Why James Guckert?

[jpgray]

Seriously. Why a guy with such a shady background and such a palpable lack of experience and credentials? If you're going to stack the press deck, why use someone so easily exposed--who would bring down humiliation and accusations in his ruin? What's the Occam's razor take on this question?

[theorist]

1. A distraction.

They probably figured he'd need to be outed shortly after he arrived. The press never picked up on any of the big scandals, so they just let him stick around. They did like his questions, y'know?

[Chico Man]

2. Diversion?

They know this is going to all out consume the left for a long time? What if there is no connection? Or they muddy the waters so much that nothing will ever really come of this?

[concord]

19. It certainly has consumed DU's home page!

My vote is for the distraction theory - a device used by this gang time and time again. This shallow country can't resist a sex scandal.
Can we?

[uppityperson]

25. exactly. MSM and mainstream people will be aghast awhile

Hopefully they'll get moved off sex and on to the larger picture.

[aquart]

3. Maybe...

It wasn't whether he had secrets, but whether he could KEEP secrets. If being dirty bothered BushCo, Eliot Abrams wouldn't be working.

[bloom]

5. That might just be it.... eom

[jpgray]

8. Abrams is their kind of dirty--corrupt, lied to Congress, &c

Being a male prostitute is a whole other ball of wax. I'm not sure they wanted to be caught (they almost weren't), but I'm not sure WHY someone let Guckert be there. Did he know someone? Was it just a favor for Texas-based GOPUSA that should have been vetted but wasn't?

[Eloriel]

26. No, no, no -- you guys are missing it

See this --

GANNON / ROVE / RATHER connection
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1603949#

and then I'll add my theory on the direct question of this thread, why Guckert? I think it's because (1) he could be so thoroughly discredited via his past -- HOWEVER, why he would potentially NEED to be discredited isn't clear to me. But the M.O. is and this (plus the other thread) is the only thing that makes sense to me.

Edited to add: None of which precludes that Gucker may have something on someone, may be "special friends" with someone in power, and/or may be involved in blackmail.

[applegrove]

4. They got the person & only then sent him to 'journalism school' of their

own making. Seems to me they needed journalists who didn't follow the old journalistic 'assumptions' and rules. Which puts Rumsfield or some neocon/rovbot in the room - since they are the ones obsessed with redoing 'assumptions' at the base of every body of knowledge

[drdon326]

6. Guckert or someone MUST have had something on someone...

in the White House.

[Rican1]

7. Remember - this is a group that didn't do its homework or ignored

the red flags on Chalabi and Kerik.

[jpgray]

10. Ignored, or thought they could get away with

Incompetence, however, is a crucial possibility, I must admit. Chalabi, though, I note is within reach of being Iraqi Prime Minister.

[MADem]

36. The decision-makers are evil and clever

...but they just are not as tech-savvy as the kids doing the investigative work (AmericaBlog and Kos, e.g.). The Roves and Cards are still working under the old "dirty tricks" rules. They need to co-opt some young punks who have computer skills if they want to stay out of trouble and properly cover their tracks!

Of course, the younger kids they recruit might be put off by that kind of info--just the act of having them scrubbing websites and covering up damaging information might make them rethink their loyalties, because they haven't been invested for decades in the party groupthink.

But I agree, I wouldn't rule out plain incompetence, either. Chalabi and Kerik were stunning--it was as though they didn't even try, not even a little, to check them out.

Or they just didn't care, figuring they owned the media.

[carpediem]

9. they knew he was willing to prostitute himself

and was self-described as discreet. He is actually the perfect guy. I just can't believe they didn't ask him to take down his websites. Or maybe they only knew about the escort services from non-web sources and weren't aware of his website.

[BuyingThyme]

11. Take another look at Oliver Stone's JFK.

[roguevalley]

12. because its personal. he's someone's boy friend. this is the sort

of stunt a person does for their lover. The wankers.

[jpgray]

13. That seems to me one of the likelier possibilities, actually (nt)

[Generator]

17. You BEAT me to it!

[Blue_Roses]

22. that's exactly

what I've been thinking and someone who's pretty close to Bush too...

[bunny planet]

29. Little Scottie McClellan sure was smiling alot at Gannon/Guckert when

he asked him a question. It could be him.

[zann725]

23. That's why I think they didn't plan it. It was the lure of hot sex,

plus the arrogant illusion they'd never get caught...that they owned the media, and it'd never get out.

They sure must be shocked...and ticked at blogs.

[FreedomAngel82]

31. Exactly

They weren't counting on people finding out his hidden secret. I'm surprised he didn't take down his site's either. But then again looking at his profiles and whatnot he was very self-abosrbed and thought a lot of himself.

