Strongly disagree. Actually, this assertion can easily been reversed :
"Whatever the efforts you put to prevent as*holes to get power, some will fatally succeed and use every weapon/information available to reinforce their power. Then, because of the backdoors of your crappy OS or device, you will basically be fu*ked."

So, in my opinion, freeing from jailed devices is at least as important as voting against as*holes.
Sadly, if making the neo900 may seem hard, I'm sure than preventing as*holes from getting the lead of a country is even harder !
(neo900 team may succeed the first task in less than five years while humankind fails to achieve the second one for millenia )

I'm affraid your words may seem discouraging for the project members, and I'm sad for them each time I read sarcastic comments.
For having preordered an openpandora and waited for it for years, I can testify such delays are normal in such a community project. In the case of openpandora, the situation was even far more despaired and the device has finally been released !

A few words for neo900 team : "Keep courage and faith. What you are going to achieve is wonderful. Whenever the neo900 will be released, it will for sure be a milestone for freeing (or at least get back the control of) mobile telephony"