CPT_Doom
Feb 15 2005, 03:07 PM
QUOTE
Just so I'm up to date on this: The theory is that this Gannon guy was banging a high-ranking and closeted White House official, who's career, marriage, reputation - his life, basically - could be permanently, catastrophically destroyed by revelations of such an affair. This Gannon guy thus chose to leverage this damaging information in an effort to receive...
Actually, William, there is not one theory. It is possible that "Gannon" (who incidentally used the same fake first name both in the press corps and as an escort) was actually a prostitute who used his connections, or was picked, to be the fake face of a fake news organization. Who was actually paying his living expenses during his "volunteer" work for "Talon" is still up in the air.
Of course, "Gannon," who apparently claimed to be part of the CIA or NSA, may have been involved in an earlier "dirty trick" - posing as an escort in order to get dirt on various high-ranking Washington officials, including media (one idea is that he was in the press room as a visible example to closeted reporters who may have used his services). He was then chosen for the "Talon" gig.
Whatever the real story is, one thing is pretty much true, there is NO WAY "Gannon" was a legitimate journalist who should have had access to the White House. That is merely the tip of this iceberg.
Remember, Watergate was just a "third-rate burglary."
fantomas
Feb 15 2005, 04:52 PM
CPT, Wills knows this is far more complex than he's letting on. Where's GOP booster MIB when you need him to reduce things to black and white? Meanwhile, I'm curious to know Gannon/Guckert/GOPUSA's relation to
- 1) the Plame affair;
2) the press creds for WH and Repug National Convention but not for the Congress;
3) the CBS \"faked\" documents;
4) the CIA and NSA;
5) Tom DeLay's campaign people and the whole Eberle-Texas Web;
6) Scott McClellan's alleged gay past;
7) any other moles in the press corps, and the press's silence or this disinformation/propaganda campaign (the Washington Post blithely called this prostitute/call boy/shill/ideologue an \"eccentric\"--oh those genteel Grahams);
8) any other White House or GOP higher ups (Mehlman? Rove? W himself?) with secret gay links who might have been fearing blackmail (and I don't mean black males).
BTW, didn't someone predict a sex scandal in a second W term? I doubt this is the last one.
William1865
Feb 15 2005, 08:35 PM
QUOTE
fantomas:
CPT, Wills knows this is far more complex than he's letting on. Where's GOP booster MIB when you need him to reduce things to black and white? Meanwhile, I'm curious to know Gannon/Guckert/GOPUSA's relation to
- 1) the Plame affair;
2) the press creds for WH and Repug National Convention but not for the Congress;
3) the CBS \\"faked\\" documents;
4) the CIA and NSA;
5) Tom DeLay's campaign people and the whole Eberle-Texas Web;
6) Scott McClellan's alleged gay past;
7) any other moles in the press corps, and the press's silence or this disinformation/propaganda campaign (the Washington Post blithely called this prostitute/call boy/shill/ideologue an \\"eccentric\\"--oh those genteel Grahams);
8) any other White House or GOP higher ups (Mehlman? Rove? W himself?) with secret gay links who might have been fearing blackmail (and I don't mean black males).
BTW, didn't someone predict a sex scandal in a second W term? I doubt this is the last one. You forgot Halliburton, voting irregularities, Enron, Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction, the Pitt/Anniston breakup, the tsunami, Gigli - why if you try hard enough this Gannon guy could have had something to do with all of these tragedies!
Just noticed this: We seem to have decided now that one's private sex life is in fact somehow relevant to the performance of public duties. I mean, what if - let's go deep here - W. got a blowjob from this guy? Just a blowjob!!!! I could have sworn at some point we all decided that it's unhip to get all worked up over a blowjob. What a bunch of prudes, eh? It's just sex, people. Yall must not be getting any.
jqueer
Feb 15 2005, 09:14 PM
QUOTE
William1865:
Just noticed this: We seem to have decided now that one's private sex life is in fact somehow relevant to the performance of public duties. I mean, what if - let's go deep here - W. got a blowjob from this guy? Just a blowjob!!!! I could have sworn at some point we all decided that it's unhip to get all worked up over a blowjob. What a bunch of prudes, eh? It's just sex, people. Yall must not be getting any.
What an awkward attempt to reference the Clinton impeachment circus. Two things, the people who benefitted politically from Gannons shennanigans not only tried to impeach a president over a blow job, but publicly condemn homosexual activity not to mention homosexuals. Second, I'm fairly certain Bill Clinton didn't give state secrets to Monica Lewinsky who did have security clearance, which Gannon never did. Again bringing up the question of how the White House using the combined intelligence capabilities of the CIA, NSA and FBI, not to mention the Department of Homeland Security, could not figure out what a couple of bloggers could, that this guy is a prostitute.
