PropaGannon - Secret Service Logs on Guckert show 202 White House visits

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conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
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And this from Maureen Dowd:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/17/opinion/17dowd.html?hp
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.

In an era when security concerns are paramount, what kind of Secret Service background check did James Guckert get so he could saunter into the West Wing every day under an assumed name while he was doing full-frontal advertising for stud services for $1,200 a weekend? He used a driver's license that said James Guckert to get into the White House, then, once inside, switched to his alter ego, asking questions as Jeff Gannon.

Mr. McClellan shrugged this off to Editor & Publisher magazine, oddly noting, "People use aliases all the time in life, from journalists to actors."

I know the F.B.I. computers don't work, but this is ridiculous. After getting gobsmacked by the louche sagas of Mr. Guckert and Bernard Kerik, the White House vetters should consider adding someone with some blogging experience.

Does the Bush team love everything military so much that even a military-stud Web site is a recommendation?
 

aidanjm

Lifer
Aug 9, 2004
12,411
2
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Originally posted by: conjur
Gannon in White House Briefing Room Before Talon News Existed
http://americablog.blogspot.com/
Kudos to Intelligence Squad for finding this and Kossacks for getting the screen grab up so quickly, as well as nailing down all the verifiable points. The screen grab is from the C-SPAN Web site White House Daily Briefing from February 28, 2003 here (RealVideo clip). Fast forward to 32:05 and there he is.

Well well well. Look at that, it's "Jeff"!

So then, what an interesting question we have, huh? "Jeff Gannon" is sitting in the White House briefing room with absolutely no media organization affiliation. (But some live and active escort sites!) Just how does that happen?

Not by accident, that's how.

On the Intelligence Squad post, "Gannon" posts with a link to GOPUSA. Is that a "news" outlet? Not by my definition it's not.

So Scott McClellan, answer me this -- what was "Jeff Gannon" doing in the White House briefing room before he worked for Talon? Why was he given access in the first place? And of course, how did he get the Valerie Plame information?

Lots of questions that should be asked at tomorrow's daily briefing. Any members of the traditional media feel like asking these questions yet or shall the blogs continue to do your job?

-- Rob in Baltimore

UPDATE: Now that I've had some time to go through the video more closely, I highly encourage everyone to look at it. I have my own take on how uncomfortable "Jeff" looks. He's looking to his left and right like he's doing something and he's about to get caught. But judge for yourself. View it here. Start at 31:45.

UPDATE 2: For due diligence, I decided to look up when talonnews.com was created.

Domain Name: TALONNEWS.COM
Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com
Name Server: NS1.DATAPIPE.NET
Name Server: NS2.DATAPIPE.NET
Status: REGISTRAR-LOCK
Updated Date: 07-feb-2005
Creation Date: 29-mar-2003
Expiration Date: 29-mar-2006

The C-SPAN link above is from February 28, 2003. Twenty nine days later talonnews.com was created.


Guess what? 'Gannon' was in the White House BEFORE April 2003
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/16/155840/912
This is in the run-up to the Iraq war, of course, and I just saw these tid-bits in a comment on Rawstory.

First: 'Jeff Gannon' brags on a forum about asking a question of Ari Fleischer on Feb 28 2003 - and curiously no mention that this was his first time in there:


#45 from Jeff Gannon on March 5, 2003 03:26 AM
This is a question I asked Ari Fleischer at a White House press briefing on Friday:
Q There have been reports out of Maine that the children of deployed service personnel are being harassed as a result of their elementary school teacher's expression of anti-war views in the classroom. Could you comment on that?

MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not familiar with any specific report, but I can assure you that the President, in all instances, believes that it's important for all to honor and respect the first amendment.

Not the answer I was looking for, but at least I was able to get the issue in front of the mainstream press.


Questions & Comments

When did GannonGuckert first get in the White House ?

This apparently predates McClellan's press secretary tenure !

At the Feb 10 2005 gaggle, McClellan said, 'He, like anyone else, showed that he was representing a news organization that published regularly, and so he was cleared two years ago to receive daily passes, just like many others are.'

McClellan also says: 'I think he's been coming for more than two years now.' (Does this mean 2002 also ?)

Further, he says, 'No one's ever brought such an issue to my attention, in my -- during my time as being Press Secretary.'

And: 'My understanding was, when he started coming to the White House about two years ago, the staff asked to see that it -- that he represented a news organization that published regularly. And they showed that, so he was cleared and has been cleared ever since based on that time.'

Ladies & gentlemen, he did NOT represent Talon when he first got in the White House - 'Talon News' did not EXIST until Mar 29 2003 and that was LESS than 2 yrs ago.

Further we have a 'Jeff Gannon' claiming on Mar 5 2003 to have been at a White House press briefing where he asked Ari Fleischer the question above.

Was [update # 1:] Feb 28 2003 his first time in the White House - or does McClellan's 'more than 2 yrs ago' comment mean that 'Gannon' was in the White House posing as a reporter with NO NEWS SERVICE (not even Talon!) to hide behind.

This predates McClellan-as-press-secretary.

This gets curiouser.

Hmm...just wtf is going on here??

That is rather surprising. I just assumed Gannon was McClellan's lover or friend, & that he got in that way. But he was in there two years before McMcellan was on the scene?
 

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
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First, some info on hard pass vs. daily pass:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/17/10515/0631
You've stated that you think you've seen Gannon with a "hard press" pass. What is the visual difference between a hard pass and a daily pass?

A hard pass has your photo and news org and name on it. A daily pass is just a brown and white striped pass that says, "Press," on it and comes on a dog-tag style chain. Note that the one Gannon wears in the footage on TV is a blue lanyard - not the sort of thing a day pass comes on.


Guckert's pass:
http://www.rhapsody.nu/gannon1.jpg (Gannon in background)
http://www.rhapsody.nu/gannon2.jpg (zoomed/cropped)
http://www.rhapsody.nu/gannon5.jpg (hmmm...looks mighty like a hard pass)
 

BBond

Diamond Member
Oct 3, 2004
8,363
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The Gannon/Guckert scandal was actually covered this morning on MSNBC news. If the digging continues, IMO, this could be the beginning of an investigation into the Bush White House that could bring down this entire immoral house of cards.

