The Gall's in Your Court
Just when you think the Republican party can't get any more shameless they come along and dazzle you with their brazen stupidity. Jeff Gannon a conservative reporter, and apparent rookie in the White House press core, shot to attention when he was given the opportunity to ask questions to the president and was asked to appear in a federal grand jury investigating the exposure of Valerie Plame, wife of an ambassador, as a CIA undercover operative. During this investigation Gannon received copies of CIA documents which were restricted to a few select people.
All this would be fine if Gannon were an ordinary right wing journalist... or at least it wouldn't be that suspicious. But as it turns out, Gannon is not a journalist at all. The "news agency" he works for Talon News, is actually the run by editor Bobby Eberle who runs GOPUSA.com.1 Eberle has direct ties to the Republican party and major players in the Republican party. Most of the 'news' that Talon puts out is just Republican press releases and talking points. There was also a revelation of the Bush administration paying out hefty sums to conservative journalists and pundits who didn't reveal they were being paid.
In all this, Gannon (which he admitted isn't even his real name) appears to be just someone who thought he could profit from a little public deceit. Gannon has no credentials as a journalist and after many bloggers did a lot of research on who he is, it turns out he can't even hold down a stable job. His real name is James D. Guckert and after simply deciding to be a reporter, he was admitted to the White House press gallery. This, more than anything, is what is suspicious and damning. Even if Guckert and Eberle were setup up as a phony right wing news group independently, wouldn't there be a problem with someone having no credentials and an assumed name getting into the White House and standing in front of the president? You'd think that in our age of background checks and fingerprint scanners that this would be an awful lapse in security; that is unless it was intentional.
This is really a continuation of the entrenched policy of deceit in the Bush White House. The most galling thing is their mind numbing determination to stick by their lies even when they're exposed to openly and blatantly. While Guckert has left his position with Talon, he continues to insist he's a legitimate reporter and there's nothing suspicious about him being granted daily press passes with no credentials under an assumed name. Unfortunately this will probably be forgotten in some time, just like all the other atrocious and deceitful things different American administrations have done; though it is a testament to the efforts of the blogging community. Perhaps that's one way it will be remembered.
1. http://mediamatters.org/items/200501260015
All this would be fine if Gannon were an ordinary right wing journalist... or at least it wouldn't be that suspicious. But as it turns out, Gannon is not a journalist at all. The "news agency" he works for Talon News, is actually the run by editor Bobby Eberle who runs GOPUSA.com.1 Eberle has direct ties to the Republican party and major players in the Republican party. Most of the 'news' that Talon puts out is just Republican press releases and talking points. There was also a revelation of the Bush administration paying out hefty sums to conservative journalists and pundits who didn't reveal they were being paid.
In all this, Gannon (which he admitted isn't even his real name) appears to be just someone who thought he could profit from a little public deceit. Gannon has no credentials as a journalist and after many bloggers did a lot of research on who he is, it turns out he can't even hold down a stable job. His real name is James D. Guckert and after simply deciding to be a reporter, he was admitted to the White House press gallery. This, more than anything, is what is suspicious and damning. Even if Guckert and Eberle were setup up as a phony right wing news group independently, wouldn't there be a problem with someone having no credentials and an assumed name getting into the White House and standing in front of the president? You'd think that in our age of background checks and fingerprint scanners that this would be an awful lapse in security; that is unless it was intentional.
This is really a continuation of the entrenched policy of deceit in the Bush White House. The most galling thing is their mind numbing determination to stick by their lies even when they're exposed to openly and blatantly. While Guckert has left his position with Talon, he continues to insist he's a legitimate reporter and there's nothing suspicious about him being granted daily press passes with no credentials under an assumed name. Unfortunately this will probably be forgotten in some time, just like all the other atrocious and deceitful things different American administrations have done; though it is a testament to the efforts of the blogging community. Perhaps that's one way it will be remembered.
1. http://mediamatters.org/items/200501260015
posted by csguy314 at
2/12/2005 11:15:00 AM
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