The NSA is the Inmate Running the Asylum

Eugene Robinson says that the, "NSA, in its quest for omniscience beyond anything Orwell could have imagined, is simply out of control."

He's right, and he is right when he says that their, "This is not just a massive invasion of privacy that the people of France, Spain and other countries understandably resent. It’s also a mistake."

The problem here is that the NSA, By Design wants it all. It is their organizational imperative.

This is why Obama's fondness for "bringing in stakeholders" has failed.

They are not a reasonable stakeholder whose needs to be heard, they are akin to the barbarian warriors hired by the Romans toward the end of their empire.

They are a tool that must be kept on a tight leash.

It is also clear that the NSA is pushing back aqainst Obama, because even as they officially deny that Obama was notified, anonymous sources are saying that their wiretapping were authorized:

The White House and State Department signed off on surveillance targeting phone conversations of friendly foreign leaders, current and former U.S. intelligence officials said Monday, pushing back against assertions that President Obama and his aides were unaware of the high-level eavesdropping.

Professional staff members at the National Security Agency and other U.S. intelligence agencies are angry, these officials say, believing the president has cast them adrift as he tries to distance himself from the disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that have strained ties with close allies.

Think about this: Is there anyone in the NSA who would even talk to a reporter without assuming that the NSA was listening?

This is the NSA sending a not so subtle message, "Don't f%$# with us," and if be it's not NSA director General Keith Alexander, he gave tacit approval to the leak.