White House man-whore goes begging

Oh this is too rich to pass up!

Jeff Gannon (nee James Gurkett), the "journalist" covering the White House for the right-wing Talon News web site who was unmasked earlier this year as a $200-an-hour prostitute for a male escort service, needs some quick cash.

On Gannon's web site - which lauds him as "a voice of the new media" and claims he was "so feared by the Left that they had to take me down" - there's a link for contributions above the promise that "your support will help me continue the fight." Click on the link and you get the following:

As you might expect, recent developments have left me without an income, but I am determined not to allow that to keep me from speaking out.

Your kind messages of prayer and encouragement have sustained me since this all began, and I am hoping you will consider a donation to keep my voice from going silent.

This is an excellent opportunity to fight back against the well-funded attack machine of the Left.

Poor Jeffie! At this rate we might expect to see him in a bright blue Wal-Mart vest asking customers if they'd like a shopping cart by this time next week! Fortunately, he gives visitors to his blog the opportunity to make contributions via his PayPal account.

No doubt after his unmasking Jeffie couldn't work for Talon News anymore even though it had been a perfect fit for him: a faux journalist working for a faux news agency. And as for his other profession ... well, he reminds me of the joke about the gay hustler with leprosy who did well until his business fell off.

But I have a hunch Jeffie's plea for contributions is about more than not having an income. Gannon is hoping to rake in whatever cash he can wrest from the gullible before his name surfaces in indictments over the "outing" of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Consider the following from Salon.com:

The New York Times reported Friday that in addition to possible charges directly involving the revelation of Valerie Wilson's identity and related perjury or conspiracy charges, Fitzgerald is exploring other possible crimes. Specifically, according to the Times, the special counsel is seeking to determine whether anyone transmitted classified material or information to persons who were not cleared to receive it -- which could be a felony under the 1917 Espionage Act.

One such classified item might be the still-classified State Department document, written by an official of State's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, concerning the CIA's decision to send former ambassador Joseph Wilson to look into allegations that Iraq had tried to purchase uranium from Niger. Someone leaked that INR document -- which inaccurately indicated that Wilson's assignment was the result of lobbying within CIA by his wife, Valerie -- to right-wing media outlets, notably including Gannon's former employers at Talon News. On Oct. 28, 2003, Gannon posted an interview with Joseph Wilson on the Talon Web site, in which he posed the following question: "An internal government memo prepared by U.S. intelligence personnel details a meeting in early 2002 where your wife, a member of the agency for clandestine service working on Iraqi weapons issues, suggested that you could be sent to investigate the reports. Do you dispute that?"

Gannon later hinted, rather coyly, that he had learned about the INR memo from an article in the Wall Street Journal. He also told reporters last February that FBI agents working for Fitzgerald had questioned him about where he got the memo. At the very least, that can be interpreted as confirming today's Times report about the direction of the case.

Now add to that the "timeline" for the outing of Plame:

Date Gannon-Wilson interview was published: October 28, 2003 ("Talon News" article reprinted at Mens News Daily)

Date of Wall Street Journal article (first mainstream media mention of memo): October 17, 2003

Date of Gannon-Wilson interview stated by Jeff Gannon himself, in his 6/30/05 column: September 2003

Hmmmm. So Gannon interviewed Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a month before the story broke in the Wall Street Journal? Methinks Jeffie has some explaining to do!

Loss of income, my ass! Jeffie wants to start his own defense fund, knowing that when the excrement begins to hit the rotating cooling device he won't be able to count on his buddies in the White House to cover his $200-an-hour ass.

It will be interesting to see if Jeff falls on his sword as the indictments begin to fall ... or whether he'll start singing like a canary to save himself from jail and a whole bunch of "clients" who won't be forking over $200 for his services.

Note to the Bush Administration, courtesy of Shakespeare: He's mad who trusts a horse's health, the tenderness of wolves, a boy's love or a whore's oath.