BUSH WANTS YOUR PORN

LISTEN UP, FANS OF PORN!

Despite the fact that the MSM is IGNORING the fact that there was a prostitute/pornographer lobbing softball questions to Scott McClellan and George Bush, apparently they are not only going to try and block the sale of pornography over the internet or by mail, but they are also requiring AIDS groups to officially oppose prostitution in order to receive public funding!

Re: sale of porn...

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Monday he would move aggressively to prosecute obscenity cases, and he laid out a broader agenda much like that of his predecessor, John Ashcroft.

In his first lengthy address since becoming attorney general in early February, Gonzales said people who distribute obscene materials do not enjoy constitutional guarantees of free speech.

"I am committed to prosecuting these crimes aggressively," he said to a Washington meeting of the California-based Hoover Institution.

The Justice Department is appealing the dismissal of an obscenity case in Pittsburgh in which a federal judge said prosecutors went too far in trying to block the sale of pornographic movies over the Internet and through the mail. The case initially was prosecuted under Ashcroft.

Re: AIDS groups and Bush's lame-ass morals...

Under the new policy, even groups whose HIV/AIDS work in other countries has "nothing to do" with commercial sex workers will have to make a written pledge opposing commercial sex work or risk losing federal funding, according to the Journal. In addition, the Bush administration might refuse to fund HIV/AIDS groups that do not accept Bush's "social agenda" on issues such as sexual abstinence and drug use, according to the Journal.

SO! How many of you BuSheep are getting a little nervous? You might not be able to buy your porn all nice and safe online and in the safety of your own home. A 9 BILLION dollar a year industry. I know it's not just us liberals buying Debbie Does Whoever The Hell She Happens To Lay Eyes On. Of course, the fact that a $200/hr whore with pornographic photos all over the net also being "one of the Republican fold" seems to have totally been dismissed by the White House and major news outlets. LAME. I DECLARE SHENANNIGANS!

I am so gonna make more freewayblogs until my fingers bleed. You goddamn hypocrits.

PS: Did you know there are REPUBLICANS AGAINST BUSH groups out there? I declare them friends, even if I do not see eye to eye with all of their opinions. At least they know they are getting royally and thoroughly screwed by Bush.

Maureen Dowd Rocks.

This was totally and completely written by Maureen Dowd of the New York Times but I emphasized some of it...

It was remarkable to see President Bush lecture Vladimir Putin on the importance of checks and balances in a democratic society.

Remarkably brazen, given that the only checks Mr. Bush seems to believe in are those written to the "journalists" Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher and Karen Ryan, the fake TV anchor, to help promote his policies. The administration has given a whole new meaning to checkbook journalism, paying a stupendous $97 million to an outside P.R. firm to buy columnists and produce propaganda, including faux video news releases.

The only balance W. likes is the slavering, Pravda-like "Fair and Balanced" coverage Fox News provides. Mr. Bush pledges to spread democracy while his officials strive to create a Potemkin press village at home. This White House seems to prefer softball questions from a self-advertised male escort with a fake name to hardball questions from journalists with real names; it prefers tossing journalists who protect their sources into the gulag to giving up the officials who broke the law by leaking the name of their own C.I.A. agent.

W., who once looked into Mr. Putin's soul and liked what he saw, did not demand the end of tyranny, as he did in his second Inaugural Address. His upper lip sweating a bit, he did not rise to the level of his hero Ronald Reagan's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Instead, he said that "the common ground is a lot more than those areas where we disagree." The Russians were happy to stress the common ground as well.

An irritated Mr. Putin compared the Russian system to the American Electoral College, perhaps reminding the man preaching to him about democracy that he had come in second in 2000 according to the popular vote, the standard most democracies use.

Certainly the autocratic former K.G.B. agent needs to be upbraided by someone - Tony Blair, maybe? - for eviscerating the meager steps toward democracy that Russia had made before Mr. Putin came to power. But Mr. Bush is on shaky ground if he wants to hold up his administration as a paragon of safeguarding liberty - considering it has trampled civil liberties in the name of the war on terror and outsourced the torture of prisoners to bastions of democracy like Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. (The secretary of state canceled a trip to Egypt this week after Egypt's arrest of a leading opposition politician.)

"I live in a transparent country," Mr. Bush protested to a Russian reporter who implicitly criticized the Patriot Act by noting that the private lives of American citizens "are now being monitored by the state."

Dick Cheney's secret meetings with energy lobbyists were certainly a model of transparency. As was the buildup to the Iraq war, when the Bush hawks did their best to cloak the real reasons they wanted to go to war and trumpet the trumped-up reasons.

The Bush administration wields maximum secrecy with minimal opposition. The White House press is timid. The poor, limp Democrats don't have enough power to convene Congressional hearings on any Republican outrages and are reduced to writing whining letters of protest that are tossed in the Oval Office trash.

When nearly $9 billion allotted for Iraqi reconstruction during Paul Bremer's tenure went up in smoke, Democratic lawmakers vainly pleaded with Republicans to open a Congressional investigation.

Even the near absence of checks and balances is not enough for W. Not content with controlling the White House, Congress, the Supreme Court and a good chunk of the Fourth Estate, he goes to even more ludicrous lengths to avoid being challenged.

The White House wants its Republican allies in the Senate to stamp out the filibuster, one of the few weapons the handcuffed Democrats have left. They want to invoke the so-called nuclear option and get rid of the 150-year-old tradition in order to ram through more right-wing judges.

Mr. Bush and Condi Rice strut in their speeches - the secretary of state also strutted in Wiesbaden in her foxy "Matrix"-dominatrix black leather stiletto boots - but they shy away from taking questions from the public unless they get to vet the questions and audiences in advance.

Administration officials went so far as to cancel a town hall meeting during Mr. Bush's visit to Germany last week after deciding an unscripted setting would be too risky, opting for a round-table talk in Mainz with preselected Germans and Americans.

The president loves democracy - as long as democracy means he's always right.

Is this what America is about? Giving all the power to one party? What happened to "checks and balances"? What happened to democracy? What happened to the majority of Americans? Is this the way it's supposed to be, BuSheep? This isn't democracy. This is too much control over too many areas of the government. This is BAD NEWS. And BuSheep should be ashamed of themselves for letting themselves get sucker-punched.

