Maureen Dowd on Gannon (FASCINATING disclosures on WH press cred process)

[Proud2BAmurkin]

WHOA!!!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/17/opinion/17dowd.html?hp

At first when I tried to complain about not getting my pass renewed, even though I'd been covering presidents and first ladies since 1986, no one called me back. Finally, when Mr. McClellan replaced Ari Fleischer, he said he'd renew the pass - after a new Secret Service background check that would last several months.

[ultraist]

1. Another piece of evidence that indicates he was paid propaganda operative

I love how the article starts off!!!LMAO!!!
Bush's Barberini Faun
By MAUREEN DOWD

WASHINGTON — I am very impressed with James Guckert, a k a Jeff Gannon. How often does an enterprising young man, heralded in press reports as both a reporter and a contributor to such sites as Hotmilitarystud.com, Workingboys.net, Militaryescorts.com, MilitaryescortsM4M.com and Meetlocalmen.com, get to question the president of the United States?

Who knew that a hotmilitarystud wanting to meetlocalmen could so easily get to be face2face with the commander in chief? It's hard to believe the White House could hit rock bottom on credibility again, but it has, in a bizarre maelstrom that plays like a dark comedy. How does it credential a man with a double life and a secret past?

"Jeff Gannon" was waved into the press room nearly every day for two years as the conservative correspondent for two political Web sites operated by a wealthy Texas Republican. Scott McClellan often called on the pseudoreporter for softball questions.

Howard Kurtz reported in The Washington Post yesterday that although Mr. Guckert had denied launching the provocative Web sites - one described him as " 'military, muscular, masculine and discrete' (sic)" - a Web designer in California said "that he had designed a gay escort site for Gannon and had posted naked pictures of Gannon at the client's request." And The Wilmington News-Journal in Delaware reported that Mr. Guckert was delinquent in $20,700 in personal income tax from 1991 to 1994. I'm still mystified by this story. I was rejected for a White House press pass at the start of the Bush administration, but someone with an alias, a tax evasion problem and Internet pictures where he posed like the "Barberini Faun" is credentialed to cover a White House that won a second term by mining homophobia and preaching family values?

con't

It sounds like she has been reading our posts! LOL!

[Erika]

5. Well you have to be a GOP implant like Jeff

Scott will call on you everytime, and may offer his gratitude "later on".

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

7. That last sentence is a smack down

This belongs on the front page of DU. HEY GUCKERT...here's your prize!!!

[TWiley]

52. I cannot believe what I just read.

This is the type of journalism that I have been longing for over the past 5 years. I thought the truth had become extinct.

No wonder the NYT is under attack by the bushtapo.

Take your dramamine, and fasten your seatbelt. There will be one hell of a republican spin. Soon the American public will believe that a New York Times reporter was responsible for exposing Valerie Plame as a CIA operative. Everyone will forget Novak.

[big peaches]

103. The Spin Is In

You are absolutely right TWiley. And, unfortunately, I believe the general spin is already in. No doubt it's time to flush the White House toilets as the announcement arrived yesterday that the terra-ists will no doubt attack at any moment.

Here come the scare tactics to take all eyes and attention off the garbage of the last few days/weeks/months/years.

Time to flush em.

[TWiley]

107. Welcome to DU Big Peaches

The republicans are masters at intimidating the media into reporting their bull as fact.

I would love to flush them, I just can't find the silver lever.

[UCLA Dem]

109. its going to be interesting to see how they try to weasel out of this one.

no doubt it will make us all nauseous.


:puke:

[TWiley]

126. How about another War?

or, how about another Terrorist attack? I am convinced that no dirty deed is too evil for the bushtapo. They genuinely believe that any means is justified by their perverted end.

[Nordic65]

2. The story has arrived

Make that two bitching op-eds from NY Times in one hour...

Wow

[wicket]

78. it's spreading like wildfire!

:D

[98geoduck]

3. Does the Bush team love everything military so much that even a military"

-stud Web site is a recommendation?


hopefully more traction....

[ultraist]

9. more excerpts

con't
In an era when security concerns are paramount, what kind of Secret Service background check did James Guckert get so he could saunter into the West Wing every day under an assumed name while he was doing full-frontal advertising for stud services for $1,200 a weekend? He used a driver's license that said James Guckert to get into the White House, then, once inside, switched to his alter ego, asking questions as Jeff Gannon.

