Republicans Anonymous

Now that Jon Stewart's Daily Show has covered the James "Manchurian Beefcake" Guckert (a.k.a. Jeff Gannon) story, it seems Mr. Guckert is again talking to sympathetic media types. If he's trying to gain a reputation for truthfulness, though, he needs to at least tell a consistent story:

Five days after telling E&P that he was no longer speaking to the press because it was not helping him, former White House reporter James Guckert, a.k.a Jeff Gannon, said today that he had changed his mind and was seeking the right media outlet to tell his side of the story.

Asked this afternoon about reports that he was scheduled to appear on the Anderson Cooper's CNN show tonight, he denied it strongly. One hour later, a CNN spokesman told E&P, "He's taping it right now."

"My side of the story has been poorly reported," said Guckert, ..."One of the frustrating parts has been that everyone has been willing to say things and not make the effort to speak with me.
...
"I wasn't even given a chance to respond. Chris Matthews' show didn’t make any effort to reach out to me, which is disturbing," he said. "He asked Pat Buchanan to comment on some things [about him] that that Pat Buchanan has no information on."

When reminded that he had made a point of saying to E&P that he would no longer talk to the press, Guckert said that should not have stopped those shows from seeking him out of journalistic fairness. "Does that mean they don't try to talk to me?" he added.
Source: Editor & Publisher 5 Days Later, Guckert's Tells E&P He'll Talk Again, Apparently on CNN (Feb 18, 2005.)

Meanwhile, it appears Mr. Guckert originally started getting "day passes" as a GOPUSA representative:

(White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan) said White House Press Office staffers considered the openly partisan (GOPUSA) site to be a legitimate news organization when they gave Guckert, a.k.a. Jeff Gannon, the first of numerous day passes in February 2003.
...
...(McClellan) would not identify the (staffer) or comment on how he or she could consider GOPUSA -- which is run by Texas Republican activist Bobby Eberle -- to be a legitimate news organization.
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However, Eberle has told The New York Times that he later created Talon to build a news service with a conservative slant and "if someone were to see 'GOPUSA,' there's an instant built-in bias there."
Source: Editor & Publisher Scott McClellan Reveals That Gannon/Guckert Got GOPUSA Press Pass Feb 18, 2005.

Has Karl Rove's crew been listening to their own propaganda for so long that they really think a web site run by a Republican activist is a legitimate news service? For that matter, surely there are rabid Republican activists with journalism experience out there somewhere - maybe from Sinclair Broadcasting? Why did they settle for a man with no experience - with ties to gay prostitution sites? Unless, of course, there was something else going on...