It's reaching considerably, but the only two reasons that could be true is if the truth is considerably worse (or will be) and the NSA is getting the world used to the idea of pervasive surveillance inch-by-inch (unlikely), or it's not as bad as it's being made out to be and they're framing reality in terms of a more dire alternative. An example of the latter would be that infamous daughter's letter home to parents. [1]

The reality is probably that the unauthorized leak is just that, an unauthorized leak and a lot of people internally are pissed as hell.

The surveillance apparatus in the US and other places is probably more developed than we know about and probably getting more sophisticated.

[1] http://www.snopes.com/college/pranks/letter.asp