Texas Rangers Want You To Know About A "Shootout" This Morning

DPS has issued an official statement with a lot of information missing. But a shootout with Mexican drug cartel certainly will make headlines which is exactly why DPS issued a press release before the facts are in.  I bet Gov. Perry comments on it before the day ends because, after all, the "Texas Ranger Recon" is Perry's border war baby.

Questions that come to mind:

- How do they know they were "cartel" boats? I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but that implies DPS knows not only that a cartel was in charge of the boats but which cartel. That is, unless they are using "cartel" very loosely.
- They were "drug laden" boats so how much dope was seized? I see the word "large" but that doesn't help much. For an agency which is an expert in the Drug War, they should at least have an estimate. And can they at least mention the type? (Then again, a shootout over marijuana kind of takes away from the press release. Do we really want the Rangers involved in gunfire over something Willie Nelson just got fined for?)
- With all gunfire coming from Mexico, how do they know at least three of the shooters were hurt? Or were the injured "suspected drug runners" not the shooters at all but were with the boats? Friendly fire?
- Isn't it a little premature to call it a "shootout" between the Rangers and "a drug cartel" since we don't know the identities of those on the Mexican side? "Possible", "Suspected" or "Believed" drug cartel in the headline would seem more appropriate.

Edit: Sen. John Cornyn is already exploiting it by blaming the President.

Edit @ 9:40 p.m.: Despite promising more details from DPS, this is all we've got late in the evening:

Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange said Wednesday afternoon she could not provide additional details, saying operations were continuing. Mange said law enforcement officers received minor injuries not related to the gunfire.

Baloney. The only news we've gotten has been carefully filtered through DPS who has a vested interest, especially in these lean budget times, in justifying what it does. We supposedly had a "shootout" with a "cartel" today. You, as taxpayers, should demand to know the details of an event that was so important that an immediate (and unusual) press release was issued with all the necessary headline grabbing buzzwords.   Any of you guys remember Pravda?

Edit the next morning: And so it begins. We have the first report that the DPS  press release was a gross exaggeration if not full of out right lies!