Posted on 02/22/2005 8:07:39 PM PST by kristinn
Three members of the D.C. Chapter of Free Republic braved the ice cold winds of the political gulag Friday night to make a public show of support for former Talon News White House Correspondent Jeff Gannon and the rights of reporters to do their jobs without fear of being destroyed by the political establishment.
During the course of our hour-long freep outside Monica's Gate in front of where the TV networks do their standups, a hard pass holding member of the White House press corps stopped and spoke with us at length about the situation.
The member of the press corps was familiar with Gannon and what was being done to him for simply asking a question. The member wholeheartedly agreed with our sign that said, "After Gannon, Who's Next?" In response to our comment that this was the Ellen Romesch strategy played out as a warning for any reporter to be careful what they say about Hillary Clinton as she prepares for her probable 2008 presidential run, the member of the press corps said that this went back further: To Filegate.
We also spent time talking about how members of the establishment media and Democrats in Congress were trying to use this to define who is a reporter to the detriment of the new media and the First Amendment.
Later, NBC's Norah O'Donnell exited the gate and walked by. She had no comment when we asked her, "Ms. O'Donnell, after Jeff Gannon, who's next?"
Bmwcyle and Apple Blossom joined me in this frigid endeavor. One or both of them will be chiming in with their observations.
remember, this guy is a former gay escort. i'm sorry, but i feel very little sympathy for him. to me, "gannon" was not truly a freeper...
When did that happen?
I missed that also. Did he say something about her skankles?
That probably would have p'd her off....
Thanks for the report! Here are Rich Galen's comments tonight on the subject:
Gonzo Bozos - by Rich Galen
Wednesday February 23, 2005
http://mullings.com/currentissue.htm
You've heard the story: A guy billing himself as "Jeff Gannon" wrote for a Republican-oriented website, attended the daily briefings in the White House briefing room even though he didn't have press credentials.
"Jeff Gannon" is not James D. Guckert's real name. James D. Guckert is.
Also, being a writer for Talon.com was not James D. Guckert's real job, or at least not his only job. According to a long Sunday piece by the New York Time's Frank Rich, Mr. Guckert's other job was as a "$200-per-hour escort" which Guckert promoted with a photo on the "hotmilitarystud.com" website.
Escort. Hah.
Military. Hah.
Stud. That, I have no way of knowing.
Here's what I do know: This is another of those Claude Raines moments in which the press corps expresses utter shock and horror over something they have actually known about all along.
Every member of the press corps on every bus, plane and in every filing center knows the provenance of every other reporter.
I guarantee you there was never a moment in one of those briefings when the regular White House press corps waited with curled fingers poised above the home position of their laptop keyboards for Gannon/Guckert to ask his question.
Mr. Rich reveled in outing poor Mr. Gannon/Guckert as an outgrowth of the Armstrong Williams case. The popular press is trolling in the shallows of the public relations business looking for more incidents of the Administration's having hired columnists or commentators.
This notion of Gannon/Guckert being a pseudo-journalist is of interest to real journalists like Mr. Rich who have had to deal with, and explain the likes of: CNN (Peter Arnett), CBS (Dan Rather), USA Today (Jack Kelley), Boston Globe (Mike Barnicle AND Patricia Smith), and Mr. Rich's own New York Times (Jayson Blair) - all of whom produced plagiarized, embellished, or just plain faked news stories.
Speaking of which, the Bi-Coastal Intellectual Crowd is mourning the death of Hunter Thompson. For those of you who missed it, Hunter Thompson was the 67-year-old drug-addled, anti-establishment writer whose time, if it ever was, has long since passed.
The morning after his death, NPR aired a comment by a woman who said that Thompson was at his best when he was producing "highly personalized or even fictionalized journalism."
Whoa! Check please! "Fictionalized journalism?"
I get it. It is ok to say good things about Hunter Thompson's work because everyone knew he was making it up. But then how is that different from the Jeff/Jim Gannon/Guckert situation?
Hunter Thompson was an opponent of what the Red States believe to be good and decent, so naturally he was beloved by the Old Limousine Liberals who have had so few misanthropes to rally around recently.
I raise this point because of a piece in yesterday's Chicago Tribune by Robin Abcarian about President Bush's iPod and Mrs. Bush's on-line shopping. She wrote that we thought we knew everything there was to know about Mr. Bush including "his rejection of the Eastern elitism that is his birthright."
If he had kept on drinking, and had continued down the path he was on in his early 30's, that "rejection of Eastern elitism" might well have led to his being the darling of the New Left today.
However, as he found religion, stopped drinking, and became a model husband, father, and world leader, the Left does not consider him to be a vital man.
Not like Hunter Thompson.
New and important topic:
One of the planet's best people, Fox News' Tony Snow, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of bowel cancer. The treatment is going to be just as aggressive in response. If you have a few extra seconds today, please join me in saying a prayer for the successful and complete recovery of this good and decent man.
Jeepers Creepers! That bozo looked like he was a couple of sandwiches sort of a picnic. He is a doofus & a boobus, and thus not someone we should spend time defending.
You are free lancing too much. It is hurting the movement, by making us all look silly & frivolous
I thus demand you cease all agigation on behalf of this fellow, and demand you return to solely supporting the President's agenda.
It was the questions he asked.
I think it was the divorced from reality question
Mr. Galen has a way of seeing the big picture.
You're correct. That's the one that set this off.
Yep!
It worked for Bill and Hillary for eight years. Maybe she thinks they can get away with it again.
K, Think you are right on target....It's time to tell Hill/Billy "NO". They truly think they are above all rules/ or write the rules!
Maybe .. but this ain't the 90's anymore
And there are a whole lot of folks who will say what they will about her
And I'm not talking about the spineless media/press
"former" meaning how former? As of only about 2 months ago, his website was even updated. Kristinn, I've always been supportive of your endeavors, as I think many others have, as well. I cannot support this, however; Guckert/Gannon had been, up until 2 months ago, committing the felonius crime of at least solicitation, publicly. It's not even whether he asked the "wrong" kinds of questions which provoked scrutiny....it's gone way past that. Why align ourselves with someone who is not what he portrays himself to be?
I guess I'm a little confused with the Clinton tie-in. If insulting the Clinton's is what caused all of Gannon's problems, how come we never saw naked male whore pictures of Les Kinsolving posted on the internet?
Regardless of what anyone's feelings are about Jeff's past
This was a message being sent to other reporters (IMO)
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