Rep. Mike Rogers Says France Should Be 'Popping Chamagne Bottles' To Celebrate That We Spy On Them
from the both-tone-deaf-and-culturally-insensitive dept
You have to hand it to Rep. Mike Rogers. Not only is he politically tone deaf to why people are so pissed off about NSA surveillance and privacy violations, but he appears to be culturally insulting as well. His latest is to defend last week’s story about the NSA collecting information on 70 million calls in France to claim that the French ought to be “popping champagne bottles” to cheer on the NSA spying on them. Honestly, it would be difficult to make up a comment this clueless.
“If the French citizens knew exactly what that was about, they would be applauding and popping champagne corks. It’s a good thing. it keeps the French safe. It keeps the US safe. It keeps our European allies safe,” he added.
“This whole notion that we’re going to go after each other on what is really legitimate protection of nation-state interest, I think is disingenuous.”
At least he didn’t suggest they should also enjoy some cheese. Of course, that presumes the only reason the US is spying on the French is to protect them against terrorists. But, if that were actually true, they wouldn’t also be bugging the phones of leadership and politicians. To date, there is no indication that the spying on all of those calls was limited to “protecting” the French — and Rogers’ own next statement more or less confirms that this has always been about protecting US interests, not the French.
So, here’s a simple question for Mike Rogers: would he be okay with sharing all of his phone and email records with the French? After all, perhaps they’ll use it to protect him from harm. Even better, yet, why not release that information publicly. If it’s just metadata, then there’s no expectation of privacy, right? If Rogers releases all of his phone and email metadata for the past five years, I’ll stop by his office the next time I’m in DC with a bottle of champagne.
Filed Under: france, mike rogers, nsa, nsa surveillance
Comments on “Rep. Mike Rogers Says France Should Be 'Popping Chamagne Bottles' To Celebrate That We Spy On Them”
How the HELL did this man EVER get elected?
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At a random unresearched guess; by running unopposed, or the lesser of two evils in his primary, then party line voting in the general election in a district heavily Republican leaning, possibly as a result of gerrymandering.
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He was elected as a Republican from the 8th District of Michigan to the United States House of Representatives in one of the nation’s closest congressional races of 2000. He defeated Democratic State Senator Dianne Byrum by 111 votes to win the District 8 seat. This district includes Lansing, Michigan.
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Can we send a few cases of Champagne to the NSA? After all, they will certainly want to be popping corks now that the country is checking up on them and making sure they are making us safer.
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How did he get elected? 4 parts Koch brothers money, 1 part American ignorance, 1 part Fox News, and 3 parts of Republican Gerrymandering. Sprinkle in a little “Citizens United” sauce, and voila!
Americans will pop the top on champagne bottles and celebrate when Rep. Mike Rogers is defeated in the next election.
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Americans will sit back drink a beer while this piece of crap gets re-elected, along with most of his piece of crap peers.
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Is he even running? I thought he dropped out to run for Governor? crap, apparently he decided not to run for Senate after all.
I read about this on another site last night and had just one thought: “I think he is actually wanting a bigger shovel to dig that hole with.”
Arrogance and ineptitude, a hallmark of Rogers.
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Arrogance and ineptitude, a hallmark of America.
FTFY
The Tyrant's Refrain
“It’s for your own good”
I simply cannot express my disdain for this asshole and the country he speaks for because I know that if I do so I’ll be getting a knock at the door.
That’s how safe I feel, asshole!
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Knock-knock.
? Who’s there?
Secret police.
? Secret police who?
We don’t have to tell you, you’re coming with us….
They’d be greeting us with roses as liberators.
“If the French citizens knew exactly what that was about, they would be applauding and popping champagne corks. It?s a good thing. it keeps the French safe. It keeps the US safe. It keeps our European allies safe”
If that moron wasn’t a moron, he’d keep his mouth shut.
This could be interpreted as “Those Frenchies are so inept at defending themselves that we have to pitch in and give them a hand, the poor idiots”.
Diplomatically, this is a blunder of epic proportions: it implies that a sovereign nation should just surrender its sovereignty, since it is incapable of defending itself.
Certainly, nothing major will come of this: The USA and Europe have pretty good relations. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the relationship between the two became colder and more distant. Most of Europe is certainly already getting tired of the USA’s antics by now.
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I’m surprised he didn’t throw in a reference to WWII in that. If you are going to make an offensive remark, you might as well go big with it.
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Oh wait. My bad. He did…
So Roger’s actually alluded to the WWII and the invasion of France by the Nazis to support the assertion that France can’t defend themselves without us spying on them to know what is going on and that if we had been spying on them then we would have been able to somehow stop the invasion of France in WWII. Truly epic.
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This could be interpreted as “Those Frenchies are so inept at defending themselves that we have to pitch in and give them a hand, the poor idiots”.
Does that really even need saying?
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Well, yeah actually it does because he let the words come out of his mouth without even a thought as to how utterly offensive the comment was.
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If it’s being said seriously, then yes. It needs to be said so that we can ridicule the assertion.
Silly frogs
We know what’s best for you… shut up and resume your ignorant lives.
Re: Silly frogs
Shut up and keep shopping.
ftfy
If the French citizens knew exactly what that was about, they would be applauding and popping champagne corks
…but we aren’t going to tell those stupid Frenchies anything because they are totally incapable of defending themselves, understanding their enemies, or understanding why we need to be doing this.
They should shut up and ship us another statue.
Get locked up in jail by an evil dictator? Celebrate!
So, by Rep Roger’s logic, if you get locked up by an evil dictator for some crime you didn’t commit, you shouldn’t despair your loss of freedom. You should celebrate, knowing that the dictator put you in a place with top of the line security to protect you from danger lurking outside! Sure you may have lost ‘some’ freedom, but you gained so much more security!
