President Obama has announced a series of changes to the way the government will manage its surveillance, while insisting that the NSA is not guilty of any abuses: “They are not abusing authority in order to listen to your private phone calls or read your emails.”

+ “That means no more illegal wiretapping of American citizens. No more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime.” That was candidate Barack Obama back in 2007. The NYT’s Peter Baker on Obama’s path from critic to overseer of spying. Seems like a predictable progression given his current gig.

+ WaPo: Five big takeaways from Obama’s speech.

+ The president’s address included a reference to Edward Snowden: “The sensational way in which these disclosures have come out has often shed more heat than light, while revealing methods to our adversaries that could impact our operations in ways that we may not fully understand for years to come.”

+ Some government employees have been less delicate in their comments directed towards Snowden: “I would love to put a bullet in his head.”

+ WNYC: A running list of what we know the NSA can do (so far).