WaPost:Online Nude Photos Are Latest Chapter In Jeff Gannon Saga, H.Kurtz

[autorank]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27730-2005Feb15.html

Online Nude Photos Are Latest Chapter In Jeff Gannon Saga

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 16, 2005; Page C01

The Jeff Gannon story is still bouncing around the Internet, and now there are pictures.

The X-rated twist has made for a lot of clandestine clicking in a town where Deep Throat conjures images not of a porn star but of a man in a parking garage. But it has also deepened the debate over blogging and the tactics used to drive a conservative reporter from his job as White House correspondent for two Web sites owned by a Republican activist

<snip>

The latest developments were first reported by John Aravosis, a liberal political consultant and gay activist who has a Web site called americablog.org. "What struck me initially was the hypocrisy angle," Aravosis said. He said he was offended by what he called Gannon's "antigay" writing.

How about that stuff!

[The Zanti Regent]

1. Yet another reason to boycott the WHORESHINGTON POST

Is there NOTHING that WHOREWARD KURTZ won't do to defend a Nazi?

[autorank]

9. Zanti & progressivebydesign, I too dislike Kurtz, but...

I think Aravosis' point on the story coming above the journalistic waterline is a good one. Here's my theory (and I've been spouting this ad nauseum): when * becomes too much trouble for a key power faction or factions, the CM (corporate media) will turn the dogs loose. Not all at once. After all, this is the "media critic." But now the precedent is established and the bigger fish in CM can now cover the story with this as "cover." Who knows, maybe CM will leave the office and actually do some investigative reporting (i.e., read the blogs, haha).

Cheers. I will purchase my first copy of the Washington Post in six years tomorrow as positive reinforcement for their "even handed" efforts, which in fact bring the story into broader view.

[tuvor]

29. Read the story. He's not defending him. n/t

[The Zanti Regent]

37. Read #2 word for word.

That is the same impression I got.

The same Whoreward Kurtz who pushed the Whitewater lies, defends Jeffyboy and says St. Jeffyboy walks on water!

[progressivebydesign]

2. The media has gone fucking INSANE!! WHAT is with Kurtz??????

Check out this gem from that article: <<But it has also deepened the debate over blogging and the tactics used to drive a conservative reporter from his job as White House correspondent for two Web sites owned by a Republican activist.>> I'm sorry.. WHAT did Kurtz just say??? Tactics used to "DRIVE A CONSERVATIVE REPORTER FROM HIS JOB AS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT"??? Do you all REALIZE what Kurtz is trying to SAY HERE?? He's portraying that fraud, prostitute, hustler, as some poor soul was 'driven' from his job as White House correspondent.

Hey Kurtz!! The REAL fucking story is HOW and WHY that fraud was ALLOWED access to the President and the classified info.. without a thorough SECURITY CLEARANCE????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:grr:

[Erika]

5. Just the right wing scizophrenia

They've never met a conservative Bushie porn prostitute who they didn't love.

[snippy]

134. Excellent. n/t

[Kimber Scott]

7. Conservative REPORTER? I noticed that, too. I guess Kurtz got his

journalism degree from a two hour, $50.00 seminar as well. How can he call the guy a reporter? What a shame. What a sham.

[DS1]

25. Gannon is as much a reporter as I'm an ordained Minister.

Just as Talon News is as much an authentic journalism organization as the ULC is a Church.

[DulceDecorum]

35. Gannon was a GOPUSA Officer & Director?

Talon News and GOPUSA both claimed that Jeff Gannon was a graduate of the “Pennsylvania State University System.” Guckert attended West Chester University, which is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

While Guckert and Talon News publisher Bobby Eberle, who also owns GOPUSA.com, both disavow any connection between Guckert and GOPUSA, AVN.com discovered a cached version of Gannon’s bio on GOPUSA.com’s “Directors and Officers” page.

Guckert’s connection to GOPUSA should have disqualified him from being issued a press pass to the White House press galleries, and in fact, Guckert was denied a “hard pass,” a permanent pass to the Congressional galleries because he could not prove that Talon News was associated with GOPUSA.


XXX
AVN is a "naughty" site
and you are liable to see a little bit more anatomy than is absolutely necessary
(Link supplied solely for verification purposes.)

February 11, 2005
Gay Adult Domain Names Help to Out Alleged Republican Propagandist
By: Scott Ross
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:C_LgJy3BXlwJ:www.gopusa.com/bios/jeffgannon.shtml%20&hl=en

[renaissanceguy]

86. Hey don't diss the ULC

I worked very hard at filling out that quick-and-easy, 30-second application online.

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.14741193

[DS1]

87. I worked even harder

Making a color printout of it :P

[jamesinca]

152. Yes but one thing is good

CONSERVATIVE reporter. GOP homosexual reporter I think would have been better. I think it is important that the GOP/conservatives/ republicans are tied to this as much as possible. Anytime that a story like this can have any of those in the title is good.

[Old and In the Way]

27. Let me shed a tear for the poor conservatve.

Wonder how Howie would react if this was a liberal progressive being outed?

This guy is 10X worse than the obviously partisan whores because he seems so 'mainstream' and reasonable in his demeanor. But he is just as partisan as anyone RW pundits cheering on the Republican agenda.

In fact, when considering Kurtz and Gannon services to this administration, the only real difference I see is the choice of words and the compensation level.

[HeeBGBz]

45. Deepened the debate over blogging?

Gannon is a blogger. WTF is wrong with these people? Is Kurtz gettin some too?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

47. Maybe getting something, and trying to discredit the only way we

can get the real news now, through bloggers.

[65 rambler lady]

53. Kurtz and his boytoy

I wondered the same thing about Kurtz...methinks he protests too much....

[HR_Pufnstuf]

50. yeah, no kidding aye?

Tactics used? What, the wayback machine?

Search "http://usmcpt.com" at
http://www.waybackmachine.org/


What a hot potato. Here, catch.

[lostnfound]

63. Here's the email address for the ombudsman

[e-mail]

Complain about the slant from Kurtz..

[lostnfound]

69. Here's my letter..

Your paper has done a better job overall than the New York Times in exposing some of the errors of the Bush administration, but there have been notable lapses that reveal hidden agendas by your staff. Most recently I have noticed the odd coverage of the Gannon/Guckert story by Howard Kurtz. On television and in your paper, Mr. Kurtz has tried to focus attention on "a debate over tactics used by bloggers". Umm..what about the "naked elephant" / male prostitute in the middle of the White House briefing room? Why is he there, who put him there, who ultimately pays his salary? Why not focus attention on the blatant propaganda by the Bush Administration?

Bloggers? Why did bloggers have to ask the questions that led to this story being exposed? We think we know the answers to these questions already, but the spinning by Howard Kurtz is making it all the more obvious.

I'm sure that you as ombudsman are truly concerned about the reputation of your paper and I respect the fact that there are many responsible and capable journalists at the WP. Please police your ranks as best you can, and push your paper to higher standards.

[rodeodance]

83. thanks--good letter to Wash Post

[0007]

138. Great letter!

[oasis]

155. Well written and civil. Gets right to the point. (n/t)

[tinfoilinfor2005]

159. Clear and succinct...

With all the pussyfooting around the point, one would think that they really don't see the elephant in the room. Your letter nicely underlines the obvious without blatantly accusing them of being dimwitted.

[MADem]

120. I AGREE--call to action, everyone!!!!!!!

I just did!!!! Good ole HOWIE--Takes a whore to know one!!!!! I excoriated him for a couple of things, first, the bullshit that Gannon is a reporter...uh, no, he is a HOOKER. Big diff! Next, that he blames the BLOGGERS, who did nothing but provide hard (and hard it was!) EVIDENCE, not words, not bullshit, but EVIDENCE to back up their assertions. Finally, I noted that he was quoting WONKETTE by NAME, but WONKETTE -- AM COX-- is on LEAVE writing a BOOK, and there is a guest doing her blog. I suggested they may want to fact-check his shit, because he is a lameass mofo who does not use words well or accurately.

I urge everyone to spend twenty seconds nailing the WAPO. They need to be jerked up, hard.

[seventythree]

130. totally agree

[autorank]

3. John Aravosis comments on Kurtz article: HE LIKES IT!

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

GREAT Washington Post story on Gannon hustler sites
by John in DC - 2/16/2005 12:32:00 AM

An amazing story by Howard Kurtz. It's totally fair, presents both sides, and spells the entire story out. Only one mistake - the escort site was live until May 2003, not March. I.e., AFTER he started covering the White House. And other profiles remain live to this day.

