[WS:] Your point about partisanship seems valid. However, my point about spying being inconsequential for the great majority of people stands, and it is supported by the poll data that you cite. Most people do not see it as a big problem because the probability of people like them suffering negative consequences of it is close to nil. It is a political issue for them - it is not a problem if "our" administration does it, but it becomes a problem if "their" administration does it.
I take your point about intellectuals - I just tried to provide some explanation of what I see as irrational over-reaction from liberal and left wing intellectual commodity producers - academics, etc. I take your point that this is a very small group and does not cover most knowledge workers.
I take your point that partisanship provides a better explanation, although I still insist that availability heuristic bias plays a big role in perceptions of both spying and terrorism.
One more remark - I consider "privacy" to be an ueber-petite bourgeois concept, like "moral decency" or "good character" - I cannot help but laugh when someone says that I should be concerned about it.
-- Wojtek
"An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."