Royal Navy Recruiting Gays -- GannonGuckert To Sign Up?

The US military continues to spend millions of dollars a year training gay and lesbian soldiers and then millions more to witchhunt these brave Americans and kick them out. It's damaging national security, damaging our ability to project power around the world and -- given the absurd blackballing of queer specialists in Arabic languages -- could well stop us from preventing the next 9-11.

To prove how far behind we are, look at the British military: like almost every other Western democracy -- including Canada and Israel -- they've stopped attacking soldiers who want to serve their country but happen to be gay. Now they're going a step further, with the Royal Navy set to actively recruit gays.

So if JamesJeff GuckertGannon is looking to make a career switch, why not try the Royal Navy? Sure, he'd have to buy another military uniform, but Guckert can always find other uses for it. Read the rest of this post...

Evening open thread

That was a busy day. All yours. Read the rest of this post...

Video compilation of White House Hooker TV coverage to date

BlogPac put together a nice compilation of TV coverage of GannonGuckertGate, or as I'm now calling it, the White House Hooker. Posted by CrooksAndLiars.com. Read the rest of this post...

YES! Democratic leadership calls on Bush to launch Gannon/Guckert investigation

This is EXCELLENT. This is newsworthy. This means the Dems have finally recognized, en masse, that there is a serious problem here and that Bush needs to be called on this. Very very very good news.

More from Raw Story, including the text of Durbin's sign-on letter.

Where this stands? Durbin is now circulating the letter to other Senate offices, asking them to sign on to the letter. The Republicans likely won't, though some mods just might. The Dems hopefully will, though some troublemakers might not.

TAKE ACTION

Your job, if you choose to accept it, is to contact your two Senators NOW and ask them to sign Senator Durbin's "Dear Colleague" letter about Jeff Gannon/Guckert, the fake GOP journalist that was given access to the White House.

Find your Senators' contact info here - call and email them. Let's have their voice mail boxes FULL when they get to work tomorrow. Please call the Senators from your home state, and let them know what town you live in, so they know that you really are a constituent. And be nice. Read the rest of this post...

Raw Story breaking news

From Raw Story.

FLASH: DEMOCRATIC SENATE LEADERSHIP JOINS PUSH FOR INQUIRY INTO GANNON AFFAIR; WHIP SENATOR DURBIN CIRCULATING LETTER CALLING ON OTHER SENATORS TO SIGN ON: DEVELOPING HARD.

They should have the details shortly. This is big. If the Senate leadership is on board, then this is for real. It's no longer just "a senator," but rather, it means the Democrats are now on board. We'll need to see the letter first, but this strikes me as big. Read the rest of this post...

Guckert's military escort domain names up for sale, for thousands of dollars

Assuming Guckert owns these names, and that seems a safe assumption - he told CNN he bought them for clients, and they are still owned by the same company that owns his personal Web address, and the same company that he used to pay for the construction of his gay escort site - his alleged concern for all this publicity taking a toll on his family doesn't appear to be stopping him from continuing to add to the fire over this story each and every day.

According to a great story from AVN.com, now he's apparently selling the gay escort domain names for thousands of bucks each, and using language in his ad for the names that makes clear he's trying to profit off of the recent publicity, in a cheeky way no less.

And by the way, Jeff, how's that invasion of privacy lawsuit going? I mean, you're obviously suffering a lot judging by the fact you're crowing over how much money you're going to make, the new book, the interviews, etc.

I pulled up the records, and it's true:



Also, it's rather amazing that a Web site that to the best of our knowledge has never been live, and isn't even live today, is somehow gettting 47,625 unique visitors a month. According to Salon.com:

Guckert insisted his only involvement with the sex sites was as a software consultant and, he added: "Those sites were never hosted. There's -- nothing ever went up on them," as he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Feb. 10. In an interview posted Feb. 11 with Editor & Publisher magazine, Guckert made the same claim: "They were done through a private company [Bedrock Corp.] I was involved with doing Web site development about five years ago. The sites were never hosted, and nothing was ever posted to the sites."