Mr. McClellan shrugged this off to Editor & Publisher, oddly noting, "People use aliases all the time in life, from journalists to actors." I know the F.B.I. computers don't work, but this is ridiculous. After getting gobsmacked by the louche sagas of Mr. Guckert and Bernard Kerik, theWhite House vetters should consider adding someone with some blogging experience.

con't
LMAO!!! This is REALLY goooooood....

[deacon]

54. this is just incredible-- they are so busted n/t

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. That is the most powerful commentary to date

Man she hit it over the fence with that one...is this about to stick?

[Beetwasher]

87. Modo's Is Good, Rich's Is BETTER!

Read the Frank Rich piece, IMO, it's the definitive one so far.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/20/arts/20rich.html?pagewanted=1

[oasis]

92. Rich is superb. The MoDo story has the added element of her personal quest

to get WH officials to grant her press credentials while Gannon got his with such ease.

[Karenina]

110. Hell hath no fury

as a woman scorned! :toast: GOOOOO MODO!!!!!

[crispini]

104. OMG, Rich's story gives MAJOR shout-out to Olbermann.

AWRIIIIIIIGHT! :loveya::loveya::loveya::loveya::loveya:

[blm]

101. Check out the Christian Science Monitor article in Editorials Forum.

It is superb, as well.

[Catamount]

113. I doubt it! Nothing ever does, sadly. Shit got to get some duct tape now!

[Toucano]

6. Thank you Maureen. nt

[mark414]

8. wow

that is absolutely vicious

i love it

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

12. But the GREAT thing is

it's ALL TRUE! (Actually the WORST thing is it's all true..can you fucking believe this?)

[ultraist]

13. email a thank you!!!!

E-mail: [e-mail]

[CaliforniaPeggy]

36. I just did!

She is one brave lady, and we need to encourage her to keep up the fight and the pressure.

[loritooker]

10. McClellan has said that just about anyone can get a "day pass" to the

press conferences without the lengthy background check required of a "hard" pass, which presumably was the type the White House finally renewed for Maureen Dowd. Gannon has stated the same. Is there any truth to that or is the "day pass"/lite background check just a fiction?

[chookie]

20. Does anyone really think there is a hole this big in security?

Something tells me it's not that easy. The secret service is not stupid -- they have a very big job to do, and do it well. No way a skank like this is going to get near their charge.

I'll believe it when I see it. I'll believe it when Pat Robertson and Rick Santorum and Jim Dobson and even His Chimperial Majesty himself scream the question : "How did this skank get so close to the PRESIDENT?"

They're trying to deflect it by saying, aw, he LOVED George W and we knew he'd never hurt him -- but SS would never take a chance with someone who clearly registers as an "unstable" person with very dubious credentials.

The silence of the Reich on this matter speaks immense volumes. Where's the outrage? it's partly the authoritarian mindset, which is Manichean and cannot compute shades of grey, like "vocal Bush supporter/male skankin' ho", but partly because they DO get how big a story this is, but they don't wish to destroy their beloved george w's presidency the way they wanted to destroy Clinton.

[pacalo]

34. Rather than a hole in security, maybe they're not really so concerned

about security as they'd have us believe. "Security" is nothing more than an excuse for manipulation & secrecy in this administration.

[July]

73. Bingo!

The administration that won't let ordinary law-abiding citizens who aren't thrilled with Bush anywhere near him (even when taxpayers are paying for his appearances) just said, "What the hell, let the guy in"? Ri-i-i-i-i-ght.

[bloom]

97. It's more like the Fargo 42 that were kept away from B**h

for writing critical letters to the editor and being on the list of DFA.


MD doesn't write what they like so... "Finally, when Mr. McClellan replaced Ari Fleischer, he said he'd renew the pass - after a new Secret Service background check that would last several months."


:puke:

:grr:

:argh:

[me b zola]

111. Not only that

But 96 hours of a 'journalist' track record, even if it was all favorable to ** would never be enough to get access to the pResident.

They knew exactly who this creep, Guckert, was.

[girl gone mad]

35. Why would anyone even bother to get a hard pass at all..

if they could so easily get day passes every day for months on end?

It doesn't make sense to me.

[LynnTheDem]

44. Oh sure, just anyone can get 3 feet away from the POTUS and ask him

anything they like, with no background checks.

