Be the New "Jeff Gannon"!
Hey, if you submitted an application to be a volunteer reporter for Talon News, maybe they're currently evaluating YOU to fill the critical assignment of asking Scott McClellan the hard questions that none of the other reporters dare pose, such as "Don't you agree that President Bush is the bestest president ever?" And if you haven't yet applied for a job with Talon News, tell us your qualifications for the job (including your porn star name), and as a result of our newfound celebrity, maybe you'll be discovered anyway. I'm pretty sure this is how Shepherd Smith got his start. 11:22:29 PM  |
"Unsavory Behavior"From InstaGlenn:
What reporter indeed? What kind of a country have we become, where a reporter with no journalism training or background, working for a fake news service under a fake name, can get daily passes to White House press briefings where he asks fake questions to a not-that-real press secretary -- and he can have that all taken away from him just because he dared to ask a supremely fake question to the guy playing the President? I think God's reporter, Jack Kelley, must be turning over in his grave. 7:46:29 PM |
FreeRepublic Used to Smear Political Rival?The Wash Post reports that yesterday Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley accused Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s administration of spreading false rumors about him having an extramarital affair with a local TV reporter. O'Malley, a Democrat who is considering running against Ehrlich for governor in 2006, said he believes that the persistent rumors were part of a orchestrated effort to smear him, and he asked for an apology from the Republican governor. Ehrlich denied any involvement in spreading the rumor, and said that it's premature to ask for an apology. He then asked Joseph Steffen, a longtime aide working in state government, to resign.
Hmm. "A few folks putting in a lot of effort" to make sure the story about the affair gets lots of float? A lot going on "beneath the surface"? "No comment?" Sounds like O'Malley is right about about a conspiracy to spread a nasty rumor about him. O'Malley, who said he has never cheated on his wife, told the Post why he believes the rumor is still in circulation:
O'Malley says these rumors are very hurtful to his family, which is why he wants Ehrlich to apologize to his wife and children. Steffen, while admitting that he did help spread the rumors at FreeRepublic, states that the governor was not involved. He also acknowledged to the Post that he "has a reputation for hardball politics."
Hey, I thought that Karl Rove had copyrighted that nickname! But this isn't the first allegation that Steffen's fine Italian hand was behind some political skullduggery.
I imagine that Ehrlich would just say, "Who will rid me of this turbulent political opponent?" and the next thing you know, nasty rumors would be circulating about him or her. The Post indicated that:
So, I did a search at FreeRepublic, and found that Mr.NCPAC is a VERY prolific poster there. But I finally found the posts that helped get him fired: Here's the start of the thread:
After four other other posts which add nothing new to the story (one is a warning about not posting such "explosive allegations" without proof), our friend NCPAC weigns in:
Then somebody posted a photo of the newswoman, somebody asked the original poster why she was posting rumors of which she had no firsthand knowledge, and then somebody else said, "This rumor has been around for over three years ... and the identities of the anchorwoman (and the affiliate) AND the alleged father change every few months. At least seven anchorwomen in Baltimore have supposedly had the mayor's kids, or a police commissioner's kid, or a local professional athlete's kids ... too bad 'The X Files' was cancelled ... Spooky Mulder was probably the only one who'd pay any attention." And then NCPAC is back with:
The additional "fuel" (as I learned from other FR posters) being speculation that the mayor had the reporter mowed down, presumably to keep her from having his child, or prevent her telling about the affair, or something. Then NCPAC replies to the guy who posted the photo of the newswoman: And the woman who started the thread thanks NCPAC for his info:
Uh huh. Just a sincere desire to find the truth in sinful world. Then a couple of other posters asked for proof of the allegations, and so somebody posted a link to a photo of the Mayor signing a bill: a couple of dozen other people are in the photo, including ... the reporter! So, all the proof you need! Anyway, while NCPAC/Steffen didn't start the thread, it does seem inappropriate for a Maryland State employee to be spreading unfounded rumors about a rival politician, especially on a Friday at 10:30 A.M. or so, when he presumably should be earning his $72,453 annual salary instead of posting scurilous stories on FR. And it does make one wonder at the coincidence of Elkie starting a thread about rumors that she heard from somebody "in the know" in Baltimore, and Steffen replying to it just 8 minutes later. How fortuitous