Feinstein's nicely timed 'turnabout'
Sen. Diane Feinstein, the head of the Senate intelligence committee, is calling for a "full review" of NSA activities after the Snowden leaks disclosed that the NSA has been tapping phones of leaders of allied countries, including Germany's Angela Merkel.

Feinstein, in denouncing such spying, defends President Obama, saying that he had never been told of such surveillance. Obama has refused to discuss this matter, citing secrecy requirements. Had Obama in fact never seen transcripts of the phone chatter of Merkel and others before important international gatherings, it would imply that the intelligence system had made a decision to keep a weak president in the dark.

The California Democrat's outrage is understandable. Feinstein very likely identifies strongly with Merkel. However, when it comes to ordinary Americans, we see no such sense of indignation.

The most important point about Feinstein's purported turnaround is that it might give her cosmetic bill for "reforming" the NSA a shred of credibility. She and other friends of spook central are are trying to fend off a much tougher NSA reform measure to be offered jointly by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Wisconsin Republican, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, Vermont Democrat.

Feinstein raps NSA spying on Merkel, others
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/28/nsa-surveillance-dianne-feinstein-opposed-allies