Scott McClellan Tells a Whopper >

[Stephanie]

________________________


As the Iraq war raged and as the truth surrounding the forged documents that claimed Saddam attempted to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger emerged, a website and news organization came into being... Talon News (March 29, 2003)... owned by GOPUSA.com. Within days `Jeff Gannon', a man with no journalism experience secured White House briefing room press credentials (April 3, 2003).

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/9/191334/0754

______________________


Q But just to make it clear, the only criteria, from the White House perspective is, someone can pass the Secret Service background check

MR. McCLELLAN: No, no, that's not -- first of all, I don't involve myself in that process, it's handled at a staff level. Like I said, if the White House Correspondents Association ever wants to talk about issues, I welcome that. But it becomes an issue -- it becomes an issue of where do you draw the line? Do you draw the line at advocacy journalism because there are a number of people that crossed that line, as I said? But there's hard -- there's hard passes and there's daily passes, as you are well aware. For a hard pass, you have to have a House and Senate credential, you have to regularly cover the White House, you have to apply for it, you have to go through a detailed FBI background check.

My understanding was, when he started coming to the White House about two years ago, the staff asked to see that it -- that he represented a news organization that published regularly. And they showed that, so he was cleared and has been cleared ever since based on that time.

And this is just now something that's come to my attention more recently because it's been an issue raised in some media reports.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050210-6.html#4

______________________

[cthrumatrix]

1. and then Scottie's head spins like the Exorcist "bed scene"...and spits up

pea soup

[jdj]

21. he's really Data, and this is his new tv show.

There's no way he can be human.

[Mugsy]

50. Consider what has been revealed here...

If ANYONE should know if a "reporter" was just parroting White House Press Releases during a Press Conference, don't you think it would be the guy that WROTE THEM???

I'd be VERY interested in knowing the number of times Gannon was called on *LAST* during these "press conferences".

[Hissyspit]

52. Another Thread: McClellan/'Gannon' Connection?

From this forum:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

chookie (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-11-05 02:25 AM
Original message
A connection to Snotty McClellan by "Gannon"?


Gannon: "Thank you. First of all, I hope the grand jury didn't force you to turn over the wedding card I sent to you and your wife. (Laughter.) "
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=artic ...

Here they seem to be having a har har about being asked about the Plame case -- he is being very bold in bringing it up in public thusly with Scotty, n'est ce pas?

Does this reveal a personal connection between these two men, or is Gannon, who is clearly unstable and WAY out of his depth, just getting too darned familiar with Scotty?

(He went on to make the following propagandist remark: "Do you see any hypocrisy in the controversy about the President's mention of 9/11 in his ads, when Democratic icon Franklin Delano Roosevelt's campaign issued this button, that says, 'Remember Pearl Harbor'? I have a visual aid for folks watching at home." )

[Carolab]

65. I've been wondering about that too.

Does anyone know about Scotty's personal life? I mean, can we start a whisper campaign about him and Jeffy?

[xxqqqzme]

67. in replays whenever

jeffie is tossin' soft balls 'n the camera cuts 2 scottie, scottie is simply beaming in anticipation. It is really creepy.



something like that?


it really IS creepy tho.

[xxqqqzme]

68. oops!

n/t

[rodeodance]

2. dah--

[bryant69]

3. Where is the whopper?

I mean I think it's a terrible crime that a man like Gannon was offered access to the White House--but, it is possible that some overzealous freeper intern gave Gannon the pass. I think it's far more likely that both McLellen and Fliescher knew what was going on--but do we have any proof?

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[shoelace414]

4. pass the blame!

[MADem]

63. Or PASS THE PLAME (heh, heh) n/t

[Stephanie]

5. The whopper is that he claims Gannon's "organization" was vetted

to establish that it "published regularly" - but in fact the site had only been in existance for four days.

[Generator]

10. Four days!!!!!!

That got me too. In other words, be a Republican, start a website, get into the press room and ask very easy questions on day four. It's a beautiful thing,this "free press" business.

I don't suppose the "Impeach Bush Now" web journalist had it quite as easy.

