Posted on 02/10/2005 4:03:00 PM PST by Dane
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And Jeff Gannon is joining us now for an exclusive television interview, his first TV interview since leaving his job.
Jeff, thanks very much for joining us.
Should I call you Jeff or James?
GANNON: Please call me Jeff Gannon.
BLITZER: So what -- explain the discrepancy. Your real name is James D. Guckert.
GANNON: Yes. Well, it's pronounced Guckert.
BLITZER: Guckert.
GANNON: It's a professional name. I used it because Jeff Gannon is easier to pronounce and easier to remember.
BLITZER: But you haven't legally changed it?
GANNON: No.
BLITZER: So your driver's license still has Guckert?
GANNON: Absolutely.
BLITZER: So, when you went into the White House and you showed your driver's license, it was under the name Guckert.
GANNON: Absolutely.
BLITZER: And so you just did this because it was easier to pronounce, presumably.
If you didn't do anything wrong, why did you resign?
GANNON: Well, since I asked my question, people that disagree with me have harassed and threatened not only myself, but my family. And I believe that leaving my post would bring that to an end.
BLITZER: When you say they harassed your family, what was going on?
GANNON: Well, the -- on -- I've been receiving threats. People have been stalking me in my neighborhood, have followed me to church, followed me down the street. And then there are phone calls and hate mail that I've gotten over the Internet...
(Excerpt) Read more at transcripts.cnn.com ...
Thanks Dane... I had missed it.
I thought he did very well.
He did do well. Surprisingly it doesn't look like Bltzer really tried to ambush him like you would assume he would.
I hadn't heard he resigned. Damn. And this is because he dared to ask a "friendly" question at the W's press conference, or did I miss something?
Ping to post 4
I agree. I was anticipating that, but Blitzer seemed to play it pretty straight.
BLITZER: Because one of the things, as you know, that were said is that you had some sexually explicit Web sites that you were working on. I don't understand what that is, but maybe you could explain that.So many lies by liberals.GANNON: Well, several years ago, before I came to Washington, I had registered various domain names for a private client. I was doing Web site development. Those sites were never hosted. There's -- nothing ever went up on them. And the client went on to do something else.
There's been so much about me on the Internet that people have, you know, made assumptions about. And I just can't -- I don't even know them all and I can't address them all here.
It seems that when a conservative speaks out, the false accusations will come fast and furious.
Brit Hume just covered the Gannon story and did a very nice job of straightening out some of the misinformation.
Being totally suspicious the most I can make of this is that he may be gay and/or was being threatened with an outing. I took that to be Wolfe's insinuation by making him clarify who his threatened "family" is. I'm just speculating. From everything I have read so far, this guy did nothing wrong.
Basically, How dare you, a Conservative, crashing the White House Press Corps, a 100% LIBERAL organization.
The HORROR a Conservative trying to ask questions at a press conference.
Wolfe Blitzer and CNN spiraling down the drain of news HASBEENS!
That seems to be the consensus. I missed the interview.
The moonbat left are in full smear mode.
He was very poised - sounded credible and honest, had an explanation for the websites, defended online conservative news sites, and Blitzer seemed very fair. If there's replay, you might want to try to catch it.
I feel even worse for the guy now, having seen that. They are really trying to ruin his life.
The whole thing is an absolutely stunning example of media bias and how if you don't walk their walk, they bust you. At this rate, Bernie Goldberg's batting average is nearing 1000.
Gannon's talent will no doubt find a home elsewhere, likely in a more isolated organization, and that's great for him, but what was done here was wrong. The man didn't deserve this, had legitimate press credentials, and was asking a question a lot of us apparently had.
Obviously, they wanted this guy dead or something. I always said the reason we have the Second Amendment was to protect ourselves from the political moonbats out there.
If somebody had accused me publicly of being into gay porn and running websites, you better believe I wouldn't just drop out of site to "spare my family." I'd go public with proof of my innocence immediately.
It's his own fault. He should have been a fake liberal Indian Jack Nicholson impersonator who smeared the victims of 9/11.
Then he'd be loved!
Brit Hune and his panel talked about the issue this evening.
It seems that the folks at dailykos, the others, and Howard Kurtz may have jumped the gun...and misrepresented a huge portion of this story. And in a sense, slandered a man.
It seems that Gannon, or whatever his name may be, did not run any porn sited.
One of the panel members stated that they are finding out, now, that Gannon once worked for a software company and registered the domain names for somebody else.
THEY also pointed out that this seems to be, in large part, liberals going after a conservative reporter.
FURTHERMORE- the pointed out how people like Helen Thomas who is a columnist, not a reporter....and people like The New Republic can get press passes.
It will be interesting to see if Howard Kurtz will correct some of his misreporting of this stuff. Same with Olberman.
