Gannon reportedly knew about "Shock and Awe" four hours before it happened

[No Mandate Here.]

http://americablog.blogspot.com/


A news producer for a major network just told me that Gannon told the producer the "shock and awe" campaign launching the Iraq war was about to happen four hours before President Bush announced it to the nation.

According to the producer, Gannon specifically told them that in four hours the president was going to be making a speech to the nation announcing the "shock and awe" campaign had begun. The producer told me they were surprised that Gannon, working with such a small news outfit, could have access to such information, but "what did you know, he was right," the producer said today. The producer went on to say that Gannon often had correct scoops on major stories, including information about Mary Mapes and the Dan Rather BUSH/AWOL scandal that this news outlet got from Gannon before any had the information publicly.


<lots more>

Awesome! John does it again!

On edit, I added:

It appears that sources are coming to John and Americablog with scoops now. Nothing written implies that he had to do any digging for this latest piece of the puzzle, which is phenomenal.

The story is starting to carry itself, just like a certain scandal did about 32 years ago. Wow

[Hissyspit]

1. Nominated for Greatest Page

Another little piece of the puzzle.

[Hissyspit]

17. I said "little piece..." heh, heh n/t

[bunkerbuster1]

50. how childish. like laughing at "the White House Homosex-SHILL"

I would never do such a thing myself.

[BigBearJohn]

83. What I dont understand is WHY ARENT WE WRITING OUR REPS IN WASHINGTON?

((((DEMANDING))))))) THEY INVESTIGATE THIS??!!@#$!@#$!#$

[peacebird]

who was gannon having political pillow talk with?

and do they know he has such loose lips? bushistas are only supposed to spill what bush wants spilled.

and bushie likes to have HIS moment in the sun, doubt HE would want anyone else to use the old "shock'n'awe" shuck'n'jive before he could.

[leftchick]

10. I think Rove

They make such a cute damn couple! :puke:

[Dhalgren]

59. You said "loose lips"...heh,heh

Sorry, it's infecteous...

[The Backlash Cometh]

91. That's what I want to know. Who in the White House was sucking

Gannon's toes?

[progressivebydesign]

109. Bush... my bets are on Bush. n/t

[Oreo]

2. Drip Drip Drip

The gift that keeps on giving.

I'll be disappointed when a day passes and huge new revealtions haven't come up with this guy

[burythehatchet]

31. oh god ..your post painted a mental image of Guckert with

Syphilis.:puke:

[Blue to the bone]

78. Actually, I think that would be gonorrhea....

...the drip, drip part.

[americanstranger]

3. I'm becoming more and more convinced

that not only was GannonGuckert given special access to the WH Briefing room, but that he must have been sleeping with someone in the administration while he was paying Ace Reporter for Talon News.

I'm thinking his 'scoops' were the result of what used to be called 'pillow talk' back in the day. Someone on the WH staff had Jeffy's ear, among other things, if you catch my drift.

-as

[Fridays Child]

8. I'm starting to place more stock in the theory that he had...

...access to Rove.

[leftchick]

12. exactly...

this is rove pillow talk!

[MikeG]

14. Why did the hooker have to come to the White House?

I thinks its the Chimp.

[lostnfound]

38. That's a good point. If it were anyone else, he could meet elsewhere.

But to get him into the WH on regular basis without arousing too much suspicion..hide him in plain sight.

Doesn't prove anything, of course, but there is some logic to thinking it's for the benefit of someone who is trapped there.

[Blue_Roses]

74. It said in his

profile that he would rather go to "you" or travel with "you." Makes sense to sneak him in the WH--why take the risk of being seen in public.

[bunkerbuster1]

52. Rove doesn't strike you as the type of "bottom" who'd have to pay for it

now, does he?

After all, he's so fit, trim, and buff...

oh, wait.

[Carni]

82. Damn! Post a disclaimer would ya?

There are people trying to eat their friggin lunch over here! UG!

Rove's ass is not something I ever want to think of in this lifetime!

[Lorien]

75. Rove..or even * himself

What we know so far may just be the tip of the iceberg. Imagine if there had been a FEMALE prostitute in the press corps during the Clinton administration. Wouldn't the press have been chasing this story like a pack of rabid hyenas?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

27. Now if we can just prove he was an Israeli/Chi Com/Venezuelan/Haitian

[SmokingJacket]

4. Curiouser and curiouser...

I hope there are records of this stuff.

[librechik]

5. Good Grief! Jeff and Prince Bandar

are both among most privileged WH circle now!