Gannongate?

Hotmilitarystud.comgate?

If I was Gannon/Guckert I'd be worried. History is littered with the corpses of people who were perceived as a threat to the Bush family regime.

 

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
0
Well, McClellan said Guckert never applied for a hard pass yet those pictures show what is apparently a hard pass. Or, maybe he just got it when Ari was still spreading the Bush propaganda.
 

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
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Gannon's denial of a hard pass to the Congressional Press Gallery
http://mediachannel.org/mc/gannondoc.pdf
Committee guidelines require that on-line publications ?must charge a market rate fee for
subscription or access, or carry paid advertising at current market rates.? You have not
demonstrated to the committee?s satisfaction that Talon News has any paid subscribers, that paid
client newspapers publish Talon News stories, or that it is supported by advertising.

The application for accreditation to the press galleries states that ?members of the press shall not
engage in lobbying or paid advertising, publicity, promotion, work for any individual, political
party, corporation, organization, or agency of the Federal Government.? Talon News has not
demonstrated to the satisfaction of the committee that there is a separation from GOPUSA/
Millions of Americans.com
.

Gallery rules and the application state that the principal income of correspondents must be
obtained from news correspondence intended for publication in newspapers or news services. The
committee feels that paying a single reporter a ?stipend? does not meet the intent of the rule.
 

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
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Whoops!


Ari Fleischer Tells E&P He Spoke to Gannon/Guckert's Boss
http://199.249.170.220/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000807754
Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was so concerned about Talon News reporter James Guckert's potential ties to the Republican Party that he stopped calling on him at press briefings for about a week in 2003, Fleischer told E&P today.

"I found out that he worked for a GOP site, and I didn't think it was my place to call on him because he worked for something that was related to the party," Fleischer said in a phone interview. "He had the editor call me and made the case that they were not related to the Republican Party. He said they used the GOP name for marketing purposes only."

He said he resumed calling on Guckert, who used the alias Jeff Gannon, after Bobby Eberle, owner of both GOPUSA and Talon News, "assured me that they were not part of the Republican Party." Eberle is a Texas Republican activist and served as a delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention.

Fleischer has not previously commented on the Gannon/Guckert affair.

"I don't think that party organizations should have people in that room acting as reporters," Fleischer said, explaining his initial concerns. "They are advocates, not reporters, and a line should be drawn." But, after speaking with Eberle and looking at Talon News, he was convinced that GOPUSA.com and Talon News were not official party sites.

"It looked like a conservative news organization," Fleischer said. "If I thought that they were part of the party, I would not have [resumed] calling on them."

Fleischer served as Bush press secretary from January 2001 to July 2003. Guckert, who has become a center of controversy after it was learned he had used an alias at the White House and had ties to several male escort sites, started at Talon News in February 2003 and resigned last week.

Fleischer said he did not know much about Guckert and could not recall exactly when he started covering press briefings. He said he played no part in approving Guckert's requests for daily press credentials (which were handled by his office).

He added that he did not know at the time that Gannon had been using a false name and did not know if Scott McClellan, now press secretary but then Fleischer's aide, had known then either. "It came as a surprise to me, because I always knew him as Jeff Gannon," he said. Fleischer said he did not know of any other White House reporters using aliases.

He said he did not know the method the White House Press Office used to keep records of those, like Guckert, who received daily press passes. White House Press Office officials did not respond to several requests today for such information.

Fleischer said he knew that he would get a conservative question from Guckert whenever he called on him. "He was one of the few identifiable conservatives in the room," Fleischer said. "[With] some reporters, you know you will get a question from right field, and [with] some you know you will get a question from left field. I made a deliberate practice to call on everyone in the room. It was a way to make sure large organizations got their questions in, but also to be fair to organizations who do not get their questions in right away."

Fleischer stressed that he did not go to Guckert more often than others or in the hopes of getting a "softball" or partisan question. "Sometimes, you can get tripped up from right field," he said with a laugh.

When asked about the credentialing process for reporters, Fleischer said he purposely did not get involved in deciding who should get passes and believes no one in his former job should. He recalled that there was a rule about credentialed reporters being part of news organizations that "published regularly" but was uncertain how it applied to Web sites. "I don't know that we even had a policy vis-a-vis bloggers and blogs," he told E&P. "I never kept up on any of that."

"Until this issue came up, it was such a low-level thing that it would be below the radar of the press secretary," Fleischer noted. He also believes that the issue will eventually blow over. "I have a feeling that this is going to be one of those issues where people wring their hands, say 'woe is me,' and decide that it is best the way it is," he predicted. "I would advise the White House not to get into [efforts to change the system]."

Fleischer also stressed that, beyond security concerns, reporters from any regular news organization should be allowed to a have White House access unless they can be shown to be a threat. "It is a slippery slope for any press secretary in any administration to pick and choose who gets a credential based on ideology," he said, adding, "so long as they are a legitimate reporter."

Even Guckert's ties to several sex Web sites and allegations that he worked as a male prostitute should not necessarily keep him or any other reporter out, Fleischer said. "The last thing our nation needs is for anyone in the White House to concern themselves with the private lives of reporters," he said. "What right does the White House have to decide who gets to be a reporter based on private lives?"

If allegations that Guckert ran Web ads offering his services as a male escort prove true, however, this would represent more than a ?private life? issue. Asked what he thought about the recent revelations about Guckert's past, Fleischer said only, "It is all a bit odd."

When asked if knowing that Gannon was a fake name would have changed his treatment of Guckert, Fleischer said, "I don?t know how I would react to that." Should changes in the credentialing process be made? He said, "the White House Correspondents Association should either seek a change or leave it alone and recognize that there is room for a little weirdness on both sides."

