I think the difference is that people could rationalize that warrantless wiretapping would never happen to them -- it was something that only happened to "crimi

I think the difference is that people could rationalize that warrantless wiretapping would never happen to them -- it was something that only happened to "criminals" -- whereas the new revelations show that the NSA is indeed spying on all of us all the time. (I'm not saying I agree that warrantless wiretapping is not a problem -- just that I can see how it might not grab people.)