Why is MSM jumping on "pot" admission tape, and avoiding "Gannon"?

[chookie]

The "pot" tape is suspicious to me. I have a feeling it is a fraud. It well may turn out to be a similar operation to the TANG memo -- a forgery deliberately put into the hands of people critical of Bush, by Republican dirty work folk. It's meant to get a great deal of attention, and then to be brought down as a forgery, and to "show" how *anything* critical of Bush, and those around him, is false.

This is not to discourage anyone from investigating it; like the TANG memo, it is getting attention from many of us because it is entirely plausible in its content, but I am waiting to see how this will unfold over the next week or so.

[Goldmund]

1. They're hoping this will turn into a scandal they can easily diffuse

We can't let them.

[uppityperson]

2. Distraction. n/t

[chookie]

17. Possibly. But I think it's bait

Distraction from LOTS of stuff, to be sure. The list of biggies grows daily. But it may be more, and I am certainly curious to see how it developes.

IMHO, I think the MSM, and most telling the Flying Monkey Bush loyalists, are avoing "Gannon" because they KNOW it can bring down Bush, and they don't want that to happen.

Yes yes, I KNOW it's not something really meaningful like Negroponte, the 52 pre 9/11 warnings, and the lies leading to war, etc -- but clearly, despite all of Bush's deception and blundering and rotten deeds coming to the light of day, they all seem to be too "big" for people to comprehend; they're just too awful for people to contemplate. In fact, Mr Rove intends to keep people off balance, because the minute they start thinking about things, its the beginning of the end.

But I think they want people critical of Bush -- people, bloggers, pols, etc -- to jump on this, and then some heroic freeper will show, without question, that it is a forgery, meant by some nasty liberal to smear the unstained good character of President Bush.

If they can bring down another "scoop" like the TANG memo, they can get all the Flying Monkeys on the airwaves to sneer and scoff at ANYTHING that surfaces about Bush now, or in the future.

Again, I hope I am wrong, and I know that the content of it is factual, but it's too reminiscent of the TANG memo to pass the smell test.

[Clark2008]

31. Then we stay on Gannon (no pun intended).

We keep investigating GanGuckert and we keep the thumbscrews to the media to keep investigating.
Who the flying f*ck cares if Bush smoked pot? I don't. We know he was a drunk - smoking a little dope does nothing to change the fact that we have all known he was wreckless in his "youth."
Just ignore the pot thing and see what the whores in the corporate media come up with next to try and get us off Gannongate. Maybe if we stick with Gannongate long enough, the whores will have to run a really damaging article about something people should care about: Negroponte, the 52 pre-9/11 warnings and the lies leading to the war.

[papau]

35. but limited - Bush's comment of "I don't deny I took cocaine" is not

mentioned.

[applegrove]

3. Because this is actually on tape. The press likes that. In the past

it may have been okay to talk about something if you had some proof, but with the GOP dogs at the ready to attack any reporter ... one quickly learns that you need to meet a standard that you could take to court in order to write any article.

That's probably why they are so quiet. They need to be ready to take any story to court. It no longer matters whether the story is true or not ... is it proveable in court. That is the gun the MSM is under.

[Mugsy]

28. Tapes online?

I heard some snippets of the audio during ABC's "This Week" this morning. Any chance they are online somwhere?

[applegrove]

34. No idea. n/t

[Al-CIAda]

4. Fuck that, Don't even post about it

Clearly they want to disttract. Focus on Gannon if that be your priority.
If they want to press the 'pot' story, they can have it.

[Dookus]

5. because

the tapes are new, and there are no new revelations in the Gannon case.

I know people would LOVE for the media to keep pounding on Gannon, but absent new revelations, there's really little more to discuss. As yet, there's no link from Gannon to Bush - a lot of people here are speculating, but there's just no link yet.

[Al-CIAda]

11. They HAVEN'T discussed his FAKE $50 propaganda credentials

somehow put him in the WH press room. Do they really consider him a 'collegue'???

If thats the case, wow!

