Something just occured to me reading here by a number of posters including myself which has been recently sent to secondary have been given the same exact line when questioning the supervisor about shoe thickness.
Goes sorta " if it was up to me I would have let you through..but it up to the screener and some are not fully up on the rules..."
Since the TSA has never been consistent about anything its almost comically uncanny. One wonders if that is a line they have been instructed to use the both BS and pacify the selectee after the fact.

mike