Dwindling Spy Talk

If you've watched German news over the past week.....there was a peppy trend on the Channel One news reports over the terrible business of the German government being involved in the NSA spying business.  Various analysts came on.....talked up the terrible nature of spying on the German people.....and dumped as much as they could on the current CDU government (Chancellor Merkel).  They've tried to keep it in the number one position....with only the Greek episode beating them one or two nights.

As for the public?  I can sense that it's not much of a concern with the average German.  They haven't gotten around to thinking that it's an urgent issue for the average German to worry about.  Employment, economic stability, the summer weather, and vacations.....are mostly ranking ahead of this story.  The news media....I would suggest.....is firing blanks for the most part.  By mid-week, unless there is some new shift in the story, I think it will have burned out and the German news media will be forced to move on.

What would it take to focus Germans on the NSA episode?  If you could find some individual.....someone with a name....who was tortured by the NSA or CIA folks....then they might care more for the story.  Here?  We are just talking data and phone records.  It's hard to convince a German that the 32 phone-calls they made last week.....amount to something to worry about.

German companies?  They might have more concern, but they already know that the Chinese are trying hard to filter through their company business and get competition figures and information.  If they haven't taken precautions.....they are mostly in the we-don't-care category.

To blame the CDU or Chancellor Merkel?  Well....the BND folks have likely had a friendly relationship with the Americans for fifty years.  So dragging out this topic and blaming the current government....probably won't be a wise decision by the media.

So it's all talk and nothing gained.

The news media?  They'd like to find something to get everyone peppy and charged-up....for weeks and weeks.  But trying to do something like this in the middle of one of the best summers in a decade (mild-warm temperatures and almost no rain).....it just won't compete with the reality of a cool beer under a shaded tree, with a light breeze, and not a cloud in the sky.