Dumb question #8: Is this whole Gannon thing a diversion set up by Rove?

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[nadinbrzezinski]

1. When it comes to Rove that is NEVER a dumb question

[Ladyhawk]

2. Dumb answer #8: maybe. :) n/t

[papau]

17. LOL - below are details on the Fake Reporter operation Howie Kurtz defends

This the "Jeff Gannon" operation that Howie Kurtz insists is a legitimate News Org that should be a standard question asker at White House news briefings.

In 1999 aerospace engineer Bobby Eberle started a Web-design company for Republican candidates. Eberle is the president and CEO of both GOPUSA, a news and commentary Website, whose motto is "Bringing the conservative message to America" and Talon. Brother Bruce Earle started GOPUSA and is CEO of Virginia-based Eberle Communications Group, a vast fundraising/direct mail/PR powerhouse that boasts such clients as Ronald Reagan, Operation Rescue, Oliver North and Paula Jones, and which illegally sold fund-raising lists to John Ashcroft during his failed United States Senate run for the seat from Missouri.

GOPUSA now gets about 30,000 page views every day. In 2000, when it started, it received about 3,000 views per month. GOPUSA is a 100 percent volunteer-run company. Bobby Eberle has served as president of the Houston Young Republicans, director of club development of the Texas Young Republican Federation and as a three-term state chairman of the Texas Young Republican Federation. He was a delegate to the 2000 Republican Convention in Philadelphia and was vice chairman at large of the Young Republican National Federation. In July 2003 he spoke on "Should Americans Who Don't Pay Taxes Have a Say?", asserting those who do not pay actual cash as a tax collected by the Federal Income Tax should not have a vote - no other tax collection payment should qualify one for a vote, but would give everyone the vote once the Federal Income Tax is replaced by a consumption tax.

Eberle notes. We have about 50 people involved nation wide with the day-to-day operations. We have folks in 40 of the 50 states who help update their state sections with news and commentary. Our e-mail magazine goes out on Mondays. And all that with no paid advertising. I believe in personal responsibility rather than collectivism, so it never occurred to me to call the Democrats. What I really like about Bush is that he stays on message and keeps coming. Family: Wife Kathleen, a physician children; Charlotte 7 and Robert III ("Tres"); Roman Catholic. Insists genuine religious faith inevitably influences political opinions http://www.gopusa.com/ http://www.talonnews.com/

http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Eberle_Communications_Group

Eberle Communications Group, is a fundraising/direct marketing/PR firm with extensive ties to Republican Party politics (clients list includes Reagan, Ollie North, Paula Jones) and whose is CEO of the Virginia-based company is Bruce Eberle, whose brother owns GOPUSA and the "news agency" Talon News and its White House correspondent "Jeff Gannon" is well-known for asking loaded pro-Republican questions at White House press briefings, and appears to be more a political organization than a media outlet From Right wing FreeRepublic website http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1075501/posts?page=264 "02/10/2004 This was the exchange at today's White House press briefing, much of which focused on George W. Bush's service records with the National Guard: JEFF GANNON (Talon News): 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? What was he doing after he was honorably discharged?

MR. McCLELLAN: We've already commented on some of his views relating back to that period the other day. And, obviously, this was a time period also when he was going to get his MBA at Harvard. But the President was certainly proud to serve in the National Guard.

TERRY MORAN (ABC NEWS): And would the White House consider those actions by Senator Kerry, that Jeff mentions fair game in the political season?

MR. McCLELLAN: Terry, I think -- I know that that's a way to try to draw us into a Democratic primary that is ongoing.

