February 13, 2005 by s.z.

A Tip From Jeff Gannon

From the Editor and Publisher interview:

Guckert first attended a presidential press conference in April 2003, he said, just weeks after starting with Talon News. He also attended another, for which he cannot recall the date, prior to the late-January conference that brought him to public attention. "I was also once at a Rose Garden briefing after the announcement of the interim government in Iraq,” he said. “It was impromptu. I thought [Bush] had pointed at me, but he was really pointing at someone else. But I shouted out a question, and he answered it." 

Guckert said that standing in close proximity to the President required no additional security checks that he knew of. "They might have done something, but I don’t know what it was," he said. [...]

He said he couldn’t understand why anyone would feel that letting him in to the presidential press conferences and briefings under an alias, and with questionable journalistic credentials, suggested a security breakdown. "If I am a Republican shill,” he said, “wouldn’t you think I am the least amount of a threat to the president?"

While I'm sure that "Jeff" didn't intend to give ideas to terrorists, I would imagine that the lesson they might glean from his story is that a good way to get close to the President without having to go through a thorough security check would be to set up a fake news service and act as Republican shills (you know, like "Jeff" and Talon News did). 

BTW, I'm sworn to secrecy, but I know of at least one foreign national / liberal commie who infiltrated a site much like GOP USA by pretending to be a Republican shill.  Has he been accredited to the White House press office?  Sadly, no -- but that doesn't mean that he won't be!

P.S. Jim/Jeff's silver lining:

"Even though it has been very painful,” he said of the current uproar, “lots of opportunities have come forward journalistically. Once all of this blows over, I think it might actually help that I have gotten this attention." He would not cite specific examples of any new opportunities. He cited Dick Morris as an example of someone whose travails, and brash political views, helped launch a media career.

I too see a bright future for JImJeff as a "political consultant" for Fox News, NewsMax, and "Toe Fetish Weekly."

5:17:43 PM