# White House caught planting a stooge in the press corps **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 9, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296 "2005-02-09T23:26:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/61 "2005-02-10T12:48:57Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > …and post something that’s actually relevant to the OP? Gosh, like you? I didn’t see you prattling chimps harshly criticizing that craziest of crazies, Helen Thomas, for her disgusting press conference manner. You can claim amongst your D.U.mbass friends to be concerned for the ‘free press’ or somesuch, but you are getting into it a bit late in the game. Gannon is gone. A bad apple that slipped in on a day pass; if only other members of the press corp would be gone so quickly! Besides, I find it rather amusing that the lefties are trying to use this Gannon fellows’ sexual orientation as thinly-vieled weapon against him. So much for tolerance and all that, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/62 "2005-02-10T13:01:56Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > Gosh, like you? > > I didn’t see you prattling chimps harshly criticizing that craziest of crazies, Helen Thomas, for her disgusting press conference manner. You can claim amongst your D.U.mbass friends to be concerned for the ‘free press’ or somesuch, but you are getting into it a bit late in the game. > > Gannon is gone. A bad apple that slipped in on a day pass; if only other members of the press corp would be gone so quickly! > > Besides, I find it rather amusing that the lefties are trying to use this Gannon fellows’ sexual orientation as thinly-vieled weapon against him. So much for tolerance and all that, huh? Wow, are you ever stupid. Item 1. We should be harshly criticizing an actual journalist asking tough questions of the administration, because we are harshly criticizing a fake journalist-shill! One has done her job for decades, and the other since March of 2003. Yes, you clearly have a firm grasp of the problems here. Item 2. Gannon is a bad apple! As in an anomaly, an abberation! Never mind Armstrong Williams. Hell - never mind that this guy wasn’t a journalist at all, wasn’t using his real name, and was given access to classified information. Item 3. The Rovian strategy: employ false dichotomies. If you criticize Gonzales, you are discriminating against minority groups. If you criticize this guy, you are discriminating against proprietors of gay military porn sites. Of course, if that was all this guy did, **Brutus** wouldn’t give two shits about discriminating against him. In this case, you fucking stupid prick, his gay porn sites only serve to illustrate that he really wasn’t a career journalist. **Brutus** , you have no integrity. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/63 "2005-02-10T13:03:09Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > Gannon is gone. A bad apple that slipped in on a day pass; if only other members of the press corp would be gone so quickly! A bad apple that slipped in repeatedly for over two years? Under a fake name, for an all-but-fake news organization? Obviously they weren’t doing any background checks on this guy, huh **Brutus**? Evil-doers, take note. If you want to get within a few yards of the prez, all you need to do is pretend to work for a right-wing news org. ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/64 "2005-02-10T13:25:23Z")
A news item like this fills me with desire. Desire to see that whole den of cynical thieves horsewhipped all the way to the guillotine. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@Guy\_Incognito\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito_1)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/65 "2005-02-10T13:50:07Z")
[Here’s](http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/09/white.house.reporter/index.html) the link to the story now developing on [CNN.com](http://CNN.com). No mention of the Valarie Plame/classified memo connection, no mention of the gay porn websites. Just a complaint from a Democratic congresswoman about how some pseudo-reporter with an alias could become a member of the White House press corps. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/66 "2005-02-10T14:13:26Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Do you ever have _anything_ to add to political threads? Why don’t you take Bush’s cock out of your mouth for a second and post something that’s actually relevant to the OP? Goddamn, you come off as a stupid motherfucker. Brutus gives you post an incredible rating of nearly 234 dicks. Brutus’ press secretary supported our theory in a letter stating, “Brutus has no comment at this time regarding your assertions.” Which we took to mean, “It’s physically impossible for Brutus to comment right now or ever because his tongue is being depressed by several thousand pounds of dick. And every time I go home from my press secretary job I fucking smell like a truckload of spit got hit by a cock train. Please send help.” [http://www.seanbaby.com/e32001/part09.html](http://www.seanbaby.com/e32001/part09.html) ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/67 "2005-02-10T14:30:18Z")
According to Atrios, “Jeff Gannon” is credentialed under a pseudonym, which is generally against policy to the point that married female reporters who use their maiden names professionally are still credentialed under their married names. A small thing, to be sure, but one that has raised eyebrows. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/68 "2005-02-10T14:30:52Z")
The Bush-fellaters here defended going to war over incorrect pretenses, and the torture of prisoners. Anybody actually expect them to take a stand against a fake journalist? “The guy’s a fake? That’s where I draw the line!” Why bother even reading their posts on any subject, at this point? They are, as we computer scientists call it, a “constant value”. If you define a variable as constant, do you bother writing code to check its value? Of course not. It’s like making effort to verify that Mt. Everest didn’t grow legs and enter the Boston Marathon. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/69 "2005-02-10T14:44:55Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > The Bush-fellaters here defended going to war over incorrect pretenses, and the torture of prisoners. Anybody actually expect them to take a stand against a fake journalist? “The guy’s a fake? That’s where I draw the line!” > > Why bother even reading their posts on any subject, at this point? They are, as we computer scientists call it, a “constant value”. If you define a variable as constant, do you bother writing code to check its value? Of course not. It’s like making effort to verify that Mt. Everest didn’t grow legs and enter the Boston Marathon. You know, this is an excellent point, and one that I think is correct. But dammit if I don’t hold in my heart some hope that for some of them, there will come a straw/camel’s back moment. I know it seems silly to think that this compares with the Iraq invasion, or the several hundred tons of high explosives, or anything else, but I am at heart a silly liberal who wants to have hope for people at an individual and group level. Yeah, **Brutus** and **duffer** and so many others may be interchangeable automatons, who, like Clarence Thomas, you could predict exactly what they might say in any given situation, but there have to be some others out there who aren’t willingly stupified by their political affiliation. Doesn’t there have to be such people? Anyone left in the party of personal responsibility and accountability? Anyone of integrity? What will it take? ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/70 "2005-02-10T14:58:33Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The other new low is how long it took for someone in the real news media to out this character. How obvious a stooge can one be? Well, according the OP, Gannon “has virtually no journalistic background, asks softball questions to the president and his spokesman …, and routinely reprints long passages verbatim from official press releases as original news articles …” Makes me surprised they _ever_ found out he wasn’t really part of the news media. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/71 "2005-02-10T15:21:59Z")
> [@42fish](#): > > Well, according the OP, Gannon “has virtually no journalistic background, asks softball questions to the president and his spokesman …, and routinely reprints long passages verbatim from official press releases as original news articles …” > > Makes me surprised they _ever_ found out he wasn’t really part of the news media. Seriously, doesn’t that describe the average Fox News reporter? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/72 "2005-02-10T15:29:57Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > On top of that, I hear he’s stolen the Triforce and kidnapped Princess Zelda. This wouldn’t be your extraordinarily subtle way of asking for a Link, would it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/73 "2005-02-10T15:31:19Z")
This pseudo-journalist is a blot on the name of real journalism. It’s one thing to have a particular editorial bias, and another to be actively deceptive in your exercise of journalism. So I’m not at all reluctant to condemn him and whatever organization backed him. I’m a bit unclear on what evidence implicates the Bush White House in planting the man, however. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/74 "2005-02-10T15:37:29Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > This pseudo-journalist is a blot on the name of real journalism. It’s one thing to have a particular editorial bias, and another to be actively deceptive in your exercise of journalism. > > So I’m not at all reluctant to condemn him and whatever organization backed him. > > I’m a bit unclear on what evidence implicates the Bush White House in planting the man, however. He was given a daily pass for two years with no credentials, a fake name and no background check. Do you think that was an accident? ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/75 "2005-02-10T15:53:18Z")
Oh, they probably knew his “background.” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/76 "2005-02-10T16:01:17Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > He was given a daily pass for two years with no credentials, a fake name and no background check. Do you think that was an accident? Why do you say there was no background check? I assume he supplied his real name and indicated he was using a psuedonym as a writer. As for the “no credentials,” I assume his hiring company, [TalonNews.com](http://TalonNews.com), verified that he was in their employ as a reporter. So far as I know, the White House has no guidelines about how many published articles you have to your credit before they issue press credentials. They obviously review prior criminal records, they obviously ensure that the guy is working for a real news agency, but I don’t think they have a policy of ensuring journalistic merit. I welcome correction on these points; I’m going solely from imagination here. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/77 "2005-02-10T16:13:02Z")
This guy was refused press credentials by Congress; I’d be interested to know what the differences in standards are for Congressional and Executive press credentials. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/78 "2005-02-10T16:13:34Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Why do you say there was no background check? > > I assume he supplied his real name and indicated he was using a psuedonym as a writer. As for the “no credentials,” I assume his hiring company, [TalonNews.com](http://TalonNews.com), verified that he was in their employ as a reporter. > > So far as I know, the White House has no guidelines about how many published articles you have to your credit before they issue press credentials. They obviously review prior criminal records, they obviously ensure that the guy is working for a real news agency, but I don’t think they have a policy of ensuring journalistic merit. > > I welcome correction on these points; I’m going solely from imagination here. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight. Don’t even bother defending these clowns, just fess up. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/79 "2005-02-10T16:16:33Z")
From CNN: > [@](#): > > Julie Davis, chairwoman of the Senate press gallery’s executive committee, said Guckert could not demonstrate any separation between Talon News and GOPUSA, a Republican consulting group. So: -Either this guy didn’t undergo proper background checks by the WH press office, so they didn’t realize that there was no demonstrable difference between the supervillain group Talon and GOPUSA; or -He did undergo proper background checks, and the WH did realize this. Okay, so maybe Talon isn’t a supervillain group, and maybe the guy’s calling himself Gannon is just coincidence. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/80 "2005-02-10T16:17:42Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Why do you say there was no background check? How can there be a background check on a fake name? > [@](#): > > I assume he supplied his real name and indicated he was using a psuedonym as a writer. As for the “no credentials,” I assume his hiring company, [TalonNews.com](http://TalonNews.com), verified that he was in their employ as a reporter. When he applied for a Capitol Hill pass under his real name he was [denied](http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/02/10/reporter_tied_to_gop_quits_over_scrutiny/) because Talon is not a legitimate news service. > [@](#): > > Gannon also applied for a congressional press pass but was denied one on the grounds that Talon did not qualify as a legitimate news service, according to Jim Drinkard, a USA Today reporter who headed the committee that reviewed the application. So how does a guy with a fake name who does not work for a legitimate news service get a _de facto_ permanent press pass under the guise of daily passes for two years (find me another reporter who ever got daily passes for two years)? How close can you get to the president with a fake name and no press credentials? What would be your chances of getting a pass even once? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296.md?page=5)