In a press conference while on his South African tour, Obama replied to a reporter's question, "No, I'm not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker."

After the big media extravaganza naming Edward Snowden a traitor, foreign spy, whistleblower, patriot, and hero as well as an enigma, the president, who has remained relatively mum on the affair since the story broke on June 9, has now downgraded Snowden to a non-threat status to U.S. security. Yawn.

You have to wonder why Obama acted so cavalierly yesterday when discussing the possibility of the "hacker" being extradited from Russia.

There have been some useful conversations that have taken place between the United States government and the Russian government, and my continued expectation is that Russia or other countries that have talked about potentially providing Mr. Snowden asylum recognize that they are part of an international community and that they should be abiding by international law.

Sounds like Snowden's just another blip on the administration's screen of scandals--maybe an orchestrated blip? Remember this scandal came on the heels of the IRS revelations of that agency targeting conservative groups for delay of nonprofit applications.

Many AT writers and commenters have noted the relentless rollout of scandals emanating ostensibly from rogue branches of federal departments. Some have concluded that larger unexplained disgraces like Benghazi and Fast and Furious needed cover.

It is reasonable to assume the Obama administration would be happy to allow lesser debacles to hit the mainstream if they served the purpose of keeping Americans in "a state of chronic uncertainty," as Ayn Rand writes about how dictatorships operate. She says this "is what men are psychologically unable to bear." And it doesn't hurt to replace really damaging stories with ones easily manipulated.

Read more Ann Kane at Potter Williams Report