Gannon told Anderson Cooper on CNN:

"I have made mistakes in my past. And these are all of a very personal and private nature that have been"

And he told the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz:

"I've made mistakes in my past."

It's not "a mistake" when you try to make $15,000 off of it TODAY, and write coy little messages in the ad about how "this is the site you've been hearing about!" That sounds like crowing and profit-taking, not a good Christian admitting a mistake. Read the rest of this post...

Gannon says he kept a journal. Has the Valerie Plame investigator asked to see it?

Ok, this might start to get interesting now.

"a journal he has kept since he first began covering the White House in February 2003"

Read the rest of this post...

Gannon considering book, paid speaking tour, and thinks he'll get invited to WH correspondent's dinner

Me, me, look at ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The guy cannot stop talking.

From E&P;:

In other matters, Guckert said he is spending most of his time these days writing in a journal he has kept since he first began covering the White House in February 2003, a journal that could become a book.

"I have probably one page for each day at the White House, about 200 pages of stuff," said Guckert. "Is it all interesting? Probably not. But it could be [a book]. I haven’t thought that far ahead."

Guckert, who contends he still has a future in journalism, also added that entering the paid-speaker circuit is another goal. "It is likely that I will start making some appearances and speaking," he said, declinig to name specific efforts he has taken in that regard. "There are people who are definitely interested in some of my behind-the-scenes work in the press room." That is certainly an understatement.

When asked about what journalistic opportunities he could find, Guckert said only: "I still think, despite the bad things being said about me, I am a journalist, I have been one for two years and have written about 500 articles. I paid a big price for the privilege to call myself a journalist."

Although Guckert said no one had asked him to be their guest at the 2005 White House Correspondents dinner, scheduled for April 30, he believes his recent fame will make him a potential guest. "There is still time," he said, noting that the dinner had often prompted attention because of some controversial guests in the past, such as Monica Lewinsky. "There is always someone there trying to make news," he added. "Maybe this year it is going to be me."

Read the rest of this post...

South Dakota paper says Gannon unfairly tried to tar paper as biased

Gee, he wasn't so opposed to taking on journalists for their alleged biases last year. From E&P;:

But [Argus Leader Executive Editor Randell] Beck contends Guckert's coverage was aimed at making the paper look biased, not at fairly covering the race. "A lot of it was either not true or manipulated to leave the impression that we were biased in favor of Daschle," Beck said. The editor declined to be specific about claims Guckert made, and since Talon News has removed all of his work from its site, those stories were not viewable.

The editor also reports that Gannon admits he shared information back and forth with bloggers working for the Thune Senate campaign.

Although Guckert said he was not paid by, or directed, by Daschle's opponents (in South Dakota or in Washington, D.C.) to write about the Argus Leader, he admitted to sharing information with local blogs, such as Daschlevthune.com and SouthDakotaPolitics.com.

"We traded information back and forth," he told E&P.; "But having some special relationship, I would not characterize it as that. We were pursuing the same story."

Thune also appeared on Gannon's Web-only radio show on Feb. 8, 2004. He eventually beat Daschle in what many considered to be a major upset, given Daschle's standing as Senate minority leader.

After the electlon, it became known that one of Gannon's blog comrades received $27,000 from the Thune campaign, and another took $8,000.

Read the rest of this post...

Anti-gay social security ad PULLED

Guess the Bushies figured gay-bashing wasn't the best way to sell their social security plan. Josh Marshall has more on the controversy, including screen captures of the before and after of the Web site running the ad. He also talks about some interesting ties between the the group running the ads and the religious right. Read the rest of this post...

Talon News - All the news that's fit to reprint?

Raw Story, in conjunction with WarAreWeBackInIraq, is breaking a story about a number of Talon News stories (not penned by Jeff Gannon) that have remarkable similarities to other stories from the New York Times, FOX, and Reuters. Check out the Raw Story link above, and then check out some of what WhyAreWeBack found below (their stuff is also at their link above).