A really great story. And this totally breaks the story open. Once the Washington Post covers it, it's difficult for others to say it's off-limits

http://www.americablog.org/

[still_one]

32. Not quite

Yes, it tells the basic story, but then goes on to quote "accuracy in media" indicating that this is such a terrible intrusion into the alias jeff gannon's life. Yes, other quotes are presented in this article with other views, but on the whole it is entirely too "even handed"

What we have here is a "fraud" that has been committed against the American public. Not only by a reporter misrepresenting himself, but very likely on the payroll of the GOP if not the white house. This is government interferring with a free press, but that is not the worst

That he may have had access to classified documents that outed a CIA agent, is a crime much worse than lying about sex, it borders on treason, with the complicity of people at the highest level

It is striking that this story is only alive for the most part because of the liberal blogs

That says everything about exactly what this country has become, and I fear it is now too late to turn the tide

Before this "reign of terror" is over a lot of people are going to get hurt, not only with slashing of social programs, but unnecessary wars, and this is only the beginning

[janetle]

102. I agree--I am outraged

I am completely outraged that this Gannon/Guckert guy was a White House plant to ask favorable questions at press conferences on national TV. Yet, he was a fake journalist from a fake organization.

Why isn't the MSM more outraged at this? It is fraud.

The fact that he is a real prostitute is just icing on the cake.

The issue is--the White House had a fraudulent plant!! And who is responsible and why???

[autorank]

114. Aravosis is the blogger Kurtz is talking about; it's Afavosis' story.

He liked the article. Why? Because it puts it "out there." I have no doubt Aravosis is not thrilled w/Howie's take but the larger issue is, will this get press...and it has.

Watch this unfold. Personally, I think the dogs have been turned loose; that CM has instructions to start the * tear-down because he's too dangerous.

Keep an eye on Fitzgerald. If he goes after Cheney or a close associate to taint Cheney, that means bye bye Dickster and we start the Watergate scenario (Agnew goes; Ford's selected; Nixon goes). Oh Yeah!!!!!

[MADem]

122. Well, there won't be any COX SACKING*.....

...at least not by Alberto "Torture Boy" Gonzalez. I swear, they were so bullshit that his confirmation was taking so long, because they wanted him IN and FIRING FITZGERALD well BEFORE this shit hit the fan. Now that the dog is out of the house, Alberto had no choice but to recuse himself, seeing as he was on the WH staff while all this shit was going on.

You gotta wonder, was Alberto one of Gannon's sources for his "senior administration official" quotes? Did Alberto ever wander down to the gaggle in the morning to dispense pearls of wisdom? Time to start asking some hard questions, along the lines of "WHAT did they KNOW...and WHEN did they KNOW it????"

Jesus, I'm getting old---deja goddamn vu all over again!!!!!!!!!

*For younger readers: Archibald Cox, special prosecutor during the Nixon regime, was SACKED by Robert Bork at the behest of Nixon, after Elliot Richardson, the AG refused to do the deed and resigned in protest. The whole incident was touted in the press as the "Saturday Night Massacre."

[thebigidea]

4. yeah, the "debate" about bloggers. Which only involved Howie and Wolf

some debate.

What a fuckin' clown.

[seventythree]

131. so true

[OrwellwasRight]

6. How many times can you say "unbelievable" about one party's hipocrisy?

I'm convinced that Orwell was even more right than we'll ever know.


Before the Bush Administration, I had no idea that people such as Karl Rove could exist, much less that they could think up having their porn-embroiled gay friends adopt pseudonyms and pretend to be reporters just so they could add to the conservative slop that is already available all over the internet.

[autorank]

13. Someone once asked me, what would have happened if someone

had "pantsed" Hitler at a big rally, just yanked them down and make him run like the coward he was. Well, I think that l'affaire "Gannon" pulls the pants down (I should be smacked for this, "no marks") of the * administration. Can we agree that Kurtz is our "useful idiot" by putting this out there?

[OrwellwasRight]

21. I'll absolutely agree he's a useful idiot.

The question then is, does this particular outrage, which is small on the scale of Bush outrages (the largest of which is telling lies so that we can bomb and shoot Iraqis), actually stick, actually besmirch this Administratin's reputation in a way that does us any good?

Can we for once capitalize on this continuing Republican behavior that exhibits an utter disrepect for both democracy and the American people?

[blondeatlast]

59. It's pretty to think this will expose the WH AND Howie the K.

I want that man off my tv set (not that I watch it anyway).

My husband still believes, despite all the evidence I've presented to the contrary, that Howie the K is a QUALITY "media analyst."

He's a great guy, I love him, but sometimes I hust gotta :eyes: at him.

[girl gone mad]

8. Wonkette...

"Ana Marie Cox, who has been joking about the Gannon photos on her satirical site, wonkette.com, said they are creating a buzz because "obviously pictures of naked people are titillating." But, she added, "bloggers are wrong to bring that into the mix of things of why he shouldn't be a White House correspondent. Aren't we bloggers in favor of a lower bar of access, not a higher one?"

Once again I have to ask, whose side is she on? It's one thing to lower the bar, quite another to drop it altogether. More importanly, the issue is the hypocrisy of the right wing.

[Erika]

11. Well, Bush and the twins love parties

and as long as the far right wing love Bush, all is well in their world. Then they'll lecture to the rest of us about the importance of morals. What a total crock of shit and the American people bought into it.

[Orsino]

58. The bar was lowered specifically for Guckert...

...and remains high for any journalist not completely controlled by Big Money.

Selective lowering of the bar makes the problem worse, not better.

[LizMoonstar]

118. I feel compelled to post this by some irresistable force...

I SAW JEFF GANNON'S PENIS.

I can't get over this. I saw "Jeff Gannon"'s penis. This both entertains and horrifies me. He goes on about how everything to do with sex, porn, gay, and internets is bad, and I saw his penis on a gay escort site on the internet.

If I'd realized that having a nice penis is all it takes to get press credentials at the Bush WH, I would've... wait, I don't have a penis. Damn. First time ever for penis envy here.



I said 'penis' six times in this post. Yes, I spent too long in high school marching band.

[MADem]

123. ANA MARIE IS ON LEAVE

The idiot Kurtz could not even get THAT right!!!!!

The remark was written in snarky jest of those who blog the salacious, the scandalous, and so forth--the whole sentence is a joke, but the dimwit doesn't see it. After all, Ana Marie's schtick is talking about getting massively drunk and "ass fucking" all over DC...but the real point is, SHE did not even WRITE that!

She's writing a book, she has a guest running her blog. No fact checking, no nada. HOWIE--ULTIMATE Lame ass jerk!

[KittyWampus]

156. Just Drawing An Arrow To Your Post MADem. Wonkette Isn't Even There

and Kurtz attributes a quote to her?

:D
:(

[MADem]

157. He must have gone to the same journalism school as JimmyJeff! n/t

[UL_Approved]

10. Remember the Dan Rather story!

This guy just seems so secure in his fight against the "liberal media".

It was one thing when certain facts (not all of them, even) turned out to be unsubstantiated.

It is another when the entire career of a reporter turns out to be manufactured.

This guy at least should have made some reference to this being as bad or worse than the Dan Rather story.

And people still are chasing the "liberal media" around... :scared:

[Fridays Child]

12. So, did Scotty used to call on him by the name of Jeff or Jim?

If Scotty didn't know, until recently, that Guckert was using a pseudonym, and the guy was cleared to enter the White House as using his real name, then he would have called on him by the name of Jim or James. Right? Otherwise Scotty is lying through his teeth.

From the article:

"White House spokesman Scott McClellan told the trade publication Editor & Publisher that he didn't know Gannon was using a pseudonym until recent weeks and that he was cleared into the White House on a daily basis using his real name."

[autorank]

15. You're right. I noticed that to. It makes no sense.

I think they're just sitting over there, like Nixon did in May/June prior to being "resigned," waiting for the next explosion. "Gannon" must have one hell of a rolodex. Can you imagine the sweating that's going on all over DC about that.

[Fridays Child]

20. Makes you wonder if he's a marked man.

And I suppose that question has crossed his mind, as well.

[Fridays Child]

34. As early as May 2003, Scott called him Jeff. That means Scott is lying.

I just listened to the 05/15/2003 press briefing and Scott called on Guckert but he called him Jeff, not James or Jim. So, if Guckert "was cleared into the White House on a daily basis using his real name" and Scott didn't know he "was using a pseudonym until recent weeks," then wouldn't Scott have been calling him James or Jim in those earlier briefings?