That and Bill Clinton never paid for it in his life.
TomFord
Feb 16 2005, 06:01 AM
It's ridiculous how conservatives are trying to pretend that a gay male prostitute with unusual access to the White House isn't much of a story. Very "move along people, nothing to see here." Not convincing.
Free Republic posters first rushed to defend him ('the charges are preposterous, Jeff's one of us!'), but now that his escort pictures have been brought to light, the party line is that anything with gay activity is so disgusting that it's not worth discussing, and that the story must die. They can't get their head around the fact that he was a gay prosititute and an ardent Bush supporter at the same time.
kujhawker
Feb 16 2005, 06:21 AM
QUOTE
TomFord:
They can't get their head around the fact that he was a gay prosititute and an ardent Bush supporter at the same time.
Very True! One of the latest theories I read was that Jeff Gannon was plant. He was put in by liberals to get himself in good with the conservatives and then embarass them. I couldn't believe the number of people buying that or a variation of that. Because of course a true conservative wouldn't do that.
RazorbackTX
Feb 16 2005, 07:15 AM
William's theory that this is no big whoop is just hilarious. Just think about if this happened while Clinton was president - fake reporter, fake name, gay, hooker lobbing softballs at the president and his spokesman. We would be up to our eyeballs in congressional investigations, Ann Coulter and her fellow wing nuts would be in front of every camera, heads spinning.
Yeah, this is no biggie. If it happens on the GOP watch.
CPT_Doom
Feb 16 2005, 11:43 AM
QUOTE
Just noticed this: We seem to have decided now that one's private sex life is in fact somehow relevant to the performance of public duties. I mean, what if - let's go deep here - W. got a blowjob from this guy? Just a blowjob!!!! I could have sworn at some point we all decided that it's unhip to get all worked up over a blowjob. What a bunch of prudes, eh? It's just sex, people. Yall must not be getting any.
Excuse me, what part of being a PROSTITUTE constitutes one's "private life."
No one knows if "Gannon" is gay (hell, we're not even sure what his real name is). What we do know is that, even while "working" at the White House, he was advertising himself, IN PUBLIC, as an escort, aimed at other men. There are enough "gay for pay" porn stars that I am sure "Gannon" could be completely straight, that's not the issue.
The issue is that, in an administration that has already created fake "news" stories, replete with actors playing reporters, and then farmed them out to local TV stations as if they were objective, AND paid commentators and journalists to promote their policies, is "Gannon" just another cog in the media manipulation machine?
And yes, there may be ties both to the illegal "outing" of Valerie Plame ("Gannon" has bragged he either had a copy, or simply saw a copy, of the confidential document allegedly linking Plame to the decision to send her husband to Africa - a document, incidentally, that the CIA claims may have been
forged) and the leaking that the CBS memos might be forgeries (hmmm... another forgery). How a man who had NO journalistic experience before working for "Talon" could access sources that seasoned White House people don't have and get access to this information is incredible.
This has NOTHING to do with "Gannon's" private life - in fact the information on his professional escort services is only interesting because it completely undermines the possibility the guy is ANY kind of legitimate journalist/writer that belongs at White House press briefings.
The attempt by those on the right to portray this as "no big deal," along with the relative silence from the so-called liberal media (SCLM) only serves to highlight the potential in this story.
What does Scott McClellan, the big gayboy, know, and when did he know it?
gmginsfo
Feb 16 2005, 12:01 PM
QUOTE
jqueer:
QUOTE
William1865:
Just noticed this: We seem to have decided now that one's private sex life is in fact somehow relevant to the performance of public duties. ...
What an awkward attempt to reference the Clinton impeachment circus. ...
Actually, this theory that ALL matters in one's personal life ARE determinative of his performance in public life goes back to at least the women's lib days of the late '60s-early '70s, when it was repeatedly used by radical feminists to attack men they viewed as hostile to their cause. This philosophy gave new meaning to Pasternak's line that "the personal life is dead," but it also died in the US, not just the USSR. frown
TomFord
Feb 16 2005, 12:18 PM
Wow, those broads sure were treacherous and conniving, coming up with that novel theory and all.
Somehow, I suspect the idea of using someone's criminal sex life to question the performance of public duties goes back a lot further than "the women's lib days."
gmginsfo
Feb 16 2005, 01:25 PM
Actually, they didn't limit their criticism to criminal convictions; then as now, mere rumor and innuendo concerning one's personal lifestyle and affairs - in and apart from the romantic sense - fueled by simple dislike of those who didn't buy into their program lock, stock and barrel, were enough for them. And yes, as I stated, I expect the practice - and its abuse - predates this era. However, it seemed to gain its present level of (il)legitimacy then and we've been stuck with it ever since.