[ClintonTyree]

66. No stinking way.................

it would be weeks before someone was vetted enough for a mere day pass the first time. McClellan isn't going to shrug this one off anymore. And he WON'T have his patsy there to fend off the questions anymore. That is, unless they've implanted a new one or an older one has just gone on the payroll.

Disgusting, the lengths this White House will go to keep the American poeple from knowing the truth.

[NV Whino]

11. Good article! n/t

[JohnnyCougar]

14. Wow!!! Check this out!!!

They flipped TV's in the West Wing and Air Force One to Fox News. They paid conservative columnists handsomely to promote administration programs. Federal agencies distributed packaged "news" video releases with faux anchors so local news outlets would run them. As CNN reported, the Pentagon produces Web sites with "news" articles intended to influence opinion abroad and at home, but you have to look hard for the disclaimer: "Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense." The agencies spent a whopping $88 million spinning reality in 2004, splurging on P.R. contracts.

Even the Nixon White House didn't do anything this creepy. It's worse than hating the press. It's an attempt to reinvent it.

SCATHING!!!!

[oasis]

42. Scottie to MoDo:"I'm afraid now you'll have to wait a bit longer for your

WH press pass, like when hell freezes over".:hurts:

[Toots]

85. Oh but just anyone can get day passes....

Even the "Shoe Bomber" probably.

[me b zola]

112. Maybe the WH press room

..is where OBL is hiding. Of course the MSM whores would think there was something odd bout a 6' Arab man sitting in the corner drinking coffee, but they wouldn't want to piss off Scotty by asking such pesky questions, now would they?:shrug:

[bloom]

98. Like maybe the WH would like to remove ALL credibility of the press

so people won't expect anything from it? :shrug:

[ultraist]

15. more snips!!!

With the Bushies, if you're their friend, anything goes. If you're their critic, nothing goes. They're waging a jihad against journalists - buying them off so they'll promote administration programs, trying to put them in jail for doing their jobs, and replacing them with ringers.

At last month's press conference, Jeff Gannon asked Mr. Bush how he could work with Democrats "who seem to have divorced themselves from reality." But Bush officials have divorced themselves from reality.

They flipped TV's in the West Wing and Air Force One to Fox News. They paid conservative columnists handsomely to promote administration programs. Federal agencies distributed packaged "news" video releases with faux anchors so local news outlets would run them. As CNN reported, the Pentagon produces Web sites with "news" articles intended to influence opinion abroad and at home, but you have to look hard for the disclaimer: "Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense." The agencies spent a whopping $88 million spinning reality in 2004, splurging on P.R. contracts.

Even the Nixon White House didn't do anything this creepy. It's worse than hating the press. It's an attempt to reinvent it.

[Just Me]

68. $88 MILLION in taxpayer-funded, government-generated propaganda.

This is an EXCELLENT, hard-hitting opinion piece. Take out the creative aspects and it could be converted to a news article!!!

She nailed these assholes, bit time!!! :bounce:

I love it!!!

[enigmatic]

16. The fit hitting the shan...

And it's just beginning..

[chookie]

17. She raises the heart of the matter

"I'm still mystified by this story. I was rejected for a White House press pass at the start of the Bush administration, but someone with an alias, a tax evasion problem and Internet pictures where he posed like the "Barberini Faun" is credentialed to cover a White House that won a second term by mining homophobia and preaching family values?

At first when I tried to complain about not getting my pass renewed, even though I'd been covering presidents and first ladies since 1986, no one called me back. Finally, when Mr. McClellan replaced Ari Fleischer, he said he'd renew the pass - after a new Secret Service background check that would last several months."

How did he do it? was he advised to carry out a certain procedure by someone who knew how to circumvent security? Possibly. Or were those carrying out the security checks told to stand off? IMHO--this is most likely.

Interesting how "Gannon" fits into a trend -- the heavily "invitation-only town hall meetings", the faith in PR to persuade world opinion even in the face of extremely controversial positions of the US. It looks like a pattern. "Gannon" was good at what he did, disrupting press conferences and delivering the administration talking points, while spying on the credentialed journalists for perceived misdoings("Gannon" loved to brag that he was "embedded").

How did he get in there? Who all did he know? How did he get a job with Talon without being subjected to a background check, or, who the hell were this skank's references?

[ultraist]

22. "How did he do it?" "Who all did he know?" "Who got him in there?"