[muriel_volestrangler]

56. Transcript here

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/20030515-7.html

right at the end. Is it defintely Gannon on the recording you saw/heard?

(though, strangely, the White House website search facility doesn't turn this up when you search for 'jeff').

That was one of McClellan's early Press Briefings - while Ari Fleischer still did most of them. Did Fleischer ever call on Gannon, I wonder, or was it just McClellan?

[Fridays Child]

93. Yes, I compared that voice to his voice in a more recent...

...press briefing, and they were identical. And I know that the "Jeff" in the more recent press briefing is Guckert/Gannon because the question he asked in that one has been cited by Keith Olbermann and the Washington Post as an example of his obvious bias.

Here it is:

2/10/2004
"Q Since there have been so many questions about what the President was doing over 30 years ago, what is it that he did after his honorable discharge from the National Guard? Did he make speeches alongside Jane Fonda, denouncing America's racist war in Vietnam? Did he testify before Congress that American troops committed war crimes in Vietnam? And did he throw somebody else's medals at the White House to protest a war America was still fighting?"

[muriel_volestrangler]

96. interesting - so, within a couple of months of getting his pass

McClellan was on first name terms with him - using the false name.

[blondeatlast]

61. I was hoping someone else remembered that. I thought I did,

but memory can be tricky.

I almost remember and will aprreciate any correction either way, Scotty once saying "Jeff," then 'correcting' himself?

Anyone else?

[Kimber Scott]

23. If you showed up at a Bush rally they would know exactly who you, or

any of us, are - exactly, no question - and we wouldn't be allowed in but, they try to pretend they didn't know who this guy was they were letting into the White House for two years? Right. LIARS!

[autorank]

24. Great point. What a juxtaposition...loyalty oath required for *

rally; fake name good enough for WH pass. :wtf:

[flyarm]

144. you can bet your life on that..i protested a bush rally here in fla

and the repugs went by us over and over taking our pictures...i guess i was naive at first i didnt realize what was happening..but when i realized the same cares were going by us..( with kerry stickers in the windows) and then i noticed someone in back seat with windows darkened with a camera to the window..they were taking our pictures..over and over..then i realized i needed and all of us needed to cover our faces when they went by..amd i mean these people in these cars were going by 20-30 times!!
then they had these two cutsie gals cone with papers and clip boards saying they wanted people to fill out surveys..well i stopped many from filling them out..as they didnt seem legit to me...ohh yes..go to one of * rallys ..they will know everything about you!! and if they don't they will take your picture or trick you into signing something!!

clue cover your face...you may be on candid * camera!!
and dont fill anything out or sign anything....

many did until i stopped them!!

fly

[progressivebydesign]

104. Makes no sense.. WHY would the White House CLEAR that guy?

I mean.. this is so obvious! Do any of us honestly believe that they would not do a thorough check of Guckert before allowing him near Bush? They have the tools to investigate people, obviously. This was all part of a plan to get a friendly in the press audience.. AND.. I think Guckert aka Jeff is well known in the party circles amongst the hypocrites in office.

Gosh.. Mr. Bush, what does Jesus say about hypocrites??

[Technowitch]

14. As William Pitt commented in his own blog

The following lines disturb me greatly:
"But it has also deepened the debate over blogging and the tactics used to drive a conservative reporter from his job as White House correspondent for two Web sites owned by a Republican activist"

Pardon my language but BULLSHIT! The words 'reporter' and 'correspondent' should never have been associated with Jim D. Guckert, aka Jeff Gannon.

John Aravosis and the other bloggers were doing the job that OUGHT to have been done by the REAL 'journalists'.

Guckert was never qualified for that job (2-day journalism course). His proven background as a prostitute and deadbeat (DE has an open judgement against him for failing to pay taxes) ought to have kept him from getting even a single White House day-pass. He's also been linked to the whole Plame incident, claiming in one or more of his pieces to have seen a confidential CIA memo related to the case.

Finally, it was the repeated asking of insanely partisan questions that caused some to ask, "Just who the heck is this guy, and how did he -- a 'reporter' for a known vanity web 'news' organization, Talon -- rate admission to the White House press room?"

Howie ought to be thanking the bloggers, not trying to accuse them of being some sort of threat. What's next? "We really ought to reconsider the wisdom of letting the press say anything bad about the Republican party?"

It'd be one thing if Guckert truly had been hounded out of a job for which his sin was only that of being an ideological tool of the Repugs. Here's the list again, in case anyone was keeping track:

1. Guckert got into the WH Press Room under a fake alias
2. He passed himself off as a reporter for a major news organization that is in actuality a tiny website OWNED by a Republican partisan group (GOPUSA).
3. His sole credentials as a reporter are a 2-day course
4. As a 'reporter', he cribbed many of his columns and articles directly from WH talking points, sometimes not even bothering to change the grammar or language.
5. He has a judgment of some $20k against him for back taxes from the state of Delaware.
6. He has, registered in his own name, the domains that advertise military-themed gay 'escort' services, as well as numerous online profiles and photos that make it clear his anti-gay diatribes (and there were many appearing under his byline) were utter hypocrisy (not to mention the fact prostitution is still illegal outside the state of Nevada).
7. At least one of these sites was still live even as he got that seat in the third row at the WH, and many of the sexually-themed 'profiles'.
8. Despite this obvious criminal background, he was granted either a permanent hard pass or a daily pass for TWO YEARS.
9. The proof is there for anyone to find it. There are invoices, archives of the profiles and websites (including the porn), and all the WHOIS tracking data you could ever hope for. It's all documented.

But no. Bloggers hounded him from his job. How sickening, Howie.

[autorank]

17. Howie's a "turd blossom" but he kicked over the bucket and it's

all spilling out. haha, Howie, you like us, you really like us.

You're right on every single point you make. Aravosis is the true journalist here, the true reporter with courage. It is amazing to watch this unfold.

[UL_Approved]

18. And another choice gem from the article:

Ana Marie Cox, who has been joking about the Gannon photos on her satirical site, wonkette.com, said they are creating a buzz because "obviously pictures of naked people are titillating." But, she added, "bloggers are wrong to bring that into the mix of things of why he shouldn't be a White House correspondent. Aren't we bloggers in favor of a lower bar of access, not a higher one?

Wrong to exploit the sex angle??????????????????????????????????????????

Just what was that thing about Bill Clinton and an intern again? You know, the one about the Hummer?

[PA Democrat]

62. Ana Marie Cox, aka Wonkette is such a hypocrite

She hasn't met a sex scandal yet that she's NOT plastered all over her blog. She was MORE than happy to spread the untrue story about the supposed "affair" between John Kerry and Alexandra Polier. She also covered the sex scandal involving Jessica Cutler , who was a Staff Assistant for Senator Mike DeWine, and who had an anonymous weblog detailing her sexual escapades (some for $) with Washington insiders. Just google "wonkette" and "sex" and you'll get links to countless other juicy sex rumors she has described on her blog.

Cox is a stinking hypocrite to cry foul over the Gannon scandal.

[LondonAmerican]

65. i agree with wonkette

she is absolutely right: making a big deal about sex here makes us look like prudes and scolds, and it's even worse when it degenerates into snickering about gays.

the issue - and i'm amazed that so few people want to address it, since it is very serious - the issue is fact that the white house is setting up a COVERT PROPAGANDA MACHINE using friendly pundits and government money.

THAT is a scandal! democratic blowjobs or republican nudie pics aren't.

it has nothing to do with hypocrisy or sex -- and we look hypocritical ourselves when we obsess about sex after defending clinton. do we really want to look as puritanical and schoolmarm-ish as the republicans did when they went after him?

[ElectroPrincess]

77. Underneath the *cute* sarcasm Wonkette is a Corporate Media Tool ...

CNN has been quoting her every DAMN day on Kurtz's segment on blogs like this broad is a star "cult of personality" figure. She's far from that albeit the Washington insiders would like us to sign on to her blather.

[LondonAmerican]

107. that could very well be

but the point still stands.

[MADem]

125. NO NO NO

Wonkette, Ana Marie, IS ON LEAVE. Note that all entries on her blog of late are signed CS. Blame the media for not even CHECKING that small, but important, fact.

Ana Marie supported Kerry during the campaign. Her "beat" is the scandalous, the salacious, and the snarky. She doesn't deserve to be dissed--if not for her, we'd never even have a laugh at the weecowboy's expense. And she DID NOT EVEN WRITE THOSE WORDS!!!!

[UL_Approved]

151. No shit?

Can you verify this?

If so, please do post a reply with a link or a document excerpt. This is indeed very important as a "detail" (totally changes the entire meaning).