[janetle]

73. Prince Bandar

I was absolutely stunned when we heard about Prince Bandar being privy to inside info and now a welcomed with open arms prostitute. Yikes!

[ewagner]

6. Okay...........

this is getting out of hand......

This jerk had DIRECT ACCESS to the White House....

who signed his paychecks?

Who was his contact in the White House?

This is propaganda at it's worse....

[ebayfool]

7. Nominated - does John ever sleep?

He just keeps swinging, hitting 'em out of the park! Amazing!

[Carl Brennan]

9. How reliable is this source?

Corroboration would be real nice here.

[qanda]

11. Okay

When are weak Democrats going to start screaming about this? They should be on every news station asking for an investigation.

[bloom]

21. I don't know about the weak ones - but Slaughter...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1245114

[flyarm]

49. slaughter was great yesterday on msnbc!!

and the republican pundit was totally drowning in water.,.he had no facts and looked stupid as hell!

fly

[Blue_Roses]

76. they don't get the info as fast

as we do on the web and besides, they do need to make sure these sources are factual instead of going out guns a blazin'. That would make us look ridiculous. Let the facts come first...

[Roland99]

13. Gannon part of WH Press Corps in Nov. 2002??

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5358

[Hissyspit]

25. Was this its own posting here yet? n/t

[Roland99]

28. Not sure...I saw it mentioned in a comment at americablog

Not sure if it's worth of a separate LBN thread.

[Hissyspit]

30. I just posted it by itself in Gen Disc n/t

[Sparkle]

46. We don't know for sure if that's him though.

Good find!

[Critical Thinker]

58. That's him - look at the ear(s)

JG has a readily identifiable shape to his ear(s).

If that's not him in the frame-grabs, then some other bald guy is wearing JG's right ear...

[lebkuchen]

15. Gannon treats his access to classified information like his 8 inch penis

Puts it out there for the world to marvel at. There are bound to be many more documented instances of Gannon's showboating. It's just a matter of time before the exposed dots are connected.

[Beam Me Up]

16. From *'s lips:

I can hear it now: I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH THAT REPORTER!

[Stanchetalarooni]

24. I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH THAT REPORTER!

Some day this will be in LBN!

[leftchick]

26. LOL! I can only hope!

:)

[lebkuchen]

117. I would imagine Rove is "closer" to Guck than anyone on the WH staff

[grace0418]

34. OMG I would be dancing in the streets!

Even with all the crimes against humanity that he committed, it would be something like this that would bring him down, wouldn't it? And there is NO WAY they could say the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal was worse. Clinton was with a girl and I don't *think* he paid her. I mean really, with all the criminalization of homosexuality that BushCo is responsible for, this would be such a fitting end.

[Athame]

67. just thinking yesterday about the hoopla when Monica

was given a job at Revlon (was it?) through the auspices of WH fixer Vernon Jordan. That dominated news cycles for a long time. Why haven't we been able to get the barest information about who authorized jim-jeff's little job, and when. this is being passed around like a hot potato.

[RaleighNCDUer]

71. Only thing is, they'd be able to use it to further demonize gays --

'This is why it has to be illegal, it brought down the government! It's subversive! Round em all up!'

If * is as much the puppet as many of us believe, would the real power brokers be willing to sacrafice his lame-duck administration in order to rally the neanderthals?

[htuttle]

106. The real powers-that-be only care about economic-related issues

The anti-Gay trend of the Republicans, in fact the whole 'Christian' front of the Republican party, is merely to get votes as far as the powers-that-be are concerned.

You watch, they won't really try to pass an anti-Gay marriage amendment until after they won't need it in an upcoming election. I'd be surprised to see anything actually happen until after the 2006 midterms, then they might keep the issue around to use again in 2008, and so on.

The rank-and-file of the Republican party has apparently become so gullible that they'll believe that their party can control all three branches of the government for years and still not get what they want accomplished.

[icymist]

18. Amazing! This WH reminds me of the worst Roman Emperors!

This is truly beginning to be the lowest point in our country's history. Our leaders really think that they can do anything they wish and get away with it. Where are the cries in the media for an investigation? Where is the outrage being expressed by the religious fundamentalists? How is it that the American people are being so sheepishly led by wolves in sheep's clothing? Cry for our beloved country!

[Citizen Jane]

60. My specialty (Ph.D. Ancient Art) is Roman Imperial Propaganda

These guys are bushleague compared to even the worst Roman Emperors.

Comparing * to someone like Gaius (Caligula) or Nero is an insult to the Romans.

