It realy depends on how it is done. My last trip I had to go through all kinds of searches, etc. At Dulles they treated me respectfully while at Detroit I was treated like scum. I would be more willing to put up with the indignities if I felt that it was effective.
For example, when I went to the ticket counter to check my bag and get my boarding pass I had to wait in a total of three lines, one to get my boarding pass, one to get my bag inspected, and a third to check it once they put the sticker on it. Of course, each person I dealt with was ruder than the one prior. Also, once they check my bag for explosives (and probably valuables as well) they put a sticker on it to say it is OK then I go stand in another line. What was preventing me from putting something in it at that point?
Then when you go to get on the plane they pull aside about every third passenger. Each of the lottery winners is then subjected to a pretty undignified search where they all remove their shoes and belts and then get passed over with the wand and then patted down. While all of this is going on some other "security" person is rifling through your carry-on luggage, briefcase, and purse (in the case of women) by pulling out all of the contents willy-nilly all over some table and then stuffing it all back in any old way. Of course all of this is going on in full view of all of the other pasengers either boarding or waiting. One of my co-workers went through this and they "forgot" to put his keys back in his briefcase so when he got home and found himself in the satellite parking lot at the airport in the middle of the night - guess what?
The big point I see in all of this is that if a private company decides that this is what you have to do to go on their airplanes that is one thing, but as soon as it becomes the Federal Government that is making the demands it becomes a little different. Also, since they are now all government employees, the government is conducting the searches, not the airlines. It gives them a sense of authority and a huge attitude to go with it. On top of that they are now pretty much unacountable. Now they are talking about running credit checks, etc. whenever you get on a plane. If you are a fequent flyer, what does that do to your credit score. Each credit inquiry lowers your score by some degree and a lot of inquiries puts a red flag on your credit report. What's next, FBI background checks, retina scans, and DNA tests?
I have to fly for business but if I go somewhere for personal reasons, I will drive.