February 20, 2005 by s.z.

"I've had some people call and make inquiries to see if I had any interest in certain positions"* Did you know that James Gannon, who was recently assassinated by mean liberal bloggers, his death thus forcing him to resign as a "reporter" for Talon/GOPUSA news service and a member of the White House press corps, will be denied welfare benefits unless he moves to Germany and accepts employment in one of their legal brothels? It's TRUE!  Focus On the Family News has an expert weighing in on the case: Daniel Weiss, media and sexuality analyst for Focus on the Family, said what Germany is doing is appalling. "It seems absurd—absurd to the point of not being believable," he said. That's what Seb from Sadly, No! said (most recently here), but I don't know if we can believe him, because he lives in Germany -- and like Mr. Weiss said: Only in a hyper-pornographic society like Germany's, Weiss added, will you find a story like this. Well, in all fairness we must say that America must take the blame for the "prostitute who advertised his wang size on the internets asking George Bush misleading questions derived from Rush Limbaugh's rantings" part of it.  But still, this just doesn't seem right.  After all, as Hindrocket said, Jeff Gannon is "a poor guy who thought he could put his past behind him and pursue a career as a reporter" by, you know, selling his virtue.  And making him take a job in a brothel, while possibly a good way to get him to pay his back state taxes, still feels kind of wrong.  So, maybe it's not true.  But if it isn't, then it would mean that Focus on the Family News hasn't discussed the story of Jeff Gannon at all (while instead commenting on an urban legend believed only by the most ignorant, such as James Lileks and Mark Steyn).  And as the guardians of our nation's virtue, surely FotF would have denounced this instance of hyper-pornography right in our nation's capital!  Or not. * The line was from Wolf Blitzer's interview of JimJeff, back before Jeff retired from the spotlight and then came back to: (a) set the record straight, (b) get the White House off the hook, (c) get a book deal from Regnery (d) then get "taken care of -- permanently" by the White House for failing to keep his mouth shut.  Here it is in context: BLITZER: So what are you going to do now? GANNON: Well, there's -- you know, God closes doors and opens windows. And I believe this is going to be a good opportunity for me, even though it's been painful. And I'm going -- I believe that there's a silver lining out there. BLITZER: Do you have something already in the works? GANNON: I've had some people call and make inquiries to see if I had any interest in certain positions.  9:09:20 PM

Who Said It? Our Mystery Guest from last time who was "somewhere between meltdown and release" (which she has adopted as her new motto, btw) was Michelle Malkin. Our second guest (the guy who brags of being a "hate figure to the more fanatical kind of homosexualist") was John Derbyshire. Gabriel named both of those wingnuts in just one note!  In recognition of his achievement, we hope to get his named added to Gannon's Enemies List (because we think that being sued for committing "political assassination" would be a great addition to any resume). Anyway, who said this? 1.  Finally, someday in America the next big bad thing is going to happen, and lines are going to go down, and darkness is going to descend, and the instant communication we now enjoy is going to be compromised. People in one part of the country are going to wonder how people in another part are doing. Little by little lines are going to come up, and people are going to log on, and they're going to get the best, most comprehensive, and ultimately, just because it's there, most heartening information from . . . some lone blogger out there. And then another. They're going to do some big work down the road. Yes, after the apocolypse, civilization will be restored by lowly bloggers.  Maybe just one lone blogger -- and not one lone postman, as portrayed in the blockbuster Hollywood film The Postman.  Put that in your irony bong and smoke it, Mr. Kevin Costner!   2.  Who is the wingnut quoted in the following in a newspaper story about the 10th annual "Reclaiming America for Christ" conference:  Conservative evangelicals have finally awakened, according to activist [ ...], and most Americans are on their side. "Christians have a better concept of citizenship," [,,,] a Texas activist, said in an interview just before his address at the Reclaiming America for Christ conference on Friday. And that concept of citizenship is: "Everyone in this country must be Christian, because American was founded as a Christian nation.  And if you don't like it, move back to Iraq, Ms. or Mr. Secularist!"  And here's a hint as to his identity, also from the news story: The speech by [...], who was cited by Time magazine as one of the 25 most influential American evangelicals, capped a day of jubilation over advances of conservative evangelical activism. 4:26:12 PM