The New York Times: Reports That Led to Terror Alert Were Years Old, Officials Say:

Much of the information that led the authorities to raise the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas was three or four years old, intelligence and law enforcement officials said on Monday. They reported that they had not yet found concrete evidence that a terrorist plot or preparatory surveillance operations were still under way.

But the announcement couldn't have any political ramifications to its timing, right?

Fucking wrong. This is just like the captured Al-Quaeda operative during the convention. The White House is blatantly abusing the release of terror-related information to... terrorize the populace, and influence the news cycle for political gain.

This isn't new news. We did a partisan jab on it more than a six weeks ago at MfA. What's troubling is they keep doing the same thing, and the newsmedia keeps going along. I don't know which is worse, that the media keeps falling for it, or that the White House is burning so much future credibility.

Fucking depressing. And criminal too, if you ask me.

Update: My old man Dean is on it, and the Republicans are calling him nuts, and Judy "how's my hair" Woodruff is spinning their talking points. It's campaign season again folks, in all its rage and glory.

Update Update: Wonder of wonders, the NYT Editorial Page is backing this up too. And of course, Krugman is spot on as per usual.