corrente

Let's review:

A "reporter" who is badged into the oh-so-secure White House every day, and who provides both Scott "Sucker MC" McClellan and Bush Himself with the lifeline of nice, fluffy questions whenever they're hard pressed, turns out to be (a) innocent of any journalistic training, (b) operating under an assumed name (though I can see why "Guckert" isn't a name I'd think myself lucky to be born with, shouldn't the Secret Service care?), and (c) funded by the Texas GOP.

But wait! There's more! Not only does Guckert (a.k.a. "Gannon" of Talon "News" Service) (d) post photographs of himself on the Internet that, well, make the gay subtext of the Bush mandate really evident, he (e) owns several domain names that evince an interest in gay military porn.

But that's not all! Guckert was (f) Rove's channel for smearing Joseph Wilson in the Plame affair—with classified information no other news organization had.

Well. And what is the reaction of the wingers? Let's quote Howie quoting Instapundit:

Glenn Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor who writes on InstaPundit.com, said the tactics used against Gannon "seem to me to be despicable.

"If I were a member of the White House press corps, I'd be really worried," Reynolds said. "If working for a biased news organization disqualifies you, a lot of people have a lot to be worried about. If being involved in a dubious business venture is disqualifying, I suspect a lot of people have a lot to be worried about. I guess I don't see what all this has to do with his job."

Beautiful. Um, what do points (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) have to do with bias? Exactly nothing. And as for "dubious"—I don't care what domain names Guckert owns, or what photographs he poses for. But the winger base seems to care a lot—at least when the guy wielding the loofah isn't one of their own, that is.

And as for despicable—$70 million to impeach a sitting President over a blowjob as part of slow-motion, right-wing, media-fuelled coup? Personally, I find fascist enablers despicable. But that's just me.

While we're at it, let's remember the math: The White House has a budget for 200 media whores Paid Policy Advocates. We knew about 3; Guckert makes 4. I imagine F/Buckhead, the famous typographic authority, is another. That's 195 to go. Um, is Glenn Reynolds one of them? Where is all that Ketchum money going?