Those of us reading the liberal blogs, or listening to Air America Radio, are well familiar with the fantastical tale of Jeff Gannon Jim Guckert, the fake reporter who managed to get credentialed by the security-conscious White House press office, under an assumed name. But most Americans have heard nary a peep about this scandal.
The Oregonian — whose own news pages have not mentioned this story once — uses “Gannon” as a springboard to editorialize today on a curious paradox… that the right-wing blogs seem to have so much more influence over the so-called liberal press, than us “lefties.”
Those inclined to accept right-wing mythology about the “left-wing mainstream media” should consider for a moment the sensational story of fake White House reporter “Jeff Gannon.”
Never heard of him? That’s not surprising. Mainstream news outlets have scarcely touched it. Yet it’s been raging for weeks on left-leaning Web sites, which so far have been unable to elevate the story beyond the blogosphere.
Bloggers on the right, by comparison, have enjoyed spectacular success getting the supposedly leftist media to heed and advance their journalistic agenda. This creates a fertile new issue for industry researchers: Why is it that Internet bloggers on the left, compared with those on the right, have so much less demonstrable influence on mainstream journalism?
Hmmm… great question, Oregonian Editorial Board. Perhaps you could ask, gee, I don’t know… your own news editors?
I was all set to exercise my talmudic tendencies on the Oregonian editorial, when I noticed that the recently re-mottoed Columbian Watch had already made most of my points: “GannonGuckert the editorial.” But I would particularly like to echo the following comment:
I’m also a little uncomfortable with the idea that “left-wing” bloggers are somehow not as effective as “right-wing” bloggers. If you call lying, race baiting and dissembling effective, then yeah, the righties are pretty good at it. They’ve had a lot of practice at it in the last 25 years, and they have a fully functioning infrastructure to support it. It’s a lot easier to march in lockstep when your facts are manufactured in faux think tanks and distributed across the landscape in easily digestible form.
As long as the right-wing bloggers continue to get free promotion on conservative talk radio (and the BIAW keeps mailing out Ukrainian-themed post cards advertising their websites,) the righties will continue to hold a circulation advantage over bloggers like me. I cannot tell you how gratifying it has been to watch HA quickly grow into Washington’s most widely read liberal blog; and you should all be proud of yourselves for contributing to comment threads that arguably host the most passionate, informed and productive political debates of any blog in the state. But if we want to compete with the right, we’re going to have to do a better job of promoting ourselves within and without our community.
If blogs like HA have become an important part of your daily routine, we need your help in getting the word out. Email our links to friends, family and co-workers. Shamelessly promote us at dinner parties and bar mitzvahs, or to complete strangers at the bus stop. Go to your other favorite blogs, local or national, and harangue them to add our links to their blogrolls.
Many, many journalists stop by HA on a daily basis… but not all. When you catch a reporter or editorialist mindlessly repeating a scrap of right-wing rhetoric, drop them an email citing a refutation found on one of your favorite blogs. The MSM needs to know that blogs like HA are not just a great place for alternative analysis and opinion (and the occasional swear word,) but also for cold, hard facts.
Blogging is an experiment in open source journalism that will go dangerously awry if it is ends up being dominated by one side of the political spectrum. The other guys have an infrastructure advantage: the right-wing echo chamber that has been meticulously constructed over the past several decades. If we’re going to match their volume — in both senses of the word — we’re going to have to rely on community… and hard work.
Don’t worry, I read your drivel :-).
And I vote MARUMMY all the time…
Some of us are trying. That’s why http://www.nwportal.org was created.
I second Andrew’s comment, and I also point you toward this excellent book that Andrew reccomended for me: The Republican Noise Machine, by David Brock. RFK Jr calls it “essential reading”. I agree.
RFK, JR? Isn’t he the anti-SUV Kennedy, as his family travels in G-4’s, G-5’s [Gulfstream], private megga Chris Crafts, SUV’s, and megga complex mansions that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in fossil fuels to heat and cool? The Kennedy Code: “All animals are equal, but some animals who kill Mary Jo’s and live on the Cape are MORE equal than others”. I’d write more but my Gulfstream is waiting! [hehe]
Goldy –
When you catch a reporter or editorialist mindlessly repeating a scrap of right-wing rhetoric, drop them an email citing a refutation found on one of your favorite blogs.