:bounce: YAAAAAEEEERRRRgggghhh!!!

[eleny]

18. "Barberini Faun"?!

She can really nail it sometimes.

[Bluebear]

29. LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is the faun

[ultraist]

32. LMAO!

[Divernan]

60. Aren't those DOGTAGS on Guckert's bare chest?!?!?!

So what branch of the military was this perv in? Or can we say he's impersonating a military man?
Dowd refers to a web designer in California who says he was paid to set up a page for Guckert and post NUDE pictures of Guckert on it? Anyone found this site/pictures yet?

[ClintonTyree]

67. He was in the..............

Marine Corps Reserve I think. A two year stint that ended abruptly because.................why?

[intheflow]

116. Don't ask, don't tell! Bwaahaahaaa! n/t

[leftchick]

59. Yeah well,

I bet that faun didn't urinate in public. EEEwwww!

[bloom]

100. Thanks!! LOL!!

:)

[intheflow]

114. OMG! Look just like Gannon...

with hair! ROTHFLMAO!!

[Catherine Vincent]

19. Good article!

That's two so far from the NYTimes.

[Pithy Cherub]

21. One of Maureen's Best.Ever.

:wow: Who's your daddy now mcclellan, bush and jimjeff?:wow:

[understandinglife]

23. Crystal clear message; Ms Dowd scores a direct hit. Recommended. (nt)

BE THE BU$H OPPOSITION;24/7

[Spinzonner]

24. If the real White House Press

assuming there are anyleft ...

had any guts, at the next news briefing they would all wear name badges that had a pseudonym different from their real name - and insist on being called by the new name.

There shouldn't be any problem since the administration has already demonstrated that it has no concerns or polcies against it.

[ClintonTyree]

69. NOOOOOOOOOOO........

they wouldn't do that. They'd lose their precious White House Press Corps passes. The VERY vindictive White House would strip them all. (no pun intended) They wouldn't be able to attend the very few, very phony press conferences they DO have. There just wouldn't BE any WHPC anymore. :eyes: Not that there's a discernible one present at the moment.

These "reporters" and "journalists" of the WHPC are scared little boys and girls who wouldn't want to jeopardize their cushy jobs in D.C.

[tanyev]

76. I think they should all just STOP going to the briefings

and "press conferences". There is absolutely no information that comes out of them that isn't in the daily WH press release, so why bother? There's nothing Dubya hates more than speaking to an empty room.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

86. The press conferences DO serve a purpose.

They allow the lies to be transcribed for future reference.

[wakemewhenitsover]

25. So Gannon's a HOOKER?! Imagine if he were a Clinton shill...

...Limbaugh would've had an apoplectic fit, Starr would have collected Gannon's trash, both literally and figuratively, impeachment procedings would be underway...

[fooj]

26. Dowd is on fire! The scumbags have overplayed their hands!

"...WH vetters should consider adding someone with some blogging experience." Yoo hoo...Mrs. Powell-I think that one was for YOU! The Bushies are going to get their legacy, alright! "Even the Nixon WH didn't do anything this creepy." Yikes!:+

[Straight Shooter]

27. Courtesy of U of Texas web site: The Barberini Faun (nude statue)

In his dreams Gannon would look like this :D

[canichelouis]

28. OMG

Thanks. I was wondering what the 'Faun' was. Just love learnin' som'um new every day!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

30. GREAT PHOTO! LOL! n/t

[RBHam]

31. that photo is a photoshopper's dream...

one can only wonder how mr bush will be interacting with the faun....

[EFerrari]

47. Check the attitude against Jeffy's beefcake. Thought the same thing.

And that's why MD is a genius. How many of these guys have seen or known about this image?

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

83. it needs the white house sign in the background

or dog tags on the faum

[EFerrari]

43. Dowd is really good, isn't she? She's picked up on an image

the whole Cabal has in memory.

[Divernan]

Who says Bush doesn't support the Fine Arts!?!?!?

NT

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

64. Awww. No Dog Tags.

It's just not the same...

[flygal]

96. Aha - thank you!!! Been wondering about that one!

[DU GrovelBot]

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[KharmaTrain]

37. Keep Posting Kids...Keep Digging

We're getting some good sniffs. As Bartcop says, Dowd hates everybody, but she looks 4-square with us here, and if she stays on this story like she did on Clinton, it'll be chattle material on New York talk radio and other places.

