As one can see from the graphic here (click this) the actual number of people on the list is 60% less than the ACLU claim. What SHOULD be shouted from the rooftops is the following bit from this report;
Between the TSC’s inception in December 2003 and May 2007, the TSC
documented more than 99,000 encounters for which its call center was contacted. TSC data shows that 53.4 percent of these calls were determined to be a positive match to a terrorist watchlist identity in the TSDB. In
cases, the TSC contacted the FBI, which is responsible for initiating any necessary law enforcement action. In 43.4 percent of these calls, it
determined that the encountered individual did not match the watchlisted identity, and the TSC Call Center staff instructed the frontline screening agent of this resolution. In the remaining 3.2 percent of the encounters,
TSC Call Center staff could not definitively determine if the match was positive or negative and therefore forwarded these calls to the FBI.
In other words, OVER HALF of the calls from watch list hits were matches. Three point two percent could not be determined whether it was a terrorist or not. Two million people fly in the U.S. a day. Three percent of two million people is SIXTY THOUSAND PEOPLE. How many terrorist attacks have been thwarted because of this list?
Given the time frame of the calls that is over 3.1 billion travelers over the time frame at 2 million travelers a day. Three percent of 3 billion. what is that? like NINETY MILLION PEOPLE?
Of course the actual number of people held up by this list is much lower than sixty thousand a day, as most folks that travel in the U.S are American citizens and the actual number of Americans on this list is much lower than 400 thousand., so much lower in fact that given that 95% of the people on it aren't even Americans and we get a number of about 20 thousand people on it.
Twenty thousand people on the list out of three hundred million? By my math that is well under one one hundredth of a percent to end up on this list. Seems to me to be a very small price to pay for safety in air travel. Seems to me that such a small number of AMERICAN citizens on a list that the AMERICAN Civil liberties Union is lying about wouldn't really be a cause for concern for most right thinking people, but we aren't speaking of right thinking people here, we're discussing the ACLU and their lies.
The only other thing that bothers me is the fact that the AMERICAN civil liberties union is so concerned with the civil liberties of people that aren't American citizens, aren't covered by our laws and don't have a damned bit of standing in our legal system.
But then, the ACLU has a long standing history of aiding and abetting our enemies both foreign and domestic and we certainly don't expect them to start acting like American Patriots now.