I appreciate your thoughtful responses and from what I hear I only wish the other stations would emulate SNA.

I was trying to make an analogy between checking the checked baggage tag and checking one's boarding pass. It would seem that if the checked baggage tag only has to be viewed once, then the boarding pass should only have to be viewed once by the TSA (a maximum of twice if you include the airline ID checker) to ensure whether it is marked SSSS. Unfortunately, a number of stations check more than once.

And even at the same station, there is inconsistency. Last Thursday I flew COEX out of IAH B in the morning. Showed my boarding pass and ID to the ID checker and that was that. That evening on my way back out of IAH B, I passed by the security line and a TSA person was barking for all to keep out their boarding pass to be viewed by TSA after the ID checker. Same line, same day but different requirements.