Assuming the article's premise that "the NSA has to assume that all of its operations will become public" is correct I wonder how heavily they would really weig

Assuming the article's premise that "the NSA has to assume that all of its operations will become public" is correct I wonder how heavily they would really weight this 'cost'. It seems to have been a fairly common thread in online commentary that the NSA's activities generated far less outrage than it should. They may be able to brush off the public disclosure of activities in the future.