I need some cheering up

Who is this "Gannon" you speak of?

Okay, 3 preliminaries:

1--Here's some Dap for your Dap, Paul. Nice!

2--Bob Herbert, ladies and gentlemen.

3--Iron Hymen, in particular their kind words from first lady Laura Bush. Also check out its sister (brother?) website, Sex Is For Fags. Here's a teaser from Laura's top ten reasons to abstain:

#8. When a boy's disgusting private goes inside of a girl's shameful unmentionable, there is a serious risk of it breaking off and causing excruciating pain while it travels throughout your body like a giant trichinosis worm.

Oh Dear God!


Finally, an important synopsis of the whole Jim Guckert/Jeff Gannon affair. Some of you may be saying, "So what if a confused man-whore has been masquerading as a White House reporter for years? If it was really important and scandalous, wouldn't it be all over the liberal media?" My poor deluded friends. Here's Frederick Clarkson's excellent synopsis, cribbed from DailyKos, which is sort of like an open-source BatCave for progressives and liberals. Enjoy!


[I thought people might be interested in this summary] of L'Affaire Gannon that I posted on my blog this morning. I am sure that I did not break any new ground, but I hope that its a fair account for people who may be new to the story, or who have heard only bits and pieces.]
I happened to be listening to the radio on January 26th, when the president called on "Jeff" at a news conference. Jeff wondered how Mr. Bush was going to be able to work with Democratic leaders "who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?" That was the most absurdly partisan question I had ever heard from a reporter, and I wondered who the hell he was. Turned out, I was not the only one wondering about that.


Soon afterward, liberal bloggers, led by a team of volunteers affiliated with The Daily Kos, decided to find out. It turned out that "Jeff Gannon" was a fake name; that he was a fake reporter; and he worked for a fake news organization. Jeff, aka James D. Guckert, was a Republican Party operative who worked for a propagada organization called GOPUSA. He had been rejected for membership in the House Press Gallery because he could not demonstrate that Talon News was an independent news organization. But he was given day passes for two years by the White House Press Office -- thus avoiding the customary security investigation. He was allowed to sit four rows from the White House press secretary -- and sometimes the president -- apparently in order to lob them softball questions when they got in a jam.

But Guckert was more than a partisan operative infiltrating and undercutting the press corps in order to assist the White House spin machine. An FBI background check would likely have uncovered what the bloggers found out -- that Guckert was the owner of several web sites that apparently advertised his services as a prostitute. Bloggers at The Daily Kos first uncovered these web sites, but John Aravosis at AmericaBlog, obtained invoices that showed Guckert had apparently owned and created the web sites and provided the content -- including provocative photos advertising his services for $200 an hour or $1200 a weekend. Guckert told Anderson Cooper on CNN that "...I have made mistakes in my past. These are of a personal and private nature...". Beyond that, he neither admitted nor denied anything, but when asked, he insisted that neither his employer nor the White House knew anything about his, ahem, private activities.

This was very clever spin. This aspect of the story is not about Guckert's private life; it is about his paid, publicly advertised professional life. I have yet to see any published information on Guckert's actual private life. In media interviews, Guckert has not denied, but he has refused to discuss his true profession. Over the past two weeks, the mainstream media has picked up on the story in fits and starts, but it has mostly been the bloggers who have unearthed new details on an almost daily basis. Guckert resigned from Talon News on February 9th, and all of his stories were purged from its web site -- but Guckert's male escort web sites are now apparently hot properties -- and are up for sale.

Among the many scandalous aspects of L'Affaire Gannon, Guckert and Talon News also figure into the investigation of the Bush administration's leak of the name of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame, wife of former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Wilson had angered the administration when he revealed in an op-ed in The New York Times, that when the Bush administration sent him to Niger to investigate whether Iraq had sought to purchase uranium, he found no evidence that it had. This finding undercut the Administration's claim that that Iraq had done so, as president Bush had claimed in a speech to Congress justifying the war. As it turned out, the only evidence the president had was a fake memo of uncertain provenance.

Gannon interviewed Ambassador Wilson, and published this question: "An internal government memo prepared by U.S. intelligence personnel details a meeting in early 2002 where your wife, a member of the agency for clandestine service working on Iraqi weapons issues, suggested that you could be sent to investigate the reports. Do you dispute that?" Well, CIA officials say that Plame had not been at the meeting, but the question now being publicly aired, is how did non-reporter Guckert get access to a classified memo? Speculation is rife that Guckert and Talon News were and are part of a wide-ranging White House propaganda effort that has included the smearing of Wilson and the outing of Plame.

