Conservative Reporter Resigns Amid Controversy

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

NOTE TO ALL - according to Diss., the media has never ever once questioned W on any of his policies and they never ever once reported anything but glowing results from Iraq

Of course they call him on it, the public just does not care as they think all Middle Easterners are terrorists should be killed.

Please see the Jeff Gannon story.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Please see the Jeff Gannon story.

I was being snarky But, my point was anyone who read any newspaper or Time, Newsweek, etc. or ever watched CNN or even, to a lesser extent, Fox - saw the reports of what was happening in Iraq. Thus, I think America knows it but does not care because they do not care if all Muslims in the Middle East are killed - I mean look at how many people assume all Muslims are anti-peace and terrorists. It is terrifying to me.

and

ya mean this one

White House-friendly reporter under scrutiny
By Charlie Savage and Alan Wirzbicki, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent | February 2, 2005

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has provided White House media credentials to a man who has virtually no journalistic background, asks softball questions to the president and his spokesman in the midst of contentious news conferences, and routinely reprints long passages verbatim from official press releases as original news articles on his website.

Jeff Gannon calls himself the White House correspondent for TalonNews.com, a website that says it is "committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news coverage to our readers." It is operated by a Texas-based Republican Party delegate and political activist who also runs GOPUSA.com, a website that touts itself as "bringing the conservative message to America."

Called on last week by President Bush at a press conference, Gannon attacked Democratic Senate leaders and called them "divorced from reality." During the presidential campaign, when called on by Press Secretary Scott McClellan, Gannon linked Senator John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, to Jane Fonda and questioned why anyone would dispute Bush's National Guard service.

Now, the question of how Gannon gets into White House press conferences is coming under intense scrutiny from critics who contend that Gannon is not a journalist but rather a White House tool to soften media coverage of Bush. The issue was raised by a media watchdog group and picked up by Internet bloggers, who linked Gannon's presence in White House briefings to recent controversies over whether the administration manipulates the flow of information to the public.

These include the disclosure that the Education Department secretly paid columnist Armstrong Williams to promote its education policy and the administration's practice of sending out video press releases about its policies that purport to be "news stories" by fake journalists.

McClellan said Gannon has not been issued -- nor requested -- a regular "hard pass" to the White House, and instead has come in for the past two years on daily passes. Daily passes, he said, may be issued to anyone who writes for an organization that publishes regularly and who is cleared to enter the building.

He said other reporters and political commentators from lesser-known newsletters and from across the political spectrum also attend briefings, though he could not recall any Internet bloggers. McClellan said it is not the White House's role to decide who is and who is not a real journalist and dismissed any notion of conspiracy.

Nonetheless, transcripts of White House briefings indicate that McClellan often calls on Gannon and that the press secretary -- and the president -- have found relief in a question from Gannon after critical lines of questioning from mainstream news organizations.

When Bush called on Gannon near the end of his nationally televised Jan. 26 news conference, he had just been questioned about Williams and the Education Department funds, an embarrassment to the administration. Gannon's question was different.

"Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the US economy," Gannon said. "[Minority Leader] Harry Reid was talking about soup lines, and Hillary Clinton was talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet, in the same breath, they say that Social Security is rock solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to work -- you said you're going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?"

As it turned out, Reid had never talked about soup lines. That was a phrase attributed to him in satire by Rush Limbaugh on his radio show.

Last year, during the presidential campaign, Gannon's comments could be even more pointed. In a Feb. 10, 2004, briefing with McClellan, for example, Gannon rose to deliver the following:

"Since there have been so many questions about what the president was doing over 30 years ago, what is it that he did after his honorable discharge from the National Guard? Did he make speeches alongside Jane Fonda, denouncing America's racist war in Vietnam? Did he testify before Congress that American troops committed war crimes in Vietnam? And did he throw somebody else's medals at the White House to protest a war America was still fighting?"

David Brock, the former investigative journalist who made his name revealing aspects of former President Bill Clinton's extramarital affairs, said he was watching last week's press conference on television and the "soup lines" question sparked his interest because it "struck me as so extremely biased." Brock asked his media watchdog group, Media Matters for America, to look into Talon News.

It quickly discovered two things, he said. First, both Talon and the political organization GOP USA were run by a Texas Republican activist and party delegate named Bobby Eberle. Second, many of the reports Gannon filed for Talon News "appeared to be lifted verbatim from various White House and Republican political committee documents."

Eberle did not return phone calls yesterday, and Gannon declined to comment. He did reply to Brock's group on his personal blog: "In many cases I have liberally used the verbiage provided on key aspects of the issue because it is the precise expression of where the White House stands -- free of any 'spin.' It's the ultimate in journalistic honesty -- unvarnished and unfiltered. If only others would be as forthcoming."

© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/wa...nder_scrutiny/

[gldstwmn]

Aaron Brown had a fantastic segment on it tonight.

[strandinthewind]

I missed it - check your PM's

[dissention]

Originally Posted by Brwn_eyes0511

It was a joke!!! I am not married, and I do live a sexless life right now !

That explains a lot.

Originally Posted by Brwn_eyes0511

I love how Ann uses hyperbole in her debates, just when the liberal is getting really angry, she throws in a good ol' smart remark!

You must not have seen it or else you wouldn't be calling it "hyperbole." She reminds me of an ill-tempered barroom floozy. Nothing smart ever comes out of her mouth.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by dissention

You must not have seen it or else you wouldn't be calling it "hyperbole." She reminds me of an ill-tempered barroom floozy. Nothing smart ever comes out of her mouth.

