But this is also just another example of the elites whining

Because TSA hits them.  They don't mind that the US proportionately imprisons 6-12 times more people than truly civilized countries or that about one in four American Men is defined by the system as a criminal because it doesn't affect them.  Our elites are so vile, they truly have earned our contempt.

That said, this is not the great civil rights battle of our time.... What's going on in the airports is simply a form of government humiliation that has hit the professional class. 

There is something to this. The uproar over the TSA's new assaults on the freedom and dignity of airplane travelers is reminiscent of the constant whining of the professional class, led by Thomas Friedman, that the U.S. is falling behind developing countries because our infrastructure and our airports are in worse condition than theirs. The vast majority of Americans never use those airports or those roads, and would never trade even the tiny amount of money necessary per person in higher taxes for shiny new infrastructure projects. Only the relatively small amount of people who use those airports and roads on a regular basis -- i.e., people like Friedman -- care about how gleaming they are. The same is true for the TSA complaints. Most people do not travel by air often, and nevertheless constantly face petty embarrassments at the hands of the government, by any number of federal, state, and local agencies.