He also said Guckert was "just as legitimate as some of the fringe organizations in the room."
An official news organization that cut-n-pastes from RNC releases and Bush speech transcripts? :confused:
 

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
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The White House Stages Its 'Daily Show'

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/20/arts/...543ea76c5d&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland
THE prayers of those hoping that real television news might take its cues from Jon Stewart were finally answered on Feb. 9, 2005. A real newsman borrowed a technique from fake news to deliver real news about fake news in prime time.

Let me explain.

On "Countdown," a nightly news hour on MSNBC, the anchor, Keith Olbermann, led off with a classic "Daily Show"-style bit: a rapid-fire montage of sharply edited video bites illustrating the apparent idiocy of those in Washington. In this case, the eight clips stretched over a year in the White House briefing room - from February 2004 to late last month - and all featured a reporter named "Jeff." In most of them, the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, says "Go ahead, Jeff," and "Jeff" responds with a softball question intended not to elicit information but to boost President Bush and smear his political opponents. In the last clip, "Jeff" is quizzing the president himself, in his first post-inaugural press conference of Jan. 26. Referring to Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton, "Jeff" asks, "How are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?"

If we did not live in a time when the news culture itself is divorced from reality, the story might end there: "Jeff," you'd assume, was a lapdog reporter from a legitimate, if right-wing, news organization like Fox, and you'd get some predictable yuks from watching a compressed video anthology of his kissing up to power. But as Mr. Olbermann explained, "Jeff Gannon," the star of the montage, was a newsman no more real than a "Senior White House Correspondent" like Stephen Colbert on "The Daily Show" and he worked for a news organization no more real than The Onion. Yet the video broadcast by Mr. Olbermann was not fake. "Jeff" was in the real White House, and he did have those exchanges with the real Mr. McClellan and the real Mr. Bush.

"Jeff Gannon's" real name is James D. Guckert. His employer was a Web site called Talon News, staffed mostly by volunteer Republican activists. Media Matters for America, the liberal press monitor that has done the most exhaustive research into the case, discovered that Talon's "news" often consists of recycled Republican National Committee and White House press releases, and its content frequently overlaps with another partisan site, GOPUSA, with which it shares its owner, a Texas delegate to the 2000 Republican convention. Nonetheless, for nearly two years the White House press office had credentialed Mr. Guckert, even though, as Dana Milbank of The Washington Post explained on Mr. Olbermann's show, he "was representing a phony media company that doesn't really have any such thing as circulation or readership."

How this happened is a mystery that has yet to be solved. "Jeff" has now quit Talon News not because he and it have been exposed as fakes but because of other embarrassing blogosphere revelations linking him to sites like hotmilitarystud.com and to an apparently promising career as an X-rated $200-per-hour "escort." If Mr. Guckert, the author of Talon News exclusives like "Kerry Could Become First Gay President," is yet another link in the boundless network of homophobic Republican closet cases, that's not without interest. But it shouldn't distract from the real question - that is, the real news - of how this fake newsman might be connected to a White House propaganda machine that grows curiouser by the day. Though Mr. McClellan told Editor & Publisher magazine that he didn't know until recently that Mr. Guckert was using an alias, Bruce Bartlett, a White House veteran of the Reagan-Bush I era, wrote on the nonpartisan journalism Web site Romenesko, that "if Gannon was using an alias, the White House staff had to be involved in maintaining his cover." (Otherwise, it would be a rather amazing post-9/11 security breach.)

By my count, "Jeff Gannon" is now at least the sixth "journalist" (four of whom have been unmasked so far this year) to have been a propagandist on the payroll of either the Bush administration or a barely arms-length ally like Talon News while simultaneously appearing in print or broadcast forums that purport to be real news. Of these six, two have been syndicated newspaper columnists paid by the Department of Health and Human Services to promote the administration's "marriage" initiatives. The other four have played real newsmen on TV. Before Mr. Guckert and Armstrong Williams, the talking head paid $240,000 by the Department of Education, there were Karen Ryan and Alberto Garcia. Let us not forget these pioneers - the Woodward and Bernstein of fake news. They starred in bogus reports ("In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting," went the script) pretending to "sort through the details" of the administration's Medicare prescription-drug plan in 2004. Such "reports," some of which found their way into news packages distributed to local stations by CNN, appeared in more than 50 news broadcasts around the country and have now been deemed illegal "covert propaganda" by the Government Accountability Office.

The money that paid for both the Ryan-Garcia news packages and the Armstrong Williams contract was siphoned through the same huge public relations firm, Ketchum Communications, which itself filtered the funds through subcontractors. A new report by Congressional Democrats finds that Ketchum has received $97 million of the administration's total $250 million P.R. kitty, of which the Williams and Ryan-Garcia scams would account for only a fraction. We have yet to learn precisely where the rest of it ended up.

Even now, we know that the fake news generated by the six known shills is only a small piece of the administration's overall propaganda effort. President Bush wasn't entirely joking when he called the notoriously meek March 6, 2003, White House press conference on the eve of the Iraq invasion "scripted" while it was still going on. (And "Jeff Gannon" apparently wasn't even at that one). Everything is scripted.

The pre-fab "Ask President Bush" town hall-style meetings held during last year's campaign (typical question: "Mr. President, as a child, how can I help you get votes?") were carefully designed for television so that, as Kenneth R. Bazinet wrote last summer in New York's Daily News, "unsuspecting viewers" tuning in their local news might get the false impression they were "watching a completely open forum." A Pentagon Office of Strategic Influence, intended to provide propagandistic news items, some of them possibly false, to foreign news media was shut down in 2002 when it became an embarrassing political liability. But much more quietly, another Pentagon propaganda arm, the Pentagon Channel, has recently been added as a free channel for American viewers of the Dish Network. Can a Social Security Channel be far behind?

It is a brilliant strategy. When the Bush administration isn't using taxpayers' money to buy its own fake news, it does everything it can to shut out and pillory real reporters who might tell Americans what is happening in what is, at least in theory, their own government. Paul Farhi of The Washington Post discovered that even at an inaugural ball he was assigned "minders" - attractive women who wouldn't give him their full names - to let the revelers know that Big Brother was watching should they be tempted to say anything remotely off message.