I follow this methodology all the time, though usually it is an editorialist/reporter (at times that distinction is blurred) who bought into the DNC spin-of-the-day.
On a different note, I enjoy your blog. The humor (especially the unintended variety) is first rate…
Marks… what makes you think you can always tell when the humor is unintended?
Goldy –
Touche :)
A big factor in the the greater “loudness” of right-wing blogs is currently — and always has been — the Drudge Report. Matt Drudge, as awful a loudmouth as he is, pioneered the political blog and because of the structure of his website, has become “must reading” by the conventional media. Thus, his “scoops” are regularly picked up.
More recently, on a national basis, widely read and influential center or left websites, like the Daily Kos or the Wonkette, have garnered big followings, particularly from conventional media.
Liberals are playing catch-up everywhere however. Air America and the Ed Schultz Show are finally making a showing in radio Arbitron ratings and while they still aren’t totally competitive with the Limbaugh’s and the Medved’s of the world, they are getting a voice.
The problem, as you correctly allude to, is that the right wing characters care nothing for truth, fact-checking or legitimate analysis and debate. They yell, scream, shout and, very frequently, simple make things up and lie.
And their followers are aptly called “dittoheads,” the phrase coined by Limbaugh. Incredibly enough, the right wing crazies out there are delighted to be called “dittoheads,” which correctly points out the fact that whatever their chosen leader — Limbaugh or the other shouters and screamers — say, they mindlessly repeat it, and say, “DITTO!”
Centrists and liberals, on the other hand, tend to be far more intellectual and thoughtful and the type of yelling and screaming and lying by the Limbaugh’s and the Drudge’s of the world (and of course the UnSounders around these parts) simply will not fly with the audience of the centrists and liberals.
Thus, conventional media wants sensationalism to sell papers and attract viewers and they also want simple, one-line sloganeering. It is far more likely that they’ll get that from right-wing screamers than from thoughtful liberal analysis.
The Gannon (his phony name) story is odd, however. I think the media dropped the ball on that one because it’s as much of a media “shop story” as it is a political scandal. The White House press corps itself stood by and let it happen with nary a peep. Thus, since every conventional media story knew the story intimately before it became public knowledge, it’s hard for them to figure out how to report a story like that.
I think it’s a real fluke. A better example, however, is the way the media is reporting the White House leak story. They’re all reporting the judge’s decision against the NY Times and Time Mag reporters but almost never does the media ask the question why reporters who weren’t even involved in publishing the leak story are in danger of going to jail for not talking about sources, while Robert Novak, who actually published the offending story, seems to be going scot free. I dunno about that one!
Goldy,
most Americans have heard nary a peep about this scandal
Well, they’re gonna now!
I love it! Way to go team! Whoohoo!
Nelson @ 8
”while Robert Novak, who actually published the offending story, seems to be going scot free. I dunno about that one!
Good point Nelson. It very well may be that Robert Novak told investigators who his sources are. Hence, the ‘witch-hunt’ has moved to the unfortunate individuals you cite. A reporter reports. If Novak got the story from these characters, they can be compelled to reveal their sources.
I am not a big fan of this method of investigation, but the Justice Dept has a duty to find the leak. In this case, I don’t think anyone’s life was sacrificed as a result, but if we were dealing with an intelligence source in a sensitive country (North Korea, Iran) that was compromised as a result of a media leak, that source would be eliminated by the regime. You know, shot with a bullet, followed by the family of the source being charged 89 cents for the round used, cremation costs, and administrative fees.
Mainstream news outlets have scarcely touched it. Yet it’s been raging for weeks on left-leaning Web sites, which so far have been unable to elevate the story beyond the blogosphere.
I don’t agree with this statement. The story has been picked up by MSNBC and CNN and I don’t see it falling off the radar yet, and Howard Kurtz has been writing about it in the Washington Post. The Seattle Times has picked up a number of these articles in the past week. Syndicated columnists have written about it. Etc…
I think the pendulum is swinging back the other way and progressive voices are finding a voice.
The biggest myth in all of politics is the liberal media myth. And it is the most powerful. Putting an end to this myth should be a number one objective.
Further to my point: Mainstream Press on Gannon’s Trail at Daily Kos.
Daniel K @ 11
“I think the pendulum is swinging back the other way and progressive voices are finding a voice.”