As White House Correspondent and Washington Bureau Chief for Talon News, Gannon was best known for taking White House press releases and putting them out under his byline as if they were his own words. Another Talon News writer, Steve Roeder has been accused of routinely plagiarizing material from Fox News, Reuters, and The New York Times, according to Raw Story, which has closely followed the unfolding of the Gannongate scandal.

While it has taken some time, the scandal is now spreading rapidly: For example over the past few days Raw Story obtained a letter being circulated by U.S. Senate Democrats, formally requesting President Bush to launch a full investigation. How, they wonder, did a fake reporter, working for a "sham" news organization gain access to the White House? Salon reports that Guckert was attending White House news conferences before Talon News even existed. And not only did Guckert enjoy unusual access to the White House via the press office, but Salon further reports that he was invited to White House Christmas parties in 2003 and 2004.

The Daily Kos is maintaining an investigative file on the unfolding scandal, adhering to the philosophy of "open source." Media Matters for America, founded by former conservative activist David Brock, has also been dogging the Gannongate story and pressing for a formal investigation.

The remarkable, and unprecedented collaborative investigation by the blogging community has caused some in the mainstream media fits and embarrassment. "Jeff" had sat amidst the elite of the American and international press corps for two years: he was called on by the president; he asked loaded partisan questions -- and not one of them had bothered to look into Gannon or his obviously fake news organization.

OK, time to get over it.

Gannongate is not really about bloggers or the injured pride of the White House press corps and the journalism profession. It's increasingly apparent that this is a story about a covert propaganda operation that infiltrated the White House press corps, very likely with the collaboration and direction of the White House staff. That the operative may also have been a prostitute is interesting, but not as interesting as the planting of Guckert inside the White House press corps and the activities he carried out at the behest of his sponsors.

[Crossposted from FrederickClarkson.com]

Bob Herbert put it exactly like I would like to

I wouldn't be able to say it better.

Iraq, Then and Now

By BOB HERBERT

Published: February 21, 2005

I remember going to Washington in mid-March 2003, nearly two years ago, to cover a demonstration by tens of thousands of protesters who were clinging to the last, tissue-thin strands of hope that they could bring the Bush administration to its senses and prevent the invasion of Iraq.

But it was already clear that nothing would deter President Bush from his war. I filed a column that said, "We're about to watch the tragedy unfold."

Even more clearly than the protests that weekend, I remember the ominous stories in the press about the likelihood that a war in Iraq would embolden Islamic terrorist organizations and strengthen their recruitment efforts. The Times ran a front-page article on Sunday March 16, in which a senior counterintelligence official said: "An American invasion of Iraq is already being used as a recruitment tool by Al Qaeda and other groups. And it is a very effective tool."

On the same day The Washington Post reported that "specialists inside and outside the government question whether a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq would deliver a significant blow against international terrorism. Experts warn that war and occupation could also have the opposite effect by emboldening radical Islamic groups and adding to their grievances."

All warnings were given the back of the administration's hand. Mr. Bush launched his invasion and many thousands died. Now fast-forward to last week's testimony of top administration officials before the Senate Intelligence Committee. If the war in Iraq was supposed to stem the terrorist tide, the comments of these officials made it clear that it hasn't worked.

Porter Goss, the C.I.A. director, told the committee, "Islamic extremists are exploiting the Iraqi conflict to recruit new anti-U.S. jihadists." He added, "These jihadists who survive will leave Iraq experienced and focus on acts of urban terrorism."

The war, said Mr. Goss, "has become a cause for extremists." In his view, "It may only be a matter of time before Al Qaeda or another group attempts to use chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons."

Vice Adm. Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said: "Our policies in the Middle East fuel Islamic resentment. Overwhelming majorities in Morocco, Jordan and Saudi Arabia believe the U.S. has a negative policy toward the Arab world."

An article in last Friday's Washington Post said the radical group Ansar al-Islam, which has carried out dozens of suicide bombings in Iraq, is recruiting young Muslims across Europe to join the insurgency.

So tell me again. What was this war about? In terms of the fight against terror, the war in Iraq has been a big loss. We've energized the enemy. We've wasted the talents of the many men and women who have fought bravely and tenaciously in Iraq. Thousands upon thousands of American men and women have lost arms or legs, or been paralyzed or blinded or horribly burned or killed in this ill-advised war. A wiser administration would have avoided that carnage and marshaled instead a more robust effort against Al Qaeda, which remains a deadly threat to America.