Bush used the evangelicals to pretend he would make abortion illegal and "bring morals" to the US. He used the working man as an example of who he'd look out for. He used 9/11 as a backdrop for his "incredible leadership". He LIED to us when he said we would have Osama bin Laden in custody "within six months" (has Osama bin Forgotten?). He pretends to abhor torture while allowing prisoners to be taken to other countries to be tortured. He LIED to the faces of his fellow Republicans in order to garner support. He LIED to Americans about why we were invading Iraq. He LIED to the WORLD. And you let him get away with it. Shame on you.

Reminds me of an old Texas saying: Fool me once...

WOAH DUDE! Lebanon Gov't QUITS

Like, the government resigned.

Wow.



Here are the government protestors cheering. Wow. (*sigh*)

In other news, Tom DeLay is still a major fucking dick.

Here's the Action Shots

Okay, got out this morning to take photos of the signs. Because my camera is a crappy 1.3 megapixels (I desperately need a new camera, but can't afford it right now), two of the photos were pretty blurry because I couldn't zoom in tight enough. But these came out okay :)





I am so asking for a new camera for my birthday next month.

Now on to the day's news...

There is already back-spin on the JeffJames front. He thinks we was courageous for asking the questions he did. What a dumbass.

Excerpt (JeffJames' statements in italics, the rest is from the writer of the story):

“During my tenure I developed some good friends there who welcomed the refreshing perspective I brought to the briefings and respected my courage for asking the questions that I did.”

Courage? Courage to ask the questions that he did? Let’s take a look at the courageous questions that Jeff/Jim asked when he was pretending to be a journalist.

1) “In your denunciations of the Abu Ghraib photos, you've used words like 'sickening,' 'disgusting' and 'reprehensible.' Will you have any adjectives left to adequately describe the pictures from Saddam's rape rooms and torture chambers? And will Americans ever see those images?”...

“It wasn’t until I asked “The Question” that everything abruptly changed. Initially, my colleagues had no reaction to the query posed to President Bush. It wasn’t until Rush Limbaugh drew attention to it that there was any interest at all. But that was enough to get a liberal group dedicated to attacking conservatives in the media to mobilize. It was horrified that the relentless string of hostile and a few downright disrespectful questions had been broken. My greater sin in their eyes, however was that I dared to suggest that two Senate Democratic leaders held an illogical view of the economy’s weakness and the strength of Social Security”

Allow me to introduce you to a lie Mr. Jeff/Jim. You are correct that your “question” is what stirred the pot. For reference, that question was:

“Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the U.S. economy. [Senate Minority Leader] Harry Reid [D-NV] was talking about soup lines. And [Senator] Hillary Clinton [D-NY] 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've said you are going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?"...

“Immediately the questions about how I got into the briefing room began to be asked. After all, I had “no journalistic credentials” despite the fact that I had written over 500 articles for Talon News over a two-year period. I must be a plant, because there simply cannot be a conservative journalist walking on the hallowed domain of the Fourth Estate built over an old swimming pool.”

Couple of points here for you Jeff/Jim. One, if you have done over 500 articles you may want to check Talon because they have scrubbed your very existence from their site. Secondly, writing articles does not grant you journalistic credentials.

Tons more from that article - check it out.

The Philadelphia Inquirer decides it time to report the JeffJamesGannonGuckert issue and does a spankin' job!

Oh, and my friend Andrew won't be happy until I mention him in my blog. Andrew Andrew Andrew Andrew Andrew. Because it's All About Andrew Day today. Or something. ;p

More later - have a great day!

More Moxie FreewayBlogging!

I've just cranked out the first of my overhead projector-assisted freewayblogs. I have some filling in to do, then I'll take a couple of pictures and put them up here in case I can't get photos of them hanging on an overpass. I have plans to go out later tonight and get these up.

I highly recommend that anyone looking to get a used projector should bring a transparency with them to test it. The one I picked up is usable, but there's a big area near the top that is pretty scratched and makes it harder to see.

Anyway, JeffJames is continuing to stay in the news, even if MSM is still only barely warming up to it. This was from Howard Troxler of the St. Petersburg Times:

What do these four guys have in common?

* Trent Lott, who lost his position as Republican leader in the U.S. Senate because he said America would be better off if segregationist Strom Thurmond had been elected president.

* Dan Rather, the CBS News anchor who relied on fairly clumsily faked documents questioning President Bush's service in the Air National Guard during Vietnam.

* Eason Jordan, a CNN vice president who resigned under criticism for alleging that U.S. soldiers had deliberately shot at journalists overseas.

* "Jeff Gannon," alias James Guckert, whose role as a White House "journalist" tossing friendly questions to President Bush came to a quick end after he was revealed to be a Republican operative who also had ties to gay male prostitution Web sites.

All four stories were ignored or at least not noticed by the traditional, national news outlets at first.

But all four were targeted for bloggers' outrage on the Internet, which kept the fire burning until the stories produced results.

All four subjects have portrayed themselves to some extent as the victims of a "vindictive" and "irresponsible" Internet culture, and so forth.

All four cases set the traditional, mainstream media (that's "MSM" in blog lingo) to wringing their hands about these pesky amateur bloggers.

Oh, and one more thing. In all four cases, there turned out to be sufficient fire beneath the smoke.

That's the point. Contrary to the recent media fretting, I really don't think there's much danger that wandering mobs of Internet attack dogs are going to run around destroying innocent victims at random...

Okay, here's the freewayblogs I am going to be trying to get up on overpasses tonight - I just hope they are large enough:

The "Nobody died when Clinton lied," "KIA: (#), WMD: 0," and "Osama bin Forgotten" were all inspired by freewayblogs already done that I found at freewayblogger.com. The "You have the right ro remain silent... but I wouldn't recommend it" was from a t-shirt I think. If I find the source again, I'll happily give credit because I'm just not clever enough to make up good slogans. The best I can do is "Bush Sucks" but it isn't very thought-provoking.

Wish me luck!

One More For The Road

Here's where I, Liberal Devil that I am, mention a specifically well written piece about the JeffJames topic.