I think you may be right, or ‘correct’ is perhaps a better word…no single party has all the answers, though I think the Right has the edge from an idea standpoint at the moment…
Rog @ 12
“The biggest myth in all of politics is the liberal media myth.
You forgot to add…”Viewed from my filter.” I see plenty of bias within the media, and “Viewed from my filter” it is always from the Left…
Daniel K @11
Well, it’s a bit of an overstatement, but the general point remains the same. This is a story, that if it had happened in the Clinton White House, would have been the top story for weeks. Eventually there would have been a special prosecutor, and we’d be calling it something like Gannongate.
Instead, it’s been bouncing around the liberal blogs for a couple weeks, with some relatively modest coverage here and there, when it should be front page on every newspaper in the nation. Either “Gannon” passed a background check with an assumed name, or the White House was complicit in a media scam.
This is a scandal.
This is a story, that if it had happened in the Clinton White House, would have been the top story for weeks.
The problem is that if Bush can keep getting away with this crap, he has no incentive to change. The Republicans, by continually forgiving everything Bush does that they would’ve crucified Clinton for, have made Bush the world’s most powerful spoiled brat. The irony is that these are a lot of the same people who complain about “personal responsibility” all the time. The hypocrisy is extraordinary.
Nelson @ 7
“liberals, on the other hand, tend to be far more intellectual and thoughtful “? I guess you have never listened to Air America. And some of the shows on KIRO are now almost unlistenable with their anti-Bush theme. Let’s just admit that talk radio on both sides consists mostly of blowhards.
JCH @ 3
Whatsamatter, jealous? I thought righties worship money — and those who possess it. But apparently that only applies to right-wing money, huh? You probably think Richard Mellon Scaife is a great man.
I mean JCH @ 4. My apologies to MOH.
Marks @ 10
Long on speculation, short on facts. Like most righties, most of the time.
zip @ 17
“almost unlistenable with their anti-Bush theme”
Turn off KIRO and listen to Rush, if being told what you want to hear is what makes you happy. For God’s sake, don’t let reality intrude into your happy state of mine.
Goldy @ 15 wrote, “…we’d be calling it something like Gannongate.”
Actually, I’ve already heard some people using that term. Has a nice ring to it.
zip @ 17 wrote, “Let’s just admit that talk radio on both sides consists mostly of blowhards.”
A little strong, but I agree mostly with that assessment.
Don @ 20
Like most righties, most of the time
You make my point. Add infinitum. Surprised you didn’t say ‘all righties, all the time’…
And what is wrong with Richard Mellon Scaife? I fail to see any connection…though I expect you will “educate” me.
airhead america @8
“Centrists and liberals, on the other hand, tend to be far more intellectual and thoughtful and the type of yelling and screaming and lying by the Limbaugh’s and the Drudge’s of the world (and of course the UnSounders around these parts) simply will not fly with the audience of the centrists and liberals.”
and randi roads(sp)is mother theresa! she is a passionate nag alright, I’ll give her that, but a wee bit empty. She really thinks she’s got ahold of a big scandal with the gannon story.
*****skull and bones conspiracy huh?*******
*****bohemian grove*******
the very fact you consider yourself and your party more intelligent is laughable. The abundant arrogance within the D’s is the very reason you and your party are imploding. Like a criminal that thinks he commited the perfect murder, there is no such thing as a perfect murder, doesn’t exist. The murderer always screws up because of his own flawed mind.
hence airheadamerica.commie
In 2005 who is your leader, your mentor, your BIG thinker? The party visionary?
Hillary, Dr Dean, Kennedy, Reid, Kerry, Pilosi, Obama, it’s non-existant.
chardonnay–
The Lefty’s are struggling with their identity and their reality which is Left=Left-out!!
While, as we know, Right means being correct…always.
Lord, it’s hard to be humble and a gracious winner.
When Gregoire gets drummed out of office this summer, the Lefty’s will go absolutely looney (I mean loonier, if that’s possible).
All the Lefty’s have to offer is fear-mongering and redistribution of wealth cons. They need to demonize someone and play on our weakest citizens feelings of envy & jealousy.
Their jig is up….especially with Election Reform.
Kennedy seeking clear run in ‘06
He’s raising funds to stem challenge…….He’s ready, so gas up the Oldsmobile, have another drink, make sure Mary Jo is looking good, and put the pedal to the metal!! America’s leading Democrat, Teddy [D-Chevis Regal] is ready to go!! [If only WASH state Democrats had such bold, talented leadership!]
