Yeah, I'm with you. That's always been my interpretation, and listening to the old Jamil Shows just reinforces that opinion, as he always includes "use white labs/wyeast whatever or a properly rehydrated dried yeast".
It's just driving me nuts because I remember a specific, extended discussion, but can't remember where (for the reasons you mention; it's come up enough that it doesn't even get included in show descriptions). And, after 5 years, uh. yeah. I thought maybe someone reading this had recently done the BN archive blitz.