What is also dismaying is the way in which the administration has taken every opportunity since Sept. 11, 2001, to utilize the lofty language of freedom, democracy and the rule of law while secretly pursuing policies that are both unjust and profoundly inhumane. It is the policy of the U.S. to deny due process of law to detainees at the scandalous interrogation camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where prisoners, many of whom have turned out to be innocent, are routinely treated in a cruel and degrading manner.

The U.S. is also engaged in the reprehensible practice known as extraordinary rendition, in which terror suspects are abducted and sent off to be interrogated by foreign regimes that are known to practice torture. And the C.I.A. is operating ultrasecret prisons or detention centers overseas for so-called high-value detainees. What goes on in those places is anybody's guess.

It may be that most Americans would prefer not to know about these practices, which are nothing less than malignant cells that are already spreading in the nation's soul. Denial is often the first response to the most painful realities. But most Americans also know what happens when a cancer is ignored.

Let the PUNishment begin

Bush's weed smoking is outed by a guy named Doug Wead.

Your boy Madavi gets some dap.

So yesterday, the editor of the wrestling website I write reviews and columns gave my column some notice in his Friday Update on the site. It was a very proud moment for yours truly. It honestly couldn't have come at a better time, since reader mail responses has been waning. Here's what Editor in Chief of The Pro Wrestling Torch, Wade Keller had to say:

POLITICS IN WWE: Paul Madavi's "Submission Position" column in the Lounge makes a good case that WWE's more sophisticated in its presentation of its political/current events inspired heels. He wrote: "Most recently, WWE has returned to presenting a more conservative tilt on their product. With the introduction of Muhammad Hassan and Khosrow Daivari, WWE has reintroduced the terrorist threat back into primetime television. This, of course, comes on the heels of the Bush re-election." My first thought when reading that was that they aren't necessarily conservative. They elicit a pro-U.S. patriot response that could be interpreted as pro-war with Iraq and thus pro-Bush, but deep down they aren't being sabotaged in the message they communicate. Hassan is able to state a pretty good case against the war and against some of the more criticized elements of U.S. foreign policy. Madavi then covered that base, when he wrote: "Hassan and Daivari are perhaps the most complex of the politically based heels the WWE has ever presented. First and foremost, they are not foreigners. Unlike the Iron Sheik before them, Hassan and Daivari are presented as violently dissenting American citizens. They are traitors, in essence. However, again departing from previous habits, WWE has made sure to state that Hassan and Daivari are not examples of their demographic, but exceptions to them. They made no such efforts with the Iron Sheik, or Nikolai Volkoff. This slight nuance in representation of the political heels shows that WWE is in touch with the current political climate, and how it has advanced since the 1980s." Check out his complete column, with some background on other political characters in WWE, and then send Paul some feedback on your thoughts. His email is included in his column, which can be quickly accessed by clicking on "The Lounge" on the left menu bar listing.

archaeology

yes, but do you get a a whip, leather jacket, hat, and cool theme music in the background???

hey! what's your eco-systemic paradigm?

man i am loving this flurry of blog posting. paul is being very kind in his post. i don't really work 20 hours a day but it sure feels like it alot.
right now i am studying for an exam i am woefully underprepared for which is tomorrow. This is going off about 4 hours of sleep from last night and a stress-filled presentation in Theory seminar today. For no other reason than it makes me feel better to pretend like I know what this actually means i am going to share with you some vocabulary that i have come across while studying.
-extra-somatic
-etic perspective
-functionalism
-systems theory
-hereditary inequality!
-heterarchy
ah. and you thought archaeology was just digging stuff.

Road Trip

A road trip from Seattle would almost certainly mean a stop over in Madison, WI, I'm thinking.

I don't really have any kind of news, or things that are new with me. Work has been hectic lately. Really hectic. We're converting two old databases into one new one, and at the same time (and because of the conversion) redefining some of our admissions policy. I'm also implementing student e-mail at the same time, which is lots of fun, let me tell you.

So, I'm all crunked out on work. I know that's not the appropriate use of the word "crunk," but what the hey, it's a made up word anyway.

The good part of all this is that come the end of March, I'll be sashaying my pretty little butt down to the airport. Several hours later, I'll be in Washington, DC with Peter Kovac and Jason Palumbo. We're then driving down to Greenville, SC where we will meet up at Jason's uncle (Paul, PAW, UNK, UNK PAW, the list goes on and on). Jason's uncle has a pond, a basketball hoop, the phat TV, the weight room. That's right, he lives in heaven. Anyway, we're going to meet up with Big Andy, and more of Jason's kind, Erik Sabin (who's the bomb in phantoms yo) for what I like to call A HOLIDAY. Rest, relaxation, video games, wrestling . . . I wish I could die and go straight to the end of March.

