Blogosphere drives pseudo-reporter and Bush Bootlicker Jeff Gannon back into his hidey-hole

I haven't been covering this story, mostly because of other commitments. But others have, and it's not a pretty one indeed.



The short 'n' skinny: "Jeff Gannon", apparently a pseudonym, was "employed" by Talon News, a web-only wingnut "media outlet" -- and was given extensive press access to the White House. Basically this guy, and "Talon News", have been set up as a fake news outlet to disseminate Republican talking points.



Intrepid bloggers, led by Atrios and some of the folks at Kos, have dug up some stuff about this guy, and now it seems he's resigned from his fake news outlet.



Here's the scoop about the resignation from Americablog.



Some background stuff on the subject:



Bush Administration Political Games are a National Security Risk (from Kos)



Talon News "reporter" lifts from GOP documents verbatim for "news reports" (Media Matters)



What is Talon News, and why does it have press credentials? (Media Matters)



This Kos diary speculates that "Gannon" is the source of the Valerie Plame leak: Plame Leaked by Fake News Source? Overview: Part IV



And an interview with Amb. Joseph Wilson about his own interview with Gannon and Gannon's possible role in the leak.



White House Correspondents Criticize Alleged 'Softball Thrower' -- and Jeff Gannon Fires Back (Editor and Publisher)



Want more: Just Google "Jeff Gannon". Then let the fun begin!



UPDATE: Talon News seems to have scrubbed "Jeff Gannon"'s very existence from their Web site. None of the links that come up in Google to Talon's site work any longer. John Aravosis at Americablog is all over this story, here, here, here, and here.



Now for my little holier-than-thou cybertrolls, and you know who you are, who are going to get all self-righteous about the "persecution of a gay man", let me just quote Mr. Aravosis:

Now, I'm not one to judge how folks like to get their jollies (assuming no children are involved and it's consensual), but then again, I don't suck up to the family values agenda like Mr. Gannon does. I've been through Gannon's archives, and it's a horrendous accumulation of religious right suck-up pieces on gay issues. Some are concerned that perhaps it's not fair to hit him with the gay card, if he is gay. Well, take a look at some of the stories from Gannon's Talon News Service: here, here, here Talon is promoting "ex-gays," defending Bush on gay marriage, and Gannon himself writing a story defending Santorum on his man-dog-sex commments about gays.

If you're out and proud, great! If you're closeted, that's your business. But when you're closeted, or peeking out (which Gannon apparently is), and then using your position as a right-wing mouthpiece to write gay-bashing articles that advocate second-class citizenship for people like yourself, then you deserve to be unmasked. You lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas. And you ain't seen Talon News rushing to defend their guy, either, have you? Hell no, they've now decided he never existed.



The unmasking of Gannon isn't about him being gay or not. While the hypocrisy angle is fun (Aravosis succinctly puts it, "He's a family-values-loving reporter with access to the White House, revelations come up linking him with male prostitution, he suddenly quits his job, and we're to say "oh, ok." The White House has some MAJOR explaining to do."), that's not what makes this story so ugly. It's about the corruption it indicates in how the White House tries to get its message across, and it indicates that the payola scandal that started with Armstrong Williams is just the beginning.



NY Rep. Louise Slaughter realizes that the iceberg isn't just on the surface, and has sent this letter (excerpted below) to the White House today, which nicely distills why this story is so indicative of some serious corruption between the White House and the so-called "press corps":

Dear Mr. President:



In light of the mounting evidence that your Administration has, on several occasions, paid members of the media to advocate in favor of Administration policies, I feel compelled to ask you to address a matter brought to my attention by the Niagara Falls Reporter (article attached), a local newspaper in my district, regarding James "JD" Guckert (AKA Jeff Gannon) of Talon News.



According to several credible reports, "Mr. Gannon" has been repeatedly credentialed as a member of the White House press corps by your office and has been regularly called upon in White House press briefings by your Press Secretary Scott McClellan, despite the fact evidence shows that "Mr. Gannon" is a Republican political operative, uses a false name, has phony or questionable journalistic credentials, is known for plagiarizing much of the "news" he reports, and according to several web reports, may have ties to the promotion of the prostitution of military personnel.



Several weeks ago when it was revealed that radio/TV host Armstrong Williams had received payment from your Administration in exchange for his vocal support of the 'No Child Left Behind' initiative, I was stunned. For years now I have been leading the fight in Congress for fairness and accountability in the media; the Williams revelation only underscored the need for a media that has integrity, is balanced and expresses the local interests and concerns of its consumers.



Since that time, two more members of the media have been found to have received money from your Administration in exchange for their vocal, yet undisclosed support of Administration policies.



And just this morning we have learned that "Mr. Gannon" has resigned his post at the, so called, Talon News amid growing concerns over his controversial background and falsified qualifications. In fact, it appears that "Mr. Gannon's" presence in the White House press corps was merely as a tool of propaganda for your Administration.



I was already concerned about what appears to be an organized campaign to mask partisan propaganda as legitimate news by your Administration. That we have now learned this same type of deception is occurring inside the White House briefing room itself is even more disturbing.



That is why I am asking you to please explain to the Congress and to the American people how and why the individual known as "Mr. Gannon" was repeatedly cleared by your staff to join the legitimate White House press corps?

And I love this; here is where she gets to what the real problem is:

Mr. President, your Administration has driven the so-called "values" debate in this country. But the most important value for those of us in public service should always be honesty and integrity, particularly when considering the manner in which we conduct our affairs of state.

How great is this woman?



ANOTHER UPDATE: Here's a Google cache of the kind of swill this swine used to serve up.



And World O'Crap nicely distills the entire nasty mess.



I can just imagine the outcry about this if the president's name were "Bill Clinton." But because Captain Codpiece is in the White House, all I hear from the MSM is crickets.



(updated 1:30 PM to add Louise Slaughter letter)