Frances Shackleford's net

Agreed. The US overplayed their hand. Let's face it, the US is now way past the happy "settler period" of the 1900s where all the arrows were pointing upwards. They are becoming a grown up country where capitalism no longer randomly redistributes wealth to new business people, their economic dynamics have stagnated. Power is locked into real-estate and heritage. Political structures are more and more closed, with an increasing amount of relatives and friends in government (Clinton-Clinton, Bush-Bush, etc), and there is an increasing demand for, for instance, social programs. The US is in an economic crisis, almost all the money and power is accumulated with a small elite, the country has privately funded TV stations that projects extreme, often obviously false, propaganda at poor people, and the political situation is extremely fragmented to the point of dysfunctionality. "Normal" American people work too much, to contribute with an informed common sense, and stabilize their politics from the bottom up. Europe is tired of their economy taking a dip each time the US prints more dollars to fund another war. Meanwhile, China and Russia - stable, controlled states, and directly connected to Europe by land, are up and coming and ready for deals. It is a good time for Europeans to re-evaluate their allies. The governments of Germany and France don't have to do anything overtly, they can keep their diplomatic poker face on. Those who claim that the US is as bad as everyone else, and that this won't have large-scale consequences for the US, are wishful thinkers. Europe constitutes 700 million people, it's a partner to take seriously, something the US governments have not done at all. Specifically wiretapping Merkels personal mobile phone? Why? So much arrogance and groupthink.