Excerpt:

"Perhaps I'm being obtuse. I had some dental work this week that was quite unpleasant so perhaps I accidentally spit my higher brain function down that cute little sink next to the torture chair. Am I reading correctly that the funniest man in the universe is obliquely scolding himself and the rest of us for flogging the Jeff Gannon story? Why yes, I believe he is and now that I think about it, it's a darned good idea.

He admits how difficult it is to resist the urge to giggle incessantly and point out every word in a Gannon piece that his inner Beavis finds suggestive, but he concludes that pursuing this story is the work of the devil and oh is he ever right. The Poorman isn't the only sharp guy to make the point that the Gannon story is somehow wrong, though. As this article in TAPPED points out, the major lefty magazines, with the exception of Salon (a bunch of "San Francisco liberals" ) have all tip-toed around this story very delicately. David Corn has wrestled with his demons in public however and gives un an insight into the problem..."

It gets even better from there folks, please give it a read.

I Am So Behind On My News...

Ljly at Suburban Nomad emailed me about this story of a lesbian whose yearbook photo (where she was dressed in a tux rather than a drapey gown with a string a pearls) was removed from the senior pictures and has been denied the chance to purchase a $700 page ad. The yearbook editor was actually FIRED for supporting the photo.

I'm amazed this kind of thing is happening.

She's wearing a tuxedo top, people. She's not wearing a G-string and pasties for crissake! She isn't wearing a 1/2 lb. fishhook through her bottom lip!

They have nothing better to do than to hassle this gal? Damn they need lives.

An Interesting Observation...

Windspike over at Educational Whisper brought up a really interesting topic. Does the deaths of Iraqi civilians constitute genocide?

Part of what is quoted from the UN's definition of genocide is as follows:

• Killing members of the group
• Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
• Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
• Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
• Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

While some of the above points aren't intentionally done, is it still considered genocide? I found the idea very intriguing and will be researching this further.

PS: I picked up a used overhead projector, so I am totally in business. Already ran off a transparency. If it wasn't so late already, I would make some signs tonight. Tomorrow night, though. After Simpsons of course. Well, and after Family Guy too... when's that on? 9:00? Where's that TVGuide.com...

I Have A Lead On An Overhead Projector!

Thanks to everyone to emailed me with suggestions... I decided to open my phone book and take a look for an electronics repair shop or used electronics place. The very first place I called has two for me to look at, and for very reasonable prices. I'll be heading over later this afternoon after my friend's bridal shower to go check them out. Woot!

In the meantime, enjoy another churchblog:

I'm Outstanding!

Well, according to Dianne and the rest of the gang at Pourquoi Pas? I am. And that's pretty damn cool, so I skated on over to their site and perused for a few minutes before I noticed this post regarding the Google queries on the "countryofchoice/sucks" and not surprisingly, the big winner was France. Looks like for January 2005, France was hovering around the 28,000 mark, whereas Canada came in a distant second at somewhere around 7,000.

This really gets under my skin.

I am a first generation American. My mother was born in New York and her family has been here for a couple of generations, but my father was born in France. My paternal grandmother still speaks with a beautiful Belgium accent that I love to listen to. I took french in high school because of my heritage (I wasn't very good, but I still remember how to say cat and cereal and sing Frere Jacques to my daughter). You should hear my birth name spoken with the correct pronounciation.

So when this whole "Boycott all things French" happened in the US, I was pretty pissed off. Because the way I saw it, France was not getting in line fast enough for Bush's liking. They didn't want to be hasty and just join up because the US was still riding the 9/11 sympathy train.

Let me ask you this: How many rich people gave up their valuable French wines to join the boycott? How many rich people threw out their Degas', Monets, Rodins, Renoirs, Matisses, or even Moebius'?



Unless they are totally brain damaged, NONE.

And lest we forget that French brothers and filmmakers Gédéon Naudet and Jules Naudet were in New York City filming a documentary on NYC firefighters when the planes hit the WTC towers and were able to release this very moving documentary about it. I own a copy of this documentary myself. Did everyone who wanted to boycott against French stuff throw out their documentaries?

Somehow I doubt it. But we were told it's better to call French Fries "Freedom Fries" (how fucking lame was that?), and French dressing was no longer served at some restaurants. Again, it was just propaganda to get people all pissed off at a group of other people who were, quite frankly, expressing their own right to free speech.

So, do you BuSheep still call them "freedom fries"? I don't know anyone that does, so I was just wondering how many are still under the spell of the propaganda machine...

In Lieu Of FreewayBlogging Tonight...

I shall ChurchSign Blog.



I picked up a small cheap-o projector at AC Moore for $20 but it really sucks so I have to take it back. I was all revved up to make a couple of signs tonight. What I really need to do is get an overhead projector like the ones they used in 7th grade health class to show you the colorful side-cut of the penis. Aren't you glad you read that sentence? LOL. I am evul.

Does anyone have an overhead projector they'd be willing to part with? I'd pay shipping, of course. I just can't afford to even buy them on eBay - the lowest ones that are all kindsa fucked up start at $40, but then want $30 more for shipping. If anyone has a lead, please let me know.

Have you seen JeffJames's website? If you feel the need to visit, please note the lack of professionalism. I get the sense of "someone told me I have to stop crying like a 3 year old and pretend that I'm coming out on top because no one can bring me down!" (cue corny music to go with 'chin up' visual). His site is terribly laid out and he certainly doesn't write any better than I do. Can I get that day pass now?

Can someone tell me just how much in love this writer is with Condi Rice? For crissake, try not to have an orgasm!

One more thing... you MUST watch this clip of the Daily Show on Social Security. My sides hurt.

First FreewayBlog!

UPDATE: Here is the photo I took today of my first freewayblog located on an overpass of Route 80 east in the Parsippany area...



I've already learned a few lessons for the next signs I make... 1. Gotta make it bigger - that sign was approximately 22" tall and about 45" wide. It's visible, but not as visible as it could be. 2. Make my "D"s look more like "D"s. 3. That overpass is PERFECT. 4. I should bring a partner or two along to help out, especially with larger signs. That was tough to put up alone and fast. As it was, someone stopped to ask if I needed help (presumably because I had put my hazards on).

So yes, there it is. It's still there now, though I'm not sure how long the duct tape will last. I picked up some wire to make them a little more secure.

FYI: The original Freeway Blogger is at www.freewayblogger.com.


