told them all he knows, because I believe that is exactly what McCain did. Isn't that right John? What ...Silence.... Well John, Judge not, least ye be judged.

    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Unhappy

      Re: Spilling the beans

      "Of course we all know why McCain feels Snowden has told them all he knows, because I believe that is exactly what McCain did. Isn't that right John? What ...Silence.... Well John, Judge not, least ye be judged."

      I've always felt there's a market for a Vietnam theme holiday.

      The PoW experience. Taste life as a true US PoW. Option of VC or NVA captors. Full pre medical included. No refunds. :) .

      I'd wager most (I mean 95%+) people wouldn't last a week before they broke.

      Any military that does not expect its soldiers to talk (and fails to plan accordingly) is delusional.

      For the captive the trouble starts if they have nothing to tell their captors.

      1. Vimes

        Re: Spilling the beans @John Smith 19

        Family Guy's own 'John McCain Experience'... :)

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctDEMDe3HaU

  18. Christian Berger

    Funny thing

    82 million Germans get surveilled: no reaction

    Merkel get surveilled: great outcry

    1. Roo

      Re: Funny thing

      "82 million Germans get surveilled: no reaction"

      Well, no reaction from the ruling classes because that is something they want to happen to other people (they have important secrets that are much more important than the secrets held by ordinary proles^Wcitizens).

      "Merkel get surveilled: great outcry"

      As a German citizen, she should feel happy to stand shoulder to shoulder with her fellow citizens.

      Nothing to hide, nothing to fear.

  19. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Gimp

    "because it could,"

    Really the `only justification a data fetishist ever needs.

    I'll note a couple of points for our American friends.

    This greatly expanded (along with it's "legal" approval) under shrub Bush II.

    So McCain actually fought in the Vietnam war and got captured.

    I'd take that experience of the "military option" over some substance abusing ex frat boy

    any day. And maybe finishing the job in 91 would have stopped the estimated $13 000 000 000 000

    looted "lost" from the Iraqi economy following the invasion.

  20. TopOnePercent

    Is anyone really suprised?

    "I'm sure that Mr Snowden has told them everything that he possibly knows. If you believe that Mr Snowden didn't give the Russians information that he has, then you believe that pigs can fly."

    I'm pretty sure McCain is right. After all, we already know for a fact that Snowden is a traitor, for breaking whatever secrets acts he was signed up to, and that he is behaving like a coward, or he'd fly home and face the music.

    What I can't understand, is why anyone would expect things to be different. If we're talking in terms of a traitor and a coward, then why would they not give their protector and future homeland every bit of useful information they have? That'd just be illogical.

    1. Vic

      Re: Is anyone really suprised?

      > If we're talking in terms of a traitor and a coward,

      ODFO...

      Vic.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Merkelgate? Really

    So in the wake of Snowdongate, we have Merkelgate, I can't wait until Bill Gates gets involved Gatesgate

  22. me n u

    what a nut job!

    McCain is the most dangerous man in America! What a war-monger. Arizona, wake up and get rid of this idiot.

    1. fajensen

      Re: what a nut job!

      Would America be able to exist without being at war with someone? I think not. America is in deep trouble with the loss of a serious opposition to compete with. Now we have "Global War on Terror" a war against a concept, "War on Drugs" which is a war against a thing. The whole "war replacement therapy" is clearly not working

      McCain is just trying to start something, anything, somewhere, involving people, so the Americans can stop ripping each other off while it lasts and perhaps become a great country again.

  23. Squander Two

    A contradiction.

    Taking McCain at his word (ha!), he believes that the NSA are up to no good and were avoiding Congressional oversight. He therefore must believe that Snowden -- or someone, at least -- needed to leak what was going on, presumably to someone like McCain. Thing is, though, Snowden didn't think he was working for Spectre; he knew he was working largely within the law and that what he was doing was approved by lots of politicians -- he just didn't know which ones. So how on Earth else could he have got the vital information out. We now know that Obama himself approves of the NSA's actions, so even if Snowden had thought "I can't trust anyone, so I'll go right to the very top," he'd still have been fucked. Maybe if he'd have gone to McCain, all this could have been sorted out without the need to release any national secrets. But, even if that were true, how could Snowden possibly have divined the list of senators to go to, presumably with McCain's name on it?

  24. Identity
    Big Brother

    On a more serious note...

    Rep. James Sensenbrenner, one of the fathers of the USAPATRIOT Act, which made all this possible (read: probable) has now come out and said the NSA has gone too far and, with Sen. Patrick Leahy, has crafted the USA Freedom Act, which ends bulk collection under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. Whether this will have any value remains to be seen. Whether he's playing to the American crowd and gives a rat's about the rest of the world, likewise.

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/11/sensenbrenner-leahy-nsa-reform-european-parliament

    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Unhappy

      Re: On a more serious note...

      "Rep. James Sensenbrenner, one of the fathers of the USAPATRIOT Act, which made all this possible (read: probable) has now come out and said the NSA has gone too far and, with Sen. Patrick Leahy, has crafted the USA Freedom Act,"

      Hahahahahahahahahahahahahah,

      I doubt both statements. In fact I doubt he even read it, along with most of the other members of the Senate.or H of R.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Excellent Opportunity

    ..to sell my countermeasure against these Giant Peeping Toms here:

    http://scherbius2014.de/

    So far, no English version of the documentation - Google Translate is your friend.

    In short:

    + defeat Government Malware by operating Enigma-style (no direct channel from communications system to cipher machine)

    + use whatever insecure communications network they have erected in your vicinity. Or use some other means of communication. Voice telephony is more than sufficient.

    + never again connect the cipher computer to the nsa-web, so that they can't update their spy functions

  26. mhenriday
    Holmes

    Given Mr McCain's distinguished flying record,

    he might be advised to refrain from metaphors about pigs flying....

    Henri

  27. Dylan Fahey

    Silly repuglican in Amerika!

    Snowden did what he did, because he loves 'americans'. Not because he hates Amerika.

    He's not going to dump his most valuable commodity to the ruskies, that's just plain BS by repug morons.

    Love live all whistle blowers like Snowden and ANON.

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