Daily Kos

Walter Shapiro on Guckert

by j sundman

Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 07:26:57 PM PDT

I write for Salon.com from time to time.  Last night in NYC there was a big bash to celebrate Salon's 10th anniversary, and along with all the big celeb journalists, little peons like me got to attend as well.

Walter Shapiro has just signed on as Salon's Washington correspondent. I ran into him at the bar & introduced myself.

Then I said, "Hey, let me ask you something.  Strictly off the record. Won't tell a soul.  What's the real story on Gannon/Guckert?  What's the buzz? What's the rumor mill say?"

And Walter Shapiro said. . .

"I don't know. That all happened when I was at Harvard. I was a visiting fellow."

And I said, "Oh come now.  You're connected. You use a telephone. You use email.  You must have heard something.  I don't understand how (a male prostitute with free reign to walk the halls of the White House) was not a big national story.  It's almost like all you guys hushed it up.  Did Gannon have a White House client? Was he somebody's boy-toy before they cooked up that stupid "correspondent" cover story?"

And Walter said, "The White House press corps is full of whacky characters."

"But what about the Secret Service visitor logs?" I insisted. "What about that funny business with the day passes? What about him telling Wilson he had seen that secret State Department memo?"

"Like I said, I was at Harvard."

Earlier in the evening I had run into
Jim Sleeper.  He asked me if I knew what certain of the Salon editors looked like.  He was trying to connect with people that he had known for years only as voice on the phone or in email.

I tried to engage him in chit-chat but he was on a mission.

Stay tuned for more scintillating vignettes from my night out with the big literary stars, and I hope you have vacariously enjoyed my brushes with liberal celebrity journalist greatness.

Tags: james guckert, salon, walter shapiro, jeff gannon (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

Permalink | 15 comments

  •  interesting... (none / 1)

    I was at a little book party thingy at the National Press Club not that long ago and Guckert/Gannon popped up (with friend in tow)-- invited by a friend of the party host.

    My guess is that Gannon/Guckert is more a part of the DC journalism crowd then some would have us believe. He isn't just some nut that wandered into the White House, he gets invited to parties of other journalists and such.

    But that's just my take on it.

    by Marisa McNee on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 07:28:30 PM PDT

    •  oops (none / 0)

      typo, "than" not "then"

      by Marisa McNee on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 07:29:35 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  Have you read... (none / 1)

      the Media Matters stuff on him? How 'bout the e pluribus media information?

      Not just some nut? Guess again...Bulldog is ummm...errr...fascinating...

      Mariachi Mama Candidate Bickering Moratorium! Signatory to the Carnacki Petition

      by kredwyn on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 08:34:39 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  Don't get me wrong (none / 0)

        I think he's nuts. I just meant that he's not the "journalism outsider" that lots of DC journalist would have you believe he is.

        My point wasn't to defend him, it was to offer an answer for why maybe the press hasn't touched this. He's not as independent from them as it may seem.

        That was my point, if they think he's such a nut, what's he doing hanging out at the press club?

        by Marisa McNee on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 09:05:13 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

        •  attention hound who needs (none / 0)

          to be near to the center of things?

          My brother in law was much like this. He wanted to go to med school. But he never had the grades. So instead he put on the trappings of the medical establishment, drove an alpha, and hung out with doctors he knew. For him it was all about being able to tell the folks or other friends about the great time he had with his medico friends.

          He did eventually become an EMT.

          Lately he's given up that crap posturing. I think that the birth of my niece forced him to grow up some.

          I get the same vibe off of Guckert.

          I'm curious as to how a former garage mechanic from PA/DEL can afford to continue living in DC now that his WHouse gig is gone...and TalonNews along with it.

          Mariachi Mama Candidate Bickering Moratorium! Signatory to the Carnacki Petition

          by kredwyn on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 09:11:06 PM PDT

          [ Parent ]

          •  He's an "operative" ... (none / 0)

            and an operator.   This administration attracts them like bugs to a carcass.

            "You can't negotiate with reality" - James Kunstler

            by Bob Love on Thu Nov 17, 2005 at 02:27:14 AM PDT

            [ Parent ]

          •  Right (none / 0)

            But he wasn't just hanging around, he was an invited guest at the party. There's a difference.

            When you're getting party invites, you're being made legitimate by those doing the inviting, that was my only point.

            by Marisa McNee on Thu Nov 17, 2005 at 04:39:48 AM PDT

            [ Parent ]

            •  Or... (none / 0)

              You're inviting him because he's an interesting oddity to have around. Unfortunately, some folks don't realise that...then they invite him for real.

              Are these actual parties at homes? Or press club-like events?

              Mariachi Mama Candidate Bickering Moratorium! Signatory to the Carnacki Petition

              by kredwyn on Thu Nov 17, 2005 at 06:31:29 AM PDT

              [ Parent ]

              •  The party (none / 0)

                that I was at was an invite only book release party at the Press Club. And Gannon/Guckert was invited.

                by Marisa McNee on Thu Nov 17, 2005 at 06:19:47 PM PDT

                [ Parent ]

                •  Okay... (none / 0)

                  Was just wondering...

                  That sounds like something that you'd get invited to if you're a member of the Press Club, which I suspect he is. Before I moved to TX, I was getting invites to stuff like that for a while. I think I managed to get onto someone's list...then I fell off with the TX move.

                  Now that I'm back in the DC area, I'm wondering how to get back on that list. They were interesting events for people watching.

                  Mariachi Mama Candidate Bickering Moratorium! Signatory to the Carnacki Petition

                  by kredwyn on Thu Nov 17, 2005 at 09:29:29 PM PDT

                  [ Parent ]

                  •  Not sure (none / 0)

                    This party wasn't a press club event, it was a private party given by someone who is a member of the press club. Everyone at the party was personally invited by the host, not the press club.

                    if you want, I can find out for you how to get back on the list for press club events. But I'm assuming if you're a member you should be on the list.

                    by Marisa McNee on Fri Nov 18, 2005 at 11:05:04 AM PDT

                    [ Parent ]

  •  As a gay guy (none / 1)

    It frustrates me that the media seems to think it has to "pussy foot" around the question of "who was Gannon's special friend--if any."  There was no "pussy footing"--in the previous administration, but then that was REAL "pussy", not to mention it was Clinton getting bashed.

    Screw political correctness; this is an important question, no matter what the sexuality. The fact is, a fake reporter, under a fake name, working for a fake news agency, was helping the Bushies fake out the media. He didn't just walk in off the street. Someone was there to help get him in. Who was it?

    Oh yeah, and there is also the hypocrisy part. I have seen several Gannon interviews, but no one asked the BIG one: How can you be an anti-gay gay? How can you serve an administration that won by playing "smear the queer in 11 states?" How can you serve a man who, when he was Governor of Texas, not only wanted to DENY adoption to gay couples, but wanted to TAKE THEIR CHILDREN AWAY FROM THEM!

    As for who was Gannon's special friend, I'd put my money on McClellan. But where ever Rove has gone, there is always gay bashing going on--and I find that suspicious.

    by daulton on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 08:58:22 PM PDT

  •  So many damn scandals (none / 0)

    I can't keep up. If we can get a resolution in at least half of them in 2006, I would be happy.

    Be a Liberal. People are more likely to run to you if you stand still and not run from yourself.

    by Sunqueen212 on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 09:02:50 PM PDT

Permalink | 15 comments