TomFord
Feb 16 2005, 01:48 PM
Gee, what an sad and evil period in our history women's lib must have been. Thank god it's over!
RazorbackTX
Feb 16 2005, 01:49 PM
There you have it folks, its all the fault of women libbers, thank you gmg, and thank you party of personal responsibility.
jqueer
Feb 16 2005, 01:49 PM
QUOTE
gmginsfo:
Actually, they didn't limit their criticism to criminal convictions; then as now, mere rumor and innuendo concerning one's personal lifestyle and affairs - in and apart from the romantic sense - fueled by simple dislike of those who didn't buy into their program lock, stock and barrel, were enough for them. And yes, as I stated, I expect the practice - and its abuse - predates this era. However, it seemed to gain its present level of (il)legitimacy then and we've been stuck with it ever since.
"Character" didn't become a watchword in presidential politics until the Republicans thought it would defeat Clinton.
I think the communications revolution has much more to do with the current state of politics than the feminist revolution. We know more and want to know more about people in public life than we ever have before.
However, I reiterate, whether or not getting a blow job in the Oval Office (which I do consider a problem and would have liked to see Clinton resign over the issue) is a bad thing, it is unquestionable that leaking confidential CIA documents about the relatives of someone the administration considers an enemy is far worse. The fact that they might have been leaked to a male prostitute posing as a reporter makes the story tawdry and more interesting. If the only mistake here is that the White House imporperly vetted a journalist friendly to their agenda, it probably doesn't quite rise to the level of high crimes or even misdemeanors, but it is another in a long line of administration moves that can only be interpreted charitably as incompetent and cynically as verging on criminal. Hell, firing the White House travel office was a huge cause celeb among people who now think having a known prostitute in the press room (other than Dan Rather) is just fine as long as he's on our side.
danimal
Feb 16 2005, 03:03 PM
QUOTE
jqueer:
I think the communications revolution has much more to do with the current state of politics than the feminist revolution. We know more and want to know more about people in public life than we ever have before.
More to the point, the multiple 24-hour cable news channels have a lot of time to fill ... but finding informtation that requires any real digging is expensive, so they fill the time with innuendo and dueling pundits. It's less about what we want (or "need" whatever that means) to know than about what attracts eyeballs for advertisers to sell to (and the more cheaply, the bigger the profit margin).
Add blogs (because anyone, even me, can start one) and other web sites, and the "news hole" becomes essentially bottomless.
(I'd add "get your minds out of the gutter" after that last sentence, but considering the topic, why bother?
)
[ February 16, 2005, 02:06 PM: Message edited by: danimal ]
twin58
Feb 16 2005, 03:13 PM
Say, maybe "Jeff Gannon" could get a job here:
Advocacy Groups Blur Media Lines QUOTE
Some Push Agendas By Producing Movies, Owning Newspapers
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 6, 2004; Page A01
The
Madison County Record, an Illinois weekly newspaper launched in September that bills itself as the county's legal journal, reports on one subject: the state courts in southern Illinois. A recent front page carried an assortment of stories about lawsuits against businesses. In one, a woman sought $15,000 in damages for breaking her nose at a haunted house. In another, a woman sued a restaurant for $50,000 after she hurt her teeth on a chicken breast.
Nowhere was it reported that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce created the Record as a weapon in its multimillion-dollar campaign against lawyers who file those kinds of suits.
....
Guess the destination of Bush's first trip of 2005. Go ahead; guess.
Bush Campaigns to Curb Lawsuits QUOTE
By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 6, 2005; Page A06
....
In his first trip of the new year, Bush surrounded himself with doctors in white coats to argue that \"junk lawsuits\" were driving physicians out of places such as Collinsville, ranked by advocates as the friendliest place in the United States for trial lawyers chasing big awards. \"You see firsthand what happens when the system gets out of control,\" he told a crowd of supporters.
....
... [T]he American Tort Reform Association dubbed Madison County the nation's worst \"judicial hellhole,\" followed by St. Clair County.
....
The free and independent local press gave the visit top billing, of course.BTW,
John Aravosis is linking to Outsports.
[ February 16, 2005, 02:27 PM: Message edited by: twin58 ]
gmginsfo
Feb 16 2005, 03:50 PM
Boy, you guys sure are in a mood to cavil and distort today - as well as reveal your own lack of knowledge on this subject. The serial successes of the Bush Administration must really be driving you nuts!
