Don,
Wh1sper is right. FO:s ARE resigning over this, wether you doubt it or not. Granted, probably not in large numbers though as few can afford to hand in the notice without a new paycheck in sight...
Career decisions are hopefully based on available information and current state of affairs, and you will have to agree that the situation was slightly different 3-4 years ago, albeit already on a slide. This is just a guess, but perhaps some candidates made the assumption that the company would not conduct two rounds of DEC recruitment so close together.. Now proven wrong obviously, but your 'told you so:s' might not tell the whole story for all colleagues.
With the 2012 round of DEC:s, a large number of FO:s will now have been bypassed twice. That is quite a tough pill to swallow, in particular since the number of upgrade qualifying FO:s is considerably higher than last time round. And with 90+ hours a month the new standard, added to our fantastic new bidding system, one has to ask how much love there was for the company prior this email from JA.