Until a few years ago, the U.S. National Security Agency was so shrouded in mystery that when it was asked about its initials, the standard reply was that they stood for "No Such Agency." The top leadership of the agency and their political masters must yearn for those days.
Now they must wake every morning wondering what new revelation there will be about the agency's excesses, usually via leaker/whistleblower Mr. Edward Snowden or the investigations by reporters following up on his leads.
The fact that the NSA is engaged in the mass vacuuming of data from every conceivable source should come as no surprise. Nor should we be shocked to discover that there have been violations of rules that ostensibly restrict the collection of data to foreign — "non-U.S." — sources, or even that the United States is spying on its friends and allies. Contrary to the dictum of Henry Stimson, the U.S. secretary of state from 1929 to 1933, "gentlemen do read other people's mail."