Monday, April 25, 2005
AP tiptoes through the tulips on the "Jeff 'Loose' Gannon" story
So, just to be clear—"Jeff 'Loose' Gannon", a guy who's advertised on the Internet as an 8" cut male escort, checks into the White House during the day—and doesn't check out at night. Numerous times.
How very, very odd.
But watch how AP [cough] covers the story. They nibble round the edges oh so gingerly:
for only a year, after leaving his job as an office manager in a Pennsylvania body shop
where "pointedly political" means scripted and softball
The point is not that Guckert "visited" the White House; the point is that he entered the White House in the morning, and, for all the records show, stayed for the night, numerous times.
Why would "Jeff 'Loose' Gannon" spending the night at the White House be a cause for concern? From reading AP's genteel, pussyfooting story, you'd get no inkling:
"Suggestive" of gay pornography, forsooth?! "Jeff Gannon" advertised on the Internet as a male escort!. That's why "Gannon" checking in, but not out, is newsworthy.
Was it Sophie Tucker who asked what could be nicer than roses on a piano?
NOTE Personally, I don't have a problem with any part of this, except for "Gannon" polluting our discourse by posing as a journalist and throwing softball questions to Bush. But I suspect that large parts of the Republican base would view "Jeff 'Loose' Gannon"'s behavior, and that of his clients, as satanic. Is AP downplaying this story out from fear of the [cough] "Christian" right? Or from fear of retaliation by the White House?
How very, very odd.
But watch how AP [cough] covers the story. They nibble round the edges oh so gingerly:
A conservative writer...
for only a year, after leaving his job as an office manager in a Pennsylvania body shop
...who quit his job covering President Bush amid criticism for his pointedly political questions...
where "pointedly political" means scripted and softball
...visited the White House 196 times in two years, the Secret Service has disclosed.
The point is not that Guckert "visited" the White House; the point is that he entered the White House in the morning, and, for all the records show, stayed for the night, numerous times.
Why would "Jeff 'Loose' Gannon" spending the night at the White House be a cause for concern? From reading AP's genteel, pussyfooting story, you'd get no inkling:
["Gannon" attracted] scrutiny from liberal bloggers who linked Guckert with online domain addresses suggestive of gay pornography.
"Suggestive" of gay pornography, forsooth?! "Jeff Gannon" advertised on the Internet as a male escort!. That's why "Gannon" checking in, but not out, is newsworthy.
Was it Sophie Tucker who asked what could be nicer than roses on a piano?
NOTE Personally, I don't have a problem with any part of this, except for "Gannon" polluting our discourse by posing as a journalist and throwing softball questions to Bush. But I suspect that large parts of the Republican base would view "Jeff 'Loose' Gannon"'s behavior, and that of his clients, as satanic. Is AP downplaying this story out from fear of the [cough] "Christian" right? Or from fear of retaliation by the White House?
