A couple more thoughts on Gannon/Guckert

A couple more thoughts on Gannon/Guckert
by Joe in DC - 2/14/2005 10:53:00 PM
http://www.americablog.org/

There has been some brilliant writing today on Americablog. Kudos to John for his excellent work. The other bloggers have also laid out key issues. I just wanted to say the things that are on my mind:

First, from talking to friends and family, I get the sense that there is some hesitancy about what appeared here today. Granted, some of the web sites and pictures people are looking at is pretty shocking. But, rest assured, to comment on what Gannon/Gucker has done isn't homophobic. This isn't about the gay issues. So, when you get over the initial shock, focus on the real issues.

Second, this shows the absolute disdain the right wingers have for the allegedly mainstream media. Gannon/Guckert/Talon/GOP USA did this right in front of the White House press corps. Gannon used the media last week to create a sob story...those means bloggers are picking on me. He had no compunction about appearing with Wolf Blitzer and denying anything sordid. He thought there were no ramifications. And Howie Kurtz...could he have had any more misplaced sanctimony?

This guy played the media -- including Wolf and Howie -- for fools. And they let him.

Third, is there some big GOP Down Low? Come on, think about it. How does a guy like Gannon, with no media background, go from being called "Bulldog" by his clientele to being called "Jeff Gannon" in the White House within weeks? Seriously, how did this happen? He sure didn't follow the career path of most of the White House Press Corps. I bet there are a lot of gay Republicans who are losing sleep over this mess. And I bet we find out how Gannon got his White House credentials, too. Someone greased the skids for Mr. Gannon.

Finally, for all the hand wringing about whether this is fair game, let's be honest: the White House and the right wing (of which Gannon/Guckert was a proud member) have made sex an issue. George Bush devotes a lot of time worrying about other people's sex lives. The whole abstinence thing is one of top examples. (I still want to know if the abstinence policy applies to the White House staff and family, too.) The Bushies and the right wingers are obsessed with the relationships of gay people. They have a sex filled agenda. They have made sex an issue. Of course, once again, no one in the mainstream media ever asks if the Bush family and Bush staff practice what they preach. Clearly, some of their biggest supporters don't.

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He is NOT Jeff Gannon
by John in DC - 2/14/2005 10:12:00 PM

Hysterical :-) Feel free to consider this an open thread.

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OP/ED: What today's revelation adds to the story
by Rob in Baltimore - 2/14/2005 09:40:00 PM

Three days ago I wrote this:

Well, I personally think that he has something to hide. Or something to hide for someone in the White House who still has a job today. The real story hasn't even started yet.

* Why hasn't the Valerie Plame case been brought to prosecution? Someone leaked her name, and that was a crime. The list of possible criminals is pretty short. Why haven't we seen justice?
* How did Jeff Gannon, a man who wasn't even a "journalist" two years earlier, get right into the middle of all of this? Who gave him access to the CIA documents? Did he tell everything he knew to the Justice Department?

So yes, there is more work to do. More threads to unravel and more of the story to tell. Like the Right did with Rathergate, we're doing it with this story. The difference is that our story ends with who committed a crime. An egregious crime against our country.

Someone in the White House put political gain for the President ahead of our national security, exposing an undercover CIA agent who operated covertly in the Arab world. In the middle of a war in the Mideast, someone in the White House diminished our nation's intelligence gathering capability. A crime against our national security at a time of war was committed. And someone needs to be held accountable.

What has today's story accomplished? This:

* How did Jeff Gannon, a potential gay prostitute who wasn't even a "journalist" two years earlier, get right into the middle of all of this? Who gave him access to the CIA documents? Did he tell everything he knew to the Justice Department?

That's all it did. But that's a lot.

By replacing "man" with "gay prostitute" you have a FULLER story. What John's post today did was to tell a little more of the truth to this story. From the pictures on this post, it's my opinion that The Truth is that Jeff Gannon was a male prostitute before, and perhaps during, his time as a White House "reporter."