[NewJeffCT]

11. You mean?

You mean I could start my own news website and publish an article a day and get a WH press pass next week?

geez, I had a tougher time getting in to see high school basketball games as a journalist.

[Spazito]

16. And do it under an assumed name, no less!!

*

[understandinglife]

20. As long as one of the Eberle brothers calls Karl for you. And, of course..

....Karl tells the Secret Service to stay out of the way.

Your in.

Cool.


BE THE BU$H OPPOSITION; 24/7

[havocmom]

12. Didn't Talon get refused credentials by Congress cuz they weren't real?

help an old woman with poor faculty out here... ;)

[Stephanie]

14. Yes, Congress refused to issue Gannon a pass

[Oreo]

17. Do we know when that happened?

When did Congress turn him down? Specifically... what was the date.

[bryant69]

13. Oy

Yeah that is a pretty big whopper.

[rfranklin]

39. I just started the All Lesbian Escort News Service!

Gimme my credentials!

[MADem]

61. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get credentialed?

It's a pain in the ass...they bagged Sarah McClendon, a 90 YEAR OLD WOMAN, who had been covering presidents since FDR, and they REVOKED her pass. Some overzealous freeper didn't do that. No intern has that clout. They changed the seating, they put Faux up front, they are HANDS ON, make no mistake.

READ THIS. It speaks to the efforts of someone trying to get a pass, with no success, during the ARI era--no doubt they're even better at screwing reporters now. This is instructive, it describes the process in painful detail. http://www.jacksonprogressive.com/issues/mokhiberweissman/toomuch022503.html

A salient snip or two:

The Presidents press office is perhaps one of the best in recent years, if you define its job as keeping reporters at bay.

How do they do it?
Well, first, they keep out reporters who they dislike....
We were denied access to the White House for a number of months in 2001 -- we were told we told it was about "national security."
Translate -- we don't like your penchant for asking about corporate power. Then, when we beat the rap, we were told that there was no way that we were going to get a White House press pass.
Why? Because we didn't meet the criteria.

What are the criteria, we asked?
After months of no answer, we were told the criteria are:
You have to be assigned to cover the White House daily. Check.
You are accredited by the House and Senate gallery. Check.
You are willing to undergo the required Secret Service background investigation. Check.
Check, check and check.

So, we meet all the criteria.
Why don't we get a pass?
More months have passed. Still no answer.
But we are welcome at the White House, we are told, no problem, just call ahead every day so that we can clear you in. No problem.

So, we call ahead every day, and we get cleared in.
Unless the day is like yesterday, when we e-mailed our handler at the White House to get cleared in, are e-mailed back telling us that we were cleared in, but then when we get to the White House, we are told we are not cleared in. Sorry. You'll have to wait until you are cleared in....

So, first they ban you.
Then they leave you stewing at the gate.
Then they skip over you.
And yesterday is not the first time we've been through that scenario.

If you get in, and if Ari calls on you, he limits the number of questions you get.
The Fox News reporter gets four, five or six a day. We get zero, one or two.
If Ari takes your question, he more often than not evades the question.
And if pressed, he dodges the question....

[flyarm]

66. I HAD THIS ARTICLE IN MY FILES ...ABOUT CANADIAN PM PRETTY BOY

I WILL PRINT HERE IN FULL AS IT IS OLD AND THE LINK NO LONGER WORKS..I HOPE THAT IS OK..

THERE IS NO LINK THAT WORKS ANY LONGER!!

Bush prefers our pretty boy to his pretty boy


By JANE TABER

Friday, January 16, 2004
UPDATED AT 3:11 PM EST


OTTAWA -- This is the tale of the two Scotts -- one American, the other Canadian. One is dark-haired, the other blond. Both are 35 and both work for the most powerful men in their respective countries.

Scott McClellan is the press secretary to U.S. President George W. Bush; Scott Reid is the senior strategist to Prime Minister Paul Martin.

But, according to Mr. Bush, Mr. Martin has the prettier Scott.

Indeed. Welcome to a new era of "pretty face" Canada-U.S. relations.

This is what happened:

Mr. Bush met Mr. Reid earlier this week at the summit in Monterrey, Mexico, just after the President's breakfast with Mr. Martin.

