Gannon: The Big Question Is--How did this guy get in the WH Press Corps?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

Those of us at DU know the basic answer--it was someone's idea within shrubco (most likely Rove, Cheney or McLellan) to have their own shill in the press gaggle to be a "safety valve" in the event of difficult questions, or to ask some loaded RW-oriented question during to serve some agenda during the gaggle.

It speaks to how supremely confident they are to use such a flawed, transparent, and tarnished vehicle as "Jeff Gannon" for such a purpose. But then again, why shouldn't they be confident, when you consider they've gotten away with much worse.

But the question the media, and the bloggers, should be asking, is HOW, specifically, did this guy get in the WH Press Corps? "TalonNews.com" just asked for a press pass, and got it? How many Village Voice type newspapers have NOT been able to get such a pass, and Talon got it? Who in the WH initiated or approved such a move?

Is "TalonNews.com" even going to EXIST a year from now, now that their primary reason for existing, which appears to be to plant "Jeff Gannon" into the WH press gaggle, is kaput?:shrug:

[caligirl]

1. Not just how, but why take the risk? They lost .

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

2. The WHY is easy. It served their propaganda purposes, up until

the unmasking of "Jeff Gannon". It worked for the purpose for which they intended. But I would think they could have used a much more subtle vehicle than this guy that would have less tendency to blow up in people's face.

I do think shrubco is lazy and careless, their big power is that they have the big money on their side. It could be that they just trusted McLellan or whomever to come up with the shill, and he picked this lameass for whatever reasons of his own, and they never really checked it out.

[librechik]

3. I'll bet he's not the only one

they figure they can throw one or three of the runtish ones overboard, as long as they keep the biguns in place.It's to their advantage that it almost looks like there's some policing going on. It's really just a series of fake "suicides" of fake reporters--reporters they don't really need, low level turds. Meanwhile their snipers knock off Rather, and Eason, and conservative management drove Moyers into retirement.

[Pithy Cherub]

4. Is there a list of all the WH day press passes given out

since 1/01? That would be interesting to review...

[Fleshdancer]

5. I think the big story will be the amount of "Gannons" in the WH....

I doubt he's the only one. I think he's probably the only prostitute, but I doubt he's the only whore.

[TomClash]

6. I bet he was Bush's lover

[Warpy]

7. He's obviously got a sugar daddy in there somewhere.

If he's up to his armpits in the Plame outing, my money would be on Scooter Libby.

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. Whose signing Gannon's pay checks?

If this guy was able to get credentials because he work for an established news organization, then the public deserves to know who he worked for and who paid his salary and expenses.

[kk897]

9. seems pretty clear that Jeff is there for leverage against someone

meaning someone else is using him. Who gives access? Is it FBI? Then clearly, the FBI wanted him there. Is it Secret Service? Then, the Secret Service wanted him there. Whoever passed Jeff on the security check is the one who got him in there.

I think "why?" might lead to "how."

Don't think of Jeff as a propaganda tool of the Administration. Think of him as a bargaining chip, or maybe a warning. A message rather than a messenger.

What's the message? "Jeff knows ---------- (someone important) is gay and consorts with gay prostitutes. He knows that -------- is really responsible for outing Plame. He could spill his guts. He will spill his guts if we tell him to. We've put him in the position to be able to bring -------- down, publically, messily." How will -------- react? Will -------- accede to the demands of Jeff's handler(s)?

(I obviously don't know who ------ could be, but it seems to be kind of standard spooky MO to do this kind of thing).

The thing is, he had pretty limited value as a propagandist. It's not like Talon was Reuters or something. So he was there for some other purpose.

It also seems pretty clear that the various intelligence agencies are at a kind of cold war with one another right now. Maybe Jeff's a pawn in that war. Is he supposed to make whichever agency runs the security checks look bad?

Maybe he's being sheep-dipped (or is that "rat-fucked"? I get my spook jargon mixed up). It also wouldn't surprise me if he shows up at the scene of an assassination with a gun in his hand and a copy of Catcher in the Rye in his pocket.