White House Still Pushing Idea That President Obama Was Totally Ignorant of Spying on Foreign Leaders

Choosing to portray him as clueless seen politically safer than taking responsibility

Did President Obama know about US spying on its friends, apparently going back more than a decade in the case of Angela Merkel? The answer is either "Of course he did, idiot" or "It's plausible he didn't, actually" – depending on whom you ask.

The White House message is clear: the president was in the dark.