[Geek_Girl]

28. Bingo!!

If Gannon was a beautiful woman with no education, no experience and mysteriously got a daily press pass to shill for the white house only to be discovered that she was promiscuous and posed nude on websites everyone would know how she got the job.

[uppityperson]

14. This is a really good question. 4 possible answers

Why not use a nice white boy who f*s one female at a time and avoid having this blow up as a sex thing.

1.bushites had something on him so he could never come above ground and say who he was, what he did, ensuring they'd never get caught.
2. bushites are so arrogant they thought they would never get caught.
3 bushites are so stupid they just have no idea wtf they're doing.
4. If the story came out, bushites can distract from the lying and propaganda manipulation by focusing on sex.

[Generator]

15. Free sex...making your baby happy?

I give you money, a cool public job, you become a "right wing hero" and you give me the old manly quid pro quo.

Never underestimate what one does for sex/passion/love/need. Whatever it's called. I know they could just pay him-but people-yes even Republican hacks and neo-cons-fall in "love."

Also, they think they can get away with anything. They almost have. It worked for two plus years, afterall.

[Jayster84]

16. They believe they create their own reality.

That's what insiders have been saying. They are so arrogant that they think they can do anything. They're just getting sloppy.

[zann725]

24. Read History. Happens EVERY time Power gets too greedy,

and thinks they're infallible.

[Old and In the Way]

18. Well, obviously, it wasn't the mainstream media that worried them.

I mean, this bogus shrill was seated with them for 2 years and not one of them thought there was a story there? Says more about the state of our independent media than almost anything else.

I'll bet they could have put James Wayne Gacy, dressed up in his clown suit pitching softballs, and there'd be nary a peep out of these people.

And look at Howard Kurz today, warning the rest of the corporate media about jumping on this story.....they all have personal lives that can be investigated, too. Covering the news...or covering it up?

Believe me, the real story is going to be....how will the corporate media and the corrupt Republican Party react to the growing 'problem' of Open Source journalism? How can they muzzle it, or better, do away with it altogether? Can you imagine our lives, unconnected? We'd all be looking at the TV set wondering, "WTF...am I the only one that can't believe this BS"? Imagine how much easier it would be to fix elections without an internet. Imagine, indeed.....

[hootinholler]

20. The purpose wasn't to have a shill, that was gravy.

If you were going to *know* that you could kill a story what would you need? Some dirt to plug the dike.

How can you get dirt on reporters? We'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.

He was a honeypot, a tarbaby.

-Hoot

[No Exit]

32. Yup! CIA tactics used by a guy whose own rotten family is as wrapped

up and tangled with the CIA as... a pretzel.

[kk897]

21. my pet theory, not that anyone asked...

I think he's a CIA plant, put there to be discovered by someone, anyone, really, in order to discredit the FBI. It's the intelligence agency wars. He's meant to show that the FBI is not doing its task in security (although they may be doing a fine job--it's just the message we're meant to get from this).

[Bouncy Ball]

27. Occam's Razor?

They are cocky and smug and didn't think anyone would ever find out.

When you have the mainstream media in your back pocket (or I could make a more vulgar analogy), you tend to get pretty cock-sure.

Sorry about all the horrible unintended puns.

[FreedomAngel82]

30. Like everything else

I think it was some sort of payback. Just like what they do everybody else. :shrug:

[DU GrovelBot]

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[orleans]

34. bush is spending some of that "political capitol" of his

yee-haw!
they're probably all in bed with each other. and condi's their little dominatrix, cracking the whip.

and they're doing their damnedest to keep the rest of us out of bed with each other (thanks to all that added funding for the useless abstinence programs)

plus, when you turn into the "king of the world" you start getting sloppy. just when you think you're infallible a liberal blogger comes along and spoils everything by finding the lewd pictures of your butt boy posted on the web!

waaaaahhhh. what'cha gonna do??? i know! Terror Alert! We could get hit at any time!!

[Disturbed]

35. The simplest explanation.

None of them bothered to check him out. He was available when they were looking for a shill for the press and they placed him. Sometimes these people are just plain incompetent. I am betting that this story will fade out by next week.

[rman]

37. Because they think they can get away with it,

since they pretty much own the media.
It still remains to be seen wether or not they can get away with this.

[Clark2008]

38. Occam's Razor is the simplest scandal for the simplest minds. /nt

[marcologico]

39. It's the salami stupid :)

[Kipepeo]

40. I think it's just laziness

I don't think they picked him *because* of his shady background, but in spite of it. They were so arrogant they didn't think it would ever matter.