# Darrell Issa: This time you've gone too far **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 21, 2012, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388 "2012-10-21T06:13:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/61 "2014-01-12T07:39:41Z")
**Terr** O.D.'d ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/62 "2014-01-12T07:46:41Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > My dark suspicion is that his lurking intention is to provide hints to hackers so they can sabotage the exchanges and he can blame Obama. That is mine as well. It was my immediate reaction to the news that he leaked the code. Behavior like this from any other government worker constitutes a very serious security violation, at the minimum requiring a revocation of their security clearance and possibly involving jail time. The tragedy here is that this man is in a position of power where he can do things like this with impunity. They can’t expel him, they won’t censure him, and he can’t be recalled by his constituents. Earlier in this thread I commented on the sort that runs for office. This is what we end up with-someone who is above the law and arrogantly acts accordingly. Within his fiefdom he is omnipotent. That, my friends, is what power is, and why these people run. Of course, his constituents recognize that he has this power, but in wielding it he demonstrates why he should be re-elected, because nothing brings home the bacon like seniority in the US Congress. This is only compounded by the chairmanship of a powerful committee. The only question that remains is whether or not their disgust with his actions overcomes his ability to funnel pork to his people. With a 7-term history in which he has attained no less than 58% of the vote, it’s not likely that disgust will manifest itself at the ballot box, so we’re stuck with him. And we deserve what we get. Everyone hates your representatives, but they love theirs. > [@Rysto](#): > > To be honest, if any parts of the website have serious known security issues that the contractor is covering up, the website shouldn’t be running. Hackers will find these flaws I’m sure you’re right. But it is unnecessary to help them do so, and is in fact irresponsible and reprehensible. I have the keys to the place I work. Someone could break in simply by throwing a brick through the window, but that does not give me the right to hand my key over to the thief and tell him to save himself the trouble. There is no excuse for what he did. None. There is a reason, though, and given the current nature of politics and his well-known contempt for Obama and his administration it isn’t hard to guess what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/63 "2014-01-12T10:12:47Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I can never read Darrell Issa’s name without picturing some drunk Discworld character saying it. “Darrell issa…issa…wossname…” And now, neither will I 😛 ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/64 "2014-01-12T22:13:03Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Wasn’t it by car alarms? > > I know that he was a sorry excuse for a human being before he even got into politics, because he put his own voice on that asinine alarm that says, “Step back! You are too close to my car!” It makes sense that anyone who would sell such a piece of crap would be a piece of crap in the legislature. > [@Senegoid](#): > > Any time a car talks to me like that, I would be seriously tempted to effect some serious post-hoc damage. So much for alarms like _protecting_ a vehicle. > > Anybody know if that has actually ever happened? I used to stand next them trying to run down the battery. Remember when people used to put “No radio” signs in their cars? I always wanted to break the window and steal the sign. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/65 "2014-01-13T01:23:34Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > To be honest, if any parts of the website have serious known security issues that the contractor is covering up, the website shouldn’t be running. Hackers will find these flaws On one hand (let’s call it “theory”), this is true. On the other hand (let’s call it “reality”), this is kind of like saying “If the place we store our cash reserves is not perfectly safe from every type of theft, we should find a better place”. Complex websites like the ACA exchange site are extremely complex, and while security is bound to be tight… Well, the list of high-profile, high-security internet properties with valuable information is pretty damn big. And hacking any website is a lot easier with information like the design documents. They don’t even have to be “known” security issues. It’s not like the website is likely to have big holes that the webmasters covered up; rather, these documents tell the hackers, “Here’s this, here’s how this was implemented, here’s how this was designed, etc.”. And that information is an absolutely priceless time-saver and enabler. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/66 "2014-01-14T08:12:53Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > You’re a biased idiot who apparently can’t read simple English. The article you’re quoting claims that Issa _could_ (if he published them) compromise the [healthcare.gov](http://healthcare.gov)’s security with the documents he subpoenaed. It definitely doesn’t say that he did compromise it. It’s really precious and adorable that you would White Knight Darrell Issa. I’m pretty sure he still won’t fuck you, but I guess it’s worth a shot, eh? Now then, from the link: > [@](#): > > Issa insisted on getting the unredacted versions, and on Dec. 17, he posted excerpts from them online in a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in which he raised concerns with the website’s security. > > The move drew a harsh response from Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He blasted Issa for being “reckless” with sensitive data. So yeah, he kind of already was “‘reckless’ with sensitive data.” (And I’m not talking about the time he released court-sealed documents related to the “Fast and Furious” gun sales investigation, supposedly because his office forgot about the court order. Nor the time he selectively leaked IRS emails to attempt