TSA exec calls it "security theater."

Kip Hawley, assistant secretary of the TSA (that stands for Making You Wait In Line Two Hours Extra For No Reason), said this:

“Taking lighters away is security theater,” Mr. Hawley said. “It trivializes the security process.”

The ban on lighters will be lifted August 4th. Mysteriously, the ban on Deadly Explosive Liquid Bombs That Don't Exist is still in force. Don't go thinking they have their heads on straight now.

I guess their research (reading old issues of Popular Mechanics, evidently) showed that you can't use a lighter to ignite a Deadly Explosive Liquid Bomb, so lighters are okay now. Again. For a while. Until they need to scare us again.

Personally, I would have ditched the liquid ban first but hey, what do I know about making people inconvenienced... uh I mean, making people safe?