[Goldmund]

13. Maybe they can actually MAKE those new revelations, eh?

[Dookus]

15. I hope they do

and i suspect they have people working on it now. But as of today, there's really nothing new to report about Gannon, but the Bush tapes ARE new. That's why they're being covered.

I just don't agree with the people here who think that anytime the media are covering something OTHER than how sucky Bush is, it's an organized, coordinated distraction.

[SupormomFreeAtLast]

6. Because that's what they've been paid to do.

The marijuana story is old news. dubya smoked pot before he was "born again" and therefore is not accountable for his behavior.

[The Whiskey Priest]

7. Well, Duh! Because they are mediawhores......

nuff said....next question, where are moral majority! They should be leading the mob..... Of course, Gannon maybe part of GOPAC..pun intended.

[tridim]

8. The "pot" part is there to make us think it's authentic

It's the "Don't want to beat up gays" that they really want the public to absorb. It's their Gannongate defense. I'm guessing it's authentic, but recently recorded.

[Pachamama]

9. I want to know about both Gannon and *'s Pot admission - why choose?

And if the MSM is all about ratings - then guess what? Those are two stories that will get them people to watch....but I think that we should all stick with what we know is to be true for now, and that is Gannon's photos are real and we really should be demanding to know how and why this whore was allowed a press pass daily to get into the White House. Regarding the "Pot" tapes - so what - we already know that he has done drugs and that he's a lying sack of shit, so what does it prove?

The Gannon story goes much further....so I suppose if I had to choose - that's the one I care about....the Pot story is just a little chuckle - Gannongate is much more serious...

[bearfan454]

10. There's no Fallujah escape vehicle this time.

[spanone]

12. Because it's the least worse thing bush* has done.

[Mojambo]

14. Because they've already built up the excuse for the "pot" story

The whole born-again garbage covers Georgie on that score.

The "Pot" story is quite harmless in the long run.

[SmokingJacket]

16. My theory, FWIW

is that the tapes aren't fakes, but just a bunch of recordings that Bush knew perfectly well were being made. They sound stagey to me. And it's safe to admit he "tried" pot years ago -- we all know he was a coke head and an alcoholic, so who cares? No one.

It's a fake scandal meant to obscure the real scandal. It's so annoying that the MSM is drooling all over it -- ugh. What a bunch of monkey puppets.

[Blue_In_AK]

27. People of a certain age who haven't at least tried pot...

...are definitely in the minority, I would guess. It's not a big deal.

[robertarctor]

18. Because being a pothead is more acceptable than being a bottom?

Especially when the top is a gay hooker who's just been busted as a fraud in the White House press corps?

[Dookus]

22. What evidence is there

that Gannon was fucking Bush?

[Botany]

30. Some people say .........

Now with that Fox news disclaimer ......

His repeated facial bruises ...... Do the geometry .... What does "Bulldog" do?
As Isaac Newton used to say for every action their is an equal an opposite
reaction.
Anybody wants to post those pics?

He place macho dress ups .... Fly boy with cod piece?
Can somebody post the Cowboy Queen picture?

He was a cheerleader (not all male cheerleaders are gay but a good % are)

Bizarre Quotes ......

Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me"

-- President Bush, May 27, 2004

January 2004. Mr. Bush wandered over during Mr. Reid's chat with the Prime Minister. Mr. Reid introduced himself and shook hands with Mr. Bush.

The President chuckled. "Well, you got a pretty face," he told the surprised Mr. Reid. He wasn't done. "You got a pretty face," he said again. "You're a good-looking guy. Better looking than my Scott anyway.

-- President Bush in a coquettish bout of eye-batting homosexual diplomatic flirting January 16, 2004 The Globe and Mail

And he also minces when he walks. speculation on my part.

Bottom Line "Man Gannon" was doing somebody in the White House

Also when the Repub. congressperson from Va. dropped out last fall in his
personal ad tape he "said" he was not into "hardcore" stuff ...... he had to
have knowledge of some people into the hardcore stuff i.e. bulldog stuff.

Called his wife the Lump in the bed by him.

[sojourner]

19. the MSM won't be looking at pot angle for long --

(haven't looked but from your comment I assume they are looking at it right now). It's all about distraction.