to make that more than the non-scandal it was. Nor the time that he leaked 166 pages of sensitive information regarding Libya, which prompted me to start this thread some 15 months ago.) Let’s say you knew that a neighbor left his door unlocked when he left the house one morning. Maybe he was in a hurry and forgot, or maybe he left it open so his son, who left his key at home, would be able to enter when he got home from school. Wouldn’t you say that this information - that a door is left unlocked - might be considered sensitive? That maybe it would be a reckless thing if you shouted from the rooftops that your neighbor’s door was left open? That making this information public might - even if it wasn’t true - tempt some unscrupulous people into trying that door to see if maybe they might enter and help themselves to something? Well, gee, wouldn’t you know that’s exactly what Issa did! Except instead of a neighbor, it was a federal website. And instead of rooftops, he went to two national media outlets. Which you have to admit is far more efficient than just about any rooftop you might find: > [@](#): > > The sun has risen in the East, so there must be a news report somewhere quoting a partial transcript leaked by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) purporting to show the shortcomings of Obamacare. > > We have not one but two “investigative” news reports, from CBS and ABC, based on the same partial transcript. > > Cue Sharyl Attkisson of CBS: “A top [HealthCare.gov](http://HealthCare.gov) security officer told Congress there have been two, serious high-risk findings since the website’s launch, including one on Monday of this week.” > > But (Issa) didn’t stop there. He suggested to CBS that the [healthcare.gov](http://healthcare.gov) website exposed virtually the entire government to hacking. “Remember, Sharyl, this is not about your application being compromised. This is a system, exchange and portal, that lets me go into the Department of Homeland Security, lets me go into the IRS … Social Security. Think about what’s at Social Security, what’s at IRS, what’s at Department of Homeland Security. That’s the vulnerability.” > > Is that so? A flaw in a healthcare enrollment website that could let hackers in on our most precious government secrets? Let’s agree that if this were true, it would be huge. > > [Los Angeles Times](http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-leak-from-issa-20131220,0,4513971.story#axzz2qM6jJIJn) Now, I didn’t excerpt the parts about how Issa also happened to be full of shit, once again using partial transcripts that misrepresent the truth in the matter, because simple common sense (please find someone who has this available to them to explain it to you) makes it apparent that it doesn’t fucking matter that it’s untrue. Try and keep up: Not only did Issa not have to actually unlock the door himself to be reckless with sensitive information, the door didn’t even have to be unlocked because simply by publicizing that the door was unlocked, it opens up his neighbor to getting a lot of unwanted visitors to his door, some of whom might not merely walk away when they discover the door was in fact not left unopened. Would you want your neighbor broadcasting that you left your door open - even if you did not - to the world? I wouldn’t. And I wouldn’t want to compromise my neighbor’s security unless I was an asshole with a vendetta against them, a vendetta that is so intense that I don’t even care that I am potentially letting the block I live on be overrun by people who might try and ransack my own house. I mean, since they’re in the neighborhood and all. But Issa did this. He did it despite numerous warnings from numerous people in numerous organizations in the Federal government. It’s all there for anyone to see. There is no _could_ here, except for the fact that he _could_ continue his pattern by doing it again and again with more and more sensitive information. See, that’s kind of his thing. Now then, you mentioned something about a biased idiot who was unable to read English… I can’t help you with your obvious bias but if you need any help with the English in this post or either of the two citations I gave that show that he Issa was indeed reckless with sensitive information, let me know and I’ll try and use smaller words. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/67 "2014-01-14T08:48:09Z")
Wow, so much verbiage, and all instead of saying “I was wrong”. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/68 "2014-01-14T09:38:35Z")
So you do need me to use smaller words then? Because, I wasn’t wrong. An idiot can see that. Go ahead, find an idiot to tell you this. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/69 "2014-01-14T13:25:49Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Makes you wonder how he got to be the richest man in Congress, doesn’t it? Arson and graf? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/70 "2014-01-14T13:55:01Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > Just so I’m clear, you think Bush knew about 9/11 and let it happen? Bush’s people knew there were threats & seem to have responded inadequately. Too bad serious questions were never asked. Even good Democrats felt that was a time to “stand beside Our President”–rather than start an inquisition… I’m pretty sure Bush knew nothing. That’s his usual policy. ---
