Not to get too meta, but this 'lack of surprise' thing has become a too-common reaction. I mean, objectively, what's more important - that the NSA is labeling Tor users as extremists, or whether or not you found this new information 'surprising'? Apart from being a distasteful brag, I don't think the assumption is correct. I'd imagine most people's response to be 'anger' or 'depression' or 'concern', although of course it's impossible to know for sure.

But what I really object to, and why I hope people stop using this language, is that it asserts that our collective reaction (however it is characterized) is more important than the story itself. In a very subtle way, it refocuses the argument and lets the NSA off the hook, and indeed, blames us for our having silly, outdated ideas like that our government might value and even protect our right to anonymous speech, rather than criminalize it.

As for the rest, it's possibly true that ubiquity is the only way forward.