Eberle Communications Group is:

Bruce W. Eberle & Associates, Inc.
Fund Raising Strategies, Inc.
InternetFundRaising.com, Inc.
Campaign Funding Direct, Inc.
Omega List Company
onlineresponsesystem.com
Kaleidoscope Publishing, Ltd.
Affiliations are GOPUSA, Talon News, BAMPAC

ECG's Board of Directors is listed on 1/31/05 as consisting of:

Jon Bruss
Carl T. Berquist
Katherine M. Eberle
Peter Hannaford
James M. Irving

ECG's Company Officers are listed on 1/31/05 as:

Bruce Eberle, President, Eberle Communications Group, Inc.
William D. Griffiths, Vice President
Sandra J. Redhage, Corporate Secretary
M. Declan Bransfield, III, President, Bruce W. Eberle & Associates, Inc.
Michael Hiban, President, Omega List Company

The Eberle Communications Group, Inc.
1420 Spring Hill Road, Suite 490
McLean, VA 22102
Telephone: [phone] http://www.ecgone.com/

Black America's Political Action Committee (BAMPAC) supports conservative policies and African-American candidates, even though numerous candidates listed on its website were either Caucasian or Hispanic. Its name misleadingly suggests that it represents the point of view of African-Americans, but in fact opinion polls and voting patterns show that the vast majority of African-Americans disagree with BAMPAC's political positions.

[zann725]

3. Naw...though if we give him the idea...he might try and 'spin' it that way

Nope! This is one of those inevitable things that happen when arrogant power-crazed individuals, who think they're too clever and above-the-law, start getting sloppy.

[FreedomAngel82]

9. I agree

I don't think it was set up by Rove. Maybe him being the "reporter" but not him being discovered. So no need for a tinfoil hat I don't think.

[tridim]

4. No way.. They weren't counting on Kos

Nothing would have happened if it weren't for the Blogs. As it stands, we have a gay pimp/WH press corps plant with apparent WH access, who was given treasonous information by the WH. This is bad news all around for BushCo, and it's out of their control now. That's not to say they might use it as a diversion now, but there's no way the outing was planned.

[Bouncy Ball]

5. I really don't think so.

I really don't. Not EVERYTHING that happens is a Rove thing. He's not exactly that clever or all-powerful, you know.

No, they are getting VERY sloppy and more and more chickens are going to come home and roost.

Pop some popcorn, grab a chair, this is going to be GOOD watching over the next couple of years.

[AuntiBush]

6. Let's see... Rove and Diversion. All in the same sentence.

:) What do you think!?! With the Gang on the Hill, anything's believeable at this point in their corrupt road. Nothing like being a proud American of the Right-Wing NeoCon Idiotic bunch leading us down the road straight to hell!

[me b zola]

7. I'm not sure

There has also been a lot of explosive things happening in Ohio.
So I have been tempering my glee with an ever watchful eye on what those bastids may be trying to pull. That being said...I'm gonna enjoy the show for a while!!:smoke:

[FreedomAngel82]

11. Ohio? Really?

Any good signs coming up from there? Definietly going to grab some popcorn. :)

[me b zola]

13. Make it a large bag of popcorn, things are getting lively

The Nashua Advocate did a great article on most of it.

Here's an excerpt of our recent article:

Chaos in Ohio: Blackwell Says State Republican Chair Is in Diebold's "Hip Pocket"; Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro Rules Recent Blackwell Order Illegal; Blackwell Says Attorney General Is "Playing Politics"

What the hell is going on in Ohio?

To any objective observer, it would seem the state's electoral processes are in an advanced state of meltdown, with former political alliances -- most notably, between the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, and between the G.O.P. Chairman and the Secretary of State -- now strangely and suddenly dissolved.

They say rats try to flee a sinking ship: is Ohio's murky electoral administration about to implode under the weight of investigations into a recent, suspicious presidential election?

-----sorry could not grab the link, thread is pg 1 of 2004 election results. Also, FBI is interviewing election workers in Ohio.:wow:

[Must_B_Free]

8. If it is the coverup is for

the times revelation that airlines were warned repeatedly about hijacking suicide attempts...

[vetwife]

10. I guess they let everyone in...some security !

If this guy could get in without the help, wink and and a nod, so could any everyday terrorist. This won't go away. How many times had this guy been called on by Scott McClellan or anyone else and others overlooked?

[roguevalley]

12. no. i think his question drew attention to himself and everyone

decided to make an example of him in the blog world. he done himself in. even Rove couldn't save this.

[ronzo]

14. It's something you have to consider.

If you think there's something sinister going on in all this, you may be right. If you try to think like rove and his bunch, you may consider "how do we, as a party, further alienate the traditional base from the Democratic Party?"

Well, you could play the race card, even if we didn't when it came to condoleeza's confirmation. check. I'm not sure how effective it will be, but we're bound to hear about this down the road.