The worm is starting to turn...the more we keep hammering "Gannon" the more the pressure builds against those in the corporate media trying to downplay it. There's a critical max where the reporters all want to be all over a story (like Monicagate AFTER Drudge) and a feeding frenzy begins. We're not quite at that point, but the blood is getting thicker in the water.

Let's make it so Gannon's name become Google legend...LOL.

Cheers and thanks to all here on DU for all your work and dedication. Strenth and truth is ours.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

38. That was the best editorial I've read in over 4 years!

I do believe that this thing has legs!

It would appear there are at least some journalists out there who having chosen not to sell their souls to Bush, have had to pay for their ethics and are now willing to out them! We have a chance of getting a fair and balanced media back. After having lived in these Orwellian days for so long, it seemed impossible.

[Erika]

39. Yes, if they'll only have the guts to do so.

I have nothing but total disdain for the political whores at Faux.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

41. As far as I'm concerned they should be working at Wal-Mart.

Perhaps, Gannon will be able to help them obtain new employment. They're used to selling themselves for money, aren't they?

[applegrove]

119. Did you read MoDo when Bush went to testify at 9/11 enquiry with Cheney?

Hilarious!! She compared Bush to a little boy going to the dentist with his daddy - being all proud about being a 'big boy' and even requesting lollipop at the end.

as I can recall

[malmapus]

40. OMG Great Article!!

lol a snow flake falls onto a mountain and gently rolls down gathering more snow and grow larger as it continues to roll, picking up more and more on the way =D

[obiwan]

45. Sorry Maureen.

What do you expect from a bunch of anus-sniffing, asshole kissing non-personalities like McClellan?

I would love to see a celebrity death match between the White House press flunkies and a Girl Scout group. I'll put my money on the GSA.

[obiwan]

46. PS Truth is like dysentery to the current residents of 1600 Pennsylvania.

[Kimber Scott]

48. Finally.

:bounce:

[blueblitzkrieg]

49. Brutal and beautiful!

Go Maureen.

[tom_paine]

50. People around the left-center edges are starting to wake up

"Even the White House never did anything this creepy..."

Damned straight. You have to look to Totalitarian Regimes from Ferdinand Marcos to Gen. picnochet to find anythign THAT creepy.

hey at least the Busheviks aren't openly "disappearing" people.

[Corgigal]

57. Might want to pick up the current New Yorker

read this article and you might change your mind about "disappearing" people. It's call rendition now.

Jane Mayer Outsourcing torture
The battle over “extraordinary rendition.”

[Warren Stupidity]

62. that's ok 'those' people

are darkish third world types. The regime isn't disappearing real merkins yet.

By the way isn't a 'merkin' a pubic wig for women?

[mcscajun]

90. You've got the definition nailed

I've noticed that word bouncing around here for a while now and wondered when someone would take note of it.

[MADem]

122. Not YET, anyway....that we KNOW of....

Remember that scientist who was on a business trip who decided to jump off a bridge? We all say, because we want so badly to believe, that those sorts of things can never happen here, because we live in the land of the free, home of the brave....

I think we live in scary times, myself....

[slybacon9]

51. about time mo...

welcome back. (till you get all weird and leave again)

[FourStarDemocrat]

53. Off with their heads!

The direction should now also be who's gonna take the fall for letting this happen? We should now begin pressuring the White House to fire someone--Scott McKellen would be a good place to start.

[cthrumatrix]

55. corporate media protecting their puppet -- psych ops is important when

scamming and lying to people.

[bklyncowgirl]

56. Maureen Dowd you are a savage goddess of satire!

I laughed so hard I woke up my husband in the next room.

Keep exposing these bastards for the hypocrites they are.

[nytemare]

128. Yes, her book "Bushworld" was incredibly well written!

I am impressed with her writing style. I am also glad she got on this story, the more mainstream it gets, the better.

[Corgigal]

58. Thankfully someone is the press

was offended. About flipping time people. Bush is screwing around with your careers and you sit there wagging your tail. This Bush has never worked an honest day in his life and every job he has received was due to Daddy's access. If you can't do your jobs because you are too fearful then please move on and let some bloggers come on board for the big bucks.

I'm tired of a fearful press.