BY THE WAY:

I will NOT be silent about the JeffJamesGannonGuckert issue. Regardless of the mainstream media fumbling this ball, I am determined to see it go the distance. And I'm not the only one. Any BuSheep that try and make this out to be a non-issue is horribly wrong. Are you saying that if a liberal writer was waived through the White House who has no journalistic credentials and very little experience, with a CURRENT website (at the time he was caught) depicting naked photos of himself and seeking male companionship, was asking softball questions of Clinton that Republicans wouldn't have eaten them alive? If you said they wouldn't, you're a LIAR.

Don't you remember when that soldier asked Rumsfeld about body armor and the journalist who worked with him on formulating the question was given all kinds of grief because he tried to ask a hardball question? Remember how his ethics were questioned? I don't recall that journalist offering themselves as an prostitute and posting pictures of themselves naked and using a fake name. Yet that journalist got more mainstream news coverage that the JJGG issue.

Mainstream media (with FEW exceptions) are a buncha pansy-ass pussies.

So I guess it's up to us bloggers to be the new reporters, the new journalists. Perhaps a few from the MSM that still wants to make a difference and not just be a personality will cross over to us. That would be cool. But if no one does, that's okay too. The blogosphere is alive and well, and we aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Suckers.

Sad But True + Bush's Fetish???

PS: Does Bush have a knob-polishing fetish???

Dear Trolls: Kiss my A**

That's right. Kiss my ass. I don't mean right-wingers who have to endure 20-30 seconds of my site so they can get credits on BlogExplosion or BlogAzoo, although there may be a few of you stuck in with them. I mean TROLLS. Pricks who troll the blogs looking to pick fights with liberals or democrats.

I see PLENTY of right-wing, BuSheep blogs while doing my own surfing for credits. I don't go leaving comments trying to be a jerk about someone expressing their views. I've left comments on a ring-winger's site, yes, but it was probably because they were talking about something other than politics - like a movie I enjoyed or mentioning the state I live in. I'm more than cheerful and happy to spread a little love around.

What I do NOT do is go to a BuSheep's site and start calling them names or calling them (personally) a moron, or a bigot, or whatever else I've been called via comments or emails. Because they are allowed to have their blogs, just like I am.

So this goes out to the trolls who just can't stand the fact that other liberal bloggers along with myself are exercising our right to free speech. And don't you DARE try and pull that "well if Iraq invaded the US you wouldn't HAVE those freedoms..." because sweetheart, IRAQ WASN'T INVADING US. IRAQ HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11. In fact, the "Patriot Act" and "Patriot Act II: Electric Bugalloo" did more to restrict our rights than Iraq could possibly have tried to do.

In summary: Trolls, KISS MY ASS.



Thank you, and good night.

Woah Dude! FOX NEWS Not Being Partisan Hacks?

John at AMERICAblog posted that FOX News has released a story about JeffJamesGannonGuckert - and one none too pleasant for JJGG. Normally I would never visit the FOX News website, since I think they SUCK, but I wanted to see if AMERICAblog was right. Lo and behold, there it is.

Read for yourself, if you like.

Maybe their faithful viewers will no longer be able to hide their heads up their asses and deny the importance of this story. Eh, I can dream, can't I?

Tortured American a "Grave Danger"

A couple of days ago I mentioned that poor bastard who was arrested in Saudi Arabia 20 months ago (and was tortured while in their custody) has been called a "grave danger" to the citizens of the US.

Again, I am not going to say that he's DEFINITELY innocent or 100% guilty of the crimes he's being charged with, but I'm certainly keeping a skeptical eye on this case.

Excerpt:

Abu Ali is charged with providing material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization -- al Qaeda. Prosecutors also allege he discussed the possibility of assassinating President Bush.

Okay, I don't know what support material or resources he's given to al Qaeda, so I will keep an eye out for further details on that. As for the second sentence, it seems awfully vague to me. I'm sure that someone, somewhere in the US has theoretically discussed that possibility, probably while drunk. I'd like to know where prosecutors got the information that he discussed this possibility. Was it while he was being tortured sometime in the last year and a half?

Excerpt:

Abu Ali was arrested after the May 2003 bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in which 23 people were killed, including nine Americans. Sources familiar with the case have said Abu Ali is suspected of having connections to individuals involved in that bombing.

Okay, so say my next door neighbor and I chit chat over the fence all the time. He's a nice fella, keeps his yard clean, maybe offers to shovel my driveway of snow to help me out... Then he's hauled in for having organized a bombing. Does that mean *I* would be hauled in too since I have had a connection with the individual involved in the bombing?

Excerpt:

McNulty also dismissed accusations by Abu Ali that he was tortured while detained in Saudi Arabia. The prosecutor said such accusations are irrelevant for the detention hearing, and added, there is "no credible evidence to support those claims."

McNulty said that when Abu Ali was visited by U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia in July 2003, he "used the words 'excellent,' 'kind' and 'humane' to describe his treatment."

Oh, well, NOW I know he's guilty! McNulty says that Abu Ali's accusations of being tortured are irrelevant, and anyway, there's no evidence he was tortured! PLUS, when they visited Saudi Arabia, he told them he was hunky dorey! That's it, he's guilty!

Because it's completely unreasonable to think that perhaps he was told to say everything was ok otherwise they'd torture him even more. And if I recall, he wanted very much to show the court the scars on his back from where he was tortured.

I guess we'll just wait and see...

PS: if you have the stomach for it, Ann Coulter decides to weigh in on the JeffJames issue. I see she believes JeffJames to be a better reporter than Maureen Dowd (bwahahaha!). I could only skim it, because anything to do with her makes me nauseous. The heights of her hypocracy are astounding.

WorldNetDaily Hits It On The Head...

Surprisingly, WorldNetDaily ( a VERY right-wing news source) has done the right thing by not tap-dancing around the JeffJames issue and has asked very similar questions that the liberal blogosphere has been asking regarding security, ethics and more.

My hats off to a group that might not believe all the same things I do, but at least they want journalism to adhere to the highest ethical standards.

Damn right.

We All LIKE To Pretend He's Retarded...

But for one thing that would be incredibly insulting to retarded people, and for another...

he's not stupid. He's very, very smart, and that's what makes him so fucking scary.

This video went around after the 2004 presidential debates because he came across like someone who'd had a stroke or something.