**Author:** ![Karrius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71c47a/32.png) [@Karrius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karrius)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/71 "2014-01-14T14:19:42Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Wow, so much verbiage, and all instead of saying “I was wrong”. Hi Terr, remember when you claimed that any video game company that had the same problems as the healthcare website would have gone out of business, and then when it was pointed out that literally every single large scale video game company had run into the same problems before you ran away? I have a question, were you either: -Outright, directly, lying in GQ to score cheap political points. -Posting in GQ about things you know literally nothing about with a sense of false authority? If you don’t respond, I’ll charitably assume it’s both, but I want to know what kind of worthless shit you are. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/72 "2014-01-14T14:34:13Z")
I take issue with your use of the term worthless shit. At least shit can be used as fertilizer to grow sturdy plants and beautiful flowers. The same can’t be said of Terr. This poster truly does have no worth. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/73 "2014-01-14T15:03:36Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Car alarms that talk like that are worthy of a Pit thread unto themselves – except I only encountered one and that was some years ago. I gather they never sold well. Anybody know anything about that? (I think the one I heard said something like “Please stand away from this vehicle” in a faux intimidating voice.) God I despise those alarms, and not just because they are annoying, but the audio quality is so shitty you end up wasting brain trying to figure out what the fuck they are saying. For years I had a neighbor with one, and either when someone was too close or maybe just when it went active, it would say “Raw raw RAAW!”. For months, maybe years, I would hear this and wonder WTF? Was it laughing? Was it warning me about under cooked meat? Finally I saw an add for the shitty system on TV, made by a company called ‘Viper’, and it turns out it was saying “VIPER Car!” Of course in the ad it was clear, vs real life where apparently the speaker they actually use is made of cardboard and dead squirrels. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/74 "2014-01-14T15:06:38Z")
I keep wanting to link to Bill Plympton’s excellent “Car Alarm” cartoon but alas, it is not immediately available online. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/75 "2014-01-14T15:39:29Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > I take issue with your use of the term worthless shit. At least shit can be used as fertilizer to grow sturdy plants and beautiful flowers. > > The same can’t be said of Terr. This poster truly does have no worth. Your original post that I responded to could be charitably called a mistake. Since you’re persisting in your stupidity, the charity doesn’t apply anymore. You’re a biased idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/76 "2014-01-14T15:41:22Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > You’re a biased idiot. How would you know? Oh, wait… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/77 "2014-01-14T15:49:42Z")
Takes one to know one, nyah nyah. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/78 "2014-01-14T15:58:04Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > Once again, Darrell Issa has compromised security with his bullshit antics… > [@Terr](#): > > You’re a biased idiot who apparently can’t read simple English. The article you’re quoting claims that Issa _could_ (if he published them) compromise the [healthcare.gov](http://healthcare.gov)’s security with the documents he subpoenaed. It definitely doesn’t say that he did compromise it. You’re both idiots. Try actually addressing the information Issa shared and explain _why_ it is or isn’t a threat to security. Or shut up. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/79 "2014-01-14T16:11:51Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You’re both idiots. Try actually addressing the information Issa shared and explain _why_ it is or isn’t a threat to security. Or shut up. Let’s look at [the article](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/10/obamacare-website-darrell-issa_n_4569255.html?1389367586) the moron posted as some kind of proof that Issa “compromised [healthcare.gov](http://healthcare.gov)’s security”: [HealthCare.gov](http://HealthCare.gov) could clearly be compromised if, say, sensitive documents were leaked to the public that included software code or other technical information that provided hackers with a road map for vulnerabilities in the site. Such documents currently reside with Issa, who obtained them last month – unredacted – after subpoenaing them from MITRE Corporation, the federal contractor overseeing security of the website. Could clearly be compromised? Definitely. Was? Not if Issa didn’t release those “sensitive documents … that included software code or other technical information”. Did Issa release such documents? No. What he did release in this [letter](http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/sebelius1217.pdf) is, explicitly, “withholding sensitive technical details”. What he says in the letter is that [healthcare.gov](http://healthcare.gov)’s security sucks, HHS knew that it sucked before the rollout, and still went on with it. I know that people on the left don’t want the public to know that, but it hardly constitutes “compromising the security” of the site. The security was compromised when it was decided to roll it out ignoring all the problems. Even another biased idiot (and my district’s rep) Elijah Cummings didn’t go so far as to accuse Issa of “compromising the security” of the web site. Here’s his bloviating: "“Chairman Issa’s letter cherry-picks from the documents, mischaracterizes the status of the website, and appears inconsistent with the House Parliamentarian’s longstanding interpretation and guidance relating to Committee documents,” Cummings said in a statement. “The Chairman’s actions are a reckless and transparent attempt to frighten Americans away from the [Heathcare.gov](http://Heathcare.gov) website and deny them health insurance to which they are entitled.” There’s absolutely nothing in the article the idiot posted that in any way indicates that Issa “compromised the security” of the web site, or even that he was accused of doing so. But the moron persists in his stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388/80 "2014-01-14T18:09:23Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > It’s really precious and adorable that you would White Knight Darrell Issa. I’m pretty sure he still won’t fuck you, but I guess it’s worth a shot, eh? _pffft._ Issa’s a Republican politician. He fucks EVERYBODY. I think what you intended to say is that you’re pretty sure Issa won’t give him a reacharound. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darrell-issa-this-time-youve-gone-too-far/638388.md?page=5)