[MADem]

153. Go to her website--it's all there

www.wonkette.com and read her archives during the campaign. She only took advertising from Democrats and affiliated groups like MOVEON, not a cent from the GOP.

If you are blaming her for the commentary about Guckert, again, go to her website and read. She is on leave, writing a salacious book, and "CS" is subbing for her.

[CTyankee]

80. I don't know how you can say it has nothing to do with hypocrisy

since this admin. is on a moral crusade against gay people, going so far as to promote a constitutional amendment to restrict, not expand, rights of one set of citizens. That is immoral and unjust and we are perfectly correct to call them on it.

Moreover, you can't compare this with Clinton's sex fling with Monica. Clinton did not set himself up as morally superior to anyone. He never preached sanctimoniously against extramarital sex. He never promoted discrimination against one group of people based on their sexual preference.

I find it ludicrous that anyone would complain about Gannon's lack of privacy. It's a strange way to protect your sexual privacy when you have a sexually suggestive picture of your own nude body published on the Internet. Dear God!

[LondonAmerican]

106. that's not my point

my point is that we look silly and hypocritical if we focus on sex.

the real issue has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with the development of a COVERT PROPAGANDA OPS campaign by the administration.

i'm really disturbed that THAT doesn't seem to bother many people here, who seem more titillated by the sex details. do we really want to look like ken starr-style scolds and ignore a real problem in favor of fake outrage over sex?

[RaleighNCDUer]

94. Uh, do you understand the meaning of 'satirical'?

After mentioning her site as satirical, he quotes her. It is a reasonable assumption that anything quoted is a satirical comment.

[dddem]

135. HEY! Don't you remember...

It's NOT about the SEX! It's about lying to Congress! Jeesh... get it straight, willya?:7

[Kimber Scott]

19. Yup. Poor little man-whore run off by the big, bad lefties. nt

[Fridays Child]

22. Thank you. That needed to be said.

:thumbsup:

[Eloriel]

108. PLEASE send that, almost just as it is, to the WP ombusdsman

if not as an LTE. It's masterful.

[flyarm]

146. for kerry rallys here in fla...

i was in charge of security for the vip sections and several rallys i was in charge of up to 4 groups of volunteer security people for the rallys...the night before kerry came to town ..i had to have into the kerry travel people the social security numbers of everyone who was going to work as a volunteer for security..several of my people were professional security people or did it for numerous rallys...it didnt matter the secret service had to have the names the night before..so everyone could have a background done on them..no one could be subsituted the day of the rally..it was the same for edwards as well..there was no game playing..it was serious stuff...
if someone wasn't cleared the night before rally..they didnt work the rally period! we had kerry come here many times ..and it never deviated!!
so now someone with washington post is going to tell me gannon sat there for 2 years with a fake name and all the disqualifications..and its all blogs fault for outing the pig...wow..this is no longer my country!! i do not recognise it at all!!

no one gets that close to the president of the united states after 9/11 being a prostitute , and getting info about valerie plame, and getting an interview with karl rove..i dont give a crap what anyone says!! not once with a daily pass..let alone 2 years of daily passes..

the secret service knew..they knew everything about this guy..so someone had to get him in at the highest level of this administration!
i dont care what the washington lying post says..they are nothing but pimps!

fly

[NNN0LHI]

16. "drive a conservative reporter from his job as White House correspondent"

A reporter? I think it may be time for someone to take a hard look at Howie Kurtz's credentials. He can't distinguish between a reporter and a paid hack. Time to go back to school Howie.

Don

[athenap]

109. Thinking about sending a letter...

"Dear Mr. Kurtz,

I'll be having that nice cushy job of yours after this weekend. You see, I signed me up at one of them two-day reporting workshops like Mister "Jeff Gannon." I figure if an old hooker can turn his life around and get a third-row seat in the White House, then a little ol' housewife like me can go from changing poopy diapers to shoveling the big-time crap like the horse-pucky about Social Security.

Oh, and sorry about that thirty or forty grand you probably spent on your education with the fancy degrees from a "real college." Who knew you could get to the same place with just fifty bucks and a weekend at the Holiday Inn? Guess their commercials were right. I do feel smarter.

And since I'm just a girl, I'll only be making 73 cents on your dollar, so your bosses will get my tireless journalistic efforts on the cheap. I'll have to work twice as hard, but I think maybe if I put up some nekkid pictures of myself on the internet, I could get the same respect on Pennsylvania Avenue as Mister "Gannon" does.

You can pack up your desk stuff in an old copy-paper box. But leave the company pencils. I'm gonna need 'em for my new and glamorous Brenda Starr career.

Just call me the "correspondent." Or "reporter" if that's too long. Can't wait to start my new career!"

[Pithy Cherub]

129. Loving It!

Tis an excellent essay, wrapped in a letter, sent by email, worthy of a real journalist who aspires to be a great blogger! ;)

[tsuki]

26. The story is no longer Gannon/Glukert. The story is journalism.

After Payola Pundits and Prostitutes holding credentials, journalists are beginning to feel threatened. Journalistic credibility and integrity have been called into question and is now at an all time low.

The journalists, all of them, not just the liberal media, are now the story. Expect them to lash at bloggers and the internet in a feeding frenzy to discredit all bloggers, posters and political sites.

Face it, we called them out. A cornered He-Coon would not be as vicious. And the He-Coons have been the high paid stars for too long to give up their territory to a bunch of amateurs who have research skills they long ago abandoned for the prestige, power and $ of the beltway.

[autorank]

28. "They will sell us the rope we use to hang them." Somebody?

I think this is a case of conflicting tendencies: (a) CYA, protect the franchise, i.e., CM (corporate media) versus (b) be the first with the big story; sell papers; beat the other guys. If they were monolithic, the CM would close ranks and shut this sucker down like a dirty restaurant. Fortunately, they're not. So, as the story gets pushed more and more (as the blogs are doing!!!), the second tendency may prevail. Who will be first with the story? In addition to Aravosis & the blogs, the folks to watch are the supermarket tabloids. If they go nuts (which they may), they'll be paying people for stuff and the shit will hit the proverbial fan. Remember, the CM used the tabloids for cover on OJ and some other cases; to back door coverage by calling coverage of the tabloids.

This is going to be quite a ride. I think the word is officially out, time for * to go. Afterall, who do we think Kurtz works for anyway?

[classof56]

92. Great post! Pretty much sums it all up. Sad, but you are right on!

I no longer watch MSM for these very reasons. Thank goodness for DU and DUers. One of the last bastions of truth, IMHO!

Tired Old Cynic

[cosmicdot]

141. the story is journalism ... the 4th Estate ... and treason ...

and, what it has turned into ... and, its failures which are contributing to this Nation's downfall ...

Kurtz has made year's best (or worse) mediawhore lists , and he knows it ... I'm sure, he sees his own reflection on the Media wall cave through this case, as well as, other revelations surfacing re propaganda ...

I'm sure he has received volumes criticizing his biased writing ... so, he's out to save face and the corporation ...

He's following orders ... what exactly are they? Could be to get out there and help frame the debate ... divert attention from the 'real' issues, etc.


Of course, another major story in this is treason: Gannon was also given a classified CIA memo that named agent Valerie Plame, etc.

[R Hickey]

30. He was blowing someone high in the WH to get access like that.

Gannon was trading sexual favors for access. There's really no other explaination. Either some of them know, or all of them know.

Who was he blowing and when did he blow him?

Is Karl Rove married? How much face time did Gannon have alone with Bush, and on what occations? How much face time alone with Rove? Are they ALL GAY at the WH?

Two years is unbeleavable WH access for a known, gay prostitute, especially when you consider all our increased post 9/11 homeland security.

Did Gannon leave with the other reporters after the press confereces, or did he sometimes linger around after the meeting would blow over and preform unspeakable sexual favors for Rove, Bush, or Cheney?

Why is Howard Kurtz offering this fig-leaf? What do they have on him?

We need a grand jury to get to the bottom of this.

[NJCher]

38. well, Conspiracy Planet has a story on the Republican Gay Mafia

http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=49&contentid=1917

The Gay Republican Mafia is evidently in control of the Party, even as they spin hard to avoid the obvious questions. How did so many closeted "conservative" gay men wind up in the upper echelons of the GOP? Should the GOP be called the Gay Old Party now?

With gay RNC chairman Ken Mehlman and the latest outing of fake reporter Jeff Gannon, a GOPUSA/ Talon News shill, the issue of Karl Rove has come out as well, so to speak.