So I'm supposed to believe that what bloggers can dig up online means one of three things:

* The Secret Service did a bang up job and can't protect the White House

or

* The Secret Service knew what he was and let him pass into the West Wing on a daily basis regardless, again compromising White House security

or

* The Secret Service knew that he was a prostitute and was instructed to let him pass into the White House

Now following this, we have the fact that within four months of his arrival in the White House he is one of six people in the middle of the Valerie Plame affair. The fact that five months earlier he was a gay prostitute makes the story all that more bizarre.

So where can this story go now? I see at least one or two options.

1. Congress, with its oversight capabilities, can subpoena the White House and Secret Service records to investigate how Gannon got into the White House on a regular basis.
2. Patrick Fitzgerald can use this information to further his own investigation.

John's post today gave people more of the story, more of The Truth. That's a very good thing.

-- Rob in Baltimore

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My Two Cents
by Michael in New York - 2/14/2005 09:07:00 PM

I'm just sitting back and enjoying the work of John "Scoop" Aravosis. This is why I donate my time and you should donate your money to his work.

Steny Hoyer and the conservative blogger above both make valid points. This is not about digging into someone's private life -- this is about national security, this is about planting decoys into the White House press room, this is about manipulating the media to deceive the American people and a lot more. You should be blasting the mainstream media with the very serious talking points John raises below (not to mention the comments of Hoyer).

Who specifically approved of GannonGuckert's access to the White House press room. When? What are the standard background checks done on reporters applying for this access? Who did this check on GannonGuckert if any such check were done? How could a vanity website with no journalistic background pass even the most basic background check? GannonGuckert couldn't get credentialed for a city council meeting and certainly not on Capitol Hill. Who signed off on him? This COULD NOT be done via routine channels or he would have been turned down.

And one more teeny tiny point for those who want to pretend we're invading GannonGuckert's privacy and digging into his personal life just to embarrass him:

HE POSTED THESE PHOTOS ON THE WEB FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE.

GannonGuckert was not stalked by photographers. No one dug through his trash. Hidden cameras were not placed in sleazy hotel rooms to gain evidence. GannonGuckert posed for the cameras and then put them on the biggest display board in the world to drum up business. GannonGuckert wanted people to see them; he wanted strangers to see them. He wanted to make money off of them. Any of his family or friends or business associates could have stumbled upon them at any time. If anyone disturbed GannonGuckert's privacy, it was GannonGuckert himself.

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Conservative Web site gets it right about Gannon
by John in DC - 2/14/2005 09:01:00 PM

I'm actually kind of shocked by this article. Other than the public school thing, they're right on message. And I don't say that to knock them, like this is a message game. I say it to mean that considering most mainstream journalists have so-far dropped the ball on this story, it took a conservative Web site to understand the real-world and serious implications of this story:

One part in this story that has yet to surface is related to “Gannon”’s claim in his bio to have "taught in the public school system". Since Guckert’s degree from West Chester University of Pennsylvania is in Physical Education, he presumably was a gym teacher. Many parents will be unhappy that boys’ gym was taught by a gay prostitute that likes to wrestle, even if they can accept a discretely gay English teacher.

The bigger question is how did “Gannon” gain inside access to the White House only five days after Talon News Service was established? Was that long enough to run a background check? Did he have inside help? Did an earlier background check only turn up the problem that it would not look good if he were reporting for GOPUSA?

Finally there are the blackmail questions which exist for gays who are not “out of the closet”. Was Guckert blackmailing someone associated with the White House? Was somebody blackmailing Guckert or using Guckert’s services to blackmail someone else?

“Gannon” definitely got special treatment from the White House. So far the White House has denied this, saying anybody in a similar position could get daily press passes. Refusing to acknowledge his special treatment only leads to speculation that blackmail is somehow involved.

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God bless Steny Hoyer
by John in DC - 2/14/2005 07:43:00 PM

Fabulous. A democratic who can smell an issue. Let's see if anyone else in the House or Senate gets the nerve, or the brain.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15, 2005

CONTACT:
Stacey Farnen Bernards
(202) 225 - 3130
Hoyer Statement on "Jeff Gannon" Connection to Valerie Plame Leak

WASHINGTON DC – House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer released the following statement regarding revelations that a man who went by the name of “Jeff Gannon,” and who was given White House media credentials despite his lack of qualifications, was given access to classified documents which disclosed the identity of Undercover CIA Operative Valerie Plame:

“Valid questions are being raised regarding the Bush White House’s relationship with James Guckert, also known as “Jeff Gannon,” and his access to documents that revealed the identity of Undercover CIA Operative Valerie Plame.

