Pay no attention to the naked gay conservative male prostitute in the WH!

[KoKo]

A GREAT READ from Digby with comments from Jonah Goldberg plus the background on Issikoff/Blue dress where he puts in all into context (Thanks to Buzzflash for the link)

---------------------------------------------------------------------
FROM DIGBY

Paraphrasing a comment I read somewhere yesterday (apologies to the author) "pay no attention to the naked gay conservative male prostitute sitting in the middle of the family values white house living room." Goldberg affects a jocular dismissiveness for a reason. He knows what a real story is and he knows how they work. And he is trivializing this one because it is actually quite dangerous.

Meanwhile, on the left we have much handwringing by commenters over this not being a "gay" story and how we should concentrate on the national security angle and how it's really about access etc, etc. We too are ignoring the naked, gay conservative prostitute in the midde of the family values white house living room. And this is where they get us.

Perhaps it would be instructive to take another little trip down memory lane. Jonah knows very well what a real story is because he was up to his ears in one of the biggest political sex scandals in history. From Michael Isifkoff's award winning MSM articles on the Lewinsky affair:

More of this great read for background....:-)'s ENJOY....

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2005_02_13_digbysblog_archive.html#110849435828569255

[Stephanie]

1. Best Title Ever

love it

[KoKo]

2. I can't take credit...it was "Buzzflash" who pulled it out...but it does

grab one's attention for the "truth" of the whole damned thing, doesn't it? :D or :-(

[thecai]

36. Excuses

The title is truthful, but one republican I "discussed" this with shouted, "that's between him and God!"
Of course, it's always different if it's a liberal or democrat.

[BOSSHOG]

3. They certainly do know its a real story

so THEY are doing their damndest to ensure that bush's ignorant base is not exposed to it. I'm totally baffled that the religious right is not marching in front of the white house with pitchforks. Naked homosexual prostitute and not a peep from those holier than us? Wow! I guess those people really are tolerant.

[cthrumatrix]

4. corporate media refuse to give it time...wonder why

[Zeke]

7. Oh, Because...

The story will destroy Bush Inc.,
and the GOP, and the GOP hold over
the red middle America states,
forever giving Democrats total
control of the USA.

Yeah, that's why.

[FreedomAngel82]

5. It's all because

Bush is a God fearing Christian man and us democrats are so evil and immoral (note sarcasm). :eyes: You know good and well if this was a democratic government they'd be kicking and screaming and crying and it'd be all over the news. What a load of crap.

[KoKo]

6. He also calls it the "Manchurian Beefcake Story" and rails about

how we should be fighting back like the Repugs do on this one. I agree with him. We have too many Dem "hand wringers" who get caught up in the "Victim" thing which is what Kurtz and Blitzer set the stage for when they did the first report on this. We let those two set the agenda and the Goldbergs and the rest sit back and laugh it all off while they attack "Liberal Bloggers" ignoring that the "Conservative Bloggers" have taken down more folks than Liberal Bloggers would even be able to get a chance to.

But, it's perfect Rovian/Gingrich tactics. And damned if it doesn't work every time. If not for Louise Slaughter and John Conyers our Reps would still be whispering in the back room and wringing their hands saying "whatever shall we do? ...we don't want to call too much attention to this sex angle do we? It might backfire...oh woe is me." (my interpretation of what's going on)

So...either some Dems are involved in this...so they don't want to speak up or we still haven't learned how to jump on a National Security Story and play it to wherever it goes...and if it leads into Dem Beds as well as Repug's it's time to find out the truth! :grr:

[Zuni]

43. I agree

the Dems shouldn't worry about GOP attempts to smear them as homophobic---
They are too worried they will offend anyone by coming out and saying in clear english that the Bush administration hired a homosexual male pornographer and prostitute to interfere with Press Conferences

[HaloKitty]

8. Argh, he's the new Teflon President...

Nomatter how big the story, it's brushed off by the administration and the media as no big deal. Or worse, a sure sign we libs and the bloggers are the REAL danger in America.

And the fact is, whatever Jeff the Bulldog's sexual proclivities, he's a PROSTITUTE. Worse, he's a man, who has sex with men, then spews hate about gay men. He is no victim in this, and the dems can't be afraid to call a spade a spade. Gay, straight, or whatever, the guy is scum.