Mr. Reid was not initially in the hotel room where the two leaders and their closest advisers met, but was called in to brief the Prime Minister at the end as the group waited for the media.

Mr. Bush wandered over during Mr. Reid's chat with the Prime Minister. Mr. Reid introduced himself and shook hands with Mr. Bush.

"Well, what do you do for this guy?" the President asked as he pointed to the Prime Minister.

"Well, you know, sir, I can't really say," Mr. Reid said. "It's not that I don't want to. It's just that, you know, I don't really know from day to day."

This is true. Mr. Reid handles a number of files and performs a number of different duties, depending on the issue and the day.

The President chuckled. "Well, you got a pretty face," he told the surprised Mr. Reid. He wasn't done. "You got a pretty face," he said again. "You're a good-looking guy. Better looking than my Scott anyway."

This is true. His Scott has a receding hairline and is on the chubby side, while Mr. Martin's Scott has a full head of hair and is quite fit.

For the first time in his life, Mr. Reid had no reply. "I didn't know what to say," said Mr. Reid, noting later that he wished that Mr. Bush had referred to him as a "rugged-looking young man or something.

"But I'll take what I can, I guess," he joked. "When a Texas Republican says you've got a pretty face, then I guess there is just no way around it."

[rocktivity]

6. Well, if that's what Gannon did, he lied and breached security

and the Bush White House acted too incompetently to pick up on it, or they were in on it. And if he's not in charge of press credentials, we should be questioning the person who IS! That's what makes this such a no-win situtation for the Bush White House--either they knew what was going on, or they didn't.

:headbang:
rocknation

[aden_nak]

7. I guess they publised a LOT in those 4 days. "Regularly" in fact.

[Stephanie]

9. They must have published every one of those four days

You know, to establish a track record acceptable to the WH.

[HereSince1628]

8. Exactly, thanks for posting this, I'd lost track of it

among all the various postings.

Talon had be publishing for less than a week, but that seemed pretty regular to the toadies that decided to give "Gannon" the day pass.

Oh, I wish we had access to the roster of the support staff that might have been involved. I have the feeling that someone with responsibilities for a wife, kids and _a dog!_ could be turned on this aspect of the story.

[BurtWorm]

15. Oops, Scotty!

It's not nice to try to fool the Internets.

[Swamp Rat]

49. LOL! n/t

[Plaid Adder]

18. My ass he doesn't know. WHY DOES HE CALL ON HIM?

This is what just maddens me about the MSM coverage of this. I don't know how big the WH press pool is, but I know damn well that not everyone gets called on. The point about the Gannon thing is not that he was able to get in--although that in itself, you would figure, is kind of a security issue--but that he was regularly called on by McClellan when he got into trouble. If McClellan didn't know who "Jeff Gannon" was, then he CERTAINLY didn't know what the fuck "Talon News" was. And if he didn't recognize either the guy's name or the guy's news outfit, WHY WOULD HE CALL ON HIM?

:seethe: :seethe: :seethe:

I just want to grab these people and shake them. Morons! How hard IS it to grasp a few simple goddamn concepts?

ARgh,

THe Plaid Adder

[MADem]

62. And EVERY SINGLE TIME he called on Jimmy Jeff

...he called him JEFF, in a buddy-buddy kinda way. Not "Mr. Gannon" or "you, there, third row, baldy" or "Hindustan Times, go ahead"...naaah, listen to him, he's COZY wid da boy.

[LostInAnomie]

19. Jeez, that means with even a rudimentary background check...

... "Gannon" would have had to applied for the press pass before Talon could have even posted it's first article.

How could this be?

[In Truth We Trust]

25. Excellent observation!!!!!!

wtf

[Quakerfriend]

22. Wow, Scotty must be squirming now

There's got to be a trail of emails that leads us to the evidence that says this WAS A PLANT BY THE WH!!!

[Johonny]

27. Sure

But someone would have to try to find it.

