MSM... 4M

This is going to be my only entry on the Gannon/Guckert... affair... UNLESS it turns out that he is the link between the Bush Administration and the dirty tricks of the last election cycle.

It's hard to be pissed at the White House for planting a ringer in the Press Room, despite the strings someone had to pull in order to arrange daily WH access for a criminal with an alias. Definitely makes ya go "Hmmm..." Sister Novena put it succinctly:

And none of this even touches on the massive security flaws revealed by this incident -- a man about whose personal background the White House obviously had no clue was regularly allowed to sit within twenty feet of the president. This doesn't bother any of you, conservatives?

Regardless, after their long history of manipulating the media, freezing out reporters and paying 'em off, it's pretty obvious that nothing is beneath them in their efforts to shape the news. OK, nothing is beneath them, period.

It's hard to be pissed at Gannon... or Guckert... or whatever alias he's currently using, too. Hell, he's just an aging Rightwing Rentboy who saw his chance and took it. Fifteen minutes of fame, MVP status among The Powers That Be and a little jingle in his jeans - what else would you expect from an unethical opportunist in a town full of 'em? Besides, in a room full of metaphorical whores, it's hard to really say he was out of place.

Nope. I'm saving all my ire for the complacent imbeciles who sat on either side of him in the WH briefing room. According to various reports, there are about 100 regulars in the James Brady Briefing Room. Also, according to published reports, many of these folks were aware that there was something bogus about Gannon/Guckert/Whoever. These seasoned professionals - investigative reporters who, incidentally, cover the most powerful office in the whole friggin' world - weren't able... or willing... to do a little digging on a questionable "colleague"?

Of course, this isn't the first time the White House Press Corps has blown it, nor will it be the last. I'm not sure which of their sins are greater, though: those of commission or omission. I do know, however, that there are plenty of both.

• The MSM were enthusiastically involved in drumming up public support for Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq and uncritically published any and all speculative bullshit the Administration thought might help advance their case. Their constant cheerleading was pathetic, as were the press releases read as news stories by the "embedded" reporters. Y'know, I finally gave up and accepted their shameless cravenness when I saw their behavior as Bremer announced Saddam's capture. Remember that? "Ladies and Gentlemen - we got him" followed by clapping, cheering and whistling from the various Objective Journalists present. The only things missing from that display of professionalism were beads and flashing titties.

• Election season wouldn't be the same without the breathless overreporting of exaggerated, twisted or contrived stories about the candidates- Dean and Gore come immediately to mind.

• This applies to the MSM as a whole, as opposed to the White House Sycophant Corps. Ever notice how all the real news gets pushed out of the headlines in favor of Chandra Levy, Laci Peterson or the latest celebrity trial? Yeah, they say they're giving the public what we want, and maybe they're right. But I don't know many parents who would regularly feed their kids candy for breakfast just because it's "what they want." Journalists have a responsibility - and I'll be hokey enough to call it a sacred one - to provide us the information we need.

• They served as willing accomplices during the partisan witchunt that was the Whitewater investigation, printing unsubstantiated allegations and leaks from Starr's office, knowing damn well that those leaks were a) politically motivated, b) unproven allegations and c) illegal as hell.

• They continue to cover for another colleague, columnist Robert "Douchebag of Liberty" Novak, who also isn't averse to publishing secrets leaked by Government officials.
(By the way, Judith Miller-Chalabi, despicable tho she is, has no business facing jail time)

On what the MSM didn't do, how 'bout this little nugget: the reason Watergate is still the benchmark of investigative reporting is because they haven't done a Goddamn thing in the ensuing 30 years to equal it. Molly Ivins, who refers to the afternoon WH Press Briefing as "the 4 o'clock feeding", offered her two cents on the problem of press incompetence in the late '80s.

"The list of what we missed during the Reagan years includes everything that mattered — we missed Iran-Contra, HUD, S&Ls, and the entire game plan until David Stockman told us what it was. And then we sat around criticizing David Stockman for a tattle-tale."

Is it laziness, ideology or just a simple desire to earn a nickname from Gee Dumbass and enjoy a little DC Status that earned "Steno Sue" Schmidt of the WaPo her reputation for flatbacking? How 'bout Whoreowitz, David Brooks, Michael Barone, Candy Crowley, Cokie Roberts and the whole gang at Faux News - what's the excuse for their whoredom? These people are to professional journalism what Stacey Koon, Mark Furhman and Bull Connor were to Law Enforcement.

Now, any questions on why the MSM has lately begun to attack blogs? Seems pretty obvious, doesn't it? They've gradually pissed away what credibility they once held and are now facing competition from any schmuck with high-speed Internet access - and they've lost the ability to claim the high ground. They're sweating.

Good.