Of course, I wouldn't mind subjecting them to the Roman punishment for maiestas (since * qualifies under several categories!): if of the lower classes, thrown to the beasts or burned alive, if of the upper classes, put to death, property confiscated (sure, only a drop in the bucket against the deficit, but...), and condemnation of name/memory. So, he'd be subject to capital punishment, seizure of assets, and his birth and death days would be marked as ill-omened days, and we could erase his name and image from the public record. Sound appealing to anyone?

Note, maiestas is basically treason; in ancient Rome the term could apply to many different criminal offenses against the SPQR, including treason, sedition, desertion from the army and, during the imperial period, offenses against the emperor and his family.

[Zan_of_Texas]

84. Citizen Jane -- I was just commenting on the Roman empire!

Do tell us more.

So, is it fair to say that the militaristic, male-centric Roman Empire (which relegated women to the home) and the militaristic, male-centric American Empire of 2005 have a lot in common?

Would elevation of a he-man (uniforms, guns, etc.) variant of homosexuality fit right in? (Even if it's basically secret, or confined only to a few in the leadership?)

But, did the Roman Empire have the sort of hatred and bigotry of the Christian Right that is prevalent now?

[icymist]

89. If the punishment fits the crime. Nice post.

I didn't mean to insult the Romans by comparing our little Emperor to their corrupt leaders. That's kind of like comparing Rush Limbaugh to a pig is insulting to pigs! As King George's web becomes bigger, total disregard for human rights through torture, endless war on vaguely described enemies, homosexual prostitutes in the Emperor's living quarters, etc... I couldn't help but make the comparison. Sorry about that Romans, big and small.

Welcome to the DU Citizen Jane!

[ClayZ]

103. "I'm the president, I get to make the decisions." PEEL ME A GRAPE!

The "PERP WALK' will do for me! Orange prison uniforms and handcuffs!





:kick:

[shadowknows69]

19. Not to frighten you John

but keep giving copies of things you uncover to other people and let everyone know you've done so.

[carolinayellowdog]

20. Pride goeth before a fall

Hey,

For three years now we've been predicting (with less and less confidence) that this cabal's overconfidence would eventually cause their collapse. As with Nixon, the criminal gang won a second term before the crimes started to unravel. They got away with so much, they thought they could get away with anything.

2005 might just be the most fun year to be a Democrat since 1973!

CYD

[mmonk]

22. If true,

we have something here folks and anyone who believes in truth and justice needs to push forward.

[jswordy]

23. I would not be surprised if a number of news media members and outlets...

knew in advance. That's pretty much SOP so they can prepare the logistics for their coverage. What DOES surprise me is that "Gannon" spilled the beans to someone else. Normally, such behavior if known to the WH would result in all privileges beinbg revoked.

[katty]

105. Surprised Dana Milbank (WP) was on Keith Olberman

Dana is a major star at WP/talking head shows she was willing to go on KO's show and speak up about gannon and his 'hard press pass' (no pun)
she basically said, they had know his real i.d. to get a hard pass-checkmate

[Lars39]

29. I wonder if Gannon has also gone on road trips/flights

with bush? There's gotta be records of this somewhere.

[Chipper Chat]

95. CBS News - 1973 interview with Kleindienst:

Leslie Stahl(?): "Did you know that documents had been shredded?"
Kleindienst: "No I did not."

[DU GrovelBot]

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

==================
GROVELBOT.EXE v3.0
==================



This week is our first quarter 2005 fund drive. Democratic
Underground is a completely independent website. We depend almost entirely
on donations from our members to cover our costs. Thank you so much for
your support.

[peacebird]

35. do i get another star if i donate again?

maybe a pretty blue one to go with the yellow one?

"She’s a star collector (collector of stars)
She only aims to please young celebraties.
She’s a star collector (collector of stars)
How can I love her, when I just don’t respect her?"

(who recognizes THIS verse?)

:toast:

[tavalon]

41. No, but

You can find some poor starless schmuck and donate in their name so they can have a star. I've done it a few times. It's nice.

[peacebird]

57. synchronicity!

you mention donating a star and then BouncyBall opens up a thread asking who needs a star...

:toast:

obviously time for me to pass on a star to a starless compatriot! And ya know what? handing out stars is FUN!

[seventythree]

86. does this mean I don't have to contribute, now ?

and I was going to write that check today, too.

