Question about male 'escorts' in general and Gannon in particular

[kk897]

I don't know if anyone will be able to answer this question, but I've been wondering and thought I'd pose it to the brain trust that is DU.

I've noticed that Gannon is supposed to be in his 40s, right? Is it common for people to get into the escort business in middle age? Would there normally be a demand for an 'escort' who is in his 40s, or is it a young person's business? Admittedly, he's pretty buff, and he doesn't look to be in his 40s, especially with the shaved head, but, I dunno, seems odd to me.

And he seems to have been doing out-calls around the same time as he was writing stories for GOPUSA, right? Not to demean sex workers, but I have to wonder if that's a particularly common thing to see--a sex worker who is also pursuing a rather high-profile career in the public eye. He was what you'd at the very least call a conservative commentator (his radio show) and seemed to be quite ambitious and driven enough to get a WH day pass (if that's all it was and if you just take the entire thing at face value). There's a disconnect here. I have no problem with a sex worker looking to get into another line of business, getting an education, even wanting to be a journalist...but Gannon seems to have aggressively courted public attention AT THE SAME TIME as his work as an 'escort.'

It just seems odd that a guy in the middle of life would suddenly start doing out-calls and advertising his services on the web, even getting into the business of putting together related websites. What led up to this occupation?

Wasn't someone saying that this is a "legend"-- as the term is used by intelligence agencies?

The guy didn't just spring from Zeus' head... What brought him here and where has he been?

[bleedingheart]

1. When I was in college there was a young woman who was

getting her degree who had a full ROTC scholarship...everything going for her....but she danced at strip clubs to make enough cash to pay for a nice apt, car....etc

the Air Force discharged her when it was found out....

Money and Sex...people do very strange things for them both...and will even jeopardize their careers....

[kk897]

3. oh, I know it's common for students to do that

however, stripping is different than being a sex worker, and being a student is different than aggressively pursuing a career in the public eye. I have no problem with what this ROTC student did. I don't even necessarily have a problem with Gannon being a sex worker.

What I'm trying to get at is that these circumstances don't just happen. This is very purposefully orchestrated, it seems to me.

[leveymg]

2. The male prostitute angle is a diversion for Gannon's role in Plamegate.

The gay prostitution angle is just a titillating scrap to distract the public. The Gannon story is much more interesting in what it revealed about the original public release (planting) of Plame's identity, a story subsequently picked up by Novak, Judy Miller, et al. in the major media. I have heard that the Fitzgerald Grand Jury is not going to indict anyone for their role in the second-stage (big-time media) outing. That's going to let Scooter and Cheney off the hook.

Why do we have to figure this out on our own?

:eyes:

[kk897]

4. Plame, yes

I agree that Plame is a very important part of this.

Again, I want to emphasize that I don't really care if the guy was a gay sex worker. More power to 'em, I say.

I guess I'm saying that I think maybe Gannon WASN'T really a gay sex worker. This "legend" has been carefully crafted. But crafted by whom and to what end? Maybe the purpose *was* entangled with the Plame affair...

I'm saying let's think even deeper. The fact that bloggers were able to reveal this stuff about Gannon...maybe the legend was designed to be rather easily uncovered. What seems less easy to uncover are the circumstances leading up to his installation at the WH. Maybe Gannon is bait.

I don't know, but I do know that this is not what it appears to be on first, second, or third glance.

[leveymg]

6. Correction: Novak was original venue for leak. Rest still applies.

FYI: there's a long, thread started yesterday by William Pitt still going on at General Discussion. Lot's of interesting details there.

[UdoKier]

5. He was in his mid-late 30s when he started the websites...

and who knows when he started stuttin' his stuff on street corners?

And on his online hustler profiles, he claimed to be 32 - he was shaving off about 5 years, I believe.

Anyway, he kept it under wraps so long I guess he just thought it was a snap and nobody would check. A whore's gotta make a buck right?

[Toucano]

7. We shouldn't assume he started when the websites were registered.

He may have been doing it for 10 or 15 years and just turned to the internet for marketing recently.

I'd say he's definately getting long in the tooth for a whore, but if there's a market for the goods, there'll be a seller.

on edit: grammar.