I think she knows EXACTLY what she is doing - I think she is savy in that she knows that if she dresses provocatively and says what a bubba wants to hear, she will sell a book. I also think the media are whores becuase they know the stuff she says in untrue - I mean even BO called her on that - but they know the rating will be high when she is on. Sadly, her lies helped fuel the fear that led most of America to think SH was resp. for 9/11 and that if we did not IMMEDIATELY invade Iraq he would develop a nuclear weapon to use against us or our allies. I think she is treasonous within the legal definition.

[Brwn_eyes0511]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I think she knows EXACTLY what she is doing - I think she is savy in that she knows that if she dresses provocatively and says what a bubba wants to hear, she will sell a book. I also think the media are whores becuase they know the stuff she says in untrue - I mean even BO called her on that - but they know the rating will be high when she is on. Sadly, her lies helped fuel the fear that led most of America to think SH was resp. for 9/11 and that if we did not IMMEDIATELY invade Iraq he would develop a nuclear weapon to use against us or our allies. I think she is treasonous within the legal definition.

Although I disagree about most of what you said above I do agree with one thing, that Ann is smart and that she knows what she is doing. Ann has a brilliant legal mind, like what she says or not!

[dissention]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I think she knows EXACTLY what she is doing - I think she is savy in that she knows that if she dresses provocatively and says what a bubba wants to hear, she will sell a book. I also think the media are whores becuase they know the stuff she says in untrue - I mean even BO called her on that - but they know the rating will be high when she is on. Sadly, her lies helped fuel the fear that led most of America to think SH was resp. for 9/11 and that if we did not IMMEDIATELY invade Iraq he would develop a nuclear weapon to use against us or our allies. I think she is treasonous within the legal definition.

Ann Coulter preaches to the choir. Her only appeal is to the right-wing whack jobs and religious fundies, no others. The day she actually has an influence on the American public in general is the day monkeys fly out of my ass and call me Patti Lupone.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by Brwn_eyes0511

Ann has a brilliant legal mind, like what she says or not!

But of course. Anyone who says that Joe McCarthy is the one of the greatest American's who ever lived has to be brilliant.

[Brwn_eyes0511]

Originally Posted by dissention

But of course. Anyone who says that Joe McCarthy is the one of the greatest American's who ever lived has to be brilliant.

I said, LIKE what she says or NOT, she has a brilliant legal mind.

Coulter graduated with honors from Cornell University School of Arts & Sciences, and received her J.D. from University of Michigan Law School, where she was an editor of The Michigan Law Review. Coulter clerked for the Honorable Pasco Bowman II of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and was an attorney in the Department of Justice Honors Program for outstanding law school graduates.

After practicing law in private practice in New York City, Coulter worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she handled crime and immigration issues for Senator Spencer Abraham of Michigan. From there, she became a litigator with the Center For Individual Rights in Washington, DC, a public interest law firm dedicated to the defense of individual rights with particular emphasis on freedom of speech, civil rights, and the free exercise of religion.

These are not what I would call the accomplishments of an idiot!

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by dissention

Ann Coulter preaches to the choir. Her only appeal is to the right-wing whack jobs and religious fundies, no others. The day she actually has an influence on the American public in general is the day monkeys fly out of my ass and call me Patti Lupone.

I would never insult La Lupone like that

BTW - she is coming to Hotlanta in May - I CANNOT WAIT - she is doing five or so shows at The Fox (which is a BEAUTIFUL old movie palace where GOne With the Wind Premiered http://www.foxtheatre.org/ ) - I may go to all of the shows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dissention]

Originally Posted by Brwn_eyes0511

I said, LIKE what she says or NOT, she has a brilliant legal mind.

Coulter graduated with honors from Cornell University School of Arts & Sciences, and received her J.D. from University of Michigan Law School, where she was an editor of The Michigan Law Review. Coulter clerked for the Honorable Pasco Bowman II of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and was an attorney in the Department of Justice Honors Program for outstanding law school graduates.

After practicing law in private practice in New York City, Coulter worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she handled crime and immigration issues for Senator Spencer Abraham of Michigan. From there, she became a litigator with the Center For Individual Rights in Washington, DC, a public interest law firm dedicated to the defense of individual rights with particular emphasis on freedom of speech, civil rights, and the free exercise of religion.

These are not what I would call the accomplishments of an idiot!

You wouldn't call holding the office of the President of the United States the accomplishment of an idiot, either, but look no further than George W. Bush.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I would never insult La Lupone like that

BTW - she is coming to Hotlanta in May - I CANNOT WAIT - she is doing five or so shows at The Fox (which is a BEAUTIFUL old movie palace where GOne With the Wind Premiered http://www.foxtheatre.org/ ) - I may go to all of the shows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't blame you!

She was on Will and Grace last week, ya know. And Chita Rivera (LOVE her) and Michelle Lee were on it tonight.

[Brwn_eyes0511]

Originally Posted by dissention

You wouldn't call holding the office of the President of the United States the accomplishment of an idiot, either, but look no further than George W. Bush.

Well, this is true, but not looking a George W. Bush as the idiot but more along the lines of someone like Clinton, Carter, etc...

[Brwn_eyes0511]

Originally Posted by dissention

I don't blame you!

She was on Will and Grace last week, ya know. And Chita Rivera (LOVE her) and Michelle Lee were on it tonight.

Chita Rivera is pretty good...I have seen her in person in NYC at a Red Carpet Premire...but to me she is starting to really look O-L-D!!!!