After seeing this Anderson Cooper clip, it is pretty obvious to me that GannonGuckert is not having a good time. Because I am not a cynical, cold person always out for blood, I will admit that I do get upset when I know someone's life is in turmoil in such a public circus. It is especially sad when the one being embarrassed has no prior fame. They should start a Monica Lewinsky/Richard Jewel Media Circus Therapy Group. Nonetheless, this story is very important in spite of supposed hurt feelings.

Guckert has a media strategy. He is trying to deflect through his fifteen minutes of infamy--dodging as many specifics as possible, relying on a sob story that treats his professional life as if it is his personal life. But is it embarrassing for Hugh Hefner, Larry Flynt or Bob Guccione to say they are pornographers? Is Heidi Fleiss embarrassed after two decades of being "Hollywood Madame?" No. Legal or not, these are their careers. They make money doing what they do.

On top of not making much sense, the deflection game is also not working. The reason it isn't working is because there is obviously a lot more to the story given how many times the White House has already been caught paying propagandists and how many times Guckert has already been caught distorting (note: there are more like this at Americablog.org). These are the signals of a cover up. And what better than a cover up to get bloggers and some real journalists working? This story is not going away any time soon.

So what does Jim Guckert do in order to put his life back in order and get the press and bloggers off his back?

The most logical thing for him to do--based purely on the logic of self preservation--is to come clean about his ties to the White House in as much detail as possible. What did Karl Rove et al ask you to do and when did they ask you to do it?

Now before I go on, let me talk to Jim/Jeff in private. You listening? Good. Newsflash! As much as we all know you conservatives believe your own propaganda, we liberal muckraking bloggers don't give one shit about you, GannonGuckert. You were a nobody until two weeks ago. You will return to being a nobody. But we do care a whole hell of a lot about documenting two nasty traits of this White House.

1)their phoniness and reliance on propaganda/PR/marketing schemes to fuck over the American people and
2)their pervasive corruption, dirty gamesmanship, thuggery and their hostility to the press and to open communication with the people they govern.

And guess what? Both issues meet in one place right now. Where? You guessed it, right there in you, JeffJimGannonGuckert. From the looks of that Anderson Cooper tape, all this exposure (hehe...see?) really looks like it is getting to you.

As I was saying, Guckert should reveal his ties to the administration in detail for a simple reason. Liberals gunning for the administration now serve his purposes better than the GOP. There are two sides battling for ground on this story. There is a side that wants this to be about Jeff Gannon and about how liberal bloggers conspired to take him down. And then there is a side that wants the story to be about the White House and its divorce from free society. This story will be one or the other at this point. Which one do you want it to be JeffJim?

Do you want this story to continue to be about your embarrassing career choices or do you want it to be about how you were a pawn in a game of political football that just got blown wide open? Do you want to be a prostitute or a noble whistleblower? Withholding information about your ties to the White House only exposes you more because right now, investigating you is the only way we are going to get to that burning set of questions about the White House. And frankly, you keep egging the blogosphere on with your incoherent defenses every time you sit down for an interview.

So do yourself a favor, JeffJim, and ally with the "liberal bloggers" who want to get this story off of you and laser focused on the thugs in the White House. Running for cover in a GOP that has a lot more to lose by cozying up to a gay prostitute rather than making him the object of their latest deflection--a domestic Lyndie England if you will--will only hurt what is left of your good name in the end.

Think about it another way: if you defect you will probably at least get a book deal. And with your background it shouldn't be too hard to write the most interesting book to downplay a major sex scandal since 2004's My Life. And that's when the big bucks start rolling in...





Note: all of this analysis is off-base if Guckert is in fact taking advantage of what Sidney Blumenthal called "an enormous potential for blackmail." In that case Guckert has an incentive to take shelter in the GOP smokescreen. But if that story breaks, he will be in the same position then as he is now. At that time, his choice will be between a story about Jeff Gannon or a story about the high ranking Republican that he was servicing.