"The thing I never understood about Karl Rove," writes Al Martin, author of "The Conspirators: Secrets of an Iran Contra Insider," "is that he’s not married, and I used to know this guy in the mid-1980s. He doesn’t look all that much different now than he did 20 years ago. But here’s a guy that looks like a cross between Humpty Dumpty and the Pillsbury Doughboy. I never saw him with a woman. He was never friendly with any women and never seemed to have any girlfriends or go out on a date or anything.

Martin continues his recollections -- "Karl would always hang around at the Rooftop Bar at the Mayflower, which is directly across the street from the White House where all the DOJ pretty boys, as they used to call them, would go after work for a drink.

The story continues on to a second page.


Cher

[Ms. Clio]

111. I think Rove is just incapable of any normal human relationship

He is one disturbed and twisted individual.

[Dinger]

113. Excellent Point

I remember a line in Shawshank Redemption, where the character Red is asked if a bad guy in the prison was a homosexual, and he responsed by saying that no, he wasn't, because he'd have to be human first.

[Ms. Clio]

117. Yes--that line expresses exactly what I was thinking n/t

[blondeatlast]

66. What they have on Howie K is direct access thru his wife,

RW shill and MSNBC "analyst" Shari Annis. He seems to operate under the delusion nobody knows about that, and he's still desperate to keep it hidden.

Apparently it isn't common knoweledge, though, as I found out the other day when I and others posted this on DU.

He's DESPERATE not to have this go public; and yet it's right there. I think some kind of organized effort would collapse his house of cards, but I've no skills in that regard.

Anyone?

Here's the best I can find right now. David Brock wrote quite a bit about it in "The Republican Noise Machine" too.

http://commonwealthcommonsense.typepad.com/commonwealthcommonsense/2004/06/howard_kurtz_ba.html

[MADem]

126. My money is on Scott McClellan

It just seems right to me. How did Scott meet Gannon, nee Guckert? That's the REAL QUESTION!

As for GRAND JURIES, funny how Guckert has shut up (yet again!!!!) and suddenly Miller and Cooper are looking at jail time. I'm thinking Jimmy-Jeffy starting singing to Fitzgerald, because he did not want to end up a "suicide" like that lobbyist running the callboy ring during Bush 1.

[pacalo]

31. Kurtz thinks the treatment "Gannon" is getting is "mean-spirited"...

What did Kurtz think when the Swift Boat Liars attacked Kerry?

The point is, why did the unqualified journalist with a fake name get security clearance to the daily WH press briefings, get a choice seat in the front, & get regularly called on by Scott McClellan?

Why is he taking up valuable time to recite this administration's talking points & to insult Democrats in the form of questions, when that time could be given to the more serious-minded journalists.

Which makes me wonder: How many journalists who attend these press briefings are on the WH's payroll?

Why was he given preferential treatment, while the legendary Helen Thomas is relegated to the back row & is never allowed to ask questions?

[Kahuna]

46. I've been wondering the same thing about the Swift Boat Vets...

I plan to email Whorie this evening and ask him about that.

[d.l.Green]

73. Yeah, right "mean spirited" are we. We're just digging up some available

facts that are accessible to ANYONE with a computer. This is rote amateur journalism, a step above what Kurtz and Gannon do/did. No comment is necessary with all this stuff. I still haven't gotten past the point that I'm imagining all this- this is HUGE (well if 8 inches is considered huge- hehe)...

[DU GrovelBot]

33. ## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

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This week is our first quarter 2005 fund drive. Democratic
Underground is a completely independent website. We depend almost entirely
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your support.

[truthisfreedom]

36. *snort!*

bah-hahahahahaha!

[cvoogt]

39. his site was there for all to see

so what's private about that? A website, even one of a personal nature, is a public document unless you yourself take the trouble to add password protection. He's totslly fair game and Kurtz is too intelligent to be unaware of how such basics of the net work, so it's obvious his article is slanted to come to the aid of Gannon.

[EFerrari]

40. Speaking of internet "tactics" can someone take a screenshot

of the WaPo page this article is on? Under the article are three ads promising to HELP YOU LOCATE Gannon.

You can't make this stuff up, can you?

[NYC]

42. That's to locate "John Gannon".

Advertising Links What's this?

Find John Gannon, Only $9.95
Get address and phone number for $9.95, or get a complete background check for only $39.95.
www.peoplefinders.com

Locate John Gannon
Current address and phone number available. Instant results.
www.usa-people-search.com

Locate John A Gannon
Current address and phone number available. Instant results.
www.usa-people-search.com

That should be a different person, unless he uses Jeff, Jim, and John.

[EFerrari]

43. Right. The ad choice is funny, though. n/t

[ima_sinnic]

41. e-mail address for Howard Kurtz

[e-mail]

let him know what you think

[MADem]

127. Make sure you send a copy to

[e-mail] .... he'll just delete anything that doesn't praise him to the skies. You gotta put this shill on report!

[Cooley Hurd]

44. Howie doth protest too much...

Does he have a card in Guckert's rolodex?:shrug:

[cthrumatrix]

51. Howie is doing his "work".....not much different from Gannon...a hired gun

[blondeatlast]

68. Nope, what Howie has is a RW shill for a wife and he still thinks

nobody knows about it--ijit that he is:

http://commonwealthcommonsense.typepad.com/commonwealthcommonsense/2004/06/howard_kurtz_ba.html

[Cooley Hurd]

71. No shit! I didn't know that...

'splains alot.:thumbsup:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

48. White House reporter linked to escort service--Chicago Sun-Times

More coverage

February 16, 2005

BY ERIC BOEHLERT



WASHINGTON -- Last week, Republican activist Bobby Eberle, the man behind the conservative Web site Talon News, insisted that before hiring James Guckert as his White House correspondent, he never looked into Guckert's background. Eberle probably wishes he had.

The same might be said for the White House officials who let Guckert into the press room.

There's new evidence that the Talon reporter, who attracted attention after asking President Bush a pointedly conservative question at a press conference last month, worked as a male escort.

Guckert, who wrote under the name Jeff Gannon, resigned last week from Talon amid scrutiny of his identity and background. Online "blogger" critics questioned what they said was Talon's lack of independence from Eberle's GOPUSA Web site. Then questions arose about why the Talon reporter was given access to the White House press room after being turned down for Capitol Hill press credentials.
more...
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-press16.html

[65 rambler lady]

55. Scotty has a problem.....he can't tell....

"White House press secretary Scott McClellan said "in this day and age" it's not easy to decide who qualifies as a reporter. "Where do you draw the line? There are a number of people who cross that line in the briefing room."

Now that's a ripe statement if I ever heard one......it's not easy to decide who qualifies as a reporter....where do you draw the line?

Hint to Scotty......people who are reporters have vaild credentials and as to where you draw the line, well, I guess it depends on where your bedsheets stop.

Article from the SunTimes.....very brief, but at least it's coverage...:smoke:

[loudsue]

121. What both articles fail to mention is that he got his press pass, what,

ONE WEEK after starting his web site?? (.....If I remember correctly from the research presented on a thread earlier this week.) How does that constitute "regularly published"? (as per the Chicago Sun article.)

The Sun article also doesn't mention that Gannon/Guckert POSED NUDE on websites linked to him. That's a little further down the line than " Guckert was linked with online domain addresses suggestive of gay pornography."

SUGGESTIVE of gay pornography??? If Dan Rather had nude photos of himself on a gay beefsteak "escort" service website...would that, too, be SUGGESTIVE of gay pornography???

Let's hear that "liberal media" stuff just one more time. </sarcasm>

:kick::kick::kick:

[Maine-ah]

49. If something like this had happened during

the Clinton admn. they would be screaming bloody murder. :mad:

[HR_Pufnstuf]

52. 15 articles running globally now

Goooog "jeff gannon gay escort"

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=jeff+gannon+gay+escort&btnG=Search+News

Up from 11 this time yesterday.

[Jacobin]

54. Oh, how the WaPo has fallen from days of yore

They are now a likkudnick, BushWorshipping RAG, useless even to wipe vomit off the bathroom floor.

[DoYouEverWonder]

57. Someone should let Howie know

that it's not the liberal bloggers who posed in the nude, had pictures taken of themselves in all their naked glory and then posted them on the internet in order to earn money and favor prostituting themselves. Jeff is not a victim, he is a prostitute and a pornographer and the last time I checked prostitution was still illegal in this country.

[The Zanti Regent]

60. ...but PRESSTITUTION is legal

and nobody beats Whoreward Kurtz when it comes to presstitutiong, except everyone else at the WHORESHINGTON POST!

