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Personally I’ve had enough of Guckert-gate -- It’s been all I’ve been hearing about for the last two weeks. Of course, that’s my own fault. I’ve started a new job, so I have a new desktop computer and I haven’t bothered to unearth my CD collection, drag it into work, and install it in my windows player. Instead I’ve been listening to Air America (the liberal left wing news radio network) during work all day long. And sure, CBS, NBC, FOX (ha!) and the rest of the regular news service have avoided the story, but Air America has been going hyperbolic with it.
In the last couple weeks Air America had done every possible joke and comment on this story that’s possible to tell (and believe me, this story has a lot of potential). Sun Ra managed to pass over the fact that it seems (hasn’t yet been proven) that Guckert was at one point running an escort service, even pimping himself out as a choice selection. Sun Ra also chose not to mention that immediately after the Guckert-gate story broke (on blogs, and AA, in overseas) the Talon news agency scrubbed all of his articles from their web-space, and all Guckert’s "non-news" oriented web pages were taken down. But I miss my point. That this "reporter" (oh yes, there are quotes around that word) was gay... feh. We’re liberal; we shouldn’t be harping on that. That Guckert (allegedly) ran an escort service with himself as possible selection... feh. We’re liberal; we shouldn’t be harping on that. That Guckert was calling himself a reporter, when all he did was post ghost written stories in his columns, and soft balled neo-conservative platitudes to make the president feel good about himself... feh. I’m all for free speech. It’s that free speech right that allows me to post this counter. It’s all good. That Guckert was granted access to the white house press room, often only a dozen feet from the President of the United States… feh. First of all, I don’t believe he was vetted without a security background. I have faith that the Secret Service went over his history with a fine toothed comb, found him amusing, but harmless, and let him go. It could be (knowing how fallible we humans are) that someone high up just made Guckert’s vetting fait accompli, and nothing was investigated. Frankly, I don’t care… It’s not that the American large money press isn’t covering the Guckert story... Guckert simply isn’t the story. The part that really pisses me off is that we’re putting the American public in a protective plastic bubble. We’ve got a President who will only speak in rallies where the audience is screened so that there won’t be any challenging questions. We’ve got press conferences that are seeded with Conservative plants who will provide an child-safe playpen for Mr. Bush. We’ve got a majority of the press that is either completely bought & paid for or scared silent because they hope the money won’t run dry (or that the new FCC won’t fine the bleeding heck out of them). What the hell use is there for a First amendment when we’ve got a country that won’t use it? That’s the story. Thankfully... this week, Air America has started to ease away from the Guckert story and go back to following the real news. Well, most of the time. |