Spy scandal spirals into full-blown diplomatic crisis

As media in the U.S. largely ignored it, the scandal over government spying on allies in Europe spiraled over the weekend in unexpected directions.
We addressed it this morning in
Question of cover-up arises in European media
Allegations surfaced in German media that President Obama knew of the monitoring of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone.
At first the administration refused to comment, according to The Guardian in the U.K., then it changed its mind and denied the president was informed.
The story seems to be taking a familiar route: what did the president know and when did he know it?
That narrative arc has often – since Watergate in the 1970s – concealed an attempt to distance the president from wrongdoing by underlings. Could it be happening again?
To appreicate the level of outrage in Europe versus the quiescence in America, one needs to know that privacy rights are far more advanced on the Continent.
We reported on it last week in
EU far ahead in protecting private data
The headline in Deutsche Welle on Sunday afternoon was all one needed to pick up on the cover-up thread.
Media reports suggest Obama knew NSA spied on Merkel

“There are new questions over how much President Obama knew about US spying on Angela Merkel. A newspaper report says that the US leader has been aware of NSA eavesdropping on the German chancellor since 2010,” said the top story on its web site Sunday.

Privacy rights are far more entrenched in the EU than in America, that is for certain. But Americans seem complacent about our government spying on others; only when the lens is turned on ourselves do we seem to be bothered.
It’s delusional to believe there is a difference.
The NSA has the tools at its disposal to use on U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike. How can it be justified to use them on foreigners while “trusting” the government not to spy on us?
We would be wise to take a cue from our democratic friends and allies across the pond and bring pressure to bear on our own representatives to end the spying abroad and at home.