My 2 cents - another in a million Gannon threads.

-Rove is clever, amoral, and ruthless but not some kind of supergenius. He had a simple plan (see below).

-Rove or someone on his team had the plan to plant a shill in the WH press corps as a "safety valve" in difficult press gaggles, and to toss loaded questions to Ari/Scott/shrub to promote various agendas and help the WH.

-Gannon/Guckert performed his job properly while he was there judging from the questions he asked. He was not particularly subtle about it but shrubco and Rove are not real big on subtlety.

-No way do I believe that the WH (shrub, Ari, McLellan, Rove) did not know all about JG's escort sites/activities. I think they are capable of carelessness but that would really be a stretch. At least one key player such as Rove HAD to know.

-Assuming they knew about JG, choosing him as a vehicle for this plan raises the biggest questions.

-I don't buy the theory that the WH/Roveco found the sensational gay escort thing to be a DESIREABLE trait for their press pawn to cause a "sensational distraction" in the event of his unmasking. That's too Rube Goldberg IMHO. I understand the reasoning but again, I think this kind of angle has way too much potential to keep the fires burning on the story which is something the WH would NOT want IMHO. Anything that complicated has too much downside risk and unpredictability in how it plays out. I do give Rove some credit for some semicomplicated schemes such as Rathergate--planting false info to be discovered and discredited to dilute the impact of a TRUE scandal. This should be called "pulling a Rove" in the future.

-Perhaps it's simply carelessness: JG was the Texas Repub's man that they provided for Rove's propaganda job. Perhaps Rove/McLellan knew about his history but the whole shrubco WH is so awash in power and hubris and getting everything they want and steamrolling all their opposition that they feel that nothing can touch them--he will not be questioned or discovered, and even if discovered, they can dance their way around it and suffer no consequences. Sadly I'm not yet convinced that they would be wrong to think this.

-Possibly JG has the goods on someone high up in the shrubco team. He's a sleazy hustler with no skills, but nonetheless wants to cop some easy fame, glory and wealth as a "Washington correspondent", and he could out some major shrubco player who's used his services or seen him as a boyfriend. For this to be the reason that JG was shrubco's man, the pressured shrubco player would have to be someone big such as Rove or McLellan.

That's my basic thoughts and summary.

is true then what if there is an inkling of a chance that they knew this thing would blow up and it's a cover for something worse?

how thoroughly depressing.

Scotty twinkled and smiled entirely too often at Gannon.And Gannon does have something to offer to some people.I agree that they think they can go on and on, but the day is coming. All one has to do is read history.

From Free Republic website:

Bush press pal quits over gay prostitute law

Heck, people on this site doesn't even support real republicans like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich, why should this clown who has a past that reads like 'demented perv'? Makes about as much sense as listening to Dick Morris telling us we have to drop the religious right. This guy was a RAT plant, I waited to say that but now I think it's safe to say.

30 posted on 02/21/2005 7:56:11 PM EST by John Lenin (Whoever is stealing my packets, stop it!)

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Gannon was planted by the Dems not knowing they would toss him under the bus.

66 posted on 02/21/2005 9:34:27 PM EST by skimask

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1348206/posts

:crazy: :shrug: :crazy:

. . . "link" instead of "law". Don't know what I was thinking! Sorry 'bout that--but--it was too late to edit.

They are spending in the billions on an illegal and immoral "war" that was never declared, based upon lies and no one who is anyone cares. They can nominate thugs, liars and incompetent fools to sit on the cabinet for purposes of crafting our nation's policies, foreign and domestic, and no one can stop them.

They knew about jimmy-jeff's sextracurricular activities and maybe some of them are in his little black book and maybe he has photos. They didn't care then, they don't care now. They have gotten away with the murder of 100,000 Iraqis, thousands of US citizens (they are lying to us as to how many soldiers have died), they have robbed the nation's coffers, putting us in debt while lining their own pockets.

Tell me when the Congress ever declared war under the War Powers Act. It never did. We are fighting an illegal and immoral war and no one can stop the folks that are in charge.

There was no hidden agenda about jimmy-jeff. They wanted a boy they could control, a syncophant they could feed the party line to so that he would reguritate their lies. They wanted soft questions for the clown-n-chief and they wanted to control the messages that are feed to the public.

They knew about him and they didn't care because it doesn't matter. They believe that they will get away with it just as they have gotten away with the lies about WMDs, OBL, SH, torture, the Saudi Royals, et cetera. They believe that they can't be stopped because they own the company store, the police, the prosecutor, the judge and 50% of the jury, they make the rules, they can bend and break them as they please.

eventually something drops. It HAS to...eventually. And once the first one falls, the juggler gets befuddled...trying to catch the one that dropped...soon fumbles all the rest.

The first one (Gannon) already dropped.