[whathappened]

93. maybe some

starless schmuck as you call them , just mite not have the extra cash to donate to this board right now , it don't mean they don't don't want to belong and read the true words that come to this board , chooseing one's words would be a better thing to do then even donateing for someone

[tavalon]

119. I'm sorry, bad choice of words

My gram didn't use that word the way others do. She meant it in a much gentler way. Once again, I apologize.

[HarveyBrooks]

64. Monkees?

[peacebird]

65. the Monkees indeed! Bravo HarveyBrooks!!!

:toast:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

33. OK but hopefully Arivisu won't fall into a "rather" Rove trap

i.e. getting one piece of info bad enough that the whole story becomes about that bad piece of info and discredits the rest.

[candle_bright]

42. Agreed.

Plus, who *didn't* know military action was about to start?

Chimpus Khan gave a 48 hour warning speech on 3/17/03 and the "shock and awe" started on 3/19/03.

[President Jesus]

36. could our eye be any further off the ball

so now we're supposed to reshift our focus away from the fact that this country "shocked and awed" a sovereign nation that posed zero threat to us and its neighbors, and put that focus squarely on the fact that some voice-less shill was tipped off 4 hours before it happened.

Is anyone around here starting to understand why the rest of the country doesn't give a shit about 'Gannon'?

Yeah, this is truly 'son of Watergate.' Keep telling yourselves that. Meanwhile, BushCo will be busy shocking and aweing a few more countries, and looting the federal government.

[jbnow]

114. The thing is

if MSM cared and it ties to someone high with a "big name"...the masses would be likelier to care about this then the more important things. Even if this ties high up, it is the very least of their sins.

But if lies and deception high up came in here, perhaps it would open the door to start looking at more. If the dam of all the deception ever broke open, what an ugly flood there would be.

How much did people care about the Clinton investigations prior to Monica? Sex sells. (Well literally for Guckert)

[RBHam]

37. Special "access" for Jeff?

sniff...

oooh....

smells like bush is in deep shit.

[oldtime dfl_er]

39. defense dept?

Given that Gannon knew about "shock and awe" ahead of time, and given that the phony news org was named "Talon News", it begs the question of who within the defense dept was Gannon/Guckert close to?

www.cafepress.com/showtheworld

[seemslikeadream]

56. Richard Perle

a history of leaking



The principals have also assisted each other down through the years. Frequently. In 1973 Richard Perle used his (and Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson's) influence as a senior staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee to help Wolfowitz obtain a job with the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. In 1982, Perle hired Feith in ISP as his Special Counsel, and then as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Negotiations Policy. In 2001, DOD Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz helped Feith obtain his appointment as Undersecretary for Policy. Feith then appointed Perle as Chairman of the Defense Policy Board. In some cases, this mutual assistance carries risks, as for instance when Perle's hiring of Bryen as his Deputy in ISP became an extremely contentious issue in Perle's own Senate appointment hearings as Assistant Secretary.

Every appointment/hiring listed above involved classified work for which high-level security clearances and associated background checks by the FBI were required. When the level of the clearance is not above generic Top Secret, however, the results of that background check are only seen by the hiring authority. And in the event, if the appointee were Bryen or Ledeen and the hiring authority were Perle, Wolfowitz or Feith, the appointee(s) need not have worried about the findings of the background check. In the case of Perle hiring Bryen as his deputy in 1981, for instance, documents released in 1983 under the Freedom of Information Act indicate that the Department provided extraordinarily high clearances for Bryen without having reviewed more than a small portion of his 1978-79 FBI investigation file.

RICHARD PERLE: A HABIT OF LEAKING

Perle came to Washington for the first time in early 1969, at the age of 28, to work for a neo-con think tank called the "Committee to Maintain a Prudent Defense Policy." Within months, Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson offered Perle a position on his staff, working with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And within months after that--less than a year--Perle was embroiled in an affair involving the leaking of a classified CIA report on alleged past Soviet treaty violations.

The leaker (and author of the report) was CIA analyst David Sullivan, and the leakee was Richard Perle. CIA Director Stansfield Turner was incensed at the unauthorized disclosure, but before he could fire Sullivan, the latter quit. Turner urged Sen. Jackson to fire Perle, but he was let off with a reprimand. Jackson then added insult to injury by immediately hiring Sullivan to his staff. Sullivan and Perle became close friends and co-conspirators, and together established an informal right-wing network which they called "the Madison Group," after their usual meeting place in--you might have guessed--the Madison Hotel Coffee Shop.

more
http://www.counterpunch.org/green02282004.html

[Zhade]

94. You should send this to T. Town Jake.

He LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVES Scoop Jackson, for some inexplicable reason.