that Steffen just happened to be online, at FR, and also find that particular thread, all within such a short period of time. But the really damning information is from those "private emails" from Steffen which somebody provided to the Post. Who were the communications to? What was the context of the discussion? The Post isn't saying, but the Freepers have speculated that they are FreepMails (private emails you can send to a poster instead of going public with your comments). Of course, other Freepers have suggested that all of Steffen's computers were bugged or hacked, but the idea of a Freeper mole does have them concerned. Even Steffen warned his fellow Freepers, "just be careful - because these guys are searching!" But what does Steffen say about those emails? In the thread started last night about Steffen's dismissal ("O'Malley Blames GOP Plot For Rumors (MD GOVERNOR'S AID FIRED FOR FREE REPUBLIC POSTS"), Steffen indicated he doesn't know anything about any email ("I don't quite get the 'private emails' thing, either. Not sure what emails to which the reporter is referring"). Which, since the Post quoted one of the emails, is pretty amazing -- you'd think he'd remember to whom he wrote a statement about a "few people" putting in a lot of effort to keep the story about O'Malley "afloat." (Gee, it was awfully convenient for those few people that Steffen admitted full responsiblity for spreading the rumors [except for that "no comment" thing], and offered to resign -- otherwise we might wonder just who the heck he was talking about in that email that he knows nothing about.) Steffen also says he has no idea of how the Post knew his Freeper name ("No one can figure that out"), and adds that some of the former Maryland State employees whom he axed at the behest of the new Republican governor may have started the effort to unveil his FR activities.
Of course, just from the FR posts I skimmed through, I found enough references to working with Governor Ehrlich, and enough other biographical data that somebody who knew Steffen could probably guess it was him posting as NCPAC -- especially if they walked into his office while he was writing one of his numerous FR posts. The Baltimore Sun also has a piece about the story.
Um, while the governor may have had no idea that Steffen was writing about O'Malley at Free Republic, he should at least know what FR is. And the Lt. Governor might even have an aide lurking there! (That is, per what Steffen told his FR buddies a couple of months ago):
Maybe this aide is one of "the few" involved in the plot to keep alive the story about O'Malley fathering a child or two with a TV reporter. And there does seem to have been an effort to do so -- I found lots of references to it on several online forums devoted to Baltimore, um, affairs. And the story is always from "inside sources" or such, and there is never any evidence presented to support it. One version (you can see it here) claims that the mayor's wife (a judge) ordered the reporter to leave the state -- and so the woman (who is BLACK!) went to NY, where the mayor had her hit by a car in an effort to kill her. The latest iteration I found (December 2004 -- here) claims that she had the baby, and O'Malley arranged a settlement with her to keep her quiet, and then a member of the police force who knew all about it was promoted to police commissionaire so he wouldn't talk. But he was going to spill his guts to the media shortly! This one is typical, though, in that it's gratutious (the subject was football), anonymous, and sent from a remailer service:
So, I think the lesson we can learn from all this is that FreeRepublic is populated largely by scheming political operatives with slimey agendas -- and also by liberal moles who note the doings and report them to theWashington Post. If I were you, wingnuts, I'd be very careful about believing anything you read there, or posting there yourself. 3:46:15 AM |
"Jeff" ResignsFrom JeffGannon.com:
Do you think the attention being paid to Jeff's other sites and his indiscreet photos had something to do with his decision? (Or do you think the other sites and photos had something to do with the GOP's decision that it's no longer possible for Jeff to be a reporter for Talon News?) In any case, I hope that Scottie at least throws Jeff a nice farewell luncheon or something. P.S. I learned about "Jeff's" letter of resignation from FreeRepublic -- I was there looking for the posts by Joseph Steffen which helped to get him fired. (And then I saw that others, including Sadly, No! andTBogg, beat me to the news). Anyway, I just returned to FR to see that the story and thread about Jeff's announcement have been pulled -- apparently they don't want to hear about such things there (somebody posted a link to Kos's post about the other sites apparently registered by Jeff, but there was nothing offensive posted when I read the thread). However, Steffen's posts (which may be part of an orchestrated attempt to smear Democrat Martin O'Malley) were never deleted. Interesting ... 12:17:28 AM |
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