Midnight cowboy in the garden of Bush and evil
The phony journalist in the White House is the most bizarre example yet
of the administration's efforts to thwart an independent press.

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By Sidney Blumenthal



Feb. 17, 2005 | The White House press room has often been a cockpit of
intrigue, duplicity and truckling. But nothing imagined on "The West
Wing," or occurring before in the actual West Wing, challenges the most
recent scandal there in phantasmagorical possibility.

The latest incident began with a sequence of questions for President
Bush at his Jan. 26 press conference. First, he was asked whether he
approved of his administration's payments to conservative commentators.
Government contracts had been granted to three pundits, who had tried to
keep the funding hidden. "There needs to be a nice, independent
relationship between the White House and the press," said the president
as he swiftly called on his next questioner.

A man then known as Jeff Gannon, Washington bureau chief of Talon News,
rose from his chair to speak in a way that did not seem designed to
elicit information. "Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak
picture of the U.S. economy. Harry Reid was talking about soup lines,
and Hillary Clinton was talking about the economy being on the verge of
collapse. Yet, in the same breath, they say that Social Security is rock
solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to work -- you said
you're going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work
with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?"

Each of his assertions was false, gleaned from right-wing talk radio,
where Gannon himself was frequently quoted and highlighted as an expert
guest. On Fox News, one host hailed him as "a terrific Washington bureau
chief and White House correspondent." For almost two years, in the daily
White House press briefings, Gannon had been called upon by press
secretary Scott McClellan to break up difficult questioning from the
rest of the press. But who was Gannon? His strange nonquestion to the
president inspired inquiry.

Talon News is a wholly owned subsidiary of a group of Texas Republicans
called GOPUSA. Gannon's notable articles had consisted of asserting that
John Kerry "might someday be known as 'the first gay president'" and a
false story that an "intern" with whom Kerry was wrongly alleged to have
had an affair had given an interview to a "major television network."

Gannon had also gotten himself entangled in the investigation into the
criminal disclosure of the identity of covert CIA operative Valerie
Plame. Plame is the wife of former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had
been sent on a mission by the Bush administration to discover whether
Saddam Hussein was procuring uranium in Niger for nuclear weapons. He
learned that the suspicion was bogus; appalled that the administration
had lied about nuclear WMD to justify the Iraq war, he wrote an article
in the New York Times about his role. In retaliation, administration
officials blew Plame's CIA cover to conservative columnist Robert Novak.
Gannon had called up Wilson to ask him about a secret CIA memo
supposedly proving that his wife had sent him on the mission to Niger,
prompting the special prosecutor in the case to question Gannon about
his "sources."

It turned out that Jeff Gannon's real name is James Dale Guckert and
that he had no journalistic background whatsoever. His application for a
press credential to cover Congress, a process handled there by
reporters, was rejected. But at the White House the press office
arranged for him to be given a new pass every single day, a highly
unusual and deliberate evasion of the regular credentialing that
requires an FBI security check, which likely would have discovered more
about Guckert. More information soon was revealed. Guckert owned and
advertised his services as a gay escort on more than half a dozen Web
sites, with names like Militarystud.com, MaleCorps.com, WorkingBoys.net
and MeetLocalMen.com, featuring dozens of photographs of Guckert in
dramatic naked poses. One of the sites was still active this week.

Thus a phony journalist planted by a Republican operation, used by the
White House press secretary to interrupt questions from the press corps,
called on by the president for a safe question, protected from FBI
vetting by the press office, disseminating innuendo and smears about
critics and opponents of the administration, some of them gay-baiting,
was unmasked not only as a hireling and fraud but as a gay prostitute,
with enormous potential for blackmail.

The Bush White House is the most opaque, allowing the least access for
reporters, in living memory. All news organizations have significant
economic interests subject to government regulation. Every organization
seems to be intimidated, and reporters who have done stories the
administration finds discomfiting have received threats about their
careers. The administration has its own quasi-official state TV network
in Fox News; hundreds of right-wing radio shows, conservative newspapers
and journals, and Internet sites coordinate with the Republican apparatus.

Lifting the heavy Puritan curtain draping Bush's Washington reveals
enlightening scenes of its decadent anthropology. Even as Guckert's true
colors were revealed, the administration issued orders that the words
"gay," "lesbian," "bisexual" and "transgender" be removed from the
program of a federally funded conference on suicide prevention. But the
transparent hypocrisy of conservative "values" hardly deters a ruthless
government.

The experiment of inserting an agent directly into the White House press
corps was a daring operation. Guckert's "legend," in the language of
espionage, was that he was a news director, and his "false flag" was
journalism. Until his exposure, this midnight cowboy in the garden of
Bush and evil proved marginally useful for the White House. But the
affair's longer-run implication is the Republican effort to sideline an
independent press and undermine its legitimacy. "Spin" seems too quaint.
"In this day and age," said McClellan, waxing philosophical about the
Gannon affair, "when you have a changing media, it's not an easy issue
to decide or try to pick and choose who is a journalist." The problem is
not that the White House press secretary cannot distinguish who is or is
not a journalist; it is that there are no journalists, just the gaming
of the system for the concentration of power.

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 14:28:44 GMT, "Jim," wrote:

Midnight cowboy in the garden of Bush and evil
The phony journalist in the White House is the most bizarre example yet
of the administration's efforts to thwart an independent press.

