Can Obama rebuild a kinder, gentler NSA

The government announced today that the chief of the NSA and his deputy will be departing in the coming months. Is this an opportunity for the president to change the direction of the eavesdropping department?

Army General Keith Alexander’s eight-year tenure was rocked this year by revelations contained in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden about the agency’s widespread scooping up of telephone, email and social-media data.

Alexander has formalized plans to leave by next March or April, while his civilian deputy, John “Chris” Inglis, is due to retire by year’s end, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.