Maybe it was the TSA’s urgent, last-minute plea last week that everybody play nice. Maybe it was well-placed, widespread fear of the consequences of screwing with the TSA. Maybe it was just a national Turkey Day good mood.

For whatever reason, the threatened national boycott of pat-downs and scanners at U.S. airports never materialized. In fact, in his The Media Equation column today, New York Times reporter David Carr makes a persuasive argument that the whole thing was a case of media hoopla fed by a Twitter-based virtual lynch mob (not his words, but you get the picture).

Maybe so, but when all is said and done, isn’t anybody really upset about these new invasive procedures? Yes. In fact, members of the lame-duck Congress have struck gold. Expect to see a whole new level of demagoguery and just plain hot air as our esteemed lawmakers set aside work on such annoying distractions as a new SALT treaty to deal with the real threat to America: a machine that can see your undies.

Unless, of course, you get your undies in a bundle about scans and opt for a pat-down that could be either demeaning or exciting, depending on your frame of mind. It’s TSA’s world, folks. We just get to live in it.

 — Rob Fixmer