It comes down to just one question. Are you better off than you were 30 years ago? The golden zenith for true liberal thinkers was almost 40 years ago. But those days of care-free pot-smoking free sex, tree-hugging anti-authoritarianism are long gone. Most people work for a living and want to work for a better future. Most people don’t care to live in a pyscho-babble angst-ridden class warfare gay-rights environmental doomsday political correctness state of mind, something that this blog and current liberalism in general tends to promulgate or even require. Meanwhile, media biases notwithstanding, “conservatism” is winning the day because it is more relevant, more reasonable, and more in tune with American values and the desire for a better and brighter future. When you can offer vision and more than derision and carping, perhaps the tide will turn. But that’s not likely any time soon.
“In 2005 who is your leader, your mentor, your BIG thinker? The party visionary?
Hillary, Dr Dean, Kennedy, Reid, Kerry, Pilosi, Obama, it’s non-existant.”
You just proved my point, Dittohead. You conservatives don’t have an original thought in your brain and NEED to taking marching orders from some other “BIG thinker,” as you so cogently put it.
Those of us who are centrists and liberals actually think for ourselves and don’t need anyone to tell us HOW OR WHAT to think. That’s why your side is now totally bankrupt of ideas, once you get past your doctrinaire “anti-everyoneelsewhoisn’tlikeyou” attitude plus your unConstitutional “everyonemustpracticethesamereligionIdo” attitude and you’re last, but definitely not least “nogovernmentshouldeverlevyanytaxonanyoneandwedon’tneednoneofthoseserviceslikepolicefireetcbutwesupportourtroops” silliness.
Those are the only issues that you Dittoheads know, and they’re all black and white — shading and nuance are absolutely forbidden!
JCH @25,
Again, JCH, you have violated another element of commonly accepted blog etiquette: you may NOT post the same comment to multiple blog entries. That is simply rude. If you have something new to add to a conversation, add it to the most pertinent ongoing thread. Otherwise, you are not much more than a blog spammer.
Now that you know, I expect you not to do this again.
Nelson…How about Art Laffer, Milton Friedman, Mag Thachter, RushBo, Sean Hannity, and many others who actually work in the PRIVATE sector and PAY taxes? [Compare to Hillary, Jesse, Al Sharpton, and “Earth In The Balance” Gore]
Nelson @ 27
You are so far off base in your assessment of what makes people “tick” that it is laughable. Time spent in the working world getting to know people from all walks of life, including those different from whatever walk you’re on, would help you gain a litle perspective. Maybe then you’ll realize that many people actually suport Bush and also think that Limbaugh et al are just a bunch of blowhards. Just like there are Kerry voters who think Air America is a bunch of blowhards. You will find that the “mainstream” on both sides don’t take their instructions from the radio shows, in fact in these actual conversations talk radio never even comes up. Believe it or not, the notion that Republicans are a bunch of Dittoheads worshipping talk radio is just another liberal fantasy.
Don @ 20….missed the point again, Don, you really should read slower or maybe count to 10 before you respond.
zapporo @26
I agree with your every word.
Relativism: a view that ethical truths depend on the individuals and groups holding them.
The view that what is right or wrong and good or bad is not absolute but variable and realtive, depending on the person, circumstance, or social situation. In other words what is truly right depends solely on what the individual or society thinks is right. websters/britannic
relativism urges suspension of judgement about right and wrong.barna.org
Just because something “seems” right to somebody doesn’t make it right. Everybody can’t be right. There must be one way that is right way.
who said, I am the way and the truth and the life? He is not “a” way, nor is he “a” truth….he is the one and only way and truth. He does not change.
so is your 60’s theory, if it feels good do it….no matter who it hurts, relative and responsible today?
like sex before marriage, if the woman/girl gets pregnant oh well, she has the right to choose…….murder.
that way the stud is off the hook.
22 to 27
Sure is a lot of babbling from the right today. Have they been smoking something? Did PCBs get into Seattle’s drinking water?
chardonny @ 31
You’re in no position to lecture anyone about truth.
Media manipulation attempts by a White House press corp? My god is nothing sacred! Where is the scandal here? It has been done successfully by every administration since the publication of “News”! Given the rabid fervour of the liberal media to find “something to stick” on Bush even if they have to impress it into the realm of a faux scandal only hardens the White House staff in their diligence to first and formost avoid any comment that can be “misconstrued”. Are we, as an informed citizenry, benefiting from this? I think not. If the media were more balanced in their coverage with less spin, the White House would be more open to releasing information. “Action / reaction” works in physics and journalism.
nothing is going to ever TOP the meaning of is is and the stained dress.