I'm republishing some of WhyAreWeBack's research below, with due credit - please visit their site for the rest of this story and credit THEM and Raw Story for finding this. And, this is only a PORTION of the evidence that blog found. There is literally TWICE this amount of stuff on his Web page, please do check it out.

As an aside, some folks have suggested that perhaps all of these news organizations got the same White House press release and simply lifted portions from the release. That's possible, but the number of similarities that WhyAreWeBack has pulled up certainly raises some questions that need to be answered.

• Roeder - A joint session of Congress resumed proceedings Thursday evening and quickly ratified President George W. Bush's November election victory.
• Cameron, Asher & Mills - A joint session of Congress resumed meeting Thursday evening and quickly finalized certification of President Bush's 286 Electoral College votes to Democrat John Kerry's 251.
  
  
• Roeder - Certification was halted for the majority of the afternoon when Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) stopped the formal declaration process.
  
• Cameron, Asher & Mills - The certification was delayed for several hours after Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, stopped the formal declaration of Bush's second term to protest voting irregularities.
  
  
• Roeder - Boxer said on the Senate floor that she and Jones wanted to "shed some light" on issues of reported voting irregularities in Ohio and nationwide election reform.
  
• Cameron, Asher & Mills - Boxer said on the floor of the Senate that she joined with Jones to "shed some light" about the issues of reported voting irregularities in Ohio as well as election reform throughout the nation.
  
  
• Roeder - Lawmakers were forced to retreat to their separate chambers for two hours of debate and a vote on the challenge.
• Stolberg & Dao - Instead of holding a courteous joint session to certify the election, lawmakers were forced to retreat to their separate chambers for two hours of debate and a vote on the challenge.
  
  
• Roeder - Earlier in the day, Boxer and Jones acknowledged at a news conference that they did not expect to overturn the results.
• Cameron, Asher & Mills - Earlier on Thursday, Boxer and Jones held a news conference and acknowledged they are not expecting to overturn the November election results.
  
  
• Roeder - It was only the second such challenge since Rutherford B. Hayes won in 1876.
• Stolberg & Dao - It was only the second such challenge to a presidential race since 1877.
  
  
• Roeder - In 2001, more than two-dozen Democrats objected to the certification of Florida's disputed election won by President Bush. However, since no senator also objected then, as is required to cause a recess of the joint session of Congress, the objection was ignored.
• Cameron, Asher & Mills - In 2001, more than two-dozen Democrats objected to the certification of Florida's disputed election, but because no senator objected, as is required to trigger a recess of the joint session, the objection was ignored.
  
  
• Roeder - Boxer said she regrets that she didn't object to the certification four years ago.
• Cameron, Asher & Mills - Boxer also said she regrets that she didn't object to the certification four years ago when the controversial election put Bush over Al Gore.
  
  
• Roeder - Debate in the House on Thursday was lively. In contrast, the Senate debate included only the two Republicans from Ohio: Sen. Mike DeWine and Sen. George V. Voinovich. The Democrats filled the remaining time with reasons why the voting system needs improvement.
• Stolberg & Dao - Although debate in the House was vigorous, in the Senate only two Republicans ? Mike DeWine and George V. Voinovich of Ohio ? joined in, leaving Democrats to fill the time with relatively subdued speeches about why the voting system needs to be improved.
  
  
• Roeder - Most Democrats concluded Bush was the rightful winner and said the move cast a needed spotlight on voting rights. Republicans called it a waste of time.
• Stolberg & Dao - Democrats, nearly all of whom conceded that Mr. Bush was the rightful winner, said the move cast a needed spotlight on voting rights. Republicans called it a waste of time.
  
  
• Roeder - "This is a travesty," said Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), who forced a formal roll call vote in the Senate to spotlight lawmakers' positions. "[Democrats] are still not over the 2000 election, let alone the 2004 election."
• Stolberg & Dao - ?This is a travesty,? said Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a member of the Republican leadership, who forced a formal roll call vote in the Senate to spotlight lawmakers? positions. Of Democrats, he said, ?They?re still not over the 2000 election, let alone the 2004 election.?
  
