Why do some citizens have such hatred for whistle-blowers?

[Maedhros]

55. A big factor is also widespread acceptance of The Big Lie that "We Are At War"

We are, of course, not at war. There is no battlefield. There are no free-fire zones, no fronts, no ground to take or lose. There is no enemy army arrayed against us in the field. Congress has not declared war, there is no draft.

There is no war. Yet these people that defend abuses by the NSA, that defend indefinite detention and Gitmo, that defend drone murder need a state of war to justify the things they defend.

For example, when they claim civilian casualties from drone strikes are necessary they assume war conditions are in effect. In a real war, there are two armed groups in close proximity engaged in a firefight, possibly with civilians present. Of course firing a missile into that situation can be expected to result in civilian casualties - perhaps an enemy machine gun emplacement needs to be taken out, and there are civilians hiding in the cellar. But that isn't what is happening in the areas in which our drones are operating. We're firing missiles at farmers trying to farm, villagers shopping at the market, and wedding and funeral congregations, all the while pretending to ourselves that the "fog of war" is responsible for those civilian deaths.

The same goes for the NSA. People have bought into the propaganda that We Are at War and The Enemy is Everywhere, and thus mistakenly believe that grossly abusive security measures are Necessary To Keep Us Safe.

Why do they hate whistleblowers? Because they are afraid, and they think the whistleblowers are putting them in danger, despite there being no actual evidence for that notion.