Wednesday, February 09, 2005

"Jeff Gannon": ex-Whitehouse Cub Reporter

For anyone that's been closely following the Jeff Gannon / J.D. Guckert fraud reporter story, it seems to have reached a critical mass today. Gannon has shut down his website, resigned his "position" with GOP front organization Talon News, and is heading for rougher waters than I think he ever imagined at his snarky best.

Sometimes in life, you overreach. When you do, the key to success is to not get decapitated in the process. Gannon / Guckert lost.

A few very potent questions remain:

1. How did Gannon / Guckert sucker the Whitehouse into access in the first place?

2. What is Gannon / Guckert's role in the Plame investigation?

We may never receive a satisfactory answer to the first question, because Whitehouse decapitations are mostly done behind the scenes. But, you can be sure that with all of the attention on Guckert in the past week or so, heads are rolling in the West Wing. In fact, if I might be so bold to predict, I think there's a fair chance that Scott McClellan might tender his resignation in the next week or two to "pursue other opportunities". The Gannon / Guckert affair is going to end up being a huge black eye to at least McClellan.

As to the second question, Kos diarist SusanG released an interview this morning that she's been conducting with former Ambassador Joe Wilson and Gannon's connection to the Valerie Plame outing. It's an amazing read.

If this quote from Ambassador Wilson doesn't ring with you, you don't belong at ASZ:

I did not like fascists when I fought them as a diplomat for 23 years and I don't like them now in my own country.