I am now convinced that he has DEFINITELY been reshaped into the bumbling "everyman" that you'd want to have a beer with (which is funny, because I hate beer and I would never want to have one with the POTUS).

Either that, or I am simply giving him too much credit. Whatever. The video's pretty cool though, so give it a watch.

All Gannon All The Time

Crooks and Liars has this fantastic compilation of JeffJamesGannonGuckert video clips. You even get to see John Aravosis of AMERICAblog... The Man, The Myth, The Legend. I'd so crush on him if I didn't know he was gay. At least I can love him for his mind ;)

PS, folks who've surfed over to me through Suburban Nomad - thank you very much. I hope I can entice you back with snarky comments and empty promises of pictures of nekkid people.

Well, at least you have the BuSheep to laugh at...



Baa.

UPDATE: Raw Story tells us Senator Richard Durbin is calling for a formal investigation into the JJGG issue. I've already written my senators to ask that they sign his letter as soon as possible. Find YOUR senators and take a moment to write to them too. Short and sweet, people.

Oh This Isn't Suspicious At All...

Man Charged in Alleged Plot to Kill Bush

At first I saw the headline and thought "oh, I'm surprised it took this long for the loonies to come out..", so I read on, expecting to read the words "history of mental illness," "acting deranged", etc. Nope, what I read was a US citizen and high school valedictorian.

Excerpt:

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 23, a U.S. citizen, made an initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court but did not enter a plea. He contended that he was tortured while detained in Saudi Arabia since June of 2003 and offered through his lawyer to show the judge his scars.

His family contends that U.S. officials were behind his detention by Saudi authorities and wanted him held in that country so he could be tortured for information. A lawsuit brought on their behalf in U.S. District Court in Washington seeks to compel the government to disclose what it knows about Abu Ali and his detention.

Abu Ali's appearance in federal court here was a surprise because the government never publicly disclosed that he had left Saudi Arabia.

When Abu Ali asked to speak, U.S. Magistrate Liam O'Grady suggested he consult with his attorney, Ashraf Nubani.

"He was tortured," Nubani told the court. "He has the evidence on his back. He was whipped. He was handcuffed for days at a time."

When Nubani offered to show the judge his back, O'Grady said that Abu Ali might be able to enter that as evidence on Thursday at a detention hearing.

Maybe I'm jaded, but it all smells way too fishy for me. Perhaps he IS guilty of the charges they brought against him, but if *I* was tortured for over a year and a half, I bet you could make me confess to a lot.

I'm very, VERY suspicious of this.

Hunter Tossed Dubya Out of Party?

Found this is Salon's WarRoom:

We awoke this morning expecting to hear the latest White House equivocation on whether George W. Bush lied about his drug use during the 2000 presidential race. Instead, we learned that Hunter S. Thompson had killed himself at home in Woody Creek, Colo.

We can only imagine what Thompson would be writing today, as the mainstream press begins to digest the president's audiotaped confession of past drug use. In conversations recorded in the late 1990s by author and former Bush advisor Doug Wead, Bush admits that he used marijuana and comes awfully close to acknowledging that he used cocaine as well. Bush tells Wead that he won't answer reporters' questions about marijuana use because he doesn't want to set a bad example -- by telling the truth. "Do you want your little kid to say, 'Hey daddy, President Bush tried marijuana; I think I will?'" Bush says on the tapes. "That's the message we've been sending out. I wouldn't answer the marijuana question." Bush tells Wead that he never denied using cocaine, then explains his plan for dealing with the question. "The cocaine thing, let me tell you my strategy on that," Bush said. "Rather than saying no . . . I think it's time for someone to draw the line and look people in the eye and say, you know, 'I'm not going to participate in ugly rumors about me and blame my opponent,' and hold the line. Stand up for a system that will not allow this kind of crap to go on."

Thompson claimed to know a thing or two about the president's partying past. In an interview with The Independent in 2004, Thompson said he remembered meeting Bush at Thompson's Super Bowl party in Houston in 1974. He said that Bush was "with a guy who had come to sell . . . " but then cut himself off. "Look, I'm not going to put this next sentence on the record. Let's just say that 'a friend of mine' was buying cocaine. I have friends in Houston from all walks of life. Lawyers. Professional men. Bush was hanging around with this crowd of what you might call gilded coke dilettantes."

Thompson's memory wasn't always the most reliable, and his story about his Houston encounter with Bush evolved over time. But in the 2004 telling of it, at least, Thompson said the future president had left an indelible impression on him. "He knew who I was, at that time, because I had a reputation as a writer," Thompson said. "I knew he was part of the Bush dynasty. But he was nothing, he offered nothing, and he promised nothing. He had no humor. He was insignificant in every way and consequently I didn't pay much attention to him. But when he passed out in my bathtub, then I noticed him. I'd been in another room, talking to the bright people. I had to have him taken away."

-- Tim Grieve

Hunter is my new hero. Of course, it sucks that he's dead now and I won't get to meet him. Hope he's still cool in the afterlife.

Women For President?

windspike gave me the heads up about his blog concerning women for president, which in turn lead me to The White House Project.

When I was 9 years old, I went to some sort of press conference with Rep. Marge Roukema. Reporters were asking her all kinds of government programs questions and stuff I had no interest in, but I raised my hand patiently. Near the end of the Q&A, she picked me, and I asked nothing about what everyone else was asking, but rather how many other women were there in her position. She answered my question quite thoughtfully, and I remember even at the time being surprised at how few women to men held her position.

I'd even be willing to place a bet that she was also to lowest paid.

One of the local newspaper reporters thought I was just SOOO darling and put a little blip about me and my question in his article. You can't get any more darling than a 9 year old girl allowing a high-powered woman to point out how few women there are in politics. I can't find the clipping now, but I bet it's at my mom's house. I bet some very industrious surfers could find it for me - here's another hint... the year was 1983.

The White House Project appears to be a rallying point for girls. I applaud their efforts and I wish them the best of luck. A woman president could do some amazing things...

1. She'd kill foreign dignitaries with kindness - demanding that her staff see to their comforts above and beyond the call of duty. Possibly host dinners in their honor with a menu of their country's delicacies.

