I think the problem is that most people tapped in to the Authority during the Millar phase, where they pretty much were psychotic, and the stories were disgusting and had ridiculous plot points that eventually needed censoring, like the Colonel supposedly shagging the corpse of Jenny Sparks.
But during the Ennis phase, and possibly during Brubaker's run, which are my two favourites, the writing was stellar, to me, I think they explained the group's 'fall from grace' pretty well, in that they hadn't had a figure like Jenny Sparks nudging them along.
But yeah, the number of people who dismiss the WSU really annoy me, given that they aren't nearly as mindless as the average issue of Wolverine.