Tlm,
I think your instincts and observations are, in large part, correct. Besides the negative impact on the laity these reforms caused, they even more negatively impacted the priesthood. Part of the holy lure of the priesthood had been that the priest alone had the right to handle the Sacred Species, the altar rails reminded him that he was performing a Holy Sacrifice alone and set apart from the laity, etc.
Today the lay people are authorized to do almost all of his duties besides consecration and absolution. So all he feels he is really good for is to consecrate. Thus you see "communion services" where the priest consecrates the bread and takes off so the laity can have a "service". Confession has been so downplayed that a small % of the NO laity go at all and in the more liberal parishes general absolution is granted. The sense of sin has been so diluted that the laity don't really see the need for the priest as a confessor.
You are left with a deluded laity who see the Mass and the parish as divisions of power, standing, prestige, etc. They see themselves as equal to the priest in decision making, and in some cases the lay boards bully the priest into getting their way. They entrench themselves in the choir and CCD programs and the priest is afraid to touch them lest he cause unrest and rebellion. Thus you have conservative priests moved to parishes who feel they have to endure folk and rock Masses and modernist CCD courses or else face the wrath of the pantsuit brigade and their minions. The Bishops are most concerned with keeping everything low profile and peaceful, so at the hint of complaints from the lib laity they abandon the conservative priests and tell them to go along to get along. If a conservative NO priest is to change the atmosphere at his parish to a Catholic one, he is forced to go painfully slow, little by little. And, if he is successful at all, he is then transferred and if the new priest is a lib, the parish goes right back into disarray.
The liberal laity are loud, outspoken, and revolutionary in nature. They are used to getting their way through threats and making noise. In contrast, the devout amongst the NO are typically more humble in nature and concerned with holiness and progressing in the spiritual life. In the NO scheme, these holy folks are typically thrust aside as the serfs of the NO parish as they don't play the power game. Their wishes are ignored or despised. Since throwing childish fits is not in their nature, they get no attention and eventually stop coming or find Tradition.
In order for a true NO reform to occur you are going to need courageous Bishops who have the faith along with the same sort of priests who will be willing to undergo a martyrdom at the hands of these radicals and still press on with righting the ship no matter what the consequences. Unfortunately, human nature is such that, out of human respect, most clergy will simply continue to go along to get along. Fighting these types over an extended period suffering gross calumnies, slanders, threats, boycotts, media campaigns, persecution from your fellow clergy takes a herculean amount of grace and perseverance.