"The latest heir in a political dynasty that has both controlled and been on the targeted side of the intelligence apparatus"
Say what?
"Kennedy alone in delegation with vote backing NSA" by Jim O’Sullivan | Globe Staff, July 25, 2013
US Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III, the only member of the Massachusetts House delegation to vote against legislation curtailing the government’s data snooping power, said he opposed the amendment because, after meetings with intelligence officials, he concluded that the National Security Agency’s previously secret initiative to track hundreds of millions of Americans’ phone records had prevented terrorism....
The amendment, which was defeated on a 217 to 205 vote that forged coalitions between libertarian Republicans and liberal Democrats and between leadership Republicans and more security-minded Democrats, would have stripped the NSA of its statutory authority to collect data from people not under investigation. Under the Patriot Act, the NSA mines domestic phone records and metadata.
The surveillance techniques came to light last month when Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, leaked details to the press. Snowden has applied for political asylum in Russia, where he is a fugitive....
In all, 83 Democrats and 134 Republicans opposed the measure, which sparked an unusually lively debate between members of the same party. Proponents depicted the measure as a defense of privacy in the face of a far-reaching security state, while opponents called it a dangerous lowering of the nation’s guard against terrorist threats....
The vote marked the first time Kennedy had peeled off from his Bay State colleagues in the House on a closely watched vote. Kennedy has also been more outspoken in favor of escalated US support for rebels in Syria.
See: Slow Saturday Special: Finally, a Hawkish Kennedy
And, given his status as the latest heir in a political dynasty that has both controlled and been on the targeted side of the intelligence apparatus, Kennedy’s choice was sure to receive added attention. His great-uncle President John F. Kennedy feuded with the Central Intelligence Agency but also used it as a tool in the Cold War. Both President Kennedy and his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, had testy relationships with J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: RFK, Jr. on the JFK Assassination
Another of Representative Kennedy’s great-uncles, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, so worried President Nixon with his political potential that Nixon instructed aides to wiretap him and suggested that the Internal Revenue Service should investigate his tax returns.
Yeah, Globe, about that IRS scandal....
Asked whether his family’s history factored into his voting calculus, Kennedy deflected the question, pivoting to his own experience as an assistant district attorney....
--more--"
Obama must have given him a call.
Related: Congressman Kennedy impressed with US effort to prepare Afghan troops for taking on Taliban
Did Kennedy break with Democrats on principle, or for positioning?
Political posers abuse nonprofit status
That answers that question (frown).