  
• Roeder - House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) characterized the Democrats' move as a "quadrennial crying wolf."
• Stolberg & Dao - Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the House majority leader, drew applause on the House floor when he denounced the Democrats? move as a ?quadrennial crying wolf.
  
  
• Roeder - The challenge divided Democrats. Party leaders and many rank-and-file distanced themselves. Black and liberal lawmakers embraced it.
• Stolberg & Dao - ?The challenge cast a spotlight on divisions among Democrats, with party leaders and many in the rank and file distancing themselves from the effort, while black and liberal lawmakers embraced it.
  
  
• Roeder - Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), who lost the election to Bush, said in a letter sent to supporters Wednesday he would not take part in a formal protest of the Ohio Electors because, despite widespread reports of voting irregularities, his legal team had "found no evidence that would change the outcome of the election." Kerry said he planned to introduce election-reform legislation and request congressional hearings on the voting irregularities.
• Cameron, Asher & Mills - Kerry, who lost the election to Bush and is currently overseas, said in a letter sent to supporters Wednesday he would not take part in a formal protest of the Ohio Electors because, despite widespread reports of voting irregularities, his legal team had "found no evidence that would change the outcome of the election." Kerry said he planned to introduce election-reform legislation and push for congressional hearings on the voting irregularities.
  
  
• Roeder - Democratic officials in Ohio said that, while they desire improved election practices, they worry that the party was wasting time and money.
• Stolberg & Dao - But even Democratic officials in Ohio said that while they wanted improved election practices, they worried that the party was wasting time and money refighting the last election.
  
  
• Roeder - Likewise, Republicans from Ohio were not pleased by the Democrats' objection. Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH) called the procedural challenge an effort by "certain extreme elements of Sen. Kerry's own party" to mock an election that Kerry himself conceded.
• Cameron, Asher & Mills - Republicans from Ohio were not pleased by the Democrats' objection. Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, called the challenge an effort by "certain extreme elements of Senator Kerry's own party" to mock an election that Kerry himself conceded.
  
  
• Roeder - Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) concurred. Charges made about Ohio's election are "wild, incoherent and completely unsubstantiated," he said. On the Senate floor, Dewine added that he found it "almost impossible to believe" that the Senate was debating the matter when the official results showed that Bush won his state with more 118,000 votes.
• Cameron, Asher & Mills - Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, said charges made about Ohio?s election are ?wild, incoherent and completely unsubstantiated. He delivered a statement on the Senate floor saying he found it "almost impossible to believe" that the Senate was debating the matter when the official results showed that Bush won his state with more 118,000 votes.

Amazing work by WhyAreWeBack, and kudos to Raw Story for not letting this slip into the blogosphere either... Read the rest of this post...

Someone on the Hill should be calling for a GAO investigation of GuckertGate

GAO is obviously already interested in this issue. The issue is worthy of an independent investigation. An investigation would only feed the flames of this issue, with cause. And it's the kind of thing that the Dems can ask for on their own.

Someone in that big white building on the Hill should be thinking about more substantive ways of advancing this issue, such as what I've just written. Read the rest of this post...

Great Clarence Page op ed

Snippet:

If America's mainstream media really were as liberal as conservatives claim we are, we would be ballyhooing the fiasco of James D. Guckert, a.k.a. Jeff Gannon, with Page 1 banner headlines and hourly bulletins.

Imagine how the conservative choir would sing out if a Democratic White House knocked long-tenured journalists off its press room access lists so that it could give access to a fellow like Mr. Guckert, who dependably asks softball questions because he reports for a partisan Web site that supports the Bush administration.

Imagine how they would question the access given by the Secret Service and the White House press office for two years to a guy who used a driver's license that said James Guckert to get into the White House, then switched to his alter ego of Jeff Gannon.

Read the rest of this post...

