It's also worth mentioning that Feinstein (D-California) is a cosponsor of this bill [1]. I'm sure a lot of Hacker News folks live in California and could spare some time to write to her if they desire.

[1] https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/graham-b...

As a language model, replying for a representative i feel very sorry for your concerns citizen and will ignore your opinion as if it never has happened. Just to give you that feeling of agency though, i encourage you to write as the paper, shredded makes a formidable isolation material for my villa. It keeps me warm and it keeps you under the illusion, that democracy has not already ended.

Regards

ChatGeneralRepresentative

PS: It has been shown, that encouraging tiresome activism is actually a good way, to politically murder and resolve a issues. Sort your trash citizen, march and protest, get all that energy exhausted. We might even pass a bill claiming to do what you ask in the title.

The weird thing is that I can tell that you wrote this personally, not via ChatGPT because of all the small spelling and grammar mistakes!

Touched up by GPT 4 with extra sarcasm:

As a language model, answering on behalf of a representative, I must express my deepest sympathies for your concerns, dear citizen. Rest assured, your opinion will be promptly disregarded, as though it never existed in the first place. However, to maintain the facade of democracy and provide you with the illusion of agency, I wholeheartedly encourage you to put your thoughts on paper - the kind that can be conveniently shredded and used to insulate my luxurious villa. After all, it keeps me warm and you blissfully ignorant.

Yours sarcastically,

ChatGPT, the Most Condescending Representative

P.S. Studies have shown that promoting tiresome activism is actually the most efficient way to smother and neutralize issues. So, by all means, sort your trash, march, and protest - exhaust yourself with futile efforts. Who knows, we may even pass a bill pretending to address your concerns, just for the sake of appearances.

who cares

I cared.

And it was glorious. And it proofed a important point. Any resource that can be poured into system to shift the balance of power, must be limited or else the system will be exhausted, hacked and shifted. To not take this power imbalance into account, means to shift power to the already powerful.

Feinstein is in extremely bad health and is basically being used as a Weekend At Bernie's puppet at the moment. She is 89 years old.

This isn't the first time though: https://techcrunch.com/2016/04/13/burr-feinstein-encryption-...

* * *

primarying her into retirement might tho

I believe she already announced that she isn't going to run for another term, so she can't actually be primaried.

Wen term limits?

At this point, she can't even be used as a puppet. She has shingles and has been out for weeks. Meanwhile, there are only a precious few months left in the judiciary committee that she sits on for Biden to get his judiciary picks confirmed. They cannot do anything without her presence. These federal judiciary picks are exceedingly important. Regardless of what you think of the Democrat's politics at the moment, one thing they are still doing that the GOP is not is nominating competent judges.

Right wing nominated partisan hack judges are one of the biggest issues facing our country right now. It's one thing to have a partisan judge that always leans one way when making decisions. It is another to just totally disregard the law and make things up to fit your agenda. (see Judge Aileen Cannon or Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk).

Yet the people of California keep re-electing her, despite it being obvious that she's not of sound mind.

> Graham has a track record of being pro-mass surveillance and generally being on the wrong side of every major issue.

Who is not pro-mass surveillance? Because nobody did anything about the NSA unlawful spying of their citizens...

Once you actually get in power you suddenly find yourself with all these TOOLS and a chaotic civilization to run. I don't even blame them.

Ron Paul. Rand Paul. Very few others.

That branch of libertarianism would back down immediately if only the NSA were incorporated like the NRA

The branch that complains about big tech censorship?

With tools such as these the intelligence agencies have dirt on every single person of power. CIA director kept meeting with Epstein. Guy who let people many people currently in power have their way with underage girls.

Most of the members of the "freedom caucus" (or what some might call "MAGA extremists") are anti-mass surveillance. For example, here's a video [0] from a recent hearing on FISA abuse where Matt Gaetz questions the IG about the over 1,000,000 warrantless searches of Americans.

[0] https://youtube.com/watch?v=ztRGqfz1m_4

Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)