[cthrumatrix]

38. he knows we are watching his BS lies everyday..... drip drip

[MsTryska]

23. *giggle* he said "hard pass". nt

nt

[mediaman007]

24. Scott should be careful...there's a lot smarter people than him out here.

[DefenseLawyer]

26. I think Talon was invented by Rove

and used specifically to spring the Rather document trap. I have no proof of this except the timing of its creation and the fact that cub reporter "Jeff Gannon", who supposedly nobody knew, somehow had all the inside info on the documents that he then fed to hannity and others. I seem to recall reading that Eberle was connected to the Southeastern Legal Foundation, of which "Buckhead", the freeper lawyer who immediately called the documents fake, was also connected. I think there is still a story here if anyone has the balls to follow it.

[SpiralHawk]

29. Bingo ! The Defense may rest

My Spidey Sense tingled when I read your hypothesis. Therefore, it must be true. Or at least, I think you are spot on with this.

[seventythree]

47. I think so also

[Spazito]

30. Talon and 'Jeff' surfaced during the Niger/yellowcake...

lie, when the bush admin was under fire for using it in the UN presentation. That took place well before the Rather document issue.

[Stephanie]

32. And Gannon is implicated in that scandal, and was subpoenaed

So DefenseLawyer's theory may be correct, only WRT the Plame case rather than Rather.

[DefenseLawyer]

34. Agreed. I shouldn't have implied it was created

specifically for that task (the document scandal), but rather that it was created by the WH for such tasks, of which Plame AND the document scandal, are both probable examples.

[Spazito]

37. I totally agree with you, I have NO doubt this is a rove project...

for the express purpose of sidelining any chance of the truth coming out, to regurgitate repub talking points and to re-direct issues to reflect those talking points.

[hootinholler]

54. Ok, I can buy into that so...

What do we know about JG and Bupkis (his 'editor') before talon was created? What rock did rover dig them up from under? How was the connection made?

-Hoot

[MsTryska]

36. well it doesn't have to be an either/or, really does it? nt.

nt

[Spazito]

40. I realized after I posted that I was rather terse...

and wasn't in disagreement with the post in regard to it being a rove project. I meant only to clarify the time line but I should have made that clear.

Having a faux reporter receive access to highly classified data regarding a CIA agent is a key part of what needs to be followed up re investigation and I guess that is what I was trying to get to, didn't do it as well as I should have.

[understandinglife]

31. Here's one DU link, among others, on 'Buckhead' and comments..

....on Southeastern Legal Foundation (apparently funded by the neoconster, Saife):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=835262

Much was posted at Kos about "Buckhead" et al.

Peace.

TBO;24/7

[bvar22]

28. CBS Documentation:

in this CBS article Scott McClellan is quoted:
"White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Guckert did not have a regular White House press pass but was cleared on a day-by-day basis to attend briefings and used his real name."

If this is true, why did little Scottie use the alias "Jeff" every time he called on James D. Guckert?

Has Scottie Mc made a big boo-boo?
Is there another explanation other than the Executive Branch was in-on-the-scam?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/10/politics/main...

[elehhhhna]

35. The Manchurian Correspondent.

When you call him "Jeff" he goes all Mepublican-apologist.

[paineinthearse]

33. McClellan is a cancer on a turdblossom.

[Merope215]

41. Wow, that's a great phrase! n/t

[talk hard]

42. no mention of story on rightwing sites

Just out of curiosity about how the opposition was framing this story, I discovered neither foxnews.com nor the druge report had even a whisper of this mind blowing story.

That speaks volumes.

I hope this is the incendiary device that causes the piles and biles of BS to blow up in their faces.

[seventythree]

48. drudge did

for about a couple hours today -- it was a link to a site which was a google listing of all the stories about him quitting. I thought it funny, because I had never seen anything like that on his site.

[Gruenemann]

55. yeah, i saw that too...

Whassamatter, Mattie--got your knickers in a knot?

[talk hard]

58. fox and drudge weigh in

Well a day after the fact, both Faux News and Drudge have a blurb on their websites indicating the controversy centers on the Gannon's fake name rather than his fake news organization and his fake butt-kissing questions.

Not a surprise they are framing this as much ado about nothing.

[Polemicist]

43. Can we get someone living in DC...

That works for or legitimately has ties to a progressive or Democratic web site, go to the White House Press Office and request press credentials?

If they turn that person down, then it means they were doing special favors for conservative web sites.