The holder of the tapes said something very interesting that the MSM might be afraid of, he said, he puts Bush right up there with Ghandi. WOW! Does this stun the left? LOL!!! Do they really want to hear more?
The Gannon story is a very telling example of just how far the mainstream media has fallen. MSNBC did a nice piece on the Olberman show (see yesterday’s NYT editorial by Frank Rich on fake news). But to cite CNN’s pathetic attempt at finding out any truth at all as an example of “being on the ball” is a bit ridiculous given the namby-pamby interview Blitzer did with Gannon/Guckert. Kurtz zeroed in on how the “left wing bloggers” had “personalized” the story driving poor Jeff/Jim from his post at Talon News. What a pile of crap. On top of it all, this loony is somewhere in the loop on the Plame outing scandal. It is imperative that the progressive blogs keep up the drumbeat on this issue. Media Matters has done great work as have the bloggers on Daily Kos. We cannot allow this story to become a “he said-she said” about balance in the mainstream media. This is an outright scandal and McClellan at the least should lose his job over it. This administration is the creepiest ever when it comes to suppressing legitimate information. If the mainstream media won’t accept the challenge then let we the bloggers have at it.
Doug Wead
“I believe that, like him or not, he is going to be a huge historical figure,” Mr. Wead said. “If I was on the telephone with Churchill or Gandhi, I would tape record them too.”
kevin j @ 36
“This administration is the creepiest ever when it comes to suppressing legitimate information”?
Lying under oath during a deposition (Bill) and “losing” subpoena’d Rose Law Firm billing records (Hill). I and many others find it creepier that the Clintons flouted the law to protect their own skins. Seems a little more “imperial” than the BS with Gannon.
Lib/Con @ 34
“Media manipulation attempts by a White House press corp? My god is nothing sacred! Where is the scandal here? It has been done successfully by every administration since the publication of ‘News’!”
What other administration has secretly paid journalists to slant stories? Name one. It hasn’t happened until now. This administration has not only done it, but did it with taxpayer money.
Don–
Your Lefty pals obviously PAID Dan Ratherdoofus.
He was paid with adoration which is all that matters to that Leftist-wacko egomaniac. Newsman…my ass!
Zip @38
Creepiest? let’s see…8 years of constant persecution and 48 Million Tax payer Dollars spent on Whitewater, to find a lost doc. and a Man who liked women.
Creepier.
Have a Male Prostitute as your Shill in Press corp.
Tax Payer dollars to promote underfunded “No Child Left behind” Ask a Principal what they think of it.
Loss 9 Billion Dollars in a year in Iraq, while all the time screeming about 2 Billion in 10 Years for the Oil for Food Program.( they we stole from as well)
Let The VP company Haluburtn have contracts with the Axis of Evil….while over charging the Taxpayers
Make it appear that the Champagne Unit stories aren’t true, because of some Jarl Rove forgged Document.
Promote the Torture Czar Gonzalez.
Promise all these Federal programs, “no Child, Clean skies, Vet benifets, African Aids relief, Tsunami relief….then don’t fund them.
Keeping people on Terror alert Aquamarine all the time, to keep them from seeing the man behind the Curtain.
If you can’t see this creepier than a Blowjob in the Whitehouse,then I hope you sue that priest your suppresing in you mind.
PS hey NORTH CAROLINA
Goldy;
We need to consider a Ban on posters, like (un)sound Politics does. I know we tend to believe in open debate, but why don’t we quit wasting time with these idiots, and have them just post the date and time that O’Reily, Limbaugh, Gannon said the gobbldegook they are regurgitating. Like the old joke #17 , #4,..#12, #12, #12….some people can tell a joke and some can’t.
Enough of the BIAW hidding behind his tax dexductable tithings.
lefty dan @ 42
What’s this “we” bs? your post 42 reads like move on org wrote it for you.
Dan @ all
You’re wierd…
Cynical @ 40
I take it from your attempt to change the subject that even you can’t defend the Bush administration’s bribing of journalists (with taxpayer money) to disguise propaganda as news.