[newyawker99]

15. Hi HaloKitty!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[donheld]

18. He seems to have taken it far beyond teflon

I think the bastard could kill a child on national TV and 59 million Merikans would ignore it.


Welcome to DU HaloKitty :hi:

[Zuni]

46. at least the Republican hardcore would

many of those 59 million were swing voters who made up their mind based on bad intel from the lame ass media at the last minute.

But among them are real hardcores who will vote for the most RW candidate they can find.

[Zuni]

45. good point

he has sex with men, for money, floods the internet with homosexual pornography and then bitches that Kerry is too tolerant on gays

[Callboy]

9. When's the lid coming off this badboy???

Simmering over the pot already

[Bethany Rockafella]

10. How can you pay no attention to eight and a half inches of elephant?

In the flesh, so to speak. ;-) This is directed to the Democrats and the Republicans.

[jmcon007]

11. If I were Governor Dean.....

I believe I would huddle with Barney Frank and put it like this, "Barney, you are a patriot and a very intelligent, gay man. I need you to speak up about the hypocrisy of the White House on the Jeff Gannon story."
Let people say what they will about Barney Frank....when he speaks, people listen. No one can deny his openness concerning his own sexual orientation, but his worth to me as a 50ish straight man is his honesty, his compassion for the little guy and, damn it, I've never seen him back down from a fight.
Am I off base here?

[La Femme]

13. Dean

Has anyone actually sent Howard Dean the Gannon information that is being dug up and requested that this is a top priority to be looked into?

[Zan_of_Texas]

41. Barney Frank is perhaps not the best spokesperson on this.

There is a story that a man who was living at Frank's residence was turning some tricks on the side. Don't know if true, but perhaps there would be another spokesperson.....

And there lies part of the problem -- the entire Senate and most of the House probably lives in a glass house.

[MADem]

47. You are right on the mark about Barney's compassion and energy

He is a mensch!!!!!!! Always on the side of the poor, the defenseless, the elderly, the powerless...Barney is a helluva fellah!

I especially like his command of facts--he has a mind like a steel trap, damn near TOTAL recall, and he can slap the crap out of anyone trying to shove him during interviews ("Excuse me for talking while you were interrupting me" is CLASSIC Barney). He is one tough sonofabitch when he needs to be, and you are right, he DOES NOT BACK DOWN.

The problem with asking Barney to front for this issue is that the right will bring up his little difficulty many years back, where he was having a relationship with a live-in guy who was a callboy, and who ran his biz out of Barney's house. Rep. Studds was caught up in a contemporaneous imbroglio due to a relationship with a House page. The right would use that to try to muddy the waters, so it may not be helpful. If asked though, I am sure that he would let them have it with both barrels. but he might not be the best guy to have on point over this matter.

[Hissyspit]

12. And then there's the whole lying stuff...

Telling lies was sure against MY family's values. I consider a media plant a big whopper, not just a varient on strategy. Then there's Jeff's lies and McClellan's lies, etc.

I would have gotten whupped with a belt as a kid for telling those kind of lies. Oh, wait, maybe Jeff actually likes that kind of thing.

Guess if you're gonna lie, lie big.:7

[PapaJoe]

27. Jeff's whitehouse connection

just heard something on the Randi Rhodes show about somebody from GOPUSA is married to somebody in Andy Card's staff. know anything about this?

[reichstag911]

42. Go to "Hiding in Plain Sight..." at...

http://www.liberalpatriots.blogspot.com/

[in_cog_ni_to]

14. Priceless title! Spot on PERFECT!

HEY Congressional Democrats!!!!!! Are you listening???

<snip>It might just force some of these chickenshit libertarians and GOP urbanites to show their true colors and get some GOP parents and siblings of gay people to face up to what they are doing. Can anyone believe that there is no value in showing the country that many of the highest level Republicans in the Bush Administration are actually quite tolerant of gays? Doesn't that move our agenda forward?

I don't believe that we advance the cause of gay rights by allowing the right to have it both ways, which they clearly do. We have a tittilating tabloid story, replete with nude pictures and prostitution, that illustrates the fact that they are merely pandering to the religious right on this issue. It would be too bad if we are too squeamish to pursue it because that is exactly what the other side is counting on.