An essay in the NYT Sunday Magazine decades ago essentially stated what I did, similarly without "blaming" anyone for this phenomenon in politics. Your comments again betray a misunderstanding of the entire concept of blame and, by extension, personal responsibility.
I can't imagine JQ was serious with his one-liner on the irrelevance of character in presidential assessments; what about that old bugbear RMNixon? Character has ALWAYS been an issue in politics; WJC's lack of it made it the MAJOR one.
Though off-topic, if the allusion to RNovak or any other leaker/poseur was meant to draw out a pardon for any of their actions, it won't work. If crimes are committed, they must be prosecuted. If the prosecution is successful, the wrongdoer must be punished - and strictly. Politics has nothing to do with it. People of character know this; people who have none don't.
Joe in Philly
Feb 16 2005, 04:12 PM
QUOTE
twin58:
BTW,
John Aravosis is linking to Outsports.
The link is as a "featured advertiser" similar to the Outsports home page ads for "Justus Boyz" clothing.
Looking at those pics, he's kinda got a hot body. This is very unnerving, seeing as how he's a right-wing nut. Why can't he be really out-of-shape or at least nondescript? wink
Joe
fenwayguy
Feb 16 2005, 04:54 PM
QUOTE
Susan Lucci in Philly:
QUOTE
twin58:
BTW,
John Aravosis is linking to Outsports.
Looking at those pics, he's kinda got a hot body. This is very unnerving, seeing as how he's a right-wing nut. Why can't he be really out-of-shape or at least nondescript?
John Aravosis is no wing nut, he's a flaming liberal blogger (bloggist?). Here's a
headshot -- not bad looking, but it doesn't appear that the photo in the Outsports ad is of him.
[ February 16, 2005, 05:10 PM: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]
fantomas
Feb 16 2005, 06:13 PM
QUOTE
TomFord:
Wow, those broads sure were treacherous and conniving, coming up with that novel theory and all.
Somehow, I suspect the idea of using someone's criminal sex life to question the performance of public duties goes back a lot further than \"the women's lib days.\"
Uh yes, in the USA, let's say, maybe the 1790s, when the alleged "criminal sex life"--his hanky-panky with an underage female slave--of Thomas Jefferson was used to pillory him during his campaign against John Adams (he lost the first time, as we know). A bit before even first-wave feminism, though Abigail Adams did speak up for herself. As always, GOPers--gmg--rewriting history.
Oh, and by the way, the Pasternak comment he cites came from the mouth of a Marxist, Strelnikov, who uttered it to Yuri Zhivago...well, see the movie for what happened to Strelnikov. Gmg, I never realized you held such sympathies. I know, you were being ironic.
[ February 16, 2005, 05:14 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]
jqueer
Feb 16 2005, 06:32 PM
QUOTE
gmginsfo:
I can't imagine JQ was serious with his one-liner on the irrelevance of character in presidential assessments; what about that old bugbear RMNixon? Character has ALWAYS been an issue in politics; WJC's lack of it made it the MAJOR one.
I wasn't alive during the Nixon elections, so I can't say for certain, but I don't recall any pundits specifically questioning Nixon's character. Is calling him a shifty used car salesman the same? Yes. But using the "character" watchword is a product of the 90s. And Nixon's character, while questioned was never impuned with a sex scandal. I have no idea how faithful he was to Pat. That is probably because he was, but might be because the press didn't care if he was. "Character" as a political tool was a euphamism for sexual impropriety in the Clinton context. That is what I meant by character being introduced into the process by Clinton's critics. I do recognize that the private faults of public people have always been subjects of conversation to a greater or lesser extent.
[ February 16, 2005, 05:34 PM: Message edited by: jqueer ]
CPT_Doom
Feb 16 2005, 07:13 PM
Back to the topic at hand, it just gets more and more interesting.
Jeff Gannon at White House BEFORE Talon News Existed So, Mssr. "Gannon," who supposedly "worked" for the nominally-journalistic "Talon News," was actually attending White House briefings at least one month prior to the
existence of the "news service" he was supposed to be the correspondent for (Talon News came into life on March 29, 2003). But Jeffie-boy himself has stated he came upon the Talon site and applied for the job then.
It appears as if "Gannon" was working for GOPUSA, a distinctly non-journalistic conservative PR outfit, with links all over the Texas GOP (not to mention a board member who may be married to the White House director of personnel, that is not clear at the moment), when he first in the press corps. But he shouldn't have been able to get a press pass at that time - AND this directly contradicts what Scottie McClellan stated in answer to a recent reporter's question.
So how, pray tell, did an arch-conservative, anti-gay GOP outfit come to hire a male prostitute as its, forgive the term, mouthpiece?
