http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/11/feinstein-accus...
The heads of the nation's intelligence agencies answer to the President. Congress may approve their funding, but he provides their marching orders.
If there was ultimately nothing inappropriate about this, then their boss, the President, needs to be publicly standing behind the CIA.
Otherwise, if he remains silent and heads do not roll, then he is either complicit or indifferent.
I am no Obama fan, especially in this regard, but I do believe his Administration is the problem. The problem is systemic rather than political, and these institutions are structured such that they are almost entirely outside of the ability of the democratic process to change.
To say that Feinstein has encountered face of the real American government is probably an exaggeration, but not enough of one for comfort.
[1] http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/21/anatomy-of-the-deep-state/
It is the same with the CIA. The director may set targets and direct stratagity but it is the untouchable civil servants who run the show. Given the Hall of Mirrors effect, I think it could be possible that the appointed leaders are mere figure-heads just there to take the blame what a job goes bad.
The second half of this sentence doesn't ring true.
The last two major generals Obama fired were McChrystal and Patraeus. Both hugely influential in structuring day to day operations, if not direct tactical decision. The latter was the author of http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/fm3_24x2.....
Those aren't the only possibilities.
The President, at this point, should not be unaware of the CIA spying on the Senate. We know it now, and we aren't privy to a daily classified briefing. So Obama no longer has this particular excuse.
As for impotent: if the CIA is operating independently of all three branches of Government, then it is operating outside of the Constitution of the United States. It is then the sworn duty of the President to address this issue.
If he is incapable of doing this duty, then we no longer live in a Constitutional Republic.
The duty of this nation's citizens would be, at this point, unpleasant to consider.
Do they actually think that elected officials are involved in terrorism or endangering the security of the US? If members of Congress are being watched, then I really have to assume that everyone is a suspect.
To be honest, the makes the Nixon spying stuff seem tiny in comparison. I have voted for Obama twice, but if it turns out that this came from his administration it really does seem like grounds for some sort of hearings (I really can't believe I'm saying that, because 99.999% of calls for impeachment are just absurd)