so they hire this gay pimp to pretend to be a reporter, and….

As I’ve mentioned a few times in recent posts, the progressive blogosphere has been pulsing with activity this past week as everyone with a modem and access to Google was helping to track down the real identity of White House reporter Jeff Gannon. Gannon, as you may recall, was first brought to our attention by the folks at Media Matters, a watchdog group charged with ferreting out political bias in the news. Noting that Gannon, essentially a glorified right wing blogger with no journalistic credentials to speak of, had been given top-level White House press clearance, the President of Media Matters suggested that the relationship between the “reporter” and White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan be looked into. And, as there had been several instances where either McClellan, or Bush himself, had called on Gannon when lines of questioning from the other, more legitimate reporters in the room became too rough, it seemed like perhaps there was something to it. (Gannon, it would seem, served the purpose of bringing either McClellan or Bush back around to their talking points when they’d been led astray.)

So, my fellow bloggers began to dig. And they found dirt. Not only was “Jeff Gannon” not the real name of the man tossing softball questions to McClellan and Bush, but he apparently had a colorful past that involved, among other things, homosexual prostitution. (Gannon’s real name is Guckert and it looks as though he may have been prostituting male members of the US armed services, or at least men claiming to be from the armed services, on-line.)

Well, I guess you’re wondering what Gannon had to say in his defense once all of this became known. Well, here’s what he posted on his site:

“I’m everything people on the Left seem to despise. I’m a man who is white, politically conservative, a gun-owner, an SUV driver and I’ve voted for Republicans. I’m pro-American, pro-military, pro-democracy, pro-capitalism, pro-free speech, anti-tax and anti-big government. Most importantly, I’m a Christian. Not only by birth, but by rebirth through the blood of Jesus Christ.”

That’s right, he was discovered to be an ass-selling pimp, and, worse yet, a propaganda tool of the Bush administration, and his response is that he’s a conservative, SUV-driving, white male and thus a target of the fanatical left. And, as if that weren’t enough, he then went a little further and mentioned that he was born again “in the blood of Jesus Christ”… It’s absolutely fucking disgusting. (I suspect that, instead of cyanide capsules, all the people doing illegal and/or unethical work for Bush regime are given little cards that say, “If caught, say you’re born again.”)

More disgusting, however, is that this story wasn’t the lead on every news show tonight.

Fortunately, some people are following up. The following quote comes from a letter sent this afternoon by Representative Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Rules, to Bush. (The whole letter can be found reprinted on the Wonkette site.)

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.

One last thing, it also appears as though Gannon/Guckert may somehow be involved in the outing of Ambassador Joe Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, as an undercover CIA operative. (Her identity was made public, ending her career, and endangering the lives of her contacts around the world, after her husband came forward to say that Bush had lied on at least one count in his State of the Union speech.) It seems as though there’s evidence that Gannon had classified White House documents in his possession that must have been leaked illegally from someone inside the Bush administration. If you’re interested, a regular poster at the Daily Kos site, Susan G, has tracked down and interviewed Wilson on the matter.

Here, in way of closing, are two Joe Wilson quotes taken from that interview. I think they sum things up nicely.

“I did not like fascists when I fought them as a diplomat for 23 years and I don’t like them now in my own country.”

“That said, if we allow ourselves to be intimidated and silenced by the liars, our democracy will not survive. We have to continue to confront them.”