The inability of real journalists to penetrate this White House is not all the White House's fault. The errors of real news organizations have played perfectly into the administration's insidious efforts to blur the boundaries between the fake and the real and thereby demolish the whole notion that there could possibly be an objective and accurate free press. Conservatives, who supposedly deplore post-modernism, are now welcoming in a brave new world in which it's a given that there can be no empirical reality in news, only the reality you want to hear (or they want you to hear). The frequent fecklessness of the Beltway gang does little to penetrate this Washington smokescreen. For a case in point, you needed only switch to CNN on the day after Mr. Olbermann did his fake-news-style story on the fake reporter in the White House press corps.

"Jeff Gannon" had decided to give an exclusive TV interview to a sober practitioner of by-the-book real news, Wolf Blitzer. Given this journalistic opportunity, the anchor asked questions almost as soft as those "Jeff" himself had asked in the White House. Mr. Blitzer didn't question Mr. Guckert's outrageous assertion that he adopted a fake name because "Jeff Gannon is easier to pronounce and easier to remember." (Is "Jeff" easier to pronounce than his real first name, Jim?). Mr. Blitzer never questioned Gannon/Guckert's assertion that Talon News "is a separate, independent news division" of GOPUSA. Only in a brief follow-up interview a day later did he ask Gannon/Guckert to explain why he was questioned by the F.B.I. in the case that may send legitimate reporters to jail: Mr. Guckert has at times implied that he either saw or possessed a classified memo identifying Valerie Plame as a C.I.A. operative. Might that memo have come from the same officials who looked after "Jeff Gannon's" press credentials? Did Mr. Guckert have any connection with CNN's own Robert Novak, whose publication of Ms. Plame's name started this investigation in the first place? The anchor didn't go there.


The "real" news from CNN was no news at all, but it's not as if any of its competitors did much better. The "Jeff Gannon" story got less attention than another media frenzy - that set off by the veteran news executive Eason Jordan, who resigned from CNN after speaking recklessly at a panel discussion at Davos, where he apparently implied, at least in passing, that American troops deliberately targeted reporters. Is the banishment of a real newsman for behaving foolishly at a bloviation conference in Switzerland a more pressing story than that of a fake newsman gaining years of access to the White House (and network TV cameras) under mysterious circumstances? With real news this timid, the appointment of Jon Stewart to take over Dan Rather's chair at CBS News could be just the jolt television journalism needs. As Mr. Olbermann demonstrated when he borrowed a sharp "Daily Show" tool to puncture the "Jeff Gannon" case, the only road back to reality may be to fight fake with fake.
 

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
0
Friday, February 18, 2005

BREAKING NEWS: Gannon reportedly knew about "Shock and Awe" four hours before it happened
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02...aking-news-gannon-reportedly-knew.html
A news producer for a major network just told me that Gannon told the producer the "shock and awe" campaign launching the Iraq war was about to happen four hours before President Bush announced it to the nation.

According to the producer, Gannon specifically told them that in four hours the president was going to be making a speech to the nation announcing the "shock and awe" campaign had begun. The producer told me they were surprised that Gannon, working with such a small news outfit, could have access to such information, but "what did you know, he was right," the producer said today. The producer went on to say that Gannon often had correct scoops on major stories, including information about Mary Mapes and the Dan Rather BUSH/AWOL scandal that this news outlet got from Gannon before any had the information publicly.

This more than a few questions and points:

1. Assuming this news producer is telling the truth, and I have no reason to believe they are not, how did Gannon get access to such highly classified information as to when the Iraq war going to begin?

2. Even if Gannon were part of a press gaggle that was told embargoed information about the upcoming war by the White House, this producer alleges that Gannon broke the embargo, which is a security risk to the operation, and more generally shows that concerns about Gannon's White House access posing a risk to national security are now warranted.

3. How would someone on a day pass, who hadn't gotten the requisite 3-4 month FBI background check that other full-time White House employees get, get access to such highly classified information? Certainly the White House didn't include someone with simply a day pass in the highly-classified pre-briefing about when the war was happening (assuming such a briefing even occurred)? If the White House did a briefing and Gannon were included, this would mean ANYONE could walk in off the street, say they're a reporter, and provided by they don't have a criminal record, the White House will simply tell them at what hour we're launching a major war? And if there was no briefing for reporters, then how did Gannon allegedly find out?

4. How would Gannon get inside information on the Dan Rather scandal BEFORE the rest of the major media? Assuming the producer is correct, did it come from a White House source, and if so, what does this say about possible White House involvement in creating this scandal in the first place?

According to my source, Gannon's insider tidbits were always on the mark. "Gannon's stuff was always golden," the producer says. My source says they kept asking themself, "how does this small news outfit get this info?"

How indeed.


Gannon in White House Press Corps in Nov. 2002?
http://www.prwatch.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5358



Man, this is really starting to smell of corruption, propaganda, and who knows what else!
 

imported_Condor

Diamond Member
Sep 22, 2004
5,425
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0
Originally posted by: conjur
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/9/05353/85271
www.jeffgannon.com :


Jeff Gannon
A Voice of the New Media
The voice goes silent.

Because of the attention being paid to me I find it is no longer possible to effectively be a reporter for Talon News. In consideration of the welfare of me and my family I have decided to return to private life.

Thank you to all those who supported me.

Later!

See ya!

Wouldn't want to be ya!


Update from dailykos:

Jeff Gannon aka Jim Guckert, and gay smut
by kos
Tue Feb 8th, 2005 at 14:47:46 PST

Oh man, reality is truly stranger than fiction.
"Jeff Gannon", the White House press propagandist "correspondent" for the fake "Talon" news service, turns out to be using a nom de plume.