[seemslikeadream]

101. Hi Zhade, I sent him this - CIA seizes Sen. Jackson papers

CIA seizes Sen. Jackson papers

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1240689

:hi:

[Zhade]

111. Good - he jumped on me for pointing out the neocon connection to Jackson.

Denial is not just that river we keep hearing about...

[neverforget]

40. Their moral bankruptcy, lying, thieving, arrogant, selfish, hypocritcal

motherfuckering attitude may still catch up to them and be their downfall. Of course, if a scandal happens in the Bush Administration and it's not reported in the MSM, did it happen?

[Oreo]

43. If this is true and it does turn out to be Rove

He didn't have an official government postition at the time (like he does now) so he should not have had access to that information either right?

[RBHam]

44. Gannon: "I have a shock for you." Bush: "Awwwww..."

nt

[Rose Siding]

45. Didn't everyone know about when it would start? -links

bush made the 48 hr deadline speech on Tues night

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/17/sprj.irq.int.main.war/

Explosions rocked Baghdad barely 95 minutes after a 48-hour deadline laid down by US President George Bush for Saddam to face exile or attack expired at 4am (01h00GMT) Thursday

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?sf=2813&art_id=qw1048133341844B262&click_id=2813&set_id=1

[CindyDale]

47. Except this major network producer?

[Roland99]

48. There was no statement that bombings would begin right at the deadline

Actually, the DB/ROCKSTARS had provided such good intelligence on Saddam's location that the Bush admin was torn between waiting for the 48 hrs or going ahead and doing the bombing before telling the nation.

It's in Woodward's book.

[Rose Siding]

63. On the 18th, reports pegged the massive bombing assault within 24 hrs

Pentagon planning to crush Hussein
Army, Navy, Air Force would confuse, destroy; An overwhelming strike on Iraq
Sun National Staff
Originally published March 18, 2003
WASHINGTON - Sometime this week, perhaps as early as tomorrow night, Tomahawk cruise missiles with 1,000-pound warheads launched from Navy ships in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf could arc through the sky over Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and begin landing on hundreds of military targets in Iraq.

The destroyer USS Fletcher in the Red Sea and the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill in the Persian Gulf are among the more than 30 "Tomahawk shooters," surface ships and submarines that would begin the barrage of precision-guided weapons that ushers in the second Persian Gulf war.

"The Navy has a huge part of this in the first hours," a Pentagon official said.

The aerial assault is to include four B-2 stealth bombers, flying from the British base on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, as well as a dozen F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighters from bases neighboring Iraq. Both radar-evading Air Force planes carry 2,000-pound bombs, while the B-2 can carry 5,000-pound "bunker buster" bombs that can punch through 30 feet of rock or reinforced concrete. Munitions handlers call the bomb "the crowd-pleaser."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.war18mar18,0,3260967.story?coll=bal%2Dhome%2Dheadlines

[Roland99]

81. "Sometime this week, perhaps as early as tomorrow night"

not really pinpointed.

[Pirate Smile]

51. They started bombing early, didn't they? When they thought Saddam

was in some buildings in Baghdad?

[Roland99]

54. At a farm in Dora...here's an MSNBC article on it

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4767542

The story is an object lesson in the elusiveness of good intelligence. From his hut in northern Iraq, Tim messaged Langley that one of his assets in Baghdad was reporting that Saddam and his two sons were staying at a farm in Dora, a suburb. The "rock stars" cased the place, even measuring the locations and size of Saddam's bunker. Bush and his war cabinet, including Rumsfeld, Cheney and Powell, hastily convened at the White House to consider an airstrike to "decapitate" the Iraqi leadership. After some back-and-forth over the potential for civilian casualties, Bush kicked everyone out of the Oval Office but Cheney. "This is the best intelligence we've had yet on where Saddam's located," Cheney told the president, according to Woodward. "I think we should go for it."

At 7:12 that evening, Bush called back his advisers and said, "Let's go." (In his omniscient narrator's voice, Woodward writes: "Powell noted silently that things really didn't get decided until the president had met with Cheney alone.") Within a few hours, around midnight, Tim was reporting back that one of Saddam's sons had stumbled from the rubble shouting, "We've been betrayed," and shot one of the "rock stars" in the knee. The other son was bloodied and disoriented. "Saddam had been injured, according to a ROCKSTAR eyewitness, and had to be dug out of the rubble. He was blue. He was gray. He was being given oxygen," Woodward relates. "At 4:30 a.m. Tenet called the Situation Room and told the duty officer, 'Tell the president we got the son of a bitch'." Bush was not awakened, however, and by the time he got to the Oval Office that morning, it appeared that Saddam was still alive.