Finally, the biggest reason to pursue this story is because we are creating a terrible moral hazard if we don't. The Republicans have no incentive to stop the politics of personal destruction if we don't hold them to their own standards and they continue to be rewarded. Pitchers, batters and Republicans understand this instinctively. So should we. <snip>


Great article. If only our politicians would read it. :(

[gottaB]

16. Manchurian Beefcakes--Is that like a cartoon?

Because the only reason I can think of for why Hot Military Stud Jeff Gannon is being swept under the rug is that he's a flesh-and-blood naked gay conservative male prostitute sitting in the middle of the family values white house living room, instead of being some friend of friend of an animated cartoon character.

[truth2power]

17. I've been vindicated.

I posted yesterday on Will Pitt's thread/poll asking what was the most important part of the Gannon/Guckert story to pursue.

I said the gay prostitute issue should be mined for all it's worth because it's the thread that can potentially unravel the whole fetid swamp that is the Bush WH.

At the time, I think the sex angle was running dead last as something to be pursued, and I couldn't figure out why I, a grandmother, heard a little voice inside me saying, "Go with the sex!".

Well, if you've read what Digby has to say, be sure to scroll down and click on Rude Pundit's link. As Digby says, "Rude Pundit gets it right." Well said!

snip>

We are draining away law and ethics through the "extraordinary renditions" of "terror suspects," as well as our own torturing. Like city dwellers who can sleep through sirens, car alarms, and street construction, we just tune it all out. But it'll crash, finally. Then we'll think, oh, shit, should've killed those termites.

You may ask how these things are connected, Guckert and Guantanamo (and elsewhere), other than through the act of sodomy. All of one's lies are entangled, ultimately. Al Capone couldn't be caught on a murder rap. Instead, the government nailed him and destroyed him because of tax evasion. If what finally brings down the Bush administration is the revelation of a secret cabal of homosexuals trying desperately to stay in the closet, then so be it.

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2005/02/why-gannonguckert-matters-rude-version.html

[jdj]

34. you said it, truth to power.

here Clinton balanced the budget and kept the peace for 8 years, and was the greatest president this country has had since FDR, yet what do people remember? the blow job.

Had Jeff been wearing the blue dress, they definitely would have removed Clinton from office, no doubt about it.

[bloom]

19. While the story exposes the hypocrites - I don't think it helps the cause

of gays - if the goal is to bring about more acceptance.

If anything - this Gannon/Gerkurt guy would drive conservatives into just wanting more controls... with the objective of stuffing the Gannon/Gerkurts of the world back into the closet.

[KoKo]

20. Well think of it this way...

If she was a Female Prostitute who had advertised for "tricks" with the Military Females, had testimonials about her from sources claiming they worked for the Pentagon and posed with legs spread and urinating and whatever else Gurket had photo's of himself doing, do you think "NOW" or "Emily's List" would complain that the shock of it might push women back to the time when they couldn't vote? Do you think the Press would back off of that one?

[bloom]

21. I'm sure

that if this happened on the Dems watch - that it would be on the news 24/7.

I expect that there can be gains from the standpoint of exposing Republicans as being ridiculous.

I just don't think it necessarily helps out gays, that's all. Not that gays necessarily would want to shirk from the story - I just don't see it helping as far as being something like "oh, look - we're all one big, happy family with gay prostitutes in the living room of the White House."



P.S. I was esp. responding to this:

"It might just force some of these chickenshit libertarians and GOP urbanites to show their true colors and get some GOP parents and siblings of gay people to face up to what they are doing. Can anyone believe that there is no value in showing the country that many of the highest level Republicans in the Bush Administration are actually quite tolerant of gays? Doesn't that move our agenda forward? "

[KoKo]

26. Oh...I missed that post...

must have been a "visitor." If you understand what I mean.

There's an excellent post by "Chookie" somewhere here on DU that says maybe it isn't about Gay's or homosexuality, but about "Power Dominance." And that neither Gannon nor his clients may see themselves as Gay in the traditional sense, but the psychosocial Power Dominance is what turns them on. (sorry..I'm not quoting the post accurately). Anyway it's an interesting way to look at Gannon/Gurket and what might be going on that got him into the White House.