“This issue is important from an ethical as well as from a national security standpoint. It is hard to understand why a man with little real journalism experience was given a White House press corps credential let alone access to sensitive security documents. In fact, it only raises questions as to the nature of the relationship between “Jeff Gannon” and the White House, and whether there was an alliance of interests that did not conform to ethical and security standards. President Bush’s father, President George H.W. Bush, called the disclosure of an undercover operative’s identity treason.

“This most recent revelation is only the latest in the growing list of ways that Republicans in Washington are attempting to manipulate the American people through the media and avoid accountability. When the Bush Administration had trouble selling its domestic policies, it unethically paid journalists to promote its policies under the guise of journalism. When the Ethics Committee held Majority Leader Tom DeLay accountable for improper actions last year, the Republican leadership simply removed Chairman Joel Hefley (R-CO) and other Republicans from the Committee.

“I encourage the Special Counsel looking into the Plame matter to include “Jeff Gannon’s” ties to the issue in his investigation.”

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Open thread
by John in DC - 2/14/2005 07:30:00 PM

Have at it.

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I've moved the Gannon story back to its regular spot on the blog
by John in DC - 2/14/2005 07:16:00 PM

You can find it here.

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Digby on Gannon-gate and the double-standard
by John in DC - 2/14/2005 06:48:00 PM

I'd say the double-standard of the Dems and the media - where the hell are they? From Digby:

But for a moment let me think as a Republican would, if the shoe were on the other foot:

So many questions so few answers. Just why did JimJeff get such special treatment? It's not like they didn't already have a bunch of ready made shills to ask softball questions. Les Kinsolving's been throwing partisan bombs for years. They certainly didn't need JimJeff to transcribe RNC talking points when they have the Beltway Boys to do it on national television.

Scotty said that the president called on JimJeff of his own volition. A coincidence? Or did someone request that JimJeff get a special treat that day?

And has it ever been logical that this nobody from a vanity web site would get access to the Plame story? Why him? JimJeff claims that he never actually saw the Plame memo, yet he clearly knew of it. Could it have been pillow talk?

I don't have a clue. But, I do know that if this were 1998, we'd be knee deep in congressional investigations into the gay hooker ring in the White House. Every news crew in the DC area would be camped out on JimJeff's front lawn. A wild-eyed Victoria Toensing and panting Kelly Ann Fitzpatrick would be crawling up on the Hardball desk rending their silk teddies and speaking in tongues while Matthews'exploding head spun around on his shoulders.

But, it isn't 1998 and it will probably not even be mentioned. And I'm not a Republican so I don't think, as they would, that it's necessary to dig into every single White House staffer's sex life to find out who leaked a confidential memo to a gay hooker.

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So what is a story, Howard?
by John in DC - 2/14/2005 06:37:00 PM

Howard Kurt was on CNN today with their “blog reporter” Jacki Schechner:

SCHECHNER: This is so fast. So absolutely quick. The other one we wanted to talk about was the Jeff Gannon story. Something that you're very familiar with. Now, he had originally -- let me show you first the trend. Let's look at that. You can see here it's the yellow line. Now there's a spike today and the reason why is because he had told you that some of these sort of racier sites that he had allegedly been a part of didn't exist.

KURTZ: He had registered the addresses, he said the sites never actually went up.

SCHECHNER: Well, we found it. Or actually, one of the bloggers found it. We found it through the blog Americablog.com [sic - it's. org] which is a liberal site found it. Now we would show you that but the pictures on that site are actually kind of racey. So we didn't want to go there but Wonkette.com has it as well. And you can read about that story.

KURTZ: She has the PG version?

SCHECHNER: She has the PG version and then she has a link to the sort of X-rated version.

KURTZ: So just like in primetime television sex apparently sells based on these pictures.

SCHECHNER: They were and actually they were pretty graphically displayed. And then we went back and they were covered over.

KURTZ: Although what this has to