Some five days later, Tim made his way down to Baghdad and clandestinely visited the Dora farm. There were craters from the American bombs, but no bunker, or any hint of one. The CIA man eventually tracked down some of his "rock star" agents who had reported that night. Their wives said they had been tortured, their fingernails pulled out. Tim didn't know what to believe, writes Woodward. The spymaster still doesn't know if Saddam and his sons were at Dora that night, or whether the whole thing was a hoax.


The bunker ended up being a mistranslation from an Arabic term more accurately meaning pantry (underground storage for food and supplies)

[Minstrel Boy]

53. But that wasn't "shock and awe"

Shock and Awe refers to the massive bombing of Baghdad, that happened after the invasion was already underway.

[ItsThePeopleStupid]

120. cameras trained on the B-52s at Fairford, Gloucestershire, England

and IIRC, it took 4 hours to get from there to Baghdad. I don't think "Gannon" had any insider information on this.

'Shock and awe, coming up soon'

Mark Lawson
Friday March 21, 2003
The Guardian
<snip>
Over on Sky News, Kay Burley was stuck with pictures of B-52s, which were supposed to have dropped the awesome shocks, still on the ground in Gloucestershire.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,918666,00.html

Bush had already blown the surprise by trying to bomb Saddam two days earlier.

[SaveAmerica]

66. I think the main point is that Gannon told that GW was going to

announce shock and awe 4 hours before it happened. It's the connection of 'intimate' knowledge of W's actions before they took place.

[LinuxInsurgent]

55. Gannon's no aloof bystander

He's a major player...if he got this information, and got the Valerie Plame documents, SOMEONE within the White House made it a point to include this man as their "go to" reporter. McClellan is obviously lying when he says he has had few contacts with him...

That question has been answered...what remains is "how far up does this go"?

Scott McClellan...Dick Cheney...Bush?

The Bush administration must be forced to answer on the linkages between them and Gannon.

[wishlist]

61. Gannon's access to inside privileged WH info ratchets up this affair

If secret top level information crucial to national security was shared with Gannon well before any other media outlets, this whole matter takes on a higher level of importance and his career as a hooker has even more relevance for security reasons. It raises serious questions about the nature of his relationship with the WH inner circle and the appropriateness of WH favors to him.

Many thanks to John and his helpers on Americablog who broke this amazing story.

[calimary]

79. The blackmail potential that could benefit somebody who really

wants to do us harm - is incalculable. Beyond embarrassing. Downright horrifying. Especially if this putz claims to have been cut in on THIS sort of stuff. And he certainly didn't hesitate to swagger around and boast about what his "positioning" got for him, either. Shock and Awe. Brag and Swagger. I mean, it's back on the frickin' playground where you first learn the "nyah-nyah-nyah, I know something you don't know" crap.

[bvar22]

62. Something not quite right here.

Why would the "news producer of a major network" give this scoop to an internet blogger?

All of the Major Networks have been trying to marginalize or discredit the Gannon MAN-Date Scandal (except KO). This scandal exposes the CorpoMedia's complicity in the bush* Propaganda War on the American People!

I am SICK of anonymous sources!!!!
It is time to NAME NAMES!!!

[Minstrel Boy]

68. It's a popular misconception that scoops are always welcome

to major news organizations.

For years I worked for a gossipy muckracking magazine in Canada, and many of our best stories were fed to us by majors, who didn't want the heat of breaking them. Too many vested interests to offend, and all that.

So, we took the story, and the heat, and then they could sit back and report on our reporting it. (And call us filthy yellow journalists, at the same time.)

Have cake, will eat.

[wishlist]

69. Because this blogger is the one who exposed him as Jim/Jeff the hooker

If I had an inside scoop about Gannon, Americablog is the place I would go to spread the information to the public, since this blog is the one that credibly documented and broke this scandal. I agree with earlier poster though who hopes there won't be any Rovian planted information that serves to discredit blogger John Aravosis or distract from the pursuit of more information.

[The Backlash Cometh]

70. J. H. Christ! Smoking gun time.

[Callboy]

72. We need a statement on this. Scott?

[GOPBasher]

77. Is there any reason the gay hooker shouldn't know classified info

way before anyone else does? :shrug:

Just to be clear, I think it's bad to be a hooker, not bad to be gay, but the theocratic right wingers who support Bush are very hypocritical when they suddenly don't care about homosexuality if it's one of theirs. Just being clear, here.