STILL WAITING FOR KURTZ TO DISCLOSE THAT A MAJOR SOURCE FOR HIS STORY WAS ON THE HOWARD DEAN PAYROLL.
ping-
# 18.
gave a rundown about what Brit Hune's show said about the issue.
ping.
# 18
You would think that a writer using a fake name writing real stories is preferable to a writer using his real name and writing fake stories. Or maybe that is just me.
Thanks!
Well, I'm no legal eagle, but it was libel it was pretty dang close. Too dang close for anyone who purports to be a reputable journalist.
was=wasn't
Hmmm. All very interesting. Throws a much different spin on everything. Under these circumstances, I don't think he should have resigned. I was on the other side earlier.
The left may end up with egg on their face again .. Jeff Gannon could end up with a very high profile position in the new media and the dems will rue the day they messed with him. Thank GOD they never learn.
GOD has very clearly said, "No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that rises up against you is condemned already".
Thanks for posting this.
Thanks; I listened to both the Wolf Blitzer interview and the Brit rundown on the matter.
Hey, it seems like Jeff Gannon is a FReeper. If that's correct, can't we help in some way?
Bump
Just checked the www.armstrongzuniga.com
The site showed a server error.
That was the site that is the company which is set up with dailykos owner, Zuniga.
In the brief history section, as I have posted in recent past, it showed what was exposed in the news recently. That Zuniga and his partner were on the Dean Payroll.
Somebody go over there and check to see if the site is down.
ALSO- It seems Kurtz is gonna have to disclose that his key source is a Dean coordinating type
AND A DNC FUNDRAISER-
From the website-
http://www.dailykos.com/
DNC donations
by kos
Thu Feb 10th, 2005 at 11:26:15 PST
I'm getting lots of questions about donations to the DNC after Dean is officially promoted.
I was going to use this site's ePatriots account to do a fundraiser, but it would be better to make this a blogosphere-wide effort. So we've created an ActBlue page and we'll ask bloggers to promote it heavily starting Sunday afternoon.
The ePatriots tool is nice if we're seeking individual fundraising kudos. But all of us progressive bloggers are in this thing together, and we'll fundraise for our DNC together.
Stay tuned.
gotta wonder if this violates any campaign finance laws.
How did that site represent itself.
Did Dean violate any finance laws IF they did this in the past.
Thanks for the info- I haven't had a chance ( and may not- time's short this week ) to investigate some of the stuff I have read here about Kos, but he/it looks shady.
The very least we can do is Courtesy Ping! him to these threads where we are defending him...
"JOURNALISMJOBS.COM: Where did you get your start in journalism? "
"BLITZER: My first job was working for Reuters News Agency in 1972. I was a very junior reporter in the Tel Aviv bureau. I had just received a master's degree in international relations when I heard about the Reuters program to train young journalists. To my amazement, I was accepted. That was my first job ever in journalism. I didn't have any college experience in journalism. I never took a course. I sort of fell into it and realized, I like this. It was a challenge learning to type. I self-taught myself how to touch type. I was blessed with some excellent senior journalists who trained me patiently and taught me the basic skills of being a reporter. "
I am thrilled Jeff is getting on radio and TV..
Just listened to Larry Elder.
Boy, that's an understatement. Democrat.com has the following language in an anti-Gannon petition on their site:
which raises the possibility he was bringing male prostitutes into the White House or other institutions of our government.
Oh my God Im shocked...he was a small time reporter with a day pass for a CONSERVATIVE WEB SITE!!! Whats next????
The rest:
BLITZER: When you say they harassed your family, what was going on?
GANNON: Well, the -- on -- I've been receiving threats. People have been stalking me in my neighborhood, have followed me to church, followed me down the street. And then there are phone calls and hate mail that I've gotten over the Internet.
And it's been very troubling. And when it went toward my family, then I said that I needed to put an end to it.
BLITZER: And when you say your family, could you be a little bit more...
GANNON: Well, I mean -- I mean my -- when my mother and my brother and his wife received telephone calls that -- you know, that contained threats and all kinds of terrible things being said about me, it's very disturbing. And that's way over the line. And I needed to put that to an end.
BLITZER: Because one of the things, as you know, that were said is that you had some sexually explicit Web sites that you were working on. I don't understand what that is, but maybe you could explain that.
GANNON: Well, several years ago, before I came to Washington, I had registered various domain names for a private client. I was doing Web site development. Those sites were never hosted. There's -- nothing ever went up on them. And the client went on to do something else.
There's been so much about me on the Internet that people have, you know, made assumptions about. And I just can't -- I don't even know them all and I can't address them all here.
BLITZER: I was going to say, were you there in the White House briefing room on a daily basis to try to change the subject, if you will, send softball questions to Scott McClellan, the press secretary? Or were you there as a real journalist trying to get the story?
