Oh sure, there were whispers ofNational Opt-Out Week here and there. The trade publicationGovernment Security Newsreported them, although it left readers with the impression that this action would fizzle. A lone op-ed in a New Jersey newspaper recognized the protest and supported it.

The TSA briefly acknowledged Opt-Out Week in a blog post that came across as both wooden and threatening. Wooden, in the sense that it described the opt-out options in almost clinical terms; and threatening in the sense that it implied passengers could be arrested for taking photos of the screening process (“While the TSA does not prohibit photographs at screening locations, local laws, state statutes, or local ordinances may,” it warned).

But most media outlets — staffed by junior editors and wide-eyed interns during the American Thanksgiving week — simply blew off Opt-Out Week.

They’re clueless

They don’t understand. Opt-Out Week wasn’t the end of the protest. It is the beginning.