A group of dKos diarists have been peeling away the layers of Gannon's fake persona, summarized by World O'Crap. In one of those diaries, this revelation is made by Radically Bitter: Among the domains owned by Gannon/Guckert are these:
jeffgannon.com
Hotmilitarystud.com
Militaryescorts.com
Militaryescortsm4m.com

In case this isn't clear enough, those last three are gay sex-themed names. Suddenly, his picture looks appropriately in character.

So why is this relevant, other than today seems to have become "Republicans and sex hypocrisy day"?
In reviewing White House press conferences from the past year, Media Matters for America has noted numerous instances in which Gannon's lobs -- leading questions that often include false assumptions favorable to the Bush administration -- have allowed McClellan to move to friendlier turf, away from having to answer questions on such issues as the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment; [...]

So in addition to the "hyprocrisy and sex" thing, we've got the "hypocrisy and gay" thing.
And no, this wasn't planned. It's not my fault the other side unloaded so much hypocrisy in a single day.

(In a sign of how I've lost complete control over this site, I note, with great irony, that I found out about the domain thing from Atrios.)

Update: There is some concern that focus on the more salacious details of Gannon's hypocrisy detracts from more substantive discussions and investigations currently going on by various diariests.

In a way, that may be true. Gannon is a propagandist, funded by god knows who, who essentially provide McClellan a lifeline whenever the White House press corps backs him into a corner.

I, along with most liberals, couldn't care less if one of our colleagues or employees is gay. That's a problem with right wingers, not our side.

So say Guckert's outing costs him his gravy train at Talon "News", and he is replaced by someone else, would that kill the issue?

I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Personally, I think it would add fire to the crusade if they cut him loose. And it's not as if the "propaganda" angle is tied to Guckert. That one belongs to Talon News, independent of which sycophant they have infesting the White House press room every day.


Friday, February 18, 2005

BREAKING NEWS: Gannon reportedly knew about "Shock and Awe" four hours before it happened
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02...aking-news-gannon-reportedly-knew.html

For a group that talks a great Gay game, you libs are sure wrapped around the axle on this. Really closet homophobes, aren't you!

 

imported_Condor

Diamond Member
Sep 22, 2004
5,425
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0
Originally posted by: aidanjm
it's interesting that it's the conservatives, bastions of traditional moral values, who turn out to be the lying, hypocritical sleezeballs. :p

Once again I will point out that all Republicans aren't bastions of traditional moral values any more than all Democratic candidates don't drive vans to churches to pick up voters on Election Day.
 

Darkhawk28

Diamond Member
Dec 22, 2000
6,759
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Originally posted by: Condor
Originally posted by: conjur
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/9/05353/85271
www.jeffgannon.com :


Jeff Gannon
A Voice of the New Media
The voice goes silent.

Because of the attention being paid to me I find it is no longer possible to effectively be a reporter for Talon News. In consideration of the welfare of me and my family I have decided to return to private life.

Thank you to all those who supported me.

Later!

See ya!

Wouldn't want to be ya!


Update from dailykos:

Jeff Gannon aka Jim Guckert, and gay smut
by kos
Tue Feb 8th, 2005 at 14:47:46 PST

Oh man, reality is truly stranger than fiction.
"Jeff Gannon", the White House press propagandist "correspondent" for the fake "Talon" news service, turns out to be using a nom de plume.

A group of dKos diarists have been peeling away the layers of Gannon's fake persona, summarized by World O'Crap. In one of those diaries, this revelation is made by Radically Bitter: Among the domains owned by Gannon/Guckert are these:
jeffgannon.com
Hotmilitarystud.com
Militaryescorts.com
Militaryescortsm4m.com

In case this isn't clear enough, those last three are gay sex-themed names. Suddenly, his picture looks appropriately in character.

So why is this relevant, other than today seems to have become "Republicans and sex hypocrisy day"?
In reviewing White House press conferences from the past year, Media Matters for America has noted numerous instances in which Gannon's lobs -- leading questions that often include false assumptions favorable to the Bush administration -- have allowed McClellan to move to friendlier turf, away from having to answer questions on such issues as the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment; [...]

So in addition to the "hyprocrisy and sex" thing, we've got the "hypocrisy and gay" thing.
And no, this wasn't planned. It's not my fault the other side unloaded so much hypocrisy in a single day.

(In a sign of how I've lost complete control over this site, I note, with great irony, that I found out about the domain thing from Atrios.)

Update: There is some concern that focus on the more salacious details of Gannon's hypocrisy detracts from more substantive discussions and investigations currently going on by various diariests.

In a way, that may be true. Gannon is a propagandist, funded by god knows who, who essentially provide McClellan a lifeline whenever the White House press corps backs him into a corner.

I, along with most liberals, couldn't care less if one of our colleagues or employees is gay. That's a problem with right wingers, not our side.

So say Guckert's outing costs him his gravy train at Talon "News", and he is replaced by someone else, would that kill the issue?

I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Personally, I think it would add fire to the crusade if they cut him loose. And it's not as if the "propaganda" angle is tied to Guckert. That one belongs to Talon News, independent of which sycophant they have infesting the White House press room every day.


Friday, February 18, 2005

BREAKING NEWS: Gannon reportedly knew about "Shock and Awe" four hours before it happened
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02...aking-news-gannon-reportedly-knew.html

For a group that talks a great Gay game, you libs are sure wrapped around the axle on this. Really closet homophobes, aren't you!

Hey schmuck, where does Conjur's link refer to Gannon as gay. We all know he is, but that's not the point. But you already know that, but you just wanted to throw out an insult. Well here's one for you: Go back to the meth lab where you belong.
 

imported_Condor

Diamond Member
Sep 22, 2004
5,425
0
0
Originally posted by: Darkhawk28
Originally posted by: Condor
Originally posted by: conjur
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/9/05353/85271
www.jeffgannon.com :


Jeff Gannon
A Voice of the New Media
The voice goes silent.

Because of the attention being paid to me I find it is no longer possible to effectively be a reporter for Talon News. In consideration of the welfare of me and my family I have decided to return to private life.

