2.26.2005
Oh! A Reward....
So apparently some well-meaning wealthy socialite up in DC wants Gannon's head, and those of the prominent Government Officials he's been "entertaining". Check out this site address.
Who is this Jeff Gannon/James Guckart, anyway?
I don't know how many of you out here in the blogoshere have even heard of this guy. The reason for my uncertainty is the apparent unwillingness for the mainstream media to report on this issue. Not only is it a thrilling story that can appeal to the basest of instincts (think Monica Lewinsky, but she's a he and he's a gay hooker), but there is also actual substance there, (something that was lacking in the former).
I read an article in the Wall Street Journal (and you can access it via the americablog.com site), that seemed to try to brush this story under the carpet. I think it is deplorable that legitimate news sources are trying to pull this pseudo-journalist into the fold and protect him from investigation. And it begs the question, "Are they protecting Jeff Gannon/James Guckart? Or is there somebody bigger?"
I had sent off an e-mail to the two reporters responsible for the story, along with CC:ing the Managing Editor of the Wall Street Journal. I am suggesting that anyone else that wants the media to finally hold this administration to any account do the same. I post a copy of my letter here for anyone to use as a guide in your own letter writing. Keep Fighting The Good Fight!!!
I read an article in the Wall Street Journal (and you can access it via the americablog.com site), that seemed to try to brush this story under the carpet. I think it is deplorable that legitimate news sources are trying to pull this pseudo-journalist into the fold and protect him from investigation. And it begs the question, "Are they protecting Jeff Gannon/James Guckart? Or is there somebody bigger?"
I had sent off an e-mail to the two reporters responsible for the story, along with CC:ing the Managing Editor of the Wall Street Journal. I am suggesting that anyone else that wants the media to finally hold this administration to any account do the same. I post a copy of my letter here for anyone to use as a guide in your own letter writing. Keep Fighting The Good Fight!!!
Gentlemen,
I appreciate your work on preparing a brief history of fringe reporting in the White House Press Corps. The story had a great amount of sources to back up the direction you wished to head.
THAT BEING SAID:
Your reporting failed to investigate why it was that Jeff Gannon/James Guckart was welcomed into the press room before he was ever associated with any news reporting agency. Why it was that he was given day passes over the next years, once GOPUSA formed Talonnews.com, more than a full month after he first was admitted into the press room. Why it was that he signed in with his real name for those day passes, but was recognized by his alias by the press secretary and the President, displaying complicity by the White House in this affair. Plus, with the shadiness surrounding the Valerie Plame case and Gannon/Guckart's possible involvement, it should be the responsibility of our free press to investigate this issue and either disprove it flatly, or continue the investigation to its ultimate conclusion.
Rather than offering the protection of the public with your freedom of press, you have done a huge disservice, trying to paint for your readers the picture that this is a common practice in White House Press Briefing Rooms, current and past. Your readers are expected, it seems, to view this story as a non-story. What you have successfully done is welcomed into your ranks a fake reporter and given him protection. Ask yourself this......if you had gone through the education required for your current position, and you were brought into the public light, not for supporting the President, but holding him to any accountability, how many in the press, right-wing, liberal or otherwise, would offer you the same protections.
I am very disappointed not only in you and your reporting, but in the editorial direction your paper seems to have taken on this issue.
Most Sincerely,
NAME WITHELD (from this post....for my own security)
I appreciate your work on preparing a brief history of fringe reporting in the White House Press Corps. The story had a great amount of sources to back up the direction you wished to head.
THAT BEING SAID:
Your reporting failed to investigate why it was that Jeff Gannon/James Guckart was welcomed into the press room before he was ever associated with any news reporting agency. Why it was that he was given day passes over the next years, once GOPUSA formed Talonnews.com, more than a full month after he first was admitted into the press room. Why it was that he signed in with his real name for those day passes, but was recognized by his alias by the press secretary and the President, displaying complicity by the White House in this affair. Plus, with the shadiness surrounding the Valerie Plame case and Gannon/Guckart's possible involvement, it should be the responsibility of our free press to investigate this issue and either disprove it flatly, or continue the investigation to its ultimate conclusion.
Rather than offering the protection of the public with your freedom of press, you have done a huge disservice, trying to paint for your readers the picture that this is a common practice in White House Press Briefing Rooms, current and past. Your readers are expected, it seems, to view this story as a non-story. What you have successfully done is welcomed into your ranks a fake reporter and given him protection. Ask yourself this......if you had gone through the education required for your current position, and you were brought into the public light, not for supporting the President, but holding him to any accountability, how many in the press, right-wing, liberal or otherwise, would offer you the same protections.
I am very disappointed not only in you and your reporting, but in the editorial direction your paper seems to have taken on this issue.
Most Sincerely,
NAME WITHELD (from this post....for my own security)
The two reporters addresses are:
And the Managing Editor is:
Happy Letter Writing.
Until Next Time!
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