[blondeatlast]

70. Wish I'd said that.

So true.

[Mist]

75. Yeah, I love how the "frame" has become:

"Gannon's privacy invaded!" Um, what?! There's nothing particularly private about the internet, and there's certainly nothing private about "Jeff's" pix in underwear, and more infamously, w/out underwear. Guckert's the one who put himself out there in the buff! "Privacy" indeed.

[rodeodance]

84. Indeed!!

[TankLV]

119. Not in parts of Clark County. It's quite legal, actually.

The "nice" new church-goin' folks who recently moved-in from elsewhere tried to shut it down and the WHOLE community politely told them to shove their noses back in their bibles and stay inside their churches and resoundingly defeated (76%?) the proposal to ban prostitution! Even voted to EXPAND a local brothel - good fer business, ya know!

[lawladyprof]

64. "Gannon's personal privacy has been invaded" No, Gannon's other

professional life has been investigated. Quote was in Kurtz article (from conservative Accuracy in Media). Sorry, if I had an affair and you publicize it, that's invading my personal life. Taking money for sex is work, a profession, a job, not my personal life. Furthermore, the bloggers could do not wrong when it came to Dan Rather.

[starroute]

101. Accuracy in Media

Accuracy in Media, founded by the late Reed Irvine, has had all sorts of discreditable associations over the years -- everything from the CIA to Reverend Moon. Its heyday was back in the 70's and 80's, and I don't know who's running the show since Irvine died last November, but it is definitely not merely a "conservative" organization. At the very least, it is an extreme right-wing group with a long-term agenda of destroying the "liberal" media. Any intrusion by it into the Gannon matter is far from accidental.

[IndianaGreen]

140. Prostitution is illegal in most of this country

So a prostitute like Gannon, or any of his defenders, can claim that his personal privacy has been invaded.

On a personal note, I want to know who in the White House was procuring Gannon's sex services.

[LondonAmerican]

67. i just read the entire article

and it seems pretty even-handed to me. it certainly brings the story to a wider audience.

[Nothing Without Hope]

72. Not only gross distortion but an ominous step toward building a case

that can be used to attack freedom of the internet.

Koppel painted "internet bloggers" as irresponsible, totally unreliable conspiracy theorist wackos on the subject of election fraud. Kurtz's take is even more negative, that "bloggers" are some kind of sinister fource that has driven a "reporter" from his livelihood because of his political beliefs. The main point of TV interviews of Kurtz and "Gannon" by Wolf Blitzer took exactly the same tack -- JimmyJeff even managed to force a few tears when sharing his heartrending story about being stalked -- presumably by these evil bloggers -- on his way to church with his family (mother and brother).

This is MORE than ass-covering lies and distortion designed to suppress a story embarrassing to the administration.

I'm telling you, this portrayal of sinister "liberal bloggers" invading privacy and terrorizing an honest citizen represents blivet** administration talking points for a coming war on internet-based progressive activism. We've grown and strengthened enough to become a nuisance, with promise to become more. They want to suppress this loophole so that ALL available information will be controlled and the internet cannot be used to organize protest or gather damaging evidence of administration corruption. The corporate media want independent news and popular blogs on the interent weakened because of the threat to THEIR dominance as well.

This isn't just about Gannongate -- this is part of a strategy to rouse public opinion against "liberal bloggers" so that they can pass laws to suppress freedom of speech on the internet.

[ElectroPrincess]

79. I think that you have aptly characterized Kurtz's spin ...

This article is far from fair and Gannon is NOT a victim. They say "liberal bloggers" like those who referred to "lepers" in the acient past.

* has received EVERYTHING he has ever wanted. Now, we are in the process of the complete dismantling of the First Amendment and entrenching a monopoly of Corporate Controlled National Press.

"What's up is down, what's bad is good,
... you'll find out when you reach the top, you're on the bottom."

I'm going GREEN and chilling out for now because America's Working and Middle Class are going to have to endure many DARK days the years to come. No silver lining yet.

[d.l.Green]

81. This was bound to happen. There's a tipping point where the internet

becomes the more popular source for information. It's more immediate and the competition is stiff- all that's been missing from MSM and wanted by the general public. Now MSM is going to exercise desperate measures to attempt to discredit this uncontrolled source while it flames out into oblivion, ironically speeded by these disingenuous actions. The right's inability to catch up and lack of creative forces is really going to bite them in the ass. It's so sweet that this Gannon story may actually be the transitional tipping point -I was really hoping for the election fraud issue to do this but I think it further prepped us for this story...

[leesa]

74. Howie's pedaling as fast as he can away from security violations and

the exposing of Valerie Plame. Let's keep him focused guys. Don't let them play their sex games again.

[rodeodance]

76. what a piece of crapo!

.....But it has also deepened the debate over blogging and the tactics used to drive a conservative reporter from his job as White House correspondent for two Web sites owned by a Republican activist......

[royale6]

78. Live and Die by the Religious Right?

If the religious right (the ones primarily responsible for the four more) gets their collective brains around this Gannon/Guckert fiasco will they finally come to grips with this administration's hypocrisy?

A gay prostitute :spank: linked closely with the White House Press Office. OMG
Always suspected it, but never believed it could be exposed.

If a crime was committed, can Gannon's clientele be questioned?


Can the Second-term curse http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21942-2005Jan19.html
be extended ?


And if so, how?

[rodeodance]

82. If the WH would just come out and say something to the effect-

--we made a mistake-we did not adequately check his credentials--perhaps the story would fade away. (oh, I know---they never admit to mistakes)----But by ignoring it--this story will go on.

.....The larger issue is how did someone like this get access to the White House."....

[noamnety]

85. tax evasion question

The years listed for the tax evasion violation are 91-94.

If he was working as a prostitute more recently, does that mean his taxes should have reflected that income?

[ElaineinIN]

100. yes

income from illegal activities is still income. Failure to declare that income can be proscuted as criminal tax fraud... there are various mobsters who can attest to this

[Plaid Adder]

88. EarlG is right. Kurtz should be fired.

We "drove a conservative reporter from his job as a White House correspondent"? That's the story?

You know what? I have a brand new theory on why the American MSM is in decline. It's because everything is all about them now.

Think about it. Kurtz looks at this story and his first thought is not, "Jesus, how did a gay hooker get access to the White House briefing room, and why was Scott calling on him using his hooker name instead of his real name?" No, his first thought is, "Boy, this has really deepened the debate over blogging that me and my fellow mainstream journalists are in the midst of having!"

Now you can take that a lot of ways, but one explanation for it is that for Kurtz, the only point of a story is not in what's underneath, but in how it's covered. Now I know he's supposed to be a media critic, which would explain why he wants to talk about this from the meta-angle. But if you think about it, this attitude actually permeates a lot of MSM coverage of things like the presidential election, where the story is never about whether the candidates' positions would actually work, but whether they have been successful in controlling the media spin long enough to gain an edge in the polls. It woudl also explain why they allow themselves to be manipulated by Rove--because Rove's assiduous attention to media manipulation flatters their sense of themselves as the only thing that matters. They are now taking the attitude that the media is always the story. What's actually happening is just the catalyst for the *real* drama, which is how it's being covered by themselves, their friends, and their competitors. Meanwhile, nobody is trying to find out how and why shit actually HAPPENS.

Sigh,

The Plaid Adder

[EST]

98. You have (again) put your finger directly on the matter

The media is the message has been the prevailing attitude, especially among "live" media for a number of years, now.
We need to develop some teams (for inspiration, see-dailykos diaries) to go after each figurehead in this administration and the entire media, including NPR and PBS, since they have refused to stand their ground and have become the voices of the R/W fundies.
Overriding fundamental question-how the hell have so many self-despising gays-in-hiding (apparently, mostly men) come to occupy so many positions of power in the gay hating, gay baiting R/W conspiracy? This could not have happened by accident; a slow evolution just doesn't explain it satisfactorily.

Each and every person, of any stature, must be investigated as thoroughly as the internet will allow. If we took up a few collections, I am sure we could procure the services of a few highly qualified professionals to do the outside work that is not amenable to keyboard sleuthing.
Suggestions, anyone?
Feel free to expand on this basic idea and let's also set a date to hit this thing in terribly sweet earnest.

[SF Bay Area Dem]

89. So how much is "Howie" getting paid to whore for Guckert

This sounds way to suspicious. Howie the whore who does not hesitate to trash Democrats and "Libruuls" is now the chief cheerleader for the poor misunderstood conservative prostitute (who was passing himself off as a real journalist)...