[Vincardog]

38. How do you think a self loathing male PROSTITUTE whoring

for the Rabid Radical Right Wing Nuts is supposed to help the Gay Agenda? It is not about Gay it is about hypocrisy and Prostitution.

[loudsue]

22. The suggested Dem "come back" for this is priceless, and spot on!!

"When the wingnuts complain about how we hate gays, just say "No I don't. And clearly, neither do you. But James Dobson does. Let's go have a chat with him, ok?"

When/if we get this type of framing in front of Dean and the Dems, they'll be able to run with it.

The only thing I believe might be holding them back from attacking right now (aside from the fact that some high profile Dems may eventually be connected to Gannon 'trists' ) is the fact they don't know how to spin anything to their advantage for fear of pissing off their base. THIS COME BACK gives them the way around it.

And we need more, better, and hopefully HUMOROUS comebacks that will catch on....in other words, we need some good writers to take the place of some of those high-paid loser consultants that are about to be given the boot.

Great thread, KoKo! Thanks for posting!!

:kick::kick::kick:

[Bluebear]

23. kick

[ClintonTyree]

24. All fine and dandy...............

but when the MSM is totally in control of the GOP it gives us very few ways to get ANY message out to the American people, let alone a message that will shatter their illusions of the bush White House.

If someone can explain to me how we're to distribute this story in a coherent fashion to the American public, I'm all ears. What 'angle' of the story to use for the greatest impact is rendered moot until then. If nobody will report the story, nobody's going to hear it.

[EFerrari]

25. Might want to check reader's letters in the am to the WaPo.

If they publish a group, it will be instructive. If they don't, that will also be instructive.

The press still has to pretend they are responsive to readers. Puts them in an interesting position.

[marcologico]

29. Don't count on more than a cryptic double entendre or two, if that. n/t

[marcologico]

28. Sadly, corporate media will do just that. And don't be surprised

if Jeff has an unfortunate accident in the very near future.

[Callboy]

30. I'm trying not to look!!!

[KoKo]

32. LOL's but look at what? My post or something else?

:D

[BigBearJohn]

31. NO MORE PACK-O-DERMS IN THE WHITE HOUSE!

[DU GrovelBot]

33. ## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

==================
GROVELBOT.EXE v3.0
==================



This week is our first quarter 2005 fund drive. Democratic
Underground is a completely independent website. We depend almost entirely
on donations from our members to cover our costs. Thank you so much for
your support.

[marcologico]

35. Man I can't wait to see the dirt that gets dug up after Chimp resigns! n/t

[Dissent Is Patriotic]

37. This heading is so damn funny!

Thanks for making me laugh numerous times.

[calimary]

39. Kick!

BTW - Catherine Crier was actually covering it on Court TV, and evidently asking all the correct questions:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1600445

So, at the moment, it's Olbermann and Crier so far.

And ... BTW part two ... where IS Isikoff these days, anyway? Why isn't he hounding this one, 'eh? What's he afraid of? Just asking...

[UL_Approved]

40. Yes, the gay angle is truly a scandal

This whole thing is illegal.

Running a prostitution ring is against the law in this country (except for Nevada). I won't debate prostitution here, but I will say that this is a felony offense. And it is treated as a more serious crime than raiding pension funds.

This is at the core of the "Moral Majority". They are nothing but a bunch of lying perverts who are trying to sell religious snake oil. And the torture connection: they are a bunch of sadists.

If the MSM could unravel this, not like the Clinton debacle, but as a solid and serious news item, then this could add up to the Bush downfall.

He may have won the election through fear tactics and phony ideals (but exit polls show that he didn't even win at all), but his legacy of total crime will catch up and take him down. He has screwed over nearly every group of his voting constituency in the second term of office, and only after 3 1/2 months of staying in office. If his policies get too much more out there, the moderate GOP will shut him down in Congress and/or an impeachment will be presented with him facing a serious possibility of the impeachment being carried out. He will never step down, but he may be forced out.

[Zuni]

44. It is not the fact that he is gay...it is the male prostitution thing

There are a lot of gay journalists.

Very few are also male prostitutes who get special access to the WH with no credentials

[OneTwentyoNine]

48. That and the utter hypocrisy that Repukes operate under DAILY...nt