first off, most people confuse "rights" with "liberties".
second, if you don't want to be pat down, don't fly.
third, it would be one thing if it was a surprised, but everyone KNOWS what will happen if you want to fly. then people get all shocked and offended once they are in the security line.
seriously, for 9 years there have been huge signs listing what you cannot bring on a plane, yet if i am in a line with 20 people ahead of me, at least 6-7 of them have one of those prohibited items in their bag or on their person... maybe if people obeyed the signs it would not have gotten to this point...
if there is a chance it will prevent my plane from exploding, i am all for it.
you don't have a "right" to fly.... it's a luxury, not a liberty.
also... "air marshals on most flights".... um, no, it's more like 1%-2% of flights.
there are something like 28,000 domestic flights daily. there are now where near that number of air marshals.