[leftchick]

61. I LOVE how she includes links to his perverted web sites...

How often does an enterprising young man, heralded in press reports as both a reporter and a contributor to such sites as Hotmilitarystud.com, Workingboys.net, Militaryescorts .com, MilitaryescortsM4M.com and Meetlocalmen.com, get to question the president of the United States?

Who knew that a hotmilitarystud wanting to meetlocalmen could so easily get to be face2face with the commander in chief?


LOL! Go MODO!

[Divernan]

63. OMG! What will we tell THE CHILDREN??!?!

nt

[flygal]

99. Oh you got that right!

I got so sick of hearing how the dems - thanks to Clinton - have poisoned our children. Now I suppose MSM will hush this up to save the children!!

[displacedtexan]

65. A Tale (pun intended) of Two Works Of "Art"

Here's the Jim Guckert version...




And here's the Barberini version...




Thus endeth today's Art lesson.

[Beetwasher]

88. THANK YOU!!! May I Suggest This Be Posted Side By Side In It's OWN Post?

Run with it!!!

[paineinthearse]

70. This is phase 2 or 3

Becasue we are so close, this is re-hashing what we already know. To the general public, who might have heard that a gay conservative journalist had been outed by liberal blogs, this is light years away from reality.

We need to keep vigilent and teach our remedial neighbors that that is not the story, access to the inner circles of the WH and the Plame exposure are the real issues.

Don't let the MSM cover this or sweep it aside, keep it alive in the minds of John and Jane Doe.

[Shopaholic]

71. Sidney Blumenthal weights in on this same subject with a piece

in today's Guardian (From the UK): http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1416239,00.html

But you know what they were talking about this morning on the morning news shows? TERROR ALERT!!! Man, isn't it so fucking considerate of those terrorists to time their THREATS to us when the shit is about to hit the fan with the BushCo regime? Their timing is just incredible and impeccable!

[SalmonChantedEvening]

72. My letter to Maureen Dowd

Dear Maureen,

Thank you for your piece on J.D./Jeff/Guckert/Gannon/Player To Be Named Later/This Space For Rent. Few in the Mainstream media are talking up this story, rather they are hoping it fades away quietly. Please carry it as far as you see fit and urge your fellow journalists to press this, for it goes to the very heart of what can go wrong when the independent press becomes the shill in any President's medicine show.

Again, many thanks.

[Patiod]

89. I noticed The Phila Inquirer hasn't mentioned this story

5th largest city in the US, and not a peep (if they have, it's not a searchable article)

Oh, and nice avatar, Salmon

[intheflow]

117. Gannon is a hometown PA boy?

His bio said he went to Penn State. Though I think the state pen is more like.

[Patiod]

118. No, he went to West Chester

Which may be part of the "Pennsylvania State system" but it's absolutely different than Penn State. Which is where I went.

West Chester is big in education (especially phys ed) and law enforcement.

And the "state pen" joke is old, old, old.

Don't be dissin' the home of the largest student-run philanthropy in the world (being held this weekend), a Dance Marathon which in recent years has been raising over $3.5 million a year for Hershey Medical Center's programs for childhood cancer -- $30 million over its 30-year history.

[intheflow]

123. No diss of Penn State meant.

And I unbashedly recycle old jokes! :evilgrin:

[bajamary]

74. Go girl

Maureen strikes again.

Work for Peace and Justice

[slor]

75. I wonder if she knows...

that he was getting in, prior to the creation of "talon news". That revelation really needs to be pushed out there.

[wishlist]

77. Great editorial- maybe this NYT exposure will help get the ball rolling

Great editorial. I hope hers and the brilliant one by Sidney Blumenthal of the Guardian (UK) will help break the media stonewalling.

Of special interest to me is how Gannon was able to get press credentials weeks before Talon News was even established and what kind of payments he received for his 'journalistic' efforts. Incredible that someone blatantly engaging in prostitution could be welcomed to WH functions when he should have been questioned about his illegal activities and banned, not legitimized and elevated in status by the WH.

Knowing how this Rovian WH operates though, there is a very good chance that Gannon has put some Dems in a compromising position that could serve to neutralize any political fallout against Bush.

[Callboy]

79. Maybe if you switch the letters around in your name, to like

Doreen M, it might work...

[Spazito]

80. Someone should ask simple Scottie...

why is it that a credentialed reporter like Ms. Dowd has to go through a NEW Secret Service background check that would last several months yet someone who was refused Congressional credentials and has a past that should set off several alarms is given a pass?