GANNON: Well, Talon News is a legitimate conservative online news service. And my questions are things that my readers, 700,000 daily subscribed readers, want the answer to. And those are my questions.
I created the questions. Nobody fed questions to me. Scott McClellan certainly never knew what was coming. He knows -- he certainly knows...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Because you wore your politics on your sleeve. Everyone knew you were very conservative.
GANNON: Absolutely.
BLITZER: Why did you not get credentials, real credentials, from Capitol Hill from the U.S. Congress?
GANNON: Well, I made an attempt to do that originally when I was going to be covering Washington for Talon News. Our business -- Talon News' business model didn't fit the criteria of the Senate Press Gallery. And while we've been trying to comply, I couldn't stop doing the news. So I went on the basis of a daily pass. And that's -- it's all under the procedures that the White House has established for that.
BLITZER: What's the connection between GOPUSA, the political Web site, and the Talon News Service? It's owned by the same wealthy Texas Republican.
GANNON: I wouldn't say wealthy. I don't know that to be true or not. But...
BLITZER: Bobby Eberle.
GANNON: Bobby Eberle.
But it's common ownership. That's all. Talon News is a separate, independent news division. I work for Talon News. I write articles for Talon News. And that's it.
BLITZER: So what are you going to do now?
GANNON: Well, there's -- you know, God closes doors and opens windows. And I believe this is going to be a good opportunity for me, even though it's been painful. And I'm going -- I believe that there's a silver lining out there.
BLITZER: Do you have something already in the works?
GANNON: I've had some people call and make inquiries to see if I had any interest in certain positions.
BLITZER: Jeff Gannon, thanks very much.
GANNON: Thank you, Wolf.
Wolf said the other day he felt it was wrong to attack him for being an advocacy journalist holding a clear position, as even some liberals do the same in the press corps. I was surprised.
Here is the blurb intro to the piece:
HOWARD KURTZ, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Jeff Gannon -- that's what he calls himself at least -- was an obscure member of the White House press corps before he got to ask President Bush a question two weeks ago. And that proved to be his professional downfall.
Gannon, a self-described conservative journalist, writes for the Web sites Talon News and GOPUSA, both of which are owned by Texas Republican activist Bobby Eberle. And when the president called on him, Gannon asked a rather loaded question that seemed to disparage Senator Hillary Clinton and Minority Leader Harry Reid.
JEFF GANNON, REPORTER: Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the U.S. economy. 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?
KURTZ: One problem, Reid has never talked about soup lines. And Gannon later admitted he had picked up the characterization of the senator's views from Rush Limbaugh.
Suddenly, bloggers on liberal Web sites like Daily Kos started digging into his background. His real name, they discovered, was James Guckert. Gannon resigned from Talon News, saying that, out of concerns for his family, his voice of the new media has gone silent. He says he's been stalked and threatened by -- quote -- "nuts on the left."
Democratic Congresswoman Louise Slaughter has asked Bush in a letter whether the White House cleared Gannon in the briefing room to serve as -- quote -- "a tool of propaganda for your administration." White House spokesman Scott McClellan dismissed the charge, saying Gannon was allowed in on a day-to-day basis, just like any journalist, and it's not his job to screen reporters based on their political views. The president says McClellan didn't know who Gannon was when he called on him.
(on camera): Jeff Gannon called himself the conservative guy and delighted in being outspoken, even confrontational. His critics call him a fake reporter. But others say that liberal bloggers went too far in digging into his background because they didn't like his politics. Howard Kurtz, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
What is this Dean angle?
thanks for the Ping........I saw the segment on Brit's show.
Well, back then, it was much easier to break in without a degree; not it is basically essential.
That is why the press corps gave Gannon flack for no experience. But, I can tell a good journalistic story, and he writes good ones. He obviously learned somewhere how to write well.
BLITZER: Mark, thanks very much for joining us. Should I call you Mark or Samual?
Twain: Please call me Mark Twain.
BLITZER: So what -- explain the discrepancy. Your real name is Samual Clemens.
Twain: Yes. Well, it's pronounced Clemens.
BLITZER: Clemens.
Twain: It's a professional name. After a short military career I went the territory of Nevada and tried my hand in prospecting, which I found was not my cup of tea. I then became a reporter and was quickly moved up to editor of the Virginia City, Nev., Enterprise, this is when I began using Pseudonym "Mark Twain".
BLITZER: But you haven't legally changed it?
Twain: No.
BLITZER: So your passport still has Clemens?
Twain: Absolutely.
BLITZER: So, when you went anywhere and you showed your passport, it was under the name Clemens.
Twain: Absolutely.
yadda-yadda-yadda
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1340582/posts?page=435#435
Brit's show.......transcript.
It wouldn't surprise me if half of them didn't have a degree in "journalism."
Great take on it.
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