Goldy, and zip @ 43
Yes, “we” because I second Dan’s motion. Debate is one thing, trolling is something else. Virtually all right-wing blogs banish posters who deviate even slightly from the r/w line, so why should you provide a free platform to r/w trolls who only want to pick fights, and whose posts consist of name calling, lying, and propagandizing? If we can’t post on (u)SP, FR, etc., they shouldn’t be able to post here.
dan @ 42 spins:
“Loss 9 Billion Dollars in a year in Iraq”
and I say, christine gregoire lost wash state 20 million by not filing a paper on time then blamed it on a subordinate.
I also would like to know what Gregoire was doing as AG traveling to visit with the Clintons in the mid 90’s. Learning the tricks of the AG trade?
Dan @41
As I said many years ago about Gary Hart: I’d rather have a president who fucks women than one who fucks the nation.
Dan @42, Don @46,
I don’t ban people, because in the words of Tim Eyman… I want to maintain the appearance of moral superiority.
Actually, I don’t want HA to devolve into an exercise in patting ourselves on the back. We gain so much more from debating the other side, than the annoyance created by the few truly disruptive and impolite people. If you notice, the right-wing posters who truly contribute nothing tend to eventually drift away.
So far, the threads here have been fairly self-regulating.
Goldy –
I’m buying you a beer. Unfortunatly, I’m stuck in Texas for the time being. Can you just send me some good microbrew? I’ll pay you for it!
I am serious…this crap down here sucks…
Zippitty goose step @ 43
Now come on Zippy the wonder righty, you know you have never been to Move on, or Air America, or Daily Kos or even seen a Michael Moore film. The Reich says Nein, Nein Nein…..and you fall right in line. First Poland then France….Iraq than (you pick) but by the way while were doing this, did I mention Social Security is now a Level Orange priority.
Don @ 46
“name calling, lying, and propagandizing” ?
The pot calls the kettle black again. So Dan repeating the same thing we have heard from move on org is not propagandizing? Dan uses the typical lefty trick of changing the subject and that is not propagandizing? Go back and read the posts, Don, (36, 38, 41, 46) and form your own opinion of who’s propagandizng here. Goldy has been extremely tolerant of dissenting views on this site and I for one appreciate it.
Char @ 47
Read 48 by Goldy.
I get so confused by the Moral High ground that you claim that this administration has. If you say Jesus and Terror first, you can screw anyone you like, as long is isn’t with your dick. Don’t get up calling rape a few years from now. you have been warned. But I can tell which monkey you are. You’re not Hear no Evil, See no Evil….but boy can you spew it.
It has taken Republicans only 150 years to progress from “Know-Nothings” to “Not-Sees.” Or, putting it another way, most glaciers advance faster than GOP intellectual development.
Don @ 56
Nice name calling, Don. Propagandizing, too. And unless you can name the actual 150-year old Republicans you refer to with your slam, it is also lying. Nice trifecta!
ZIPPY @57
Bonehead…yes it’s is name calling, when the educationally challenged try to accuse the others of their biggest weaknesses. similar to the War records of the 2 presidential candidates. you would think that GW ended the cold war versus drinking a ton of “cold ones”.
PS….you are still a “know nothing”…so here is the definition. things haven’t changed much for you guys.
KNOW-NOTHING PARTY
The American party of the 1850s derived its informal name from its members replying, when asked about their role, “I know nothing.” The party was anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant. It grew out of the Order of the Star-Spangled Banner, a secret society apparently founded in New York City in 1849. In the wake of the collapse of the Whigs and the Democratic split over the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 and 1855, its supporters won several offices, including mayor of Philadelphia and control of the Massachusetts legislature. Some northern Know-Nothings also sought to cooperate with antislavery forces not yet prepared to join an official Republican party.
When the Know-Nothing party endorsed the Kansas-Nebraska Act at its presidential nominating convention in 1856, northern members bolted. Southern members nominated former president Millard Fillmore of New York for president and Andrew J. Donelson of Tennessee for vice president. Most northern Know-Nothings tenuously supported the Republican candidate, John C. Frémont. Fillmore tried to distance himself from the party’s nativist tendencies but carried only Maryland. The Know-Nothing party soon dissolved.
zip @ 57
Of course it’s name-calling. Creative name-calling, to be exact. GOPers have zero imagination and creativity. Their social and economic thinking is stuck in the 1700s and when they disagree with someone they call ’em a “commie.” The collective intellect of their entire party hasn’t come up with a single new epithet in over 60 years. If they were creative they’d call us something a little more vivid and alliterative, e.g. “latte-sipping liberal-lovers.” “Commie” just doesn’t hack it anymore.