Joe in Philly
Feb 16 2005, 08:24 PM
QUOTE
redsoxbreath:
QUOTE
Susan Lucci in Philly:
QUOTE
twin58:
BTW,
John Aravosis is linking to Outsports.
Looking at those pics, he's kinda got a hot body. This is very unnerving, seeing as how he's a right-wing nut. Why can't he be really out-of-shape or at least nondescript?
John Aravosis is no wing nut, he's a flaming liberal blogger (bloggist?). Here's a
headshot -- not bad looking, but it doesn't appear that the photo in the Outsports ad is of him.
No, no, no, not the blogger! I'm talking about Gannon/Guckert. The gay prostitute with the nude pics.
Joe
fenwayguy
Feb 16 2005, 09:15 PM
Oh. Well that's very different then.
Never mind.
Jim at Outsports
Feb 17 2005, 12:22 AM
John is not linking to Outsports per se. We have purchased an ad on his site since he gets tons of traffic and that leads people to us. We advertise on 3 or 4 blogs now.
RazorbackTX
Feb 17 2005, 07:05 AM
QUOTE
gmginsfo:
The serial successes of the Bush Administration must really be driving you nuts!
What is your favorite success story gmg?
Biggest govt ever?
Biggest deficit ever?
All the lost jobs?
The WMD's in Iraq?
Oh wait, you're probably waiting on the Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, that will really be the icing on the cake for you guys.
"Inclusion wins!"
GatorJamie
Feb 17 2005, 07:18 AM
QUOTE
TomFord:
Gee, what an sad and evil period in our history women's lib must have been. Thank god it's over!
lol, Tom, you beat me to it!
Allen
Feb 17 2005, 07:28 AM
The Daliy Show, last night, had a big segment on Jeff Gannon aka Jeff ... whatever.
Funny, funny, FUNNY!!
And by the way ... even though this Jeff Gannon is a loser ... nice abs! wink
KeyWest Guy
Feb 17 2005, 08:08 AM
The story hit The Today Show this morning. They even showed his nude web pics, albeit cropped to protect our delicate sensibilities.
Btw, if you haven't seen the full nudes, they're quite interesting. I would post the link, but I'm sure that would violate the posting guidelines. If you need the link, send me a message and I'll email it to you.
Ms. de Blazer
Feb 17 2005, 04:43 PM
The UK Guardian reports that "Gannon" owes more than $20K in federal income tax.
Maureen Dowd, a well-known syndicated columnist based at the NY Times reports that her press credentials were revoked by the Bush administration after she criticized them in a column. She is still trying to get them back. But a man using a pseudonym, who is apparently a prostitute, who does not represent any news organization, whose "news" stories were verbatim transcripts of Republican press releases, who wrote anti-gay and anti-Semitic filth, was given daily passes at the White House for 2 years in order to avoid the FBI background check that is required for a permanent pass, and is called on every time the questions get too nasty for l'il Georgie.
Adam
Feb 17 2005, 06:30 PM
Now it turns out that Gannon/Guckert was at press conferences as far back at 2/2003, well before the creation of Talon News. At that time, he was with GOPUSA & Ari Fleischer--then press sec'y--stopped calling on him because he viewed GOPUSA as an advocacy group rather than a news organization. Like Scott McClellan, Fleischer claims no knowledge of how Gannon/Guckert got any sort of press pass and--also like McClellan--says the press sec'y has nothing to do with issuing said passes.
~Adam
Allen
Feb 18 2005, 07:55 AM
On the front page of
The Daily Show with John Stewart has the headline of the Jeff Gannon story.
Wow. This is where I get my news and laugh.
fantomas
Feb 18 2005, 11:25 AM
More about Gannon/Guckert:
He cribbed from RNC talking pointsHe's on the Plame memo subpoena list; William so blithely dismisses the whole thing
The anti-gay, anti-Semitism spewing GOP-loving lying prostitute was linked to efforts that ousted Tom Daschle Though they've tried to scrub him clean, his name is still linked on the pages of his associates: QUOTE
SD: Daschle’s SD Residency In Question - J. Gannon, Talon News
Gannon knew about Iraq war declaration before W Unltd. publicly announced it: William, did you? Not in on the pillow talk? (Quoth Heidi Klum: \"Either you're in, or you're out.\")
QUOTE
A news producer for a major network just told me that Gannon told the producer the US was going to attack Iraq 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 that the US was bombing Iraq. 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.