2. Women give birth. I should know, I gave birth naturally. On a whole, we can tolerate more pain than men. Just look at guys with a cold - they turn into whiny babies. This makes us the stronger of the genders.

3. Women tend to have a more nurturing nature. They want to see their children grow. Which means projects that women create or sign on to will already have a mother hen protecting it from being killed.

However, there's a ton of bullshit women need to cut throw to get to the big seat. Here's just a few...

1. Men like their little secret clubs. He-man woman haters clubs. They have secret handshakes and wash each other's backs.

2. Male politicians think females are weak, and often convey that to fellow male politicians, so it is eventually thought of as "true."

3. Men STILL use the excuse "she must be on the rag" or "what a BIOTCH" when a woman is forceful and/or displays anger.

I'll stop now, before I get freudian or something. Yes, it would be awesome to have a woman president. Chances of it happening anytime soon? Slim. Very slim.

Okay, My Brain Hurts Again...

Ljly at Suburban Nomad alerted me to this pathetic advertisement appearing on the American Spectator website.



Can anyone tell me what the fuck this fucking ad has to do with fucking anything?

*taking deep breath* "Oooooooohhhmmmmm."

Okay, feeling a bit more centered. And of course, a fine person messaging at Daily Kos got them right back with this:



Are they all morons? Have they replaced their viagra with stupid pills?

RIP - Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson, a very talented writer (probably made famous most to the current generation through "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"), has apparently committed suicide.

Very sad.

IRAQ WAR DECLARED DURING POT HAZE!

Okay, maybe it wasn't, but a tape recorded before Bush ran for prez in 2000 where he (George W. Bush) admitted (said he DID IT) to having smoked (inhaled) marijuana (pot, weed, grass, ganja, The Herb) has come to light (has broken in the main stream press).

Bush also criticizes then-Vice President Al Gore for admitting marijuana use and explains why he would not do the same.

"I wouldn't answer the marijuana questions," he said, according to the Times. "You know why? Because I don't want some little kid doing what I tried."

That's not why. It's because Bush may PLAY stupid, but he's really not. He's pretending to be a repentant sinner who has "done stuff" but doesn't have the nards to stand up and take it like a man. What a pussy.

Oh, and he thinks that gays are sinners...

The tapes show Bush crafting a strategy for navigating the tricky political waters between Christian conservative and secular voters, repeatedly worrying that evangelicals would be angered by a refusal to bash gays and that secular Americans would be turned off by meetings with evangelical leaders.

On one tape, Bush explains that he told one prominent evangelical that he would not "kick gays, because I'm a sinner. How can I differentiate sin?"

Like I said... PUSSY.

JeffJames Might Sue Me - EEEK!

WHATtotheEVER.

Jeff Gannon is considering suing liberal interest groups, bloggers and others for a "political assassination" that drove him from his job as a reporter for a conservative news outfit called Talon News, he told NEWSWEEK. Gannon, whose real name is James Guckert, singled out Media Matters -- a "well-funded" liberal group headed by longtime "attack dog" David Brock. ("Everything we wrote about him came from the public record," Brock replied.)

It remains unclear how Gannon got routine White House press access for nearly two years; he acknowledged he first began getting clearance to White House press briefings in early 2003 as a representative of GOPUSA, a group headed by Texas GOP activist Bobby Eberle-months before Eberle even created Talon News. Gannon said he had no access to White House aides outside the press room, nor did he try to interview any. When President Bush called on him at a press conference last month-during which he asked a question with false info about Sen. Harry Reid-"nobody was more surprised than myself," said Gannon.

-- Michael Isikoff and Holly Bailey

I wonder why he thinks he has a snowball's chance in hell in actually litigating. Bloggers (at least the ones like AMERICAblog, Media Matters, Daily Kos and blogs of those calibur - as well as those spreading the info FROM those sites) are getting their information from reliable sources and are digging for the truth. You think you can win a case against people who are printing the truth about you? Go right ahead. Maybe you'll be ordered to pay for court costs when the judge/jury laughs your ass right out of the courtroom.

Sucker.

Update: my new sweetie, Keith Olbermann, has a blog up about this subject. Smooches, Keith!

How Much Will YOU Lose?

Are you brave enough to see what Bush will do to your social security earnings? Click it, darlings, you know you want to...



Well, how did you do? KidBastard will be losing 24% and I'll be losing 26%. Luckily, my mother will only be losing 1%, but my daughter will be losing 46%.

Thanks, Bush!

JJGG Becomes Cartoon

Cartoon by Dan "The Man" Wasserman.

I really hope you got a chance to watch the ping-pong match between BuSheep with regards to the JJGG "vigil" they were holding. It really is VERY amusing.

Bill Maher Talks JJGG!

onegoodmove was kind enough to post this video of Bill Maher, et al discussing the JeffJames thing. It's in QuickTime and is about 7 minutes long for those with time constraints.

Also, John Aravosis (AMERICAblog) has mentioned that the New York Times is crediting CNN with breaking JeffJames' dirty little secrets. Anyone who has been reading my blog (or John's blog) for the past week knows that the details were researched and broken in the blogosphere, NOT CNN. If you review the Daily Show video I linked, you'll see a CNN reporter claiming to break the news, then choking and admitting they found it on AMERICAblog.

Please consider sending a quick, polite email to the New York Times to ask them to be ethical and honorable enough to give credit where credit is due. John and many others in the blogosphere have worked hard to investigate the facts surrounding JJGG and they deserve recognition for it.

Be proud of yourselves, fellow bloggers. I am seeing a wonderful backlash against the sluggish laziness of so-called "investigative reporters." The soft, white underbelly of political corruption is being stabbed at by extremely talented people focused on shedding light on the pathetic actions hidden from the public. Perhaps most bloggers do not or cannot investigate, but they help those who do spread the truth. I'm so honored to be the small part of the blogosphere that I am.

Wow, was that too cheesy? Maybe 2am is too late for me to be up.

Total Non-Sequiter

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Fifth Element. I even got uber-geeky and played two MMORPGs* where I made sure my "guilds" were named after the movie. Well, it's also just a cool name, but mostly because I liked the movie.

