This is classic case of moving targets. There is what is politically feasible at any given moment and what is needed - when they do not overlap. The moment the

This is classic case of moving targets. There is what is politically feasible at any given moment and what is needed - when they do not overlap. The moment the needed becomes feasible the new thing needed to calm stuff down becomes politically impossible because the situation has worsened a lot. Typical case was the Euro crisis of 2009-2011. The USG is caught in weird position right now. The NSA story would have been easy to defuse in June with few bold steps. Now they seem inadequate. And we have a weak presidency and gridlocked congress. And the real fun is Putin just made the rift between them even bigger with a very good diplomatic move. So they cannot move together again to fix the NSA situation for a long time.