They have groovy blue shirts, but consider the obvious -- a huge federal workforce had to be created more or less overnight. Do you think they got only the best and brightest 50,000 of the unemployed to work for TSA?
Personally, I have been "selected" for secondary inspection while I was on a business trip as part of our project to develop a pocket device to detect WMDs (my travel partner (a US Navy Commander) and I found the whole encounter ironically humorous despite its obviously intrusive nature). On the same trip, a Tennessee National Guardsman drew his weapon on me when I had the boldness to set down my carry-on bag while I looked in my pocket for my ticket. In addition, my travel liberties to Canada and Mexico have been restricted compared to pre-Patriot Act days.
My wife's travels to Asia in support of her business have also met with travel complications. My son had to put off his annual fantasy-draft trip to Las Vegas because he did not have a Real-ID driver's license.
So fuck the Patriot Act's authors and the horses they rode in on.