A Gay Escort and a Mighty Big Bush

Politics International Politics
61

Fine Rooftop:

I will go wave at some waves, but I do not see that anyone has made a case here. How can I prove anything? I don’t have any facts. Has MFGR proven anything? Does he have any facts? He has questions that most of us do not care about nor can we answer. But then neither can he. Can he prove any of the wink wink nudge nudge allegations that someone the White House is involved in hiring this man as a shill all while ignoring his prostitution filled past?

All of this is mere speculation and until further details become available this is just adolescent wink wink smirk smirk discussion, albeit the very kind that MFGR most enjoys.

I will leave the two of you to it. Be careful that no one gets shortchanged though and remember if you promise to call the next day, do so are you may find yourself the subject of one of MFGR’s “probes.”

62

Articles have been posted indicating that Gannon/Gluckert did not go through the normal multi-month background checks. Yet you post as though no information that is provided shall ever, ever be accepted.

I have asked a set of questions to pin down what you are trying to characterize as “wild” or “outrageous” accusations. However, you are unwilling to answer, indicating that you are not interested in actually discussing this issue. If that is the case, then please find another thread.

Two mischaracterizations from you for the price of one?

  1. Please find where I alleged the White House hired this man. The White House has paid compensation to other journalists and been caught out on it in recent months – numerous substantiating posts have been put in the relevant threads. I have taken issue with the White House bending its normal rules.

  2. It’s appears not to merely be a prostitution-filled past.

Still can’t actually provide a substantive argument? Keep up with the squirming. Guess you Republicans have been getting used to that.

63

Joe Conason has written a very interesting article on Gannon’s history in South Dakota where he started working against Tom Daschle in 2003.

salon.com/opinion/conason/20 … index.html

Here’s an excerpt:

[quote=“Joe Conason article”]

Yet to understand who “Gannon” really was – and why he obtained such special treatment from Karl Rove’s White House communications operation – one useful exercise may be what intelligence analysts call “walking back the cat.” In essence, this means running the movie in reverse slow-motion to see where the suspect came from and what he did along the way.

Looking back at the special role played by Talon and Gannon in the South Dakota Senate campaign may provide clues in the mystery of the male-escort-cum-journalist’s extraordinary access to the Bush White House.

The cooperation between the Talon News writer and Daschle’s Republican challenger dates back to the early weeks of the South Dakota campaign, when Thune showed up as a guest on “Jeff Gannon’s Washington,” the writer’s Internet radio program on Rightalk.com. It might have seemed unusual for a Midwestern Senate candidate to show up on an Internet radio show in Washington, where he would reach almost no listeners in his home state. But Gannon didn’t waste Thune’s time. His friendly questioning allowed the Republican candidate to lay out the themes of his campaign to unseat the incumbent: Daschle was an obstructionist opponent of the president, out of touch with the home folks, and married to a rich pharmaceutical lobbyist. [/quote]

64

continued…

[quote=“Jason Conason article”]

sensational paragraphs posted by Gannon on the Talon News Web site, urging readers to take special note of the Talon reporter’s “quite interesting article” about Daschle’s “Sopranos-style” tactics. The story contained no actual evidence of misconduct by either the Democratic senator or the Sioux Falls newspaperman, beyond anonymous quotes that accused them of Mafia-like intimidation of “small business owners” and other beleaguered anti-Daschle dissidents. (The “Sopranos” story, like all of Gannon’s other works, has been scrubbed by Talon’s Republican owners from their Web site.)

The bloggers promoted dozens of Talon News attacks on Daschle, under the false flag of journalistic independence. They proclaimed themselves the paladins of truth, battling against South Dakota’s “liberal media.” Nobody in South Dakota would know until months after Nov. 2, when Daschle was so narrowly defeated, that those “independent” bloggers dogging him had been subsidized by the Thune campaign. But there, on the final post-election filings, were the names Lauck and Van Beek, who had been paid $27,000 and $8,000, respectively.

And nobody in South Dakota could know, until now, the true identity and purpose of “Jeff Gannon” and his employers at Talon News. [/quote]

65

Joe Conason?!!! Give me a break. He literally was a whore for President Bill Clinton. You cannot seriously be using his piece to raise this issue?

Who the hell knows Talon News? Has anyone ever heard of this organization before this incident. I seriously doubt that Talon News was influencing anyone to any degree in South Dakota. Perhaps, it was more likely that a state that voted 65% Republican for Bush or even more may have decided to have a senator that was more in line with the thinking of their president.