Boo freaking hoo! "Gannon" got exactly what he deserved. Howie the whore conveniently forgets how conservatives on the Freeper sites and the biased conservative media have been trashing Democrats and "Libruuls" for years...

Take your medicine conservative whores! We have only begun!

[EST]

90. One must understand the translation table in order to

read these over paid public shills who write for newspapers and who make a living interviewing each other:
"Liberal" means honest, truth-telling, or having demonstrable integrity
"Liberal gay activist blogger" means someone who not only tells the truth, but has learned that telling the truth has to include a commitment to do so, no matter whose tit gets caught in the wringer.
If you read through these "news stories" with the above in mind, they begin to make a lot more sense.

[autorank]

95. Right!!!..and they mentioned the "unmentionable.

The story is above the water mark. Of course Kurtz didn't handle it properly or with real analytic insight. At the same time, he set the basic outline. This story is the EXCUSE for others to dig more and I'm sure that their masters in the CM (corporate media) are titrating this story as part of the final scenario to topple *. That is the true significance of this story. * is just too damn dangerous for some major factions in the country. Time for the Washington two step: VP gets complicated or indited, resigns; President, oh boy,he's gone too. Who will be the consensus VP?

[EST]

105. Oh, how I wish your leap of "fate"

were the only path that history might take. What it does do is point out that this is all possible, but only if we surround and attack 'em-after all, we have them outnumbered, by a large margin. We most attack on all fronts and never, ever, ever give a single inch. My heart always breaks when someone hands me a tale of woe. (I'm a total pushover and my little granddaughter knows it) In this case, we simply must be hard hearted-no bubbly sobs of "oh I'm sorry, I'll never do it again" can sway us from pursuing and totally destroying, as far as we can, the vile criminal forces who are attempting to destroy us and the world along with us.

This is the only time, our last chance to save the people of good will. The sheer reasonableness of some of the opposition's arguments is sometimes hard to escape. Our only hope is to make the assumption that everything they say is a lie, and that their intentions are always malevolent!

The reasonable side of me says we should try to work with the so-called 'moderates' of the republican gang, but therein lies defeat. We must be so overwhelming that these erstwhile 'moderates' run, screaming, away from their vicious fellows, and beg for the chance to work to set the world aright.

[autorank]

116. Think back to Watergate for some faith-based history.

It will comfort you. Nixon was nuts, his VP was nailed, then they "resigned" Nixon. It all started with scandals, which we've had plenty of in the past four years. When one like this shows up and get's coverage, it is no accident. This means that there will be more stories. Folks in many parts of the country find the whole notion of "Gannon" repulsive from top to bottom. Once they hear this, or enough of them hear it, and it sticks to *, then its adios el jeffe!

Just hang in there and watch it unfold.

[stillcool]

91. heres my first email of the day...

Good Morning. I just finished reading the article written by Howard Kurtz concerning poor Jeff Gannon's banishment from his newly acquired position. This has got to be one of the most ludicrous statements by Mr. Kurtz- 'But it has also deepened the debate over blogging and the tactics used to drive a conservative reporter from his job as White House correspondent for two Web sites owned by a Republican activist'.
In this day and age it would be wise of the Washington Post to tell the story sans political bias. The reason why blogs even exist is because of statements like the one above. The story is not what is said on the internet....the story is Jeff Gannon/James Guckert and the origins of this sordid mess. The 'media' will continue its downward spiral to irrelevance as long as professionals as Mr. Kurtz do nothing more than repeat what has already been established, but with his spin du jour. The danger of this trend is that main-stream-media will loose what little credibility that remains, and become nothing more than fodder for potty-training pets.

[sui generis]

110. the creepier thing about Kurtz' statement to me was

"the debate over blogging and the tactics " as a commentary. There is no "debate". Bloggers are. It's a typical "tactic" of the conservatives to claim there is a raging "debate" whenever they plan to "do something about it".

They're "concerned" about gays - there's a "debate" about gay marriage, and now their concerned about the debate about blogging.

Blogging should clearly be illegal! Anyone who blogs should be arrested. Smearing a person's credibility is just dreadful. /sarcasm

I sometimes wonder if they ever hear themselves . . .

[Malikshah]

97. About Gannon's family...Question for Howie Kurtz

Uh...what about Bill Clinton's mother?

What about the Gores and the mobs outside their home?

What about the attacks on Chelsea when she was a teenager?

Sorry, Kurtz. You've exposed yourself for the cheap mouthpiece you are with this one.

What makes it worse is your blatant hypocrisy.

"Reliable Sources" is that like "Clear Skies Initiative" and "NCLB"??

[progressivebydesign]

103. Aka Jeff's family??? The fake one? Does he have a real one?

He had mentioned in various places that the left despise him because he's a family man, a gun owner, a born again Christian, etc. I doubt he really has much of a family, beyond a parent or two. The whole thing was a charade.

[Callboy]

99. stuff is so shameful

it should make you cringe

[gordianot]

112. I wonder what is the Secret Service role in all of this?

I have not seen this angle discussed anywhere, surely they have some sort of screening procedure for those who get this close to the Whitehouse and President?

To me someone with an alias in the Whitehouse press room is unthinkable, where was the Secret Service, where there warnings issued?

[autorank]

115. ***THIS IS THE NEXT PATH FOR THE STORY. GREAT POST***

Yes, indeed, why not look real hard at the Secret Service connection here. They were badly burned in the Monica thing and quite pissed off about it. In this case, it's different. It's not kiss-and-tell, it's a quesiton of competence. If "Gannon" wasn't caught, then there is real incompetence here; if he was a "known" entity, they there is a huge question of judgment. This guy is spooky and not the type of dude you want roaming the halls of "the peoples White House."

There needs to be an investigation here with real consequences (leaving no marks, just impressions).

CYA

[Nothing Without Hope]

133. The security breach angle is one of the important aspects of Gannongate

Security checking on "Gannon" was obviously waived, and this could only have been done by someone with very high rank indeed. This point has been raised by a number of people and deserves its own intense investigation. Who waived the security check, and when? Might JimmyJeff himself be a government-employed agent of some sort? (This is related to the potential BLACKMAIL TO SUPPRESS DISSENT angle, which I talk about in a later comment in this thread.) Just how serious was the security breach -- did this man have private access to the POTUS or other WH personnel?

Of course, raising the security question also has to include the involvement of "Gannon" with the Valerie Plame burning and, on a vastly less important but still significant level, with Rathergate. JimmyJeff was surely the man-on-the-spot at some interesting moments, not just when Scotty or the blivet** wanted some scripted questions or talking points to be voiced by a "reporter."

There are so many tangled threads heading in potentially explosive directions in this scandal, I'm amazed that Howie's "Poor little Jeffy, Mean bad librul bloggers" story was allowed into print at all. I agree with an earlier poster that recommended bombarding the Wash Post ombudsman as well as Kurtz himself with clearly worded, strong statements of just how far from honesty or accuracy, let along journalism, his article is.

[autorank]

136. You portray him as the Forest Gump of Bush World -- Very Interesting!

And mind blowing as well. This guy shouldn't have been there. It he has another clearance, the same excellent questions you raise also apply. Seriously, what part of male prostitute wouldn't any security clearance understand. It all goes back to the question of the year: who was "Gannon's" alpha contact in the * WH?

[Nothing Without Hope]

142. I actually lean toward thinking he could be an administration AGENT

Too many coincidences where this guy is at the center of what should be secret or top-level situations. And deliberate entrapment of a closeted gay or bisexual man in a blackmailable situation is one of the oldest espionage tricks in the book -- Poppy Bush would know all about it and so would Rove. What better way to repress dissent and control key players in the administration than to hold over their heads the evidence that would destroy their careers? I posted a bit on this later in this thread.

For more thoughts on the possibility that "Gannon" is actually an agent promoting White House agenda and possibly setting up blackmailable situations, see some replies by UnderstandingLife, Hootinholler and me in this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=307x49

[autorank]

148. Oh, I agree with the "Honey pot" hypothesis.

I'm sure that there is a big market for day time dominants who want to or need to be night time submissives. Gannon would provide the appropriate humiliation for their naughty deeds. And, yes there would be the pictures, etc. The interesting thing is that there is always a higher bidder or a more frightening bidder. I also believe that these guys are sloppy. They have had so much handed to them by circumstance they think that they are geniuses, masters of the body politic. Well, they're not. I would be surprised to see this whole thing collapse because somebody sent attachments to the wrong email address or through some creative haxoring by god knows who. There was a famous SM madam, I forget her name but I think it was Monique Von Clef. She operated in the NYC area ;in the 70's. When she was busted by the local police, it took about 30 minutes for the whole thing to go away. She had her little black book and took a walk. I don't think that's possible in our digital age. This is creative anarchy and anyone who thinks it isn't, i.e., the WH, is going to get burned. Interesting thread you pointed me to. Thanks.

