I actually got an intelligent response the other night at San Jose (which seems to require shoe removal more often than LAX and some others.)

The TSA agent at the portal said "if you don't remove your shoes you will need to go to secondary." I said "My shows don't appear to be 1", which is the standard." It probably helps that I also said "When I was here last week, and talked to the screening manager, he agreed these were okay." They took a second look, allowed me to walk through (no alarm), and said "Thank you."