In other news, Alison works her ass off something like 20 hours a day. I'm not shitting you. She literally works about 20 hours a day on school. I can't begin to say how much I admire her strength, determination, and resolve. I would've ducked out a long time ago.

That's it from here. I'll try to post more often, as I've been neglegant.

Okay, so I know I do this every couple of months, but apparently, I'm really bad at blogging.

Top 5 Interesting/Eventful/Not-Really-Interesting-Or-Eventful-But-Post-Worthy Things in Jen's Life (taking my cue from Andrew's list)

1) My grandpa died. This was really sad...the last close relative of mine who passed away was my other grandfather, and that was in 1981, and I was less than a year old. This was the first funeral I had ever been to, and I'm not really eager to go to any more. It was just really sad.

2) I went to Madrid. This was not really sad...it was really happy! My old roommate Rebecca (not Rebecca H. Keith, RK, from Oberlin, but rather Rebecca J. Klein, RJ, from Seattle) moved there last summer for graduate school, so I went to visit. Madrid is not my kind of city...people stay up until 5 am. Those of you who knew me in college know that I've never stayed up until 5am. These days, I go to bed around 9:30 or 10. I'm really uncool. but I saw lots of museums and neat art, including a great exhibition of Guernica, and hung out with cool people and slept a LOT and just had a great vacay.

3) I applied to grad school. I'm hoping to study public health policy at an East Coast university next year. Which one? I'm not sure. But no matter what...

4) I will be moving back east over the summer. I'm still loving Seattle, but I'm feeling the urge to be back amidst the bad drivers and fast talkers. Plus, I've always wanted to take a road trip...which is clearly a great reason to move across the country.

5) I figured out why my vacuum cleaner, despite being the loudest vacuum cleaner EVER, wasn't sucking things up. Apparently, when the hose is plugged in, the main part doesn't vacuum. Obvious, and yet...I have a clean floor now.

Love, Jen

whats wrong with jame's eyes? :-/

why work sucks on monday, even though its tuesday, which is really monday's evil twin.

1. printing literarily hundreds of color documents on expensive paper for stupid meetings that will most likely be thrown away after the meeting.
2. one of the color printers is broken, leaving the demonic new yorker magazine crew to monopolize the one good printer we have left.
3. my computer crashes twice before 10am. optimism doesnt hold well for the remainder of the day.
4. its a fake holiday.
5. my bosses boss is in town for the week. which means 1) more lame work for me, but also some smiles, because the boss actually has to do some work himself. 2) the boss is not used to doing work so its fun to see him squirm.
6. the boss takes you out to lunch, however its to the foodlife market for, "this one's on me" treat of a BLT Wrap and water. thanks. and the reason why you dragged us to foodlife is because you dont want us to disappear for an hour to leaving you not knowing how to find a file on your computer and for heaven's sake, printing it yourself.
7. some how even though the boss is in Minnesota today, he still finds time to have me print another 100 pages and start, by my count a 5th version of the same "hitlist" database.

good things though...

i monopolized the printers first both yesterday and today.

i started my peace corps application online. written one is no good because i dont have the health review form that is available online. no worries. (creepy thing about peace corps....spiders and very large bugs!!!)

i learned how to change toner out of the color printer yesterday, and if it were not for me, the paper jam would still be there today until napoleon came back in to the office.

nicknames at work: jonny utah (from keanu reeves famed movie, Point Break, after passing my fbi test), iceman or ice.

skipping out on work last thursday to go to wrestling practice.

wao bao

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Please note- James is not possessed.

It's that day of the year again

I know, I know, I'm recycling my website suggestions here, but hey this one is such a good one! And sooooo appropriate for Valentine's Day...

Much love to everyone.

Whoowa

I think ta-da list is back up and running (it is for me at least)
username: infinitedriveway password: infinite

Ta-da?

Hey gang--can't get into the Tada list! I enter the password, and the password screen just resets. And to make it worse, I am just full of pop-culture recommendations today! Like, go see A Very Long Engagement, and rent The Station Agent, and pop Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger in the CD player. And now the world will never know about all my great suggestions! Any ideas?

It's official

An not confidential: I've cleaned out my inbox and now you can again email me. Sorry about the inconvenience.
Claire.

Confidential to Claire

Claire- what's up with your email? Both email addresses I have for you (planet claire and oberlin) are rejecting my emails. :( Drop me a line if you can!