Talon board member linked to Enron...any surprise there?But he was/is? a public Bible-reading anti-gay, anti-Semitic spewing prostitute pimping for the GOP(USA).... He even supported Operation Rescue--save the fetuses, procure his services.... You can attend the rally on his behalf in Washington today [ February 18, 2005, 10:50 AM: Message edited by: fantomas ]
MPetrelis
Feb 18 2005, 11:32 AM
looks to me like this story's legs will walk into a third week starting on monday. it ain't over by a long shot, and the fat lady still has to sing her aria.
CPT_Doom
Feb 18 2005, 11:47 AM
I am beginning more and more to doubt that "Gannon" was actually ever an escort. I don't doubt the accuracy of the escort sites, which "Gannon" refused to discuss (if they were not him, or if they were created to discredit him, wouldn't he have said something?), but I have to wonder whether he was involved in some other form of dirty tricks before getting the "Talon" gig.
We know that "Gannon" did almost no real reporting from the White House - his articles appear to be mainly regurgitations of White House press briefings, press releases and talking points. Yet somehow he appears to have pretty deep sources in the administration because he has been linked to several key leaks:
1. Valerie Plame documents
2. Kerry/intern affair fake story
3. CBS National Guard documents
4. Beginning of Iraq war
In addition, he appears to have been knee-deep in the effort to undermine Dashle in S. Dakota, who was a key conservative target last year.
It just doesn't make sense that a) a prostitute suddenly got the hankering to be a conservative reporter - a hankering for drugs I could see, but a conservative reporter? - or
the White House would have hired a former prostitute for the job of being their key media manipulation person (which is what I believe "Gannon's" role in the White House was) - particularly when that prostitute went by "Jeff" as an escort as well.
So, could the escort service have been an attempt at ensnaring politicians and/or media types into blackmail schemes or attempts to silence them - maybe.
fantomas
Feb 18 2005, 12:14 PM
But CPT_Doom, what if this male prostitute, with evidently far-right leanings, were closely linked to--involved with--higher-ups in the anti-gay W Unltd. administration?
Let's also not forget, this same Bible-thumping, W-loving Guckert/Gannon published a notoriously homophobic article (that was disseminated via Talon/GOP(USA)) claiming that Kerry would be "the first gay president." Methinks the summits of hypocrisy have not yet been reached with this hateful, self-loathing crowd....
[ February 18, 2005, 11:15 AM: Message edited by: fantomas ]
MPetrelis
Feb 18 2005, 12:24 PM
One thing that hasn't come out yet is the list of who hired him for his escort and weaponry services.
Oh, what many liberal bloggers wouldn't give for that list.
fantomas
Feb 18 2005, 12:41 PM
Nope, no list yet...but here goes info on his ties to the Rather/CBS docs story....
Guckert/Gannon and the CBS docs scandal My favorite quote, re: Gmg's praise of Faux News:
QUOTE
HANNITY: Now, Jeff Gannon, who is a terrific Washington bureau chief and White House correspondent for Talon News, actually shot me an e-mail today, and he's about to break a story in an exclusive about these CBS documents. [The Sean Hannity Show, 9/10/04]
Interesting side note: Roger Stone, who has been involved in more than one (sex) scandal over the years, was an advisor at one point to Al Sharpton. and his wife helped put Sharpton over the hump to qualify for funding--at the behest of Karl Rove!
QUOTE
Mr. Stone is notorious for his electioneering dirty tricks for years. His first election fraud was to open a bank account with a phony name called The Young Socialist Alliance and send a campaign contribution to Pete McCloskey, an antiwar Republican in the Seventies, who was thinking of running against Nixon in 1972. As soon as the check cleared Stone then promptly called the press, claiming funding from Socialists for McCloskey.
Mr. Stone next honed his dirty tricks skills while working with Karl Rove in the Nixon White House.
We also know Mr. Stone planted an Buchanan child story in the Washington Post to sink Pat Buchanan's 1992 campaign for President and then made a flyer about it, according to Mattie Lovlar, on retainer to Stone at the time who said he \"worked at planting the story\". Stone denied it saying: \"I remember getting a call or two saying this stuff was out there. If there was a flyer, it wasn't from Roger Stone.\" (Link in Post#1)
In 2000, Baker calls MacDougald, and Stone to Miami to organize the riot that stole the election for Bush. Nydia Stone organizes the Cubans who participated. Afterwards Dick Cheney himself called Mr. Stone and asked him what he wanted for his sterling service to the gang. Stone soon had lucrative consulting contracts adding up to tens of millions of dollars from Indian gaming concerns.
Voice Article
From this point on, Roger and Nydia Stone were Karl Rove's top covert operatives, off the payroll but paid off in substantial consulting contracts on the side, especially with the Indian casinos.