Zip–
Don isn’t a “commie”. He’s just a bottom-feeding 30-year State Government Attorney who couldn’t make it in the real world. Don admitted he spent 10 years trying and could only must $1000/yr. and zero return on his capital investment. The only reason I’ve stopped calling him a “parasite” is he went balistic…cursing and frothing…..UGLY!!!
Zip, Don is obviously a bitter man who has to look in the mirror everyday and try to convince himself he made a difference when he knows it was all about his Guv’ment salary & pension (since he couldn’t make it in the real world). Just like all the other Lefty’s, they love to tell us with are “greedy” and “undertaxed”.
While I won’t call Don a “parasite” anymore….I will call him a bottom-feeder!
Goldy, Daniel K, John –
CNN 360 interview
I am a bit behind the curve on researching this story. I am not sure it rises to the level of scandal, but I would be interested to find out how this guy got his press pass.
From the transcript COOPER: So I guess the questions that are being raised why were you at — allowed to go to a White House briefing if you are working for GOPUSA, which is a clearly partisan organization?
I could (unsuccessfully IMO, since they are an ‘established’ partisan ‘news’ organization) argue that the NYT is clearly a partisan organization and should not be given a press pass.
Unless it can be proven that GOPUSA is not a ‘news’ organization, and let us rehash the Faux News label you have given to a widely accepted news agency…I don’t see this going anywhere, except the Secret Service will need to be informed who an “acceptable” news service is, to the detriment of reporting, since such could be used by the partisan in office to muzzle a ‘news’ agency…slippery slope here, folks.
Marks… the scandal is that he was credentialed under an assumed name. Either a proper background check wasn’t done on him, or the White House press office was complicit in putting a fake reporter in the White House under a fake name. It’s not that “Talon” was partisan, it’s that the whole thing was a sham to get somebody in there to toss softballs.
Goldy, it’s the latter–they credentialed him under Guckert on a daily pass every day for more than 2 years. No one seems to have any proof that his badge said “Gannon” or that he had a hard pass, but obviously everyone knew him as Gannon. (Kurtz has claimed he and a couple of others swore it was a hard pass, but for some reason haven’t mentioned it since. The press is being VERY lame about this, and that they let him sit there for 2 years unhindered and unquestioned says even less about them.
The issues in reverse order of importance as I see them:
*that his organization was not a news source, and in fact was a thinly veiled political front for carrying the GOP’s water
*that McClellan was complicit in this man’s alias, AND was complicit in maintaining his status as a reporter despite no qualifications even under their own standards, AND was complicit in allowing him to participate despite all that
*that a high dollar prostitute with an alias and no business being in proximity to the President post 9/11, was in proximity to the President post 9/11.
Torridjoe –
*that a high dollar prostitute with an alias and no business being in proximity to the President post 9/11, was in proximity to the President post 9/11.
The gist of the reporting he did according to his own (unimpeachable? No…) responses in this interview boils down to a ridiculous question:
“HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES (voice-over): Gannon asked an inaccurate question with this unflattering description of Senate Democrats…
JEFF GANNON, FORMER TALON NEWS REPORTER: How are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?”
followed by saying that he received his daily press pass under his REAL name, while asking questions under his pseudonym.
I think the Secret Service and Homeland Security would be more concerned with Al Jazzera after 9/11. Further, a prostitute does not necessarily fall under the auspices of the White House press office (under this administration, at least).
cynical @ 60
“Don is obviously a bitter man who has to look in the mirror everyday and try to convince himself he made a difference when he knows it was all about his Guv’ment salary & pension”
Not really. It didn’t take me very long to figure out that I couldn’t change the world from behind a cheap metal desk. You’re right, after that it was all about the Guv’ment salary and pension. You got something against eating?
P.S., life is too short to be bitter or cynical about anything, a lesson you obviously haven’t learned. Go get yourself a latte before it’s too late. You never know if you’re going to wake up tomorrow.
marks @ 64
What’s the difference between Al Jazeera and Bush’s whore journalists? I don’t see any.
Is that a threat Don??
Don……welfare hack……..[little difference]