Satire: Editor Questions Place on Gannon's 'Enemies List'

I started off believing this was real. It's a funny read, it starts off totally believable, then gets really good :-) Read the rest of this post...

Write letters to the editor about Gannon.

Good letter to the editor about Gannon in the Philadelphia Daily News. Please do write your local papers and ask why the mainstream media isn't covering this scandal. Read the rest of this post...

Was Gannon's hooker past known a year ago?

This blog linked to Senator Thune's (R-SD) campaign, the guy who beat Tom Daschle, says reporters are telling them that they received photos of Gannon a year ago, photos that were meant to "discredit" him. Could these be the same photos we found on his male escort site/profiles? And does this mean reporters knew a year ago about Gannon's other business? And if so, why didn't any of those reporters speak up in the past 3 weeks when the Gannon story hit the fire?

Reporters have recently told me that the Daschle campaign had been sending them photos of Gannon for at least a year to discredit him.

Kudos to the NashuaAdvocate for finding this tidbit. Read the rest of this post...

"Shrek" is part of an evil transgender plot, religious right says

And the gifts just keep on coming.

Uh-oh!

That other jolly green giant could be in trouble.

Shrek 2 is the latest animated film title to be "outed" by Christian fundamentalists in the U.S.

On its website the Traditional Values Coalition (news - web sites) is warning parents about the cross-dressing and transgender themes contained in the hit DreamWorks feature, now on DVD.

"Shrek 2 is billed as harmless entertainment but contains subtle sexual messages," says the coalition, which describes itself as a grassroots inter-denominational lobby with more than 43,000 member churches.

"Parents who are thinking about taking their children to see Shrek 2 may wish to consider the following."

The article then proceeds to describe one of the characters, an "evil" bartender (voiced by Larry King) who is a male-to-female transgender in transition and who expresses a sexual desire for Prince Charming.

In another identified scene, Shrek and Donkey need rescuing from a dungeon by Pinocchio and his nose, which is made to extend as an escape bridge by getting the wooden boy to lie about not wearing women's underwear.

The TVC report, A Gender Identity Disorder Goes Mainstream', raps DreamWorks for helping to promote crossdressing and transgenderism.

Read the rest of this post...

CS Monitor's Chinni: White House needs to define "independent relationship" with press

Good recap of the Gannon "affair" from the journalist's perspective. From the Christian Science Monitor:

The cafes and restaurants here were atwitter again last weekend. Finally, after years of talking about things like terrorism and deficits and Social Security reform, the capital's chatterers had a story they could discuss without reading a briefing paper.

Thank you, Jeff Gannon or James Guckert or whatever your name really is. It seems like old times again inside the Beltway.
...
Even after the president's call for an independent relationship with the press, Guckert was back in the White House pressroom. Mr. McClellan even defended Guckert's place there. It was only later, when blogs exposed Guckert's previous Web exploits, that he resigned from Talon News.

It may be time for the White House to define some terms for all of us. What does a "nice independent relationship" with the press really mean? It's easy to see how people like Guckert fit with the "nice" part (at least from the White House perspective); it's the "independent" part that's not clear.

Read the rest of this post...

Is food cultural and can it be racist?

There's a lively debate going on in Hawaii about proposed legislation that would ban the slaughter or cats and dogs for human consumption. (Apparently consumption for other animals is probably still OK.) Some in the local Asian community are outraged, saying this is racist and against their culture. My own belief is that sure, food is cultural and what is normal for one group is disgusting for another. I grew up eating oysters and soft shell crabs, food which outsiders often find revolting. Here in France, no one thinks twice about eating snails and buying horse meat, while not that common, is still a special meal. (I think it's pretty tasty.) In Peru I ate guinea pig (boney and chewy) and in Africa I tried mopani worms. In many places around the world, eating sea urchin (actually, their sexual organs) is a delicacy so what's all the fuss about?

Don't count me in anytime soon for a plate of dinner dog, but what's the big deal? Why is slaughtering a cow, pig, lamb, or chicken any different than slaughtering a dog or cat? Read the rest of this post...