This is all becoming most ridiculous. I will actually give this story some credence when proof of any kind is given. Until then, this sounds like a smear tactic. Plain and simple. Smear. Smear. Smear. And we all know how Democrats love smut.

66

Now he’s a whore for Ann Richards. He is moving up in the world. :smiling_imp:

saloncruise.com/speakers.htm

67

OH God Michelle Goldberg and Joseph Wilson and Ann Richards and Joe Conason:

What are they titling it Moonbat Madness?

How in the name of all that is holy did Ann Richards get involved with this group? She is the only politician of any standing among them. Looks like it was tailor made for wing nuts and other mindless twats. I mean Ann I love a free drink just as much as the next person but this kind of company is really low. I would rather be caught in Spin than be seen hanging around with Joe Conason, Michelle Goldberg AND Joseph Wilson. Wonder if Joe will bring wife Valerie Plame. No doubt there will be discussion of that conspiracy as well. Christ.

68

Fred, you are one to question people’s source material! Constantly quoting The Washington Times, as you do.

Ok, if you don’t like the Conason opinion piece, how about an article on Jeff Gannon being inside the White House before he was granted proper press credentials? Apparently, the communications team working for Bush can just do away with any procedures for the right whore/toadie.

salon.com/news/feature/2005/ … index.html

[quote=“article”]
The date is significant because in order to receive a White House press pass, Guckert would have needed to prove that he worked for a news organization that, in the words of White House press secretary Scott McClellan, "published regularly

…

But what’s significant about the February 2003 date is that Talon did not even exist then. The organization was created in late March 2003, and began publishing online in early April 2003. Gannon, a jack of all trades who spent time in the military as well as working at an auto repair shop (not to mention escorting), has already stated publicly that Talon News was his first job in journalism. That means he wasn’t working for any other news outlet in February 2003 when he was spotted by C-Span cameras inside the White House briefing room. And that means Guckert was ushered into the White House press room in February 2003 for a briefing despite the fact he was not a journalist.[/quote]

So, uh, smear campaign? Oversight? No plan? Hmmm…

P.S. Fred, you have to read the article before you pounce with the “proove this” auto-post, ok?

69

[quote=“fred smith”]
Who the hell knows Talon News?[/quote]

Good Question! So, how does this marginal publication, staffed by people with NO journalism experience but a lot of GOP fundraising activites get their 'Washington correspondent into White House press conferences? Why would Bush call on Gannon if he’s from such an inconsequential media outlet?

Doubt all you want Fred. Still doesn’t change what happened.

But, don’t let the facts get in the way of your usual snow job.

70

Conason was a Clinton whore, “Gannon” is a Bush whore, yet you get shitty about Conason and not Gannon?

71

In the District of Columbia, prostitution (whether manwhoring or otherwise) is covered under DC Code, D. IV, T. 22, Subt. I, Ch. 27. In Virginia, it’s Section 18.2-346. In Maryland, it’s Title 11 Subtitle 3.

I’m still wondering how Fred could think there’s nothing illegal about prostitution. Boggles the mind. I guess he thinks it’s just another “wild” partisan accusation that prostitution might be against the law. He’ll probably demand that we all “proove” that those states still have these laws against prostitution.

Perhaps his automatic “proove it” button will go into effect about the multi-month checks required to become part of the White House press corps. It’s probably not enough for him that many of these journalists covering the White House have actually been through extensive background checks already. However, he’ll also probably deny that Dowd of the NYTimes has been refused a pass no matter what she says. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/17/opinion/17dowd.html?

[quote]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.[/quote]

And now a Congresswoman from New York has asked for an investigation. Of course, knowing from past experience that Fred Smith won’t want any investigations of anything until there’s already a court decision (a little cart-before-the-horse idea of his in hopes that no investigation can ever be started…), he’ll also flop miserably here as well.

http://www.louise.house.gov/HoR/Louise/News/Press+Releases+By+Date/2005+Press+Releases/WH+Briefing+Room+Scandal.htm has an excerpt from Rep. Slaughter’s letter to POTUS Bush:

[quote]In light of the mounting evidence that your Administration has, on several occasions, paid members of the media to advocate in favor of Administration policies, I feel compelled to ask you to address a matter brought to my attention by the Niagara Falls Reporter (article attached), a local newspaper in my district, regarding James “JD” Guckert (AKA Jeff Gannon) of Talon News.