So many liberals, so ****ed off about the one and only decent question asked
during the entire conference. You have, I'm sure, noted that very few of the
articles about Gannon actually quote the question he asked. That's because they
are too ashamed to do so.

Well, Jim (with a comma after your name), here is the question:

Thank you. Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the
U.S. economy. [Senate Minority Leader] Harry Reid [D-NV] was talking about soup
lines. And [Senator] Hillary Clinton [D-NY] was talking about the economy being
on the verge of collapse. Yet in the same breath they say that Social Security
is rock solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to work -- you've
said you are going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work
with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?

Good one, no?

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

John H wrote:
On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 14:28:44 GMT, "Jim," wrote:


Midnight cowboy in the garden of Bush and evil
The phony journalist in the White House is the most bizarre example yet
of the administration's efforts to thwart an independent press.


So many liberals, so ****ed off about the one and only decent question asked
during the entire conference. You have, I'm sure, noted that very few of the
articles about Gannon actually quote the question he asked. That's because they
are too ashamed to do so.

Well, Jim (with a comma after your name), here is the question:

Thank you. Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the
U.S. economy. [Senate Minority Leader] Harry Reid [D-NV] was talking about soup
lines. And [Senator] Hillary Clinton [D-NY] was talking about the economy being
on the verge of collapse. Yet in the same breath they say that Social Security
is rock solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to work -- you've
said you are going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work
with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?

Good one, no?

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes
Follows is a quote of the 'Question?"

"Thank you. Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture
of the U.S. economy. [Senate Minority Leader] Harry Reid [D-NV] was
talking about soup lines. And [Senator] Hillary Clinton [D-NY] was
talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet in the
same breath they say that Social Security is rock solid and there's no
crisis there. How are you going to work -- you've said you are going to
reach out to these people -- how are you going to work with people who
seem to have divorced themselves from reality?"

Now in my (not so) humble opinion this is a statement of opinion, rather
than a question (and partisan opinion at that)!

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 15:49:24 GMT, "Jim," wrote:

John H wrote:
On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 14:28:44 GMT, "Jim," wrote:


Midnight cowboy in the garden of Bush and evil
The phony journalist in the White House is the most bizarre example yet
of the administration's efforts to thwart an independent press.


So many liberals, so ****ed off about the one and only decent question asked
during the entire conference. You have, I'm sure, noted that very few of the
articles about Gannon actually quote the question he asked. That's because they
are too ashamed to do so.

Well, Jim (with a comma after your name), here is the question:

Thank you. Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the
U.S. economy. [Senate Minority Leader] Harry Reid [D-NV] was talking about soup
lines. And [Senator] Hillary Clinton [D-NY] was talking about the economy being
on the verge of collapse. Yet in the same breath they say that Social Security
is rock solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to work -- you've
said you are going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work
with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?

Good one, no?

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes
Follows is a quote of the 'Question?"

"Thank you. Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture
of the U.S. economy. [Senate Minority Leader] Harry Reid [D-NV] was
talking about soup lines. And [Senator] Hillary Clinton [D-NY] was
talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet in the
same breath they say that Social Security is rock solid and there's no
crisis there. How are you going to work -- you've said you are going to
reach out to these people -- how are you going to work with people who
seem to have divorced themselves from reality?"

Now in my (not so) humble opinion this is a statement of opinion, rather
than a question (and partisan opinion at that)!

A well stated, honest opinion, followed by a question. Also, about the only
non-stupid question asked.

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

"Jim," wrote in message
...
Midnight cowboy in the garden of Bush and evil
The phony journalist in the White House is the most bizarre example yet of
the administration's efforts to thwart an independent press.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Sidney Blumenthal



Feb. 17, 2005 | The White House press room has often been a cockpit of
intrigue, duplicity and truckling. But nothing imagined on "The West
Wing," or occurring before in the actual West Wing, challenges the most
recent scandal there in phantasmagorical possibility.

The latest incident began with a sequence of questions for President Bush
at his Jan. 26 press conference. First, he was asked whether he approved
of his administration's payments to conservative commentators. Government
contracts had been granted to three pundits, who had tried to keep the
funding hidden. "There needs to be a nice, independent relationship
between the White House and the press," said the president as he swiftly
called on his next questioner.

A man then known as Jeff Gannon, Washington bureau chief of Talon News,
rose from his chair to speak in a way that did not seem designed to elicit
information. "Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture
of the U.S. economy. Harry Reid was talking about soup lines, and Hillary
Clinton was talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet,
in the same breath, they say that Social Security is rock solid and
there's no crisis there. How are you going to work -- you said you're
going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work with
people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?"

Each of his assertions was false, gleaned from right-wing talk radio,
where Gannon himself was frequently quoted and highlighted as an expert
guest.

Seems reasonable to me, My Mother was quoting Democrats about how Bush was
going to bankrupt
Social Security before the 1st election, double that on the second. When I
pointed out recently that the Democrats are now saying that SS would be
solvent until 2045, How could they have said that it was in crisis then and
now it's solvent?????

This scared my Mother and caused her and many others to vote for Gore then
Kerry. Was this a LIE?

When the Republicans feel they have to have their own press to highlight the
Lies told on the left then this country is in a sad state.