[realFedUp]

80. Not word one in LA(te) Times

howabout sending a letter to them
asking why....
[e-mail]

[Zan_of_Texas]

85. Front page of the Houston Chronicle today.

mainly about the owner of GOPUSA, Bobby Eberle

Feb. 18, 2005, 12:59AM

Web sites operator stirs up politics, journalism debate
Scandal places his Pearland-based Internet enterprise under a microscope

By RACHEL GRAVES
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3045613

(PHOTO: Bobby Eberle, former aerospace engineer, operates two conservative Web sites out of his home in Pearland)

Until employing a reporter who used a fake name to gain access to the White House and insult Democrats during a nationally televised briefing, Bobby Eberle managed to keep a low profile while amassing a conservative Internet following. Though Eberle was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 2000, Texas Republican officials this week declined to talk about him and even denied knowing him.

But Eberle - a former aerospace engineer who has never contributed to a political candidate and works out of his $225,000 home in a sprawling Pearland subdivision of new, color-coordinated burgundy and beige brick houses - finds himself a key player in a tawdry scandal that has captivated Washington.

Eberle is the owner, president and CEO of two Web sites, the openly partisan GOPUSA {gopusa.com <http://gopusa.com>} and what he says is a nonpartisan news organization, Talon News {talonnews.com <http://talonnews.com>}.

The sites hit the national radar when Talon's Washington bureau chief, going by the name Jeff Gannon, asked President Bush during a White House briefing last month about working with Democrats, whom he described as "divorced from reality."
MORE

[OneMind]

88. lol! Texas Republican Party Denies Knowing Bobby Eberle

http://nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/

"Bobby's political experience began through his involvement with the Republican Party of Texas and the Young Republicans organization.

Bobby's activities within the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) include serving as a delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. Bobby also served as a delegate to the RPT State Convention in 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002. Bobby served on the RPT Education and Training Committee from 1998-2000. In 1999, Bobby was recognized with a unanimously approved resolution of commendation by the Republican Party of Texas for service and dedication to the Republican cause.

Bobby served as President of the Houston Young Republicans, the Director of Club Development of the Texas Young Republican Federation, and as a three-term State Chairman of the Texas Young Republican Federation."

Now, where have we seen a denial regarding knowing Eberle before?

Oh, that's right, from the President of the United States.

[HR_Pufnstuf]

115. Hi, Im Bobby

2003 writings:
http://americasvoices.org/archives_2003--eberle.htm

[creeksneakers2]

87. I've been saying about the CBS story

The left keeps getting this wrong because they keep insisting that Rove had something to do with creating the documents. The idea is far fetched and impossible to prove, but they keep at it.

The left also keeps insisting the story was true. They even say the documents weren't forgeries. All of this is making the left miss the big obvious story.

For one, the CBS story wasn't true. It had an officer who'd left long before exerting influence. It had Bush being given a rare individual order to take his physical months before his physical was even due. This is on top of all the problems of Burkette, which are many.

Suppose the story isn't true, and the White House knew it. If they knew the story wasn't true, they knew the documents were forgeries. I say they knew and they let CBS swallow the hook. With this in mind, two other mysteries make sense. Why did the White House send out copies of the documents to hundreds of reporters if they didn't like the story? How did somebody with no document experience wind up breaking the phony documents story on the web? It was because the White House knew the documents were forgeries early in the day, let CBS fall in the trap, moved to release the story without their fingerprints, and pushed the story for maximum exposure.

If Gannon knew before anybody that these documents were phony, then it shows the White House knew before the story aired. The White House tried to destroy CBS because they don't want new organizations questioning them. This is the big news. I hope somebody will go after it this time.

[moobu2]

92. I agree, I think the White House knew the documents were fake

I found the posts on FR where the first questions were raised HERE

The CBS/Bush NG document story was first posted on FR at 8:10:56 PM PDT, a link to the docs was posted on 8:17:50 PM PDT and the first lagitimate questions about authenticity were raised on post #47 by Buckhead at - 8:59:43 PM PDT (48 minutes after the original story was posted)

To: Howlin

Howlin, every single one of these memos to file is in a proportionally spaced font, probably Palatino or Times New Roman.

In 1972 people used typewriters for this sort of thing, and typewriters used monospaced fonts.

The use of proportionally spaced fonts did not come into common use for office memos until the introduction of laser printers, word processing software, and personal computers. They were not widespread until the mid to late 90's. Before then, you needed typesetting equipment, and that wasn't used for personal memos to file. Even the Wang systems that were dominant in the mid 80's used monospaced fonts.