Thank you to all those who supported me.

Later!

See ya!

Wouldn't want to be ya!


Update from dailykos:

Jeff Gannon aka Jim Guckert, and gay smut
by kos
Tue Feb 8th, 2005 at 14:47:46 PST

Oh man, reality is truly stranger than fiction.
"Jeff Gannon", the White House press propagandist "correspondent" for the fake "Talon" news service, turns out to be using a nom de plume.

A group of dKos diarists have been peeling away the layers of Gannon's fake persona, summarized by World O'Crap. In one of those diaries, this revelation is made by Radically Bitter: Among the domains owned by Gannon/Guckert are these:
jeffgannon.com
Hotmilitarystud.com
Militaryescorts.com
Militaryescortsm4m.com

In case this isn't clear enough, those last three are gay sex-themed names. Suddenly, his picture looks appropriately in character.

So why is this relevant, other than today seems to have become "Republicans and sex hypocrisy day"?
In reviewing White House press conferences from the past year, Media Matters for America has noted numerous instances in which Gannon's lobs -- leading questions that often include false assumptions favorable to the Bush administration -- have allowed McClellan to move to friendlier turf, away from having to answer questions on such issues as the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment; [...]

So in addition to the "hyprocrisy and sex" thing, we've got the "hypocrisy and gay" thing.
And no, this wasn't planned. It's not my fault the other side unloaded so much hypocrisy in a single day.

(In a sign of how I've lost complete control over this site, I note, with great irony, that I found out about the domain thing from Atrios.)

Update: There is some concern that focus on the more salacious details of Gannon's hypocrisy detracts from more substantive discussions and investigations currently going on by various diariests.

In a way, that may be true. Gannon is a propagandist, funded by god knows who, who essentially provide McClellan a lifeline whenever the White House press corps backs him into a corner.

I, along with most liberals, couldn't care less if one of our colleagues or employees is gay. That's a problem with right wingers, not our side.

So say Guckert's outing costs him his gravy train at Talon "News", and he is replaced by someone else, would that kill the issue?

I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Personally, I think it would add fire to the crusade if they cut him loose. And it's not as if the "propaganda" angle is tied to Guckert. That one belongs to Talon News, independent of which sycophant they have infesting the White House press room every day.



Friday, February 18, 2005

BREAKING NEWS: Gannon reportedly knew about "Shock and Awe" four hours before it happened
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02...aking-news-gannon-reportedly-knew.html

For a group that talks a great Gay game, you libs are sure wrapped around the axle on this. Really closet homophobes, aren't you!

Hey schmuck, where does Conjur's link refer to Gannon as gay. We all know he is, but that's not the point. But you already know that, but you just wanted to throw out an insult. Well here's one for you: Go back to the meth lab where you belong.

Uh, how about in the bolded area above. Think Ginko!

 

Darkhawk28

Diamond Member
Dec 22, 2000
6,759
0
0
Originally posted by: Condor
Originally posted by: Darkhawk28
Originally posted by: Condor
Originally posted by: conjur
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/9/05353/85271
www.jeffgannon.com :


Jeff Gannon
A Voice of the New Media
The voice goes silent.

Because of the attention being paid to me I find it is no longer possible to effectively be a reporter for Talon News. In consideration of the welfare of me and my family I have decided to return to private life.

Thank you to all those who supported me.

Later!

See ya!

Wouldn't want to be ya!


Update from dailykos:

Jeff Gannon aka Jim Guckert, and gay smut
by kos
Tue Feb 8th, 2005 at 14:47:46 PST

Oh man, reality is truly stranger than fiction.
"Jeff Gannon", the White House press propagandist "correspondent" for the fake "Talon" news service, turns out to be using a nom de plume.

A group of dKos diarists have been peeling away the layers of Gannon's fake persona, summarized by World O'Crap. In one of those diaries, this revelation is made by Radically Bitter: Among the domains owned by Gannon/Guckert are these:
jeffgannon.com
Hotmilitarystud.com
Militaryescorts.com
Militaryescortsm4m.com

In case this isn't clear enough, those last three are gay sex-themed names. Suddenly, his picture looks appropriately in character.

So why is this relevant, other than today seems to have become "Republicans and sex hypocrisy day"?
In reviewing White House press conferences from the past year, Media Matters for America has noted numerous instances in which Gannon's lobs -- leading questions that often include false assumptions favorable to the Bush administration -- have allowed McClellan to move to friendlier turf, away from having to answer questions on such issues as the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment; [...]

So in addition to the "hyprocrisy and sex" thing, we've got the "hypocrisy and gay" thing.
And no, this wasn't planned. It's not my fault the other side unloaded so much hypocrisy in a single day.

(In a sign of how I've lost complete control over this site, I note, with great irony, that I found out about the domain thing from Atrios.)

Update: There is some concern that focus on the more salacious details of Gannon's hypocrisy detracts from more substantive discussions and investigations currently going on by various diariests.

In a way, that may be true. Gannon is a propagandist, funded by god knows who, who essentially provide McClellan a lifeline whenever the White House press corps backs him into a corner.

I, along with most liberals, couldn't care less if one of our colleagues or employees is gay. That's a problem with right wingers, not our side.

So say Guckert's outing costs him his gravy train at Talon "News", and he is replaced by someone else, would that kill the issue?

I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Personally, I think it would add fire to the crusade if they cut him loose. And it's not as if the "propaganda" angle is tied to Guckert. That one belongs to Talon News, independent of which sycophant they have infesting the White House press room every day.



Friday, February 18, 2005

BREAKING NEWS: Gannon reportedly knew about "Shock and Awe" four hours before it happened
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02...aking-news-gannon-reportedly-knew.html

For a group that talks a great Gay game, you libs are sure wrapped around the axle on this. Really closet homophobes, aren't you!

Hey schmuck, where does Conjur's link refer to Gannon as gay. We all know he is, but that's not the point. But you already know that, but you just wanted to throw out an insult. Well here's one for you: Go back to the meth lab where you belong.