If they issue press credentials, then we here on DU can compile our weekly list of rumors and leading questions we want asked of the WH Press Secretary and once upon a blue moon the Prez hisself.

It's a win - win situation, if someone will go do it. I would, but South Carolina is just too far to commute. :)

[Stephanie]

45. Will Pitt is going to do it

As a legitimate reporter for a legitimate online news source - www.truthout.org -

How can they deny him?

[fob]

44. Actually McClellan's statement could very well be perfectly "true"

I will translate...

My understanding was
That means he may be lying in the very near future, so we're off to a bad start (-)

when he started coming to the White House about two years ago
I'd be willing to bet he DID start coming there 2 years ago (+)

the staff asked to see that it--
Ooops, Snotty was about to reveal some truth namely that the above phrase was gonna end with, "was all taken care of" (+)

that he represented a news organization that published regularly
This is the cover we finally decided upon (-)

And they showed that
The "they" in this instance refers to "the staff" or our guys just so we'd be sure JD didn't fuck up the fake press cover(+)(-)

so he was cleared and has been cleared ever since based on that time.

just because the documents were created by us doesn't mean they weren't good enough to pass our own staff's check, so like, what's the big deal?(+)

So the end result is a triple negative = Lie! I gave the 5th part a + and a - because although the the words reveal a true statement, they purposefully obscure who "they" refers to.

[jdj]

46. I'm actually wondering how Ari would have handled this...

I'd have like to have seen this. I think Ari made himself too much of a target, too in your face, not to mention too Jewish. They needed a wolf in sheep's clothing, and boy did they ever find one in McClellan.

[flordehinojos]

51. the one and only criteria to be able to get a job or pass at the bush

mud house: lie, lie, lie!

[notadmblnd]

53. I posted this in another thread

We need to show them how dangerous this could have been for this reporter to get that close to "Dear Leader".

This guy got his press pass in less than a week after this so called news service was created. This Jeff Gannon could have been a terrorist. Little Scotty admitted yesterday that he knew Gannon used an assumed name. How did he know this if the whitehouse staff is responsiblem for handing out the passes as he claimed?

Was little Scotty conspiring with a potential terrorist?

[fooj]

56. Accountability! When are we going to demand accountability?

[Stephanie]

57. Another Scotty Whopper! Dana Milbank saw Gannon with a PERMANENT PASS

Not a DAILY pass, a PERMANENT pass.

from crispini:

___________________

Feb. 9. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6947877 /

emphasis mine

OLBERMANN: Was he—it‘s been reported that he was issued daily passes rather than the proverbial hard pass, the permanent one that admitted him. Is that correct, to your knowledge?

MILBANK: Well, we don‘t know. I‘ve seen him with something that looked an awful lot like a permanent White House pass, with his face, name and organization on it. Others have seen the same thing. We don‘t know for sure. But either way, it‘s clear that Scott Mcclellan knew that it wasn‘t his real name. He had to provide his real name to get into the White House. So, here you have the press secretary to the United States, playing along addressing this guy by his pseudo name. So there was some degree of complicity, even if he was not granted, against White House rules, an actually hard past.

___________________

[talk hard]

59. finally speaking up

Isn't it delightful that finally SOMEONE isn't afraid to speak up and contradict the BS put out by the WH?

I hope they go after this creep. Hopefully journalists will resent the unprecedented access this guy was given and they are not.

Can we say A-C-C-O-U-N-T-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y? The free ride is over. Please wait until the ride comes to a complete stop before retrieving personal items from the overhead compartments. Thank you. Drive through.

[Mr_Spock]

60. He was issued a Press Pass 4 DAYS AFTER THE FOUNDING of Talon News????????

OMFG!!! These devious LYING motherfuckers are going DOWN.

Ed Shultz just called the place where Gannon was trained and the person on the phone there claimed that Novak reporters frequently spoke there as guests. Gannon, Plame, Novak reporters. OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These bastards are dead meat. $50 for conservative reporter training WITH MEALS??? Who's providing the money for this NON-PROFIT organization??? THESE TWITS ARE GOING DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[chieftain]

64. If ever there was a " dog bites man " headline

this one is it .

[Stephanie]

69. LOL!