According to several credible reports, “Mr. Gannon” has been repeatedly credentialed as a member of the White House press corps by your office and has been regularly called upon in White House press briefings by your Press Secretary Scott McClellan, despite the fact evidence shows that “Mr. Gannon” is a Republican political operative, uses a false name, has phony or questionable journalistic credentials, is known for plagiarizing much of the “news” he reports, and according to several web reports, may have ties to the promotion of the prostitution of military personnel.

Mr. President, I am sure we both agree the White House Press Corps is an honored institution in America that should be beyond the scope of partisan meddling, and that a free and independent media is the cornerstone of our success as a democracy. Likewise, I am sure we can both agree the American people have the right to expect that journalists who question their President everyday are experienced, independent, and perhaps most importantly, unbiased in their approach.

I was already concerned about what appears to be an organized campaign to mask partisan propaganda as legitimate news by your Administration. That we have now learned this same type of deception is occurring inside the White House briefing room itself is even more disturbing.

That is why I am asking you to please explain to the Congress and to the American people how and why the individual known as “Mr. Gannon” was repeatedly cleared by your staff to join the legitimate White House press corps?

Mr. President, your Administration has driven the so-called “values” debate in this country. But the most important value for those of us in public service should always be honesty and integrity, particularly when considering the manner in which we conduct our affairs of state. [/quote]

72

substance? you mean like insinuating that the bush white house somehow planned for a gay deviant to toss softball questions at press conferences? insinuations which you have no proof of. very mofan-esque of you.

toss out a wild smear. when asked for evidence, refuse to give any and then decry the focus on semantics instead of substance.

YOU are the one claiming that having a gay prostitute attend white house press conferences was planned. are you willing to substantiate your claims or do you really want to turn the thread into a discussion on regions in the us where prostitution is legal?

73

involvement in what? conspiracy to credential a gay whore? more wild unsustantiated claims.

are you arguing that the bush administration made a mistake by NOT conducting a thorough background check? or are suggesting that the bush administration INTENTIONALLY credentialed someone they knew to be a prostitute?

74

Sheesh, you don’t get it. This guy does.

[quote]Jonah: You are probably getting deluged with e-mails from leftists like me, so I want to make one point. I want to focus on what I think the importance of the story is to you as an independent journalist and conservative.

Forget the gay stuff. Forget the alleged conservative hypocrisy. Forget speculative (and absurd, to me) Monica parallels. Forget the fact he was a bad writer. Even forget Plame for now, until we hear more.

The scandal is the fact that Gannon was an administration shill given unprecedented access to the press briefings. Note that being an administration shill is quite different from being a conservative largely sympathetic to the administration (which I assume you are). The purpose of a free and independent press is to act as the watchdog to power, to question and examine the government. A true independent conservative journalist isn’t there to toss softballs to the administration – the administration has plenty of avenues to get its point across. A true independent conservative would press points where he or she felt the administration was not doing enough or not living up to its rhetoric, on such issues as, say, federal spending, faith-based initiatives, troop support, or whatever else you are interested in. It is OK and probably unavoidable to be biased, or even partisan, in favor of the administration, but it is a scandal to pretend to be independent when you are an arm of the administration.

Gannon is a scandal because he was a fraud, an administration plant. All of his questions were designed not to shed light on issues of importance to conservatives per se, but rather to boost and support the administration. The scandal is that he was posing as something he was not, an independent journalist.

You might be behind the curve, but check out the revelations that Gannon got into the press room before the supposedly independent “Talon” ever existed. It appears his only affiliation at the time was with the GOPUSA website. It appears that he was given a hard pass, even before “Talon” ever existed. (Even if the hard pass was not issued, he was routinely issued a day pass, which amounts to the same thing.)

We don’t know how Gannon got into the room. How did a non-journalist, not affiliated with any news organization, get a coveted press pass? (Remember, even if you consider Talon a legitimate news organization and not a site devoted to cut-and-paste summaries of administration and GOP press releases and talking points, Gannon was allowed in before Talon existed. Compare with Maureen Dowd’s column today concerning her inability to get a pass issued.) Someone pulled strings, circumvented the rules, because they knew Gannon would be an appendage to the administration. He was given favorable treatment specifically because he was NOT an independent journalist. As an independent journalist yourself, doesn’t this cause concern to you? When seen in the larger context of Armstrong Williams et al and the fake newscasts the administration circulated, wouldn’t this pattern of misleading and non-disclosed administration propaganda posing as independent journalism constitute a fairly big scandal, regardless of who is President? You are in the class of people who should be most concerned, if you value the perception of being independent, because the more that instances of stealth propaganda emerge, the more that all pro-administration journalists will be called into question, fairly or not.