In 2002, Stone disrupts the career of BIA Deputy Undersecretary Wayne Smith who might have opposed his clients on a casino case. A fake letter and the planting of a story with Time Magazine through a Democratic operative was involved, Mr. Stone's Modus Operandi. Stone denied it, however, saying: \"Mr. Stone believes that an individual by the name of Mike Copperthite is claiming to have provided the information to Time magazine at Mr. Stone's instigation.\" The statement says this claim is \"false in all respects.\"
Next, Mr. Stone actually became the campaign manager for Democrat Al Sharpton, probably at the request of Karl Rove. This was a blatant attempt to conflate Sharpton with the word \"Democrat\" and sink the ticket by a more impressive and funded Sharpton campaign.(VV link in Post #1)
During the Democratic primaries, the AWOL charge came up. Karl Rove, alarmed at this turn of events, decided to forge documents that were based on real documents, with truth in them that reflected badly on the President, but that were fake. If he could get the DNC or the Kerry campaign to run with them, the cry of forgery could be used to shut down all talk of Bush's National Guard service, once they were exposed. A simple plan.
Only Rove, with Bartlett's help, could have made the forgeries, for Bartlett was an expert on the TANG records and had documents not yet released to the press, including no doubt the Knox memos. Rove would have kept the forgers' circle small, with as few in the know as possible. They forge the memos, originally typed by Mrs. Knox on an old Olympia manual, on a military electric typewriter of the time.
gmginsfo
Feb 18 2005, 03:17 PM
QUOTE
fantomas:
Nope, no list yet...
My favorite quote, re: Gmg's praise of Faux News:
FT, I've checked this thread and can't find any mention, let alone "praise," by me of FNC in it. Without delving into the past as you appear to, my best recollection of the gist of my comments on FNC elsewhere is that I watch it, but never exclusively; I like its "rollicking" format,* but take it with a grain of salt and don't believe everything I hear on it, as is the case elsewhere, in varying degrees; and I think it's refreshing for reporting things that other news sources don't/won't. Please cite me to what you're referring so I can provide the response you're begging.
_____
*I may have used the term
Paukenschlag in describing its humorously frantic pace.
danimal
Feb 18 2005, 03:21 PM
QUOTE
CPT_Doom:
So, could the escort service have been an attempt at ensnaring politicians and/or media types into blackmail schemes or attempts to silence them - maybe.
Entirely possible, considering everything else that has been reported. eek!
willyboy
Feb 18 2005, 05:33 PM
Here's my psychobabble take on this:
I think the escort thing was what Gannon/Gucker did for kicks. A closeted rightwinger has to have some sort of outlet, but being as ashamed of his sexuality as he must be, he decided the only way to express it was in a shameful way - getting paid for it. And he was so totally compartmentalized that he posted nude pictures of himself while appearing at nationally televised press briefings/conferences! Sounds like somebody's subconscious wanted him to get caught.
Ms. de Blazer
Feb 18 2005, 07:19 PM
QUOTE
His first election fraud was to open a bank account with a phony name called The Young Socialist Alliance and send a campaign contribution to Pete McCloskey, an antiwar Republican in the Seventies, who was thinking of running against Nixon in 1972. As soon as the check cleared Stone then promptly called the press, claiming funding from Socialists for McCloskey.
I can testify that in 1972 the Young Socialist Alliance endorsed and worked for the Socialist Workers Party slate of Linda Jenness for President and Andrew Pulley for Vice President. Most definitely never made any contribution to the McCloskey campaign. The only connection was that McCloskey was the only Democratic or Republican presidential candidate to take up Ms. Jenness on her challenge to a public debate.
Signed,
Ms. de Blazer
who in 1972 was a coordinator of the Jenness/Pulley campaign at UC Berkeley
MPetrelis
Feb 18 2005, 07:28 PM
Interesting that JeffJoe has appeared at least twice on CNN, the liberal cable news channel, while not making a single appearance on Faux.
What's up with that? Shouldn't he be all over Faux defending himself and his beliefs? Faux must be too scared to let him talk to their conservative viewers.
One of his escort sites lists his age as 32, but he's really 47, right? Can the man tell the truth about anything?
[ February 18, 2005, 08:45 PM: Message edited by: MPetrelis ]
CPT_Doom
Feb 19 2005, 10:34 AM
QUOTE
One of his escort sites lists his age as 32, but he's really 47, right? Can the man tell the truth about anything?