There is NO way the MSM intends to cover anything that touches B*CO in a negative way. NO WAY.

Move along sheeple...nothing to see here....

[Straight Shooter]

20. You know what they say: Pot smoking leads to cocaine!

And heroin! And chocolate abuse and other hard drugs!

:evilgrin:

[Botany]

21. Now if Rove Really wanted to get us talking how about this?

COCAINE:
According to a new book, three independent sources close to the Bush family report that Governor Bush was arrested in 1972 for cocaine possession, and taken to Harris County Jail, but avoided jail or formal charges through an informal diversion plan involving community service with Project P.U.L.L., an inner city Houston program for troubled youths at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Houston's dirt-poor Third Ward. (In another new book, reporter Bill Minutaglio, writes that the year of community service was arranged by the Governor's father, ex-president Bush, after he caught Bush Jr. driving drunk.)

That year certainly is out of character with the rest of Bush Jr.'s life. Before and after 1972, he was a rich, hard drinking playboy. Suddenly, and only that one time in his life, he worked for a liberal charity in an inner city ghetto. As soon as the year was over, he resumed his previous pattern and has done no charity work since.

The author of this book, J. H. Thompson, has some interesting scandals of his own. Of course, his own flaws don't disprove what Bush did or didn't do, but the way Thompson has responded certainly undercuts his credibility. First, he admitted to a reporter from Slate Magazine that he made up at least one detail, that one of his informants spat tobacco into a styrofoam cup during their (phone!) interview.

Then, reporters -- or perhaps Bush campaign operatives -- found that the author apparently is an ex-convict, on parole for hiring a hit man to kill a former boss. That doesn't mean he can't research, of course, but Thompson's credibility suffered greatly as he claimed it was someone else, despite incredible similarities between his resume -- including unexplained job gaps during the prison years -- and confirmation from his parole officer that indeed, the author named J. H. Thompson is the one who did time.

[Dr Fate]

23. Bush lied to ADULT VOTERS- uses kids as a shield.

n/t

[theorist]

24. It's because they're a bunch of lazy assholes.

I have a feeling the newsies in print and on TV are feeling a little defensive. I mean, they let a bunch of volunteer e-detectives scoop them. This is a scandal that's been handed to them by a guy who's promoting his book.

It's nothing nefarious. They're just lazy.

[Hoping4Change]

25. I think it is very suspicious especially that it is released now.

The pot admission puts shrub in a goodlight in that he is concerned about kids learning the wrong lesson and perhaps more importantly showcases that he is now a changed man. This story stinks of fraud.

[gollygee]

37. I agree - it makes him seem more likeable even to me

and I'm a die hard democrat. I heard it and I thought, "No one should be recording his phone conversations." And "Of course he tried pot." and "I'm happily suprised he said he'd never fire someone for being gay."

I think it was released ON PURPOSE to divert attention from Gannon.

[Up2Late]

26. MSM jumping on "pot" tape, to avoid "GannonGate"

This is the latest WMD (Weapon of Mass Distraction)

GannonGate is getting close to being a "must cover" story, can't have that.:grr:

[johnnie]

29. It's interesting that this came out also on these tapes

"On one tape, Bush explains that he told one prominent evangelical that he would not "kick gays, because I'm a sinner. How can I differentiate sin?"

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&e=4&u=/ap/20050220/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_secret_tapes

[wishlist]

32. CNN led off at 6pm with Bush tapes but announced they will cover Gannon

According to CNN, the Bush tapes have been authenticated. They are giving this more coverage because it is directly from the mouth of the President. Seems like they waited until tapes' validity was checked out and they aren't that incriminating.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[pdxmom]

36. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the media

is well aware of what the Bushies do to those who are "disloyal". And it doesn't get more disloyal than secretly taping their conversations and then using those to hawk a book.

Of course, there's also the theory that Bush asked that these tapes be released. Smoking a little dope isn't near as bad as what the Gannon story may hold for this administration.

[Dude_CalmDown]

38. Because it's not really that bad. It means that this Gannon thing is big.

So let's diffuse the Gannon attention by pretending to be exposed on something that really doesn't matter.