So I ended up watching it this evening and was reminded again of just how fun the movie is. First of all, Bruce Willis is a total hottie in the film. Second, Milla Jovovich is a total hottie in the film (and she's also, basically, God). Third, Ian Holm is in the film. I'm not sure I'd call him a total hottie, but since I'm also a huge LOTR** fan, it's always cool to see him in a flick. Fourth, Gary Oldman is the bad guy. Fifth, the costumes were designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier (he should have won best costume, but you know sci-fi rarely gets awards for anything other than special effects).


(L to R: unneceesary character, Leeloominai Lekatariba Laminatcha Ekbat D Sabat ("Leeloo"), Bilbo Baggins ("Vito Cornelius"), Man Who Can Pull Off Wearing Orange ("Korben Dallas")

However, aside from these sexy beasts, there is one character I think is really damn cool. She's the Diva.

Check out her costume - this isn't even half of it!

She's a minor character, but one of her scenes is when she is performing and her singing is really neat. It starts as a typical operatic display of her voice, but halfway through turns into this techno thing. Obviously they recorded the vocalist and cut the fluctuations to get the sound they wanted, but it's still awesome as hell. I went to WinMX and hoped to find it and I did! I wanted to put a bit of in online, but I've never tried to do that before and it's almost 1:30am, so go to WinMX and search for "Fifth Element" - look for anything labeled "diva" or "opera" and if it's about 4:43 long, that should be it.

So anyway, not only have I admitted to being enough of a geek to understand noobspeak, but I've also admitted that I dig Bruce Willis with blond hair and wearing orange wife-beaters. Appreciate it, damn you!

*Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game - the only reason why this gives me massive giggle fits.
**Lord of the Rings

Proof That BuSheep Have Divorced Themselves From Reality

You know, to quote a highly respected journalist from the Talon News... Oh what was his name? You know, the porn star.



Anyway, Salon offers up yet ANOTHER reason why BuSheep are losing their marbles. Did you know we actually FOUND weapons of mass destruction??? Bet you were too busy reading some Liberal Devil's blog to know that.

California rep. Chris Cox says:

"America's Operation Iraqi Freedom is still producing shock and awe, this time among the blame-America-first crowd," he crowed. Then he said, "We continue to discover biological and chemical weapons and facilities to make them inside Iraq." Apparently, most of the hundreds of people in attendance already knew about these remarkable, hitherto-unreported discoveries, because no one gasped at this startling revelation.

Baa, BuSheep. Baa.

PS: New York Times reports that

"The comptroller general has issued a blanket warning that reminds federal agencies they may not produce newscasts promoting administration policies without clearly stating that the government itself is the source."

...One centrally involved firm is Ketchum, a giant in the public relations industry whose representatives arranged for both the Medicare video and the contract with Mr. Williams, a pact that is now under investigation by three government agencies. Ketchum has received $97 million in government public relations contracts since 2001.

Just FYI!

Want to take the Political Compass test?

I rate at this:
Economic Left/Right: -4.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.90
somewhere between Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama

Gannon on Anderson Cooper

Not as sexy as you might think, unless you think a journalist who decides to get down and dirty and start asking some hardball questions is sexy. Wait, yeah, that's pretty sexy. Anderson Cooper = sexy beast.

Watch Anderson make JeffJamesGannonGuckert squirm. You can thank Media Matters for the vid.

Or, if the bloody mess is too much to bear, read the transcript:

COOPER: For the past two years, a man known as Jeff Gannon regularly showed up at the White House. He got a daily press pass and worked as a reporter. No one paid much attention to him, until a few weeks ago when he asked the president a question during a White House press conference. Since then, his past has been laid bare, he's resigned from his job, and more questions continue to be raised about how and why he got into the White House in the first place. Details now from Howard Kurtz of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES (voice-over): In a White House press corps filled with well known faces, no one paid much attention to this man. Jeff Gannon worked for two Web sites, Talon News and GOPUSA, owned by a Texas Republican activist. He was a self- described conservative reporter who generally asked friendly questions of spokesman Scott McClellan.

And when President Bush called on him last month, Gannon asked an inaccurate question with this unflattering description of Senate Democrats.

JEFF GANNON, FORMER TALON NEWS REPORTER: How are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?

KURTZ: How did he get White House press credentials? Gannon says he didn't have a permanent pass, which requires a full FBI background check, but was admitted day by day, by giving the Secret Service his real name.

Was he a Bush administration plant? He says his questions were his own.

Was his writing anti-gay? He denies that. But the questions keep mounting. Did White House officials know of his salacious activities? Did they give him special access to information? How could he call himself a journalist?

Gannon has become a symbol for the president's critics, and for the bloggers who have shown once again they can take people down with warp speed.

Howard Kurtz, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: I spoke with Jeff Gannon earlier this evening. I started by asking him why he doesn't use his real name?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GANNON: I use a pseudonym, because my real name is very difficult to pronounce, to remember and to spell. And many people who have been talking about me on television have yet to pronounce it correctly.

COOPER: But I mean, your real name is James and you used the pseudonym Jeff.

GANNON: Yes.

COOPER: How is James so much harder than Jeff?

GANNON: No, no, I meant my last name.

COOPER: Well, your real last name is Guckert, and the pseudonym you used is Gannon.

GANNON: Yes. It's easier to pronounce, to remember and to spell.

COOPER: But when you would go into the White House to get a pass for a briefing, you would use the name James Guckert.

GANNON: Yes, because that's the name on my driver's license.

COOPER: And then -- but then you would switch to Jeff Gannon to ask questions?

GANNON: Because that is the name that I do my reporting under. It's not uncommon for journalists, authors, actors, to have pseudonyms.

COOPER: There are those who have said that the reason perhaps you are using a different name is that there is stuff from your past that you did not want people to know about or find out about.

GANNON: How I'll address that is that I have made mistakes in my past. And these are all of a very personal and private nature that have been -- that have been all brought to the surface by people who disagreed with the question I asked at the presidential press conference several weeks ago. And is -- the effect of this has been that we seem to have established a new standard for journalists in this country, where if someone disagrees with you, then your personal life, your private life, and anything you have ever done in the past is going to be brought up for public inspection.

No, it's not that we didn't like your question you fucking idiot, it's that we suspected you were a shill asking such a POINTED question. You want to play with the big kids, you better not have what YOU had hiding out in your closet.

COOPER: What your critics say, though, is that while a lot of this may be politically motivated, that liberal bloggers who didn't like the question you ask or don't like you in general are targeting you and revealing things about your personal life, that there are legitimate questions to ask. And in fact, they say that things in your personal life in fact just point to, A, a certain level of hypocrisy on your own part, but also serious questions about the White House vetting process.

GANNON: Well, I can't speak to the White House vetting process. All I can say is that they received all of the information that was asked for, that they ask every journalist for who applies for a daily pass into the White House. I suppose that they don't -- they aren't interested in reporters' sexual history either.

COOPER: Let me give you a chance just to respond to what you want to respond to. You had previously stated that you had registered a number of pornographic Web sites for a private client. That's what you had said publicly. You said the sites were never activated. A man now has talked to "The Washington Post," who said that you had essentially paid him to create some Web sites for an escort service, and you are yourself offering yourself as an escort.

GANNON: Well, like I said, there's a lot of things being said about me out there. A lot of things that have nothing to do with the reporting I have done for the last two years.

COOPER: Your critics bring up your past, that whether or not you did work as an escort as going to your credibility, that you know, should somebody who perhaps was working as an escort was getting access to the White House and being passed along through the Secret Service. Was your employer aware of your past activities?

GANNON: My employer was never at any time aware of anything in my past beyond the writings I did, because, frankly, it isn't relevant to the job I was asked to do, which was to be a reporter.

COOPER: Was anyone at the White House aware of your private activities?

GANNON: I would say that -- I would say no, absolutely, categorically no.

We'll see soon enough, I'm sure.

COOPER: There are many questions that have been raised about whether or not -- people raising the specter that you are somehow a White House plant. Are you a White House plant? Were you (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

GANNON: Absolutely not. As a matter of fact, how I came to be at the White House is I asked to attend a briefing. I asked the White House press office. They gave me a daily pass to get in.

COOPER: When was that?

GANNON: I don't recall, but it was -- I think somewhere in the neighborhood of two years ago.

COOPER: Because in -- was that for Talon News?

GANNON: At the time, it was called something else, but it -- the name was changed to Talon News shortly thereafter.

COOPER: What was it called at the time?

GANNON: It was called GOPUSA.

COOPER: So -- and that's owned by a Republican activist, Bobby Eberle?

GANNON: It's owned by Bobby Eberle.

COOPER: The first record we have now of you actually being at a White House press briefing was on February 28th, 2003, as you said, before Talon News even existed. So why were you given a White House pass?

GANNON: I was given a White House -- well, you will have to ask the White House that. But I asked to attend the White House briefing because I was -- you know, because I wanted to report on the activities there.

COOPER: But GOPUSA is not a news organization.

GANNON: Well, we were -- we were -- we had established a news division, and it was later renamed Talon News.

COOPER: Because this is news to just about everybody. You know, Talon News wasn't registered I think until, well, March 29th of 2003. I think the first articles didn't appear until April 1st. So I guess the questions that are being raised why were you at -- allowed to go to a White House briefing if you are working for GOPUSA, which is a clearly partisan organization?

GANNON: There are many, many organizations, many people that are allowed to attend the White House briefings. I don't know the criteria they use.

COOPER: But you weren't even publishing anything. You weren't reporting anything.

GANNON: Well, actually, I was at the time.

COOPER: When was the first article you ever published?

GANNON: Well, you're -- I don't know that, because I'm here in your studio here. And I don't know the answer to specific dates. All I can tell you is that -- and frankly, all these questions about Talon News and GOPUSA, you need to ask them about that, because I don't represent them any longer.

COOPER: Yeah, we've asked them. They refuse to talk about it.

GANNON: Well, I mean, they would be the ultimate authority on that.

COOPER: This liberal group, Media Matters, which I'm sure you know well about. They have been very critical about you, really looked into this probably closer than just about anybody. They say that essentially, you are not a real reporter. And it's not even a question of being an advocate, that you have directly lifted large segments of your reports directly from White House press releases.

GANNON: All my stories were usually titled "White House Says," "President Bush Wants," and I relied on transcripts from the briefings, I relied on press releases that were sent to the press for the purpose of accurately portraying what the White House believed or wanted. COOPER: But using the term "reporting" implies some sort of vetting, some sort of research, some sort of -- I mean, that's called faxing or Xeroxing, if you are just lifting transcripts and putting them into an article.

GANNON: If I am communicating to my readers exactly what the White House believes on any certain issue, that's reporting to them an unvarnished, unfiltered version of what they believe.

COOPER: Did you receive information from the White House that others didn't get?

GANNON: Absolutely not.

Again, we'll find out soon enough if THIS is true (although I think it may have already been proven false... I'm having trouble keeping the lies and the truth separate with this guy now.)

COOPER: So there was an article in which you interviewed Ambassador Joe Wilson, and you implied that you had seen a CIA classified document in which Valerie Plame...

GANNON: I didn't do that at all. I didn't do that at all. If you read the question, and I provided -- my article was actually a transcript of my conversation with Ambassador Wilson -- I made reference to a memo. And this...

COOPER: How did you know about that memo?

GANNON: Well, this memo was referred to in a "Wall Street Journal" article a week earlier.

COOPER: So that wasn't based on any information that you had been given by the White House?

GANNON: I was given no special information by the White House or by anybody else, for that matter.

COOPER: You have been very clear that you believe this is politically motivated. And I think just about everyone probably agrees with that, that you asked that question, it was a softball, and liberal bloggers went after you to find out what they could in the public domain about you. But isn't that -- and you say that's unfair. Isn't that -- aren't those the same techniques that you yourself used as a reporter that sort of -- to publish innuendo, to publish advocacy-driven, politically motivated reports?

GANNON: Well, I don't see it that way. But what was -- what's been done to me is far in excess of what has ever been done to any other journalist that I could remember. My life has been turned inside out and upside down. And, again, it makes us all wonder that if someone disagrees with you, that is now your personal life fair game? And I'm hoping that fair-minded people will stand up and say that what's been done to me is wrong, and that -- that people's personal lives have no impact on their ability to be a journalist, you know. Why should my past prevent me from having a future?

COOPER: Appreciate you being with us. Jeff Gannon, thanks very much.

GANNON: Thanks so much.

And of course, you can also thank John at AMERICAblog for staying on top of the stories :)