Um, did you see the CNN interview - the guy looked like a deer caught in a spotlight, never mind headlights. The smooth, smug demeanor was completely gone. His "I'm an innocent victim" thing was totally sad and unconvincing, but I also have to believe he is pretty scared right now. I see a house of cards (although it's exact nature is unknown) collapsing around him.
kujhawker
Feb 19 2005, 11:48 AM
QUOTE
CPT_Doom:
Um, did you see the CNN interview - the guy looked like a deer caught in a spotlight, never mind headlights. The smooth, smug demeanor was completely gone. His \"I'm an innocent victim\" thing was totally sad and unconvincing, but I also have to believe he is pretty scared right now. I see a house of cards (although it's exact nature is unknown) collapsing around him.
I saw and I can't believe he is still going on the around trying to defend himself. Then avoiding any of the tough questions. That whole gay sex escort web site thing has nothing to do with my reporting, excuse is getting tired.
MPetrelis
Feb 19 2005, 01:19 PM
He was so pathetic and whiney on CNN. Anderson Cooper did America a huge favor and grilled Gannon/Guckert, unlike when Wuss Blitzer practically kissed the former "reporter's" butt.
Didn't he say something about being attacked for being a Christian? Oh, puh-leeze Louise! It's your extreme lack of journalistic credentials fueling this criticism.
And the MSM press ain't letting up on the story, if
this report from Raw Story is correct.
- - -
oops.
He didn't say it to CNN; he complained to Kurtz at the Wash Post about why he's being held accountable:
>"People criticize me for being a Christian and having some of these questionable things in my past," he said. "I believe in a God of forgiveness."<
[ February 19, 2005, 12:28 PM: Message edited by: MPetrelis ]
MPetrelis
Feb 19 2005, 01:32 PM
Somewhat related is the issue of his privacy versus the privacy of hundreds of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in the military who have had their private lives investigated.
When found to be gay or lesbian, in their private lives, not on the job, say, in Iraq fighting terrorism, their military careers have either ended or been seriously jeopardized.
I guess Gannon/Guckert applies some other standard of privacy towards those folks.
Haven't read a thing about him defending the privacy rights of g/l American in the armed forces.
Ms. de Blazer
Feb 19 2005, 03:03 PM
Privacy my a$$! Guckert is not being criticized for his supposed sexual orientation. He's being criticized primarily for being a fake reporter and secondarily for his web sites and "escort" services. Web sites are not a private issue. When someone posts nude pics of him/herself on the Web that is public. When someone offers his/her prostitution services (let's talk frankly, he is not escorting someone to dinner and a movie) that's a crime, although probably a lot of us think prostitution should be decriminalized. Privacy is about as much an issue as him being "persecuted for being Christian".
He believes in a god of forgiveness? Hmm, I wonder what he said when Clinton got in trouble over his sex life? That god would forgive him?
MPetrelis
Feb 19 2005, 04:59 PM
>Since the Aravosis report, two sources have confirmed to the Washington Blade that Guckert attended a December 1998 Christmas party near Leesburg, Va., that “always turns into an orgy toward the end.”
The party was described as being predominantly for gay men, though not exclusively. The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that about 25 people attended. The sources provided to the Blade two photos from that party of a man who appears to be Guckert. In one image which the Blade has decided not to publish, the man poses with his arm around another man and his penis is exposed.<
Wash Blade storyWhat the heck is a conservative Christian doing at parties that turn into orgies?
I wonder if Gannon/Guckert had a favorite night at the the orgies.
[ February 19, 2005, 04:04 PM: Message edited by: MPetrelis ]
MPetrelis
Feb 19 2005, 11:04 PM
From the Sunday NYT:
>Mr. Eberle also said he had no inkling that Mr. Guckert had created pornographic Web sites or offered himself as a gay escort. Those revelations came in recent accounts in The Washington Post. If he had known, Mr. Eberle said, "I don't think I would have brought him on."
Mr. Guckert would not address the salacious details of his personal life - including sexually explicit photographs of him online but said "all of these personal things" have nothing to do with the administration or Talon News. <
Um, sure. The Bush administration would approve of his deviant lifestyle and if he wanted to get hitched, Dubya and Laura would give their blessing. NOT!
The fact that almost three weeks into this scandal Jeff sees no problem with being anti-gay in his 'reporting,' then hitting gay male hooker sites to sell his weapon and meat, illustrates deep delusion for him.
And the snooty Times is wrong about who revealed his sex-for-sale sites--it was the americablog site. I'd write out the full URL for that site, but, since it has Jeff's mean Marine for hire images, doing so would violate outsports.com rules.
Someone help out with something I'm confused about this scandal:
Jeff said he was a real Marine, right? If he said that, has anyone verified he actually served?
Also from the NYT:
>"I thought there was a lot of meat that came out of the press briefings."<
Is he confusing the WH press room with Blow Buddies?
[ February 19, 2005, 10:11 PM: Message edited by: MPetrelis ]
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