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Thursday, May 6, 2010

Inflating The Data

Conservative outlets today are misrepresenting information in order to further the narrative that the "system doesn't work" - when in point of fact it did.

The misinformation started at ---- CBS?

Sources tell CBS News that would-be Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad appeared on a Department of Homeland Security travel lookout list - Traveler Enforcement Compliance System (TECS) - between 1999 and 2008 because he brought approximately $80,000 cash or cash instruments into the United States.

TECS is a major law enforcement computer system that allows its approximately 120,000 users from 20 federal agencies to share information. The database is designed to identify individuals suspected of or involved in violation of federal law.


Karoli over at Crooks And Liars has it pegged right:

Stories on mainstream sites that begin with "sources tell..." but do not name those sources usually end badly. This one is no exception.


This is precisely the tactic that Fox"News" uses when they pull out the "some people say....." line before they deliver any number of their daily talking points on issues of the moment. One would think people would have the intellectual capacity to question specious and unsourced claims like this.

More to the point, this style of sloppy reporting does nothing to benefit the national dialog nor to harbor any sort of confidence in our security. Much in the same way that conservatives were pushing the "he almost got away" line, this in no way represents the facts surrounding the case.

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