Then you might try to create another situation that you could cry "hypocrisy" about during the next election cycle. Specifically, have the liberals BBQ somebody for their sexual preference. This also brings to mind the oddly out of place "rove is gay" meme that's been popping up all over the left leaning boards. I don't know... this "Gannon" thing sure looks bad for the WH/gop. We just need to concentrate on the manipulation of the media and truth and stay away from the issue of his sexual preference. Now if somebody can prove he's a "real?" prostitute, that's a whole different thing.

Just riffing, but those are my ramblin' thoughts on the matter.

All in all, karl rove gets way too much credit IMO... and I don't underestimate him in the least.

[Swamp Rat]

15. It crossed my mind too

If they want to take the attention away from Novak or divert attention away from the case in general, perhaps they'll use the gay propaganda to cover "Gannon's" suicide (if he shows up dead) - he was depressed because he was outed to his wife and family, couldn't live with himself for outing an Agent, etc. - so, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald & others will be led astray.

It's possible... After all, we're talkin' about Rove and Bush&Co, but Fitzgerald is way too sharp - Rove must know this. No matter what, this HAS diverted our attention from a lot of other things happening like Bush destroying SS and threatening Iran, or the TWO OTHER WARS AND ALL THE DEAD PEOPLE! :mad:

[fujiyama]

16. Maybe it's just me

but after seeing what happened the last 4 years with this administration (and even bigger media scandals like the Chalabi - Miller thing), this Gannon thing is nothing. This guy sounds irrelevant. I don't know why we are spending so much bandwith on it.

[LynnTheDem]

19. It's not irrelevant; it's VERY relevant and VERY dangerous

And illegal.

bush is using propaganda masked as "news" by "reporters". It's dangerous, and it's illegal, and it MUST be stopped & the vipers cleared out of the nest, or America can just kiss it's "freedom" and "democracy" and "liberty" good bye right now.

[LynnTheDem]

18. bush & rove are cunning; they're NOT intelligent.

In other words, as cunning as they are, they're also stupid. No I don't think this is a rove set-up; rove is not a smart far-sighted person.

[bklyncowgirl]

20. Maybe.

I keep thinking of "Rathergate" which many of us believe was the result of a Rove dirty tricks operation designed to take down some liberal in the media who would fall for the bait.

If this can be spun to the discredit of the blogs and liberal talk radio, this could be bad.

So for it looks like the bloggers have done their job well but it's just going to take one overzealous blogger to screw up and the drumbeaters will be all over them.

Personally I think we have to keep harping on the issues of:

Did the White House set this guy up as a shill?
How did a guy operating under a false name get security clearances?
What was "Gannon's" role in the Plame Affair?

Let the MSM go after the sordid sex stuff. It's good for their ratings.

[Jose Diablo]

21. No, I don't think this is a Rove diversion

I do believe what we have here is a "political bomb" that has detonated deep within the RW machine.

Let's hope Cheney's boat sinks before the rest of them. I'd hate to imagine what 12 years of a Cheney administration would be like.

[Enraged_Ape]

22. The total media blackout on this indicates: no way.

Rove's enterprises always involve maximal media masturbation. The fact that the press is silent as the Sphinx on this only indicates that the Jeff Gannon matter is horribly embarrassing to the Bush White House and the rest of the Washington media.

A male prostitute fakes his name and press credentials and has access to the White House Press Corps for years. Amazing.

[bmovies]

23. Well....

With Rove, he always has you watching one hand while he's doing something with the other, much like a magician does with a magic trick.

Gannon IS a small timer. So Rove could have sacrificed him. I mean there are so many other more well known right wing "journalists" out there that Rove could have exposed in order to distract our attention from whatever else he has got going behind the curtains. But apparently those "journalists" were too important to the WH, at least for the time being.

So, it IS a possibility.

[hector459]

24. This is too big to be a diversion and we are watching ALL the news

stories on EVERYTHING. Nothing is going to get past us now. WE are the MSM.

[Junkdrawer]

25. Weren't the Iraq election results due out today?

:shrug:

As far as diversion, the Gannon thing seems to be left-wing-blog-only.