Uh, how about in the bolded area above. Think Ginko!

Hey Adolf, I'm talking about the amerciablog link, which is the newest one from Conjur... you know... the one that says... BREAKING NEWS.
 

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
0
Originally posted by: Condor
For a group that talks a great Gay game, you libs are sure wrapped around the axle on this. Really closet homophobes, aren't you!
For someone who supports a group that claimed to bring "honor and integrity back to the White House", you Bush-God fanbois are sure wrapped in delusion and apologetics.

But, then again, I wouldn't expect someone lacking of moral fiber to see the real story here: a fake reporter having access to top-level information. Can you say, National Security Breach?
 

imported_Condor

Diamond Member
Sep 22, 2004
5,425
0
0
Originally posted by: conjur
Originally posted by: Condor
For a group that talks a great Gay game, you libs are sure wrapped around the axle on this. Really closet homophobes, aren't you!
For someone who supports a group that claimed to bring "honor and integrity back to the White House", you Bush-God fanbois are sure wrapped in delusion and apologetics.

But, then again, I wouldn't expect someone lacking of moral fiber to see the real story here: a fake reporter having access to top-level information. Can you say, National Security Breach?

The real story may be that, but the "Gay" issue just seems to pop up, doesn't it?

 

imported_Condor

Diamond Member
Sep 22, 2004
5,425
0
0
Originally posted by: Darkhawk28
Originally posted by: Condor
Originally posted by: Darkhawk28
Originally posted by: Condor
Originally posted by: conjur
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/9/05353/85271
www.jeffgannon.com :


Jeff Gannon
A Voice of the New Media
The voice goes silent.

Because of the attention being paid to me I find it is no longer possible to effectively be a reporter for Talon News. In consideration of the welfare of me and my family I have decided to return to private life.

Thank you to all those who supported me.

Later!

See ya!

Wouldn't want to be ya!


Update from dailykos:

Jeff Gannon aka Jim Guckert, and gay smut
by kos
Tue Feb 8th, 2005 at 14:47:46 PST

Oh man, reality is truly stranger than fiction.
"Jeff Gannon", the White House press propagandist "correspondent" for the fake "Talon" news service, turns out to be using a nom de plume.

A group of dKos diarists have been peeling away the layers of Gannon's fake persona, summarized by World O'Crap. In one of those diaries, this revelation is made by Radically Bitter: Among the domains owned by Gannon/Guckert are these:
jeffgannon.com
Hotmilitarystud.com
Militaryescorts.com
Militaryescortsm4m.com

In case this isn't clear enough, those last three are gay sex-themed names. Suddenly, his picture looks appropriately in character.

So why is this relevant, other than today seems to have become "Republicans and sex hypocrisy day"?
In reviewing White House press conferences from the past year, Media Matters for America has noted numerous instances in which Gannon's lobs -- leading questions that often include false assumptions favorable to the Bush administration -- have allowed McClellan to move to friendlier turf, away from having to answer questions on such issues as the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment; [...]

So in addition to the "hyprocrisy and sex" thing, we've got the "hypocrisy and gay" thing.
And no, this wasn't planned. It's not my fault the other side unloaded so much hypocrisy in a single day.

(In a sign of how I've lost complete control over this site, I note, with great irony, that I found out about the domain thing from Atrios.)

Update: There is some concern that focus on the more salacious details of Gannon's hypocrisy detracts from more substantive discussions and investigations currently going on by various diariests.

In a way, that may be true. Gannon is a propagandist, funded by god knows who, who essentially provide McClellan a lifeline whenever the White House press corps backs him into a corner.

I, along with most liberals, couldn't care less if one of our colleagues or employees is gay. That's a problem with right wingers, not our side.

So say Guckert's outing costs him his gravy train at Talon "News", and he is replaced by someone else, would that kill the issue?

I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Personally, I think it would add fire to the crusade if they cut him loose. And it's not as if the "propaganda" angle is tied to Guckert. That one belongs to Talon News, independent of which sycophant they have infesting the White House press room every day.



Friday, February 18, 2005

BREAKING NEWS: Gannon reportedly knew about "Shock and Awe" four hours before it happened
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02...aking-news-gannon-reportedly-knew.html

For a group that talks a great Gay game, you libs are sure wrapped around the axle on this. Really closet homophobes, aren't you!

Hey schmuck, where does Conjur's link refer to Gannon as gay. We all know he is, but that's not the point. But you already know that, but you just wanted to throw out an insult. Well here's one for you: Go back to the meth lab where you belong.

Uh, how about in the bolded area above. Think Ginko!

Hey Adolf, I'm talking about the amerciablog link, which is the newest one from Conjur... you know... the one that says... BREAKING NEWS.

Look DS, I do believe that I pulled that quote from Conjur's post!

 

Darkhawk28

Diamond Member
Dec 22, 2000
6,759
0
0
Originally posted by: Condor
Originally posted by: Darkhawk28
Originally posted by: Condor
Originally posted by: Darkhawk28
Originally posted by: Condor
Originally posted by: conjur
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/9/05353/85271
www.jeffgannon.com :


Jeff Gannon
A Voice of the New Media
The voice goes silent.

Because of the attention being paid to me I find it is no longer possible to effectively be a reporter for Talon News. In consideration of the welfare of me and my family I have decided to return to private life.

Thank you to all those who supported me.

Later!

See ya!

Wouldn't want to be ya!


Update from dailykos:

Jeff Gannon aka Jim Guckert, and gay smut
by kos
Tue Feb 8th, 2005 at 14:47:46 PST

Oh man, reality is truly stranger than fiction.
"Jeff Gannon", the White House press propagandist "correspondent" for the fake "Talon" news service, turns out to be using a nom de plume.

A group of dKos diarists have been peeling away the layers of Gannon's fake persona, summarized by World O'Crap. In one of those diaries, this revelation is made by Radically Bitter: Among the domains owned by Gannon/Guckert are these:
jeffgannon.com
Hotmilitarystud.com
Militaryescorts.com
Militaryescortsm4m.com

In case this isn't clear enough, those last three are gay sex-themed names. Suddenly, his picture looks appropriately in character.