[Nothing Without Hope]

150. Something else to ponder - parallels with the 1989 gay prostitution ring

I am convinced that -- in classic espionage fashion -- closeted gay and bisexual men in positions of power in this administration are being blackmailed by the administration in order to keep them obedient. I think 'Gannon" is in the middle of all this and is an agent.

I also think something very similar is behind the huge 1989 scandal in which a gay prostitution ring was discovered with strong associations to the White House and leads to "clients" in all branches of government. I strongly recommend reading all of the 1989 Washington Times (I think that was the paper) article, scans of both pages of which are shown at this site:
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2003/02/1570946.php

Even in this early story, there is a statement that someone unknown high in the administration was attempting to "derail the investigation." I'm betting that is exactly what happened, despite all the clear leads that were available. After all, blackmail doesn't work once the secret evidence becomes public.

Bush the First, with his CIA background and his figurehead president, was vice president at the time of this scandal. That time there wasn't an internet. Will it make a difference this time? And how long until they make their move to suppress it? I've started a thread on protecting internet freedom here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=109x18717

[autorank]

158. "how long until they make their move to suppress it?"

Great question. I think it's already begun and, at the same time, it's already too late. In 1989, there was no blogsphere. Somebody got to the WaTimes, which wouldn't be hard given the ownership, and that was that. And of course, there was the unexplained death in Boston from what little I've read. In 1989, that was just about enough.

Now, "the pictures" are out which embeds and memorializes the current scandal. It reminds me of Humpty Dumpty. The suppression of this will require a great deal more than in the past. In addition, the accelerated nature of internet news means there may be a point beyond which suppression is possible.

I still see this as a "move" by the anti * crowd. When I saw that the scandal was on "The Today Show" this morning, I thought, oops, the cat is truly out of the bag. We'll see. Thanks for the threads and I'll see you on the internet thread.

[rocktivity]

124. Did Wonkette jump into the mainstream, or what?

Ana Marie Cox, who has been joking about the Gannon photos on her satirical site, wonkette.com, said they are creating a buzz because "obviously pictures of naked people are titillating." But, she added, "bloggers are wrong to bring that into the mix of things of why he shouldn't be a White House correspondent. Aren't we bloggers in favor of a lower bar of access, not a higher one?"

I don't think ANYONE wants the "bar of access" SO low that you can get into a White House press room with an assumed name, a fabricated media outlet, and only two day's experience. You're more intelligent than that, Wonkette--your courting of the big time with appearances on CNN must be getting to you!

:headbang:
rocknation

[MADem]

128. OK, I have said this above, a few times, but correction is important

Ana Marie did NOT write that entry at WONKETTE! She's on LEAVE, writing a sleazy, salacious book.

Ana Marie is not a "political blogger." She is a GOSSIP blogger, and her "beat" is DC. She eagerly seeks out the lowest common denominator, she loves to highlight foibles, but she does not concern herself excessively with the POLITICAL sphere, except when it can be used to highlight the salacious, the naughty, the sexy, the absurd. Her schtick is "ass fucking" for heaven's sake.

Her whole perspective is sex, power and SNARK, and her guest blogger, CS, who DID write that line that Howie lazily accredited to her, is continuing in her snarky tradition.

What should really bother EVERYONE is that HOWIE cannot tell the difference between Walter Cronkite and Cindy Adams, apparently. One was a newsman, the other a gossip columnist. As far as Howie is concerned, if you are writing a blog about DC, it HAS to be focused on politics, policy, and government. In Ana Marie's case, her blog is all about sex and absurdity. Politics is just a side dish.

[Nothing Without Hope]

132. BLACKMAIL?? How many Repub Congressmen, judges, others

are being kept in line by the neocon cartel by blackmail right now? Threatening to reveal evidence that would OUT a closeted bi- or homosexual Republican-leaning public figure in an gay affair would keep them obedient and compliant. All the blackmailers would have to do is mention in an unmonitored conversation that such evidence existed, so no potentially incriminating paper or electronic trail would exist. It would work very well and I can't see Rove missing such an angle.

If JimmyJeff and other gay hookers are deliberately set up with closeted military men, big Repub donors, judges, high-level military personnel, congressmen, and other key public figures, this would provide unbeatable incentive to toe the neocon line...or else be exposed. Unlike respected out congressmen like Barney Frank of Massachusetts, these closeted hypocrites are supported and reelected by bigoted, gay-hating people who would reject them utterly if they were shown to be gay themselves. End of career, end of damn near everything they value.

I would not be surprised if JimmyJeff had an affair with the blivet** himself. In fact, it would sort of fit the arrogant stupidity of the whole ridiculous Gannongate situation, its "in-your-face" sense. Obviously the whole propaganda shill angle, the security risk angle, the questions of role in the Plame affair -- all these are extremely important and must be investigated.

But I still am wondering about the implications of the huge blackmail potential of having at least one (and I'm sure more) gay prostitute and active pimp moving freely in the highest levels of the government. Maybe there's another reason in addition to the greed and blind stupidity keeping some Republican public figures from speaking out against blivet** administration policies or corruption. The personal price for dissent could be very, very high.

[autorank]

137. Email support Catherine Crier, Court TV -- the anti-Kurtz!

Kurtz laid himself out (no marks please) and exposed (only impressions) his journalistic inadequacies.

Here is a video journalist that has kicked butt on two occasions at least on the Gannongate Story. I believe she's a former Republican elected judge but she kicked ass when I saw her a couple of days ago and did it again today.

Please send a notice of support to Catherine Crier for her "Gannon" coverage, which is intellectually honest, hard hitting, and real journalism.

Link to support support Catherine Crier

http://www.courttv.com/contact/feedbackform.asp?subject_id=4&start=true

[Coloradan4Truth]

139. I just sent

Kurtz and the ombudsman a letter asking them to focus on the real issues in the Gannon/Guckart story.

:kick:

[Melynn]

143. Who was paying "Jeff Gannon"?

That's where the Lame Stream Media should start their investigation. Follow the money trail and see if it leads to the White House or the RNC. Then see if "Gannon" was fed information from the administration about Plume and other stories. Instead of real investigated journalism we get these thumb sucking pieces about blogs vs."legitimate news outlets" from the likes of Howard Kurtz.

Remember, it was a couple of outsiders working at the Metro desk at the Washington Post that broke the Watergate story. It's going to be a couple of outsiders, this time from the Internet, who break this story.

[98geoduck]

145. Sorry Kurtz, Jon Stewart has the latest word now, and you're way behind!

Tonight's show was Great! A "Must See".

[ausiedownunderground]

147. This Kurtz article is "stooging" for Rove!!

This is obviously Rove's first attempt at "firewalling" The Bush Gang publicaly. Not only does Kurtz's article downplay the issues of Sex for sale in the White House and media manipulation/propaganda by the Rethuglicans, it completely leaves out or deliberately omits the possible Treason links to certain individuals in The White House. The outing of Plame lead to the deaths of many people and removed from American intelligence valuable information on the Black Market nuclear technology world. This could come back and bite America on the arse. Serious treasonable offence!!!
This guy Kurtz needs a full on "Liberal Blogger" investigation as well. His wife is a full time Rethuglican Shill -thats a good start. Can we nail him on payments received from "The Bush Gang" for spouting propaganda? Is he a closet Gay? What other secrets has he got to hide? I'm sure this guy is no clean skin!! He'll have something to hide somewhere!
Also, why are the Democrats in the Congress loath to follow these leads on Gannongate? Do some have something to hide or are they worried that this is a Rove "superscam" that will backfire. I don't believe Rove is this clever. Inserting Gannon into the White House Press Corp as some type of "sleeper" agent who is to be exposed 2 years down the track in order to cripple Democratic Congress members or riducle the "liberal" blogger machine is just way to smart for this Pilsbury Doughboy. I didn't know Rove was single????? Maybe the "liberal" blogger machine needs to take a real real close look at Rove's character!!!!! Whats the evidence for Ken Melhman's sexual piccadillos?

[Fridays Child]

149. Here's a good pic of Eberle and GOPUSA co-board member Fairbrother...

[hickman1937]

160. Why does the fat guy have a lesion under his nose?

Aids, or a bad pic?

[Name removed]

154. Deleted message

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