The Stepford Reporters

Now that the effects of the poppies have worn off, everyone has an opinion on the Gannon/Guckert story. Here is Marueen Dowd's, of the New York Times, take:

I'm still mystified by this story. I was rejected for a White House press pass at the start of the Bush administration, but someone with an alias, a tax evasion problem and Internet pictures where he posed like the "Barberini Faun" is credentialed to cover a White House that won a second term by mining homophobia and preaching family values?

At first when I tried to complain about not getting my pass renewed, even though I'd been covering presidents and first ladies since 1986, no one called me back. Finally, when McClellan replaced Ari Fleischer, he said he'd renew the pass - after a new Secret Service background check that would last several months.

In an era when security concerns are paramount, what kind of Secret Service background check did James Guckert get so he could saunter into the West Wing every day under an assumed name while he was doing full-frontal advertising for stud services for $1,200 a weekend? He used a driver's license that said James Guckert to get into the White House and, once inside, switched to his alter ego, asking questions as Jeff Gannon.

McClellan shrugged this off to Editor & Publisher, oddly noting, "People use aliases all the time in life, from journalists to actors."

I know the FBI computers don't work, but this is ridiculous. After getting gobsmacked by the louche sagas of Guckert and Bernard Kerik, the White House vetters should consider adding someone with some blogging experience.

Does the Bush team love everything military so much that even a military-stud Web site is a recommendation?

Or maybe Gannon/Guckert's willingness to shill free for the White House, even on gay issues, was endearing. One of his stories mocked John Kerry's "pro-homosexual platform" with the headline "Kerry could become first gay president."

With the Bushies, if you're their friend, anything goes. If you're their critic, nothing goes. They're waging a jihad against journalists - buying them off so they'll promote administration programs, trying to put them in jail for doing their jobs, and replacing them with ringers.

Jokes and butt naked photos aside, this really is a tragic shame. I never used my Journalism degree as a reporter but always respected the quality of training that I received and still have a lot of respect for old schoolers who understand the responsibility and ethics required to be a true member of the press. Those days seem to be over with this administration. Journalists with credentials and integrity are being mined out and replaced by Stepford robots.