I'll start by reposting a comment I made in the Milbank thread:
If the parties were reversed - if this was a story about the Clinton White House, do you still think the rags would have trouble finding the resources to cover Gannongate?
I remember the NYT spending plenty on a dry hole called Whitewater.
How much of that has to do with Democrats not helping their own cause? If we had the equivalent of a Congressman shooting pumpkins in his back yard, would the press do a better job?
Also... Do you remember the Craig Spence story from the first Bush administration? Why did that get buried? Is there some secret Skull and Bones thing where y'all take pictures of each other doing unmentionable things to little boys? Is there a blackmail side to the cover-up?
Of course, now that Skull and Bones has been mentioned, there'll be no response. But the rest of you should click the Craig Spence link and then ask yourselves if you think this scandal will get any serious play...
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So the powerful all over Washington can run around fucking little boys and it gets swept under the rug.
What makes you think Gannongate is still going to be talked about next month. Trust me: It's going down the same bottomless pit that every other scandal gets flushed down. Remember, it was just last week that Condi was proven, BEYOND ANY DOUBT, a fucking liar. Who's talking about that today?
Here are some excerpts from the link above:
Spence was a conservative lobbyist during the Reagan-Bush years. The New York Times called him "Washington's ultimate power broker." He was also running a gay prostitution ring which employed adolescent boys. As perks of the job, he treated his boys to after-hour tours of the White House. In The Washington Times of August 9, 1989, Spence "hinted the tours were arranged by top level" persons, including Vice President Bush's National Security Advisor Donald Gregg, whose name also figures prominently in the October Surprise story. The paper added that "Spence, according to friends, was also carrying out homosexual blackmail operations for the CIA."
David McGowan writes that one of the White House tours "occurred just after Spence stopped by the Nightline studio to see his friend, Ted Koppel. Spence reportedly introduced Koppel to a 15-year-old boy, whom Koppel later claimed Spence had introduced as his son. Koppel though had been a close friend for over 20 years and surely knew that Spence did not have a teenage son."
Among the clients identified in hundreds of credit-card vouchers obtained by The Washington Times - and identified by male prostitutes and escort operators - are government officials, locally based US military officers, businessmen, lawyers, bankers, congressional aides, media representatives and other professionals.
Mr. Spence's influence appeared unlimited, aptly demonstrated by his ability to arrange midnight tours of the White House, according to three persons who said they took part in those tours.
The Spence story never really registered on the national media's radar screen. Despite being a largely Republican scandal, it was completely ignored by such pillars of the purportedly liberal press as the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. The story soon disappeared entirely and Washington and the media proceeded to pretend as though nothing had ever happened. According to a Washington Times reporter, the paper trail was quickly covered up. Some 20,000 documents pertaining to the case were sealed by court order and the U.S. Attorney's office issued a gag order on the release of information. By the time that Craig Spence turned up dead in a Boston hotel less than five months after the story first broke, he had been all but forgotten. He had earlier told a friend: "I may be disappearing soon. It will be sudden. It may appear to be a suicide, but it won't be."
Spence was reportedly found lying on his bed in room 429 of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, wearing a tuxedo and with a telephone cradled to his ear and a Walkman headset around his neck. He had, according to the Independent, "no obvious signs of injury," and "police refused to comment on the cause of death." The door to the room was barricaded. Written on the mirror were several messages, one of which read: "Chief, consider this my resignation, effective immediately. As you always said, you can't ask others to make a sacrifice if you are not ready to do the same. Life is duty. God bless America." Another was an apology to the hotel: "To the Ritz, please forgive this inconvenience." A third was an unexplained Japanese phrase: "Nisei Bei." The hotel registry showed that the room the apparent suicide victim was found in was occupied by "C.S. Kane."
Spence had been subpoenaed by a grand jury but had not yet been called to appear. As it turned out, very few witnesses ever did appear before that grand jury. Spence had also reportedly agreed to provide Penthouse magazine with "lurid details of Washington's bisexual wonderland." His story, needless to say, was never told.
So, yeah... if you expect Olberman, Milbank or Congress to push this... ugh... stop. It's already in its death throes. Story's over. Nothing to see here. Move along.
[Update]Before y'all get yourselves atwitter, this diary isn't meant to say "Give Up!" and stop doing the work you are doing. I applaud anyone that chooses information rather than willful ignorance. Anyway, the purpose of this diary is to add a dose of realism and put Gannongate in its proper historical context. Keep digging, reading, learning. Just don't expect Milbank to ride to our rescue.