So why is this relevant, other than today seems to have become "Republicans and sex hypocrisy day"?
In reviewing White House press conferences from the past year, Media Matters for America has noted numerous instances in which Gannon's lobs -- leading questions that often include false assumptions favorable to the Bush administration -- have allowed McClellan to move to friendlier turf, away from having to answer questions on such issues as the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment; [...]

So in addition to the "hyprocrisy and sex" thing, we've got the "hypocrisy and gay" thing.
And no, this wasn't planned. It's not my fault the other side unloaded so much hypocrisy in a single day.

(In a sign of how I've lost complete control over this site, I note, with great irony, that I found out about the domain thing from Atrios.)

Update: There is some concern that focus on the more salacious details of Gannon's hypocrisy detracts from more substantive discussions and investigations currently going on by various diariests.

In a way, that may be true. Gannon is a propagandist, funded by god knows who, who essentially provide McClellan a lifeline whenever the White House press corps backs him into a corner.

I, along with most liberals, couldn't care less if one of our colleagues or employees is gay. That's a problem with right wingers, not our side.

So say Guckert's outing costs him his gravy train at Talon "News", and he is replaced by someone else, would that kill the issue?

I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Personally, I think it would add fire to the crusade if they cut him loose. And it's not as if the "propaganda" angle is tied to Guckert. That one belongs to Talon News, independent of which sycophant they have infesting the White House press room every day.



Friday, February 18, 2005

BREAKING NEWS: Gannon reportedly knew about "Shock and Awe" four hours before it happened
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02...aking-news-gannon-reportedly-knew.html

For a group that talks a great Gay game, you libs are sure wrapped around the axle on this. Really closet homophobes, aren't you!

Hey schmuck, where does Conjur's link refer to Gannon as gay. We all know he is, but that's not the point. But you already know that, but you just wanted to throw out an insult. Well here's one for you: Go back to the meth lab where you belong.

Uh, how about in the bolded area above. Think Ginko!

Hey Adolf, I'm talking about the amerciablog link, which is the newest one from Conjur... you know... the one that says... BREAKING NEWS.

Look DS, I do believe that I pulled that quote from Conjur's post!

Nope. The newest Conjur post. You know, seeing how the story has evolved past the gay part and now it's a matter of national security being breached. DS.
 

aidanjm

Lifer
Aug 9, 2004
12,411
2
0
Originally posted by: Condor
For a group that talks a great Gay game, you libs are sure wrapped around the axle on this. Really closet homophobes, aren't you!

So people should go easy on this guy, because he is gay? Lol.
 

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
0
Originally posted by: Condor
Originally posted by: conjur
Originally posted by: Condor
For a group that talks a great Gay game, you libs are sure wrapped around the axle on this. Really closet homophobes, aren't you!
For someone who supports a group that claimed to bring "honor and integrity back to the White House", you Bush-God fanbois are sure wrapped in delusion and apologetics.

But, then again, I wouldn't expect someone lacking of moral fiber to see the real story here: a fake reporter having access to top-level information. Can you say, National Security Breach?
The real story may be that, but the "Gay" issue just seems to pop up, doesn't it?
Nothing I can do about that. But, it may lead to why he was allowed into the WH press corps as far back as Nov. 2002 and had access to top-level information.

Or, are you trying to defend prostitution now?
 

Harvey

Administrator<br>Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
35,057
60
91
Originally posted by: Condor
For a group that talks a great Gay game, you libs are sure wrapped around the axle on this. Really closet homophobes, aren't you!
On one level, as conjur and Darkhawk28 said, the fact that he's gay has nothing to do with it. This affair raises questions of national security and serious attempts by the Whitehouse to manipulate and compromise the integrity of the legitimate news media.

As a matter of security, somehow, Gannon/Guckert got into Whitehouse press conferences, including those with the President, himself. He did so despite having a background that common sense says should have raised several red flags, including using a bogus name, claiming to represent a "news" outlet that was clearly bogus and being engaged in criminal activity as a prostitute, regardless the gender of his clients.

This strongly suggests security measures were either woefully inadequate or compromised by political motivations.

As a matter of Whitehouse integrity, Gannon/Guckert was allowed to continue attending these news conferences despite the fact that Ari Fleisher booted him because of his apparent affiliation with a Republican organization and only relented when pressured by others in the Whitehouse. Furthermore, the Whitehouse staff often and continuously called on him under his pseudonym, even though they had to know his real name and at least should have known that "Talon News" was a sham.

This further suggests Whitehouse involvement with intention of planting Gannon/Guckert as a shill to ask softball questions that "just happened to" include considerable neocon tirades.

Compromising Whitehouse security and integrity would be bad enough, but beyond that, the gay aspect is at least interesting mainly because the administration has made such a point of stressing their affiliation with ultra right wing religious zealots with a major broomstick up their collective asses over their anti-gay bigotry. The hypocrisy, alone, should be enough to make any honest conservative choke on the administration's ethical cesspool.

I'm still wondering which Whitehouse staffers were Gannon/Guckert's butt buddies. :shocked:
 

Infohawk

Lifer
Jan 12, 2002
17,844
1
0
Originally posted by: aidanjm
it's interesting that it's the conservatives, bastions of traditional moral values, who turn out to be the lying, hypocritical sleezeballs. :p

Neocons get owned AGAIN.
 

DealMonkey

Lifer
Nov 25, 2001
13,136
1
0
Originally posted by: Condor
For a group that talks a great Gay game, you libs are sure wrapped around the axle on this. Really closet homophobes, aren't you!
And this ^^ my friends must be a GOP talking point on the Gannon scandal. I think I've heard just about every conservative, wanna-be rightie and our local closet conservative/parody fraudster parroting more-or-less this exact phrase over the past week. Way to go, everyone's on message! :confused: