Democratic politicians, spurred on by left-leaning bloggers, continue to make hay out of the "scandal" of Jeff Guckert (who used the pseudonym Jeff Gannon as a White House reporter for a small, conservative wire service apparently linked to the GOP). Guckert was outed by lefties who found he had hosted gay porn sites and, allegedly, been a male escort. They considered his scalp a great victory.
The
N.Y. Daily News reports, complete with shirtless-hunk
photo:
Democrats in Congress are trying to keep an embarrassing GOP scandal alive by asking that the official probe of White House propaganda be widened to include how an alleged gay hooker with an alias got into the press room every day. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) asked officials to see whether sometime reporter James Guckert, aka Jeff Gannon, violated a ban on "fake" news stories by reprinting White House press releases verbatim....
There is no evidence that Guckert got any money from the White House. However, he received extraordinary access - including daily passes - despite having no journalistic experience and working for an obscure conservative Web site.
Guckert's sordid past as a $200-an-hour gay escort was uncovered by liberal bloggers....
Leaving aside the debatable issue of whether or not Gannon/Guckert deserved press credentials, it does seem that the liberal-left is simply shocked, shocked, that a gay escort was permitted into professional company. My, just what is the world coming to!
Scratch a liberal, find a 'phobe?
More on Guckert in his own words, from his interview on the Today show, here.
Update: The Washington Blade reports "Experts debate whether sex life of gay journalists is news." This story notes that Guckert told CNN's Anderson Cooper: "[W]e seem to have established a new standard for journalists in this country. 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."
Also quoted, David Boaz of the libertarian Cato Institute (the
Blade misspells his name), observing: "What you have in the Guckert
case is left-wing people using homophobia to destroy a Republican
operative... Even Republicans are entitled to be gay and to run
porn Web sites."