And we all know Mike Rogers is popping pills regardless. Which pills depends on the situation.
No sane, straight-edge man ever in history thinks that anyone would celebrate their privacy being invaded, especially by an alleged ally that happens to have an even more powerful military.
If I had to throw out a guess, I’d say he’d be whistling a different tune if if was revealed that the French government has slurped up data on 70 million American phone calls.
“Thank you, France, for keeping us safe!”
?If the French citizens knew exactly what that was about, they would be applauding and popping champagne corks. It?s a good thing. it keeps the French safe. It keeps the US safe. It keeps our European allies safe,? he added.
Why the hell keep it a secret from people if we’d be “applauding and popping champagne” if we knew?!
My champagne bottle is at the ready…
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Ah, but is YOUR champagne actually champagne or some of that silly doubly fermented sparkling wine from some other region?* ** *** ****
* This is not to say that doubly fermented sparkling wines from other regions are not good.
** This is not to say that champagne from Champagne is any better than any doubly fermented wine from a different region.
*** I like champagne, and doubly fermented wine from other regions as well. Asti Spumante comes to mind, but I would drink it at entirely different meal that I would say a Brut Champagne.
**** I certainly hope that I failed to offend any of the producers of any kind of wine, doubly fermented or not. I have tried a lot of wines, and the only ones that actually offend me come in 1 gallon jugs. Not Magnums, or Jeroboams, or Nebuchadnezzars, but gallon jugs.
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Asti Spumante?!?! Seriously?
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Yes, seriously. However, the bottle chosen isn’t what you will find in your grocers cooler. I believe it was around 1976, and the asti went by the name of Fontanna Fredda if I remember correctly. It was a very sweet wine, but went nicely with the fruit torte. I was at a formal function put on by the Confr?rie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, a group of wine enthusiasts whom take themselves, and their wine very seriously.
This is how wars start, one country meddling in the affairs of another country. Further countries that enjoy meddling in other countries affairs are more likely to react violently to any interference in their own internal affairs, whether real or perceived, like for instance the US.
Also who the hell appointed the USA as the anti-terrorist police for the world?
The worst bit
From the raw story article:
Aside from the historical revisionism (US industry was greatly in favor of the rise of fascism and openly encouraged it), this is a twisted thing to say. The US spying programs are themselves indicative of the rise of a new fascism. Rogers is apparently blind to it because it’s the kind of fascism that he likes.
Re: The worst bit
Or he’s just a fascist moron and that’s exactly what he wants. And, you know, monies.
At this point...
I wouldn’t be surprised if the NSA didn’t send someone to MRep. Roger’s office to tell him to stop trying to defend them as he is obviously not helping them.
I'm sending this message from the prison library.
Well I do feel pretty safe and I highly anyone will ever get in here.
Aren’t all of you forgetting the time Team America saved France from terrorists? History has proven France can’t defend itself.
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I can’t wait to see how things turn out between that French prince and that Scottish chick.
Dear France
This is Rep. Mike Rogers from the US Government and we are here to help you.
Also, I am here to tell that the check is in the mail and of course I will respect you in the morning.
So which is it then? Are we spying them like they spy on us or are they incapable of spying like we do? He is so full of shit his eyes are brown.
Has Mike Rogers lost it or is he really that arrogant? He claims that the French should be popping champagne and celebrating. Perhaps Mike Rogers should explain to everyone why the French should celebrate.
Oh, wait, I forgot, it’s a secret.
LOLS
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Both.
The amazing thing is that he’s invoking France because he thinks everyone listening will buy the argument that France needs the help (because DAE France Surrenders le much?!). What’s being completely ignored is that this surveillance includes all of Europe and likely most of the globe.
My champagne bottle is at the ready
… so I can pop the cork straight in his mouth.
Re: My champagne bottle is at the ready
Are you sure “cork” is the right word?
Re: Re: My champagne bottle is at the ready
I have to stop him up somehow.
If the French ought to be "popping champagne bottles"
If the French ought to be “popping champagne bottles”, I wonder if they should also be enjoying that champagne with an American sized dose of Freedom Fries?
The problem with Mike Rogers is that he really IS a moron. France doesn’t need our help. It was due to France that we were able to defeat the British when our countrymen fought for our independence from Great Britain.
It’s hilarious how Mike Rogers shows just how inept public education is. I think he needs to get a refund because he didn’t learn a damn thing.
I love TechDirt but...
I may very well be biased, but it seems to me that U.S. representatives from either the House or the Senate are usually only singled out by party when it’s an (R) next to their names. I do believe Mr. Rogers is a (D)emocrat. Why spare him the distinction?
Re: I love TechDirt but...
Rep Rogers is Republican.
Regardless, political party is irrelevant. They are all equally bad. Well, most anyway. I think one of the few who is truly admired around here is Sen Wyden.
Re: I love TechDirt but...
I may very well be biased, but it seems to me that U.S. representatives from either the House or the Senate are usually only singled out by party when it’s an (R) next to their names. I do believe Mr. Rogers is a (D)emocrat. Why spare him the distinction?
We actually never mention the party that a politician is, Democrat or Republican unless it’s a key part of the story (i.e., something about the party itself, not he politician). That’s site policy, because we prefer to focus on what they’re saying/doing not lame partisan politics.
And that’s true on either side. So, no, we don’t single out any politicians by party. You may have us confused with other sites, but in this case you’re wrong.
And Rogers is a Republican, not a Democrat as you claim.
So, no, you’re wrong on both points.
Sheesh, does Rogers pop champagnes when he’s in bed with Keith and Clapper?
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Champagne cork popping usually occurs at some point during the lemon party between Rogers, Keith, and Clapper.
Arrogance and ineptitude, a hallmark of Rogers.