Is simple Scottie trying to say that those who are little known and questionable are a lesser security risk than credentialed, long-time, published journalists?

[Enraged_Ape]

81. MoDo should have rogered Bush with a giant black strap-on

The White House has standards to uphold.

[clydefrand]

82. Wonderful article. Sent my thank you to her.

[Blue to the bone]

84. And to think that this Administration will be picking our next.....

.....Supreme Court Justice! Scares the shit out of me.

[SmokingJacket]

91. Beautiful!!!!!!!!!! nt

[big peaches]

93. Hoorah for Mo Dowd ...

.... she's absolutely right ... this story goes deeper than most mainstream media will admit.

OH THE HYPOCRISY! How long will people just sit back and take this?

[mainer]

94. The Rich article brings up an interesting question -- any answers, folks?

"The money that paid for both the Ryan-Garcia news packages and the Armstrong Williams contract was siphoned through the same huge public relations firm, Ketchum Communications, which itself filtered the funds through subcontractors. A new report by Congressional Democrats finds that Ketchum has received $97 million of the administration's total $250 million P.R. kitty, of which the Williams and Ryan-Garcia scams would account for only a fraction. We have yet to learn precisely where the rest of it ended up."

Time to go huntin' for where that money went. Clearly there are more of these whores who still need to be uncovered.

[Beetwasher]

95. I Suggest Checking WOLF BLITZER'S Bank Account

Among others...

[crispini]

106. You are exactly correct.

"Leslie" has shown himself to be Not A Real Journalist and quite possibly in the pay of the RW.

[librechik]

129. nah, nobody has to pay him

he does it for the love

[bloom]

102. If the WH press conferences are such a sham

REAL news stations should just not even bother to cover them - or do voice-overs with REAL questions and what the REAL answers should be. ( rather like theyesmen.org )

[Maestro]

105. I always thought

Dowd was sort of sexy in a wierd sort of way. After this article, I think she is downright HHHHHHOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTT!!!!!! God, I hope the Ft. Worth Star Telegram picks up on this. Molly Ivins would have a field day with this. There is no hope for the freeper filled Dallas Morning News though. I don't even take that paper any more.

[UCLA Dem]

108. so distrubing. this has to stop.

[jpgray]

115. I still can't stand her, but this is refreshing to read. (nt)

[Karenina]

121. MODO? She hates EVERYBODY

and I cannot imagine a dumber move than pissing her off in a PERSONAL way! :bounce:

[fishwax]

120. Great column

just keep fanning those flames

:kick:

[LondonAmerican]

124. great article nt.

[caligirl]

125. Is this true about female reporters not alloed to use maiden names?

"1. "Jeff Gannon" is a pseudonym. It is unreasonable to give White House press credentials to a non-journalist who appears out of thin air one day with a fake name. Try getting White House press credentials sometime to understand just how ridiculous this is. Female reporters aren't even allowed to use their ACTUAL maiden names, they MUST change their credentials when their name changes.

From a blog I ran into googling GiGi stuff.

[0007]

127. This is better than pure fiction.

[Disturbed]

130. I am still surprised...

that this escort was stupid to have kept these Web Sites Hotmilitarystud.com, Workingboys.net, Militaryescorts .com, MilitaryescortsM4M.com and Meetlocalmen.com, after he damn well knew that they would be discovered.

It has not been established if this guy is actually gay. It has been assumed. It could be a sting or blackmail op toward military or even Dem politicians. Investigative reporting is not spozed to be a guessing or assuming profession.

[Nothing Without Hope]

131. Much of the oddity disappears when you assume "Gannon" is an AGENT.

This makes by far the most sense, all things taken together: "Gannon" is an agent working to further administration aims, and his sideline of gay prostitution is used to entrap closeted gay or bisexual men. One object of this approach is the ability to BLACKMAIL powerful closeted gay and bisexual men in Congress, the judiciary, the military and elsewhere in order to control them and suppress dissent to the administration. This is a very common espionage tactic.

For more posts on this, check the relevant (Gannongate-related and about the 1989 homosexual prostitution ring in the Bush/Reagan White House) replies in this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=307x49
By the way, the 1989 gay prostitution scandal investigation, which had leads all over the government of the time, was pretty much derailed by that administration (Bush the First - Reagan was the figurehead). Can't have exposure - blackmail only works as long as the threatening information is secret.