I am saying these documents are forgeries, run through a copier for 15 generations to make them look old.

This should be pursued aggressively.

I didn't have the time to investigate the entire 250 post thread, just thought I would post it in case someone wants to.

[FighttheFuture]

107. FYI: proportional fonts were in use at that time...

I am not going to go into all this, but this memo is bullshit, as far as being able to discredit the CBS documents. It was well proven that IBM Selectric typewriters of that time could do prop fonts and were actually available in the Guard.

However, a number of "points" were ready to launch to discredit the memos and CBS as they were being aired. The prop fonts point was one of them, and I suspect they thought they had a good one on hand but it did not hold, so other points were ready to launch.

Even to this day, it is not clear if that document if fake, because the interview with the secretary was it's content was true and on target, she simply did not type it. About the only thing proven about those documents is their chain of ownership was a lie and is simply not known. CBS's sloppiness, or maybe something more sinister within it's organization.

The Bush's hated Rather since poppy's run in with him. This was a multi-level win for them. Discredit CBS, inflame RW against "liberal media", shut down the Bush AWOL story (all true) and "fire", or retire Dan Rather on a shameful note. Brilliant. Machiavelli would be proud.

[paineinthearse]

90. I'm shocked and awed!!!! This reminds me of Raygun's....

http://wso.williams.edu/orgs/trivia/bombing/bombing.wav

[paineinthearse]

100. Another smoking gun

Recall the incident of the surgical "smart bomb" strike on the restaurant where SH supposedly was eating? A "boots on the ground" spy had supposedly seen him go in.

How would the war been different if SH had been "taken out" during the initial moments of the bombing?

What if Guckert leaked the information of the start of hostilities to SH, enabling him to take deep shelter from the initial shock and awe wave and guaranteeing an elusive target for months to come.

hmmmmm..........

[CHICKEN CAPITOL USA]

118. well someone's been SMOKING a GUN-->leaked stuff too!!

yep, but no was prosecuted and everyone got off !!!


.




and off and off!!

[Goldmund]

96. As I said in another thread,

this isn't going to fly unless John can name the producer. As far as we know, this could be a false lead. At this point, all this is is hearsay.

[cthrumatrix]

98. we really need an open hearing on all his "inside data"....NOW

[jmcon007]

97. just a little McLellan/Gannon pillow talk....

Does anyone have any doubts how Gannon got his passes after seeing that adoring smile of McLellan when he called on Jeffy during the press conference?

[yellowcanine]

99. I don't think McClellan would be privy to this information.

Usually the press secretary is the LAST person informed - for very good reason - they don't want him to accidentially spill any classified info. If true - this is deeply troubling. Who told G/G?

[allalone]

102. Ah, pillow talk

it'll bite ya every time.

[katty]

104. Gannon is a loose Canon

if this assertion is true, that Gannon told this producer about the impending 'shock and awe' campaign - then that source, and perhaps others need to step up to the plate if called upon in a (possible)investigaton of this matter. This matter, with explosive allegations such as the one this producer is making falls into the category of an 'urgent national security' situation-similar to the Valerie Plame outing debacle.

[morffin]

108. " Feels Good "

Isnt that what W said right before going on the air to announce the bombing of Bagdad?

All this time I thought the smirking murderer was basking in the thought of killing innocent civilians..........but maybe Jeff was under the podium earning his WH pass.

[0007]

110. This would make for a fine 0pera!

[bajamary]

112. Amazing stuff

Boy, this is really turning into a Pulp Fiction novel.

Amazing stuff, isn't it. Or maybe not from that gang.

[understandinglife]

113. For those seeing "MSM" coverage of "Gannon and Rove":

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

It's happening -- revenge, that is.


TBO;24/7

[HR_Pufnstuf]

116. Bobby Eberle on Shock and Awe

Shock & Awe: The Ultimate Jedi Mind Trick
March 25, 2003
http://americasvoices.org/archives2003/EberleB/EberleB_032503.htm

[LibertyorDeath]

121. *

:kick::kick::kick:

[Dr Fate]

122. Is it "safe" enough yet for top DEMS to start talking about this on TV???

Where is Dean, Kerry, Hillary, Obama, etc?

DEMs need to be exposing Bush/media propaganda tactics-NOW- so that they cannot be used against us w/ as much effect in 2006 & 2008.

It would be for their own good as well ours- they need to get on this.