Then you have all the lies. Gannon lied about his relationship to the websites, lied about first attending the briefings under the aegis of Talon, about not getting a hard pass, and other things. All of this strongly points to some sort of cover up. It is hard to avoid suspicion that he is covering up who gave him permission to enter the press briefings and his other ties to the administration.

I am somewhat appalled by the focus on the gay prostitute angle, especially the glee and mocking coming from some on the left, and I think efforts to pose this as conservative hypocrisy instead of administration propaganda misses the mark. This isn’t a liberal or conservative scandal at all. It is a scandal that points to the erosion of the free and independent press.

For backup of the claims that Gannon was given a hard press pass (apparently solid, but not 100%) before Talon existed, or at least was at press briefings before Talon existed (100%), see these Kos diaries:

dailykos.com/story/2005/2/16/155840/912 (Gannon in briefings before Talon existed)

dailykos.com/story/2005/2/17/125328/435 (hard pass)

Also check out Blumenthal in Salon today, and see what you think: salon.com/opinion/blumenthal … on_affair/[/quote]

(I had to hold my nose and go into the National Review site to copy and paste this…so you don’t have to!)

75

Fred and Flipper:

You seem to keep asking for proof of the allegations being made but a number of posts have already been posted detailing the issues. You may not agree with the proof or not think that it’s valid but you need to state why the proof provided is not enough. Proof (at least in the eyes of mofangonren) has been posted. Please explain why this proof is not good enough. So far it seems that most of your posts are just “I refuse to agree with Mofangonren no matter what”

76

[quote=“Gilgamesh”]Fred and Flipper:

You seem to keep asking for proof of the allegations being made but a number of posts have already been posted detailing the issues. You may not agree with the proof or not think that it’s valid but you need to state why the proof provided is not enough. Proof (at least in the eyes of mofangonren) has been posted. Please explain why this proof is not good enough. So far it seems that most of your posts are just “I refuse to agree with Mofangonren no matter what”[/quote]

I second that.

77

LP :sunglasses:

78

Maureen Dowd of the NYT agrees with you.
Bush’s Barberini Faun

79

[quote=“Gilgamesh”]Fred and Flipper:

You seem to keep asking for proof of the allegations being made but a number of posts have already been posted detailing the issues. You may not agree with the proof or not think that it’s valid but you need to state why the proof provided is not enough. Proof (at least in the eyes of mofangonren) has been posted. Please explain why this proof is not good enough. So far it seems that most of your posts are just “I refuse to agree with Mofangonren no matter what”[/quote]

actually, i’m asking exactly what those accusations are. you said mofan provided proof. what did he prove? seriously, give me a direct quote from mofan that nails down exactly what it is he is accusing the bush administration of.

80

Sheesh, you don’t get it. This guy does.
[/quote]

maybe you don’t get it, pp. at no point in this thread have i EVER condoned the actions of the bush administration in this matter. i have agreed that proper screening checks should be carried out before the issuing of a press pass.

hmmm…

Well, what do we have? Bending of nearly all normal press-accreditation rules by the White House to let in a “journalist” who seems to be working as a whore. Last I knew, working as a whore (gay or straight, it doesn’t particularly matter to me) wasn’t exactly legal work.
[/quote]

[quote=“Flicka”]
Uh, no, you also have a phony reporter working for a phony news agency who lies and hypocritically blasted gays on his Web site while working as a gay prostitute. I can only laugh and laugh at this whole mess. Sorry Christian fundamentalist GOP voters–you’ve been used and had.

The hard-core Republicans who post in the IP thread are so noticeably silent about this big pink elephant. What’s the matter boys?[/quote]

[quote=“rooftop”]
Mafogongren as well as Flicka have written why this case matters, and it is up to the Republicans to explain this. The important issue here is not whether or not homophobic Democrats are trying to turn Forumosa into a free-for-all but that the White House gave carte blanche to a fake reporter who also happened to be a whore, and a gay whore. Need I remind you that Bush hasn’t exactly been the best friend of gay rights advocates.[/quote]

gee, so is this an issue of press access or gay prostitution? what exactly does the title of this thread have to do with the issues at hand? why are so many liberals obsessed with the gay whore angle?