And you've got to give those guys a break, they are trying to combat a very hard problem: finding the 1 potentially very deadly attacker hidden in 10's of millions of busy travelers where the regret is a lost plane at least, another 9/11 in the mid range, and who knows what at the worst.
All the ways I could think of doing it better are invasive and non-PC (secure ID and traveler certification, passive MMW imaging, EMPing all luggage, etc.) so I don't think they'll happen before another disaster. Everyone knows - but aren't allowed to say - that all the attackers so far have had a similar physical profile so I HOPE they're trying to apply that within their PC constraints; and of course the bad guys are looking for blond Chechnyan Islamic crazies to get around exactly that profile. I hope we can survive our (US) national PC'edness.
I travel a lot and just do my best to make their job easier (clothing worn, equipment carried, courtesy, etc.) so they aren't distracted by me while a bad guy might get by them. That's about it.