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I Outed Jeff Gannon Before Outing Him Was Cool

From Holden:

Attacking Talon News/GOP-USA assclown Jeff Gannon is suddenly a cottage industry (here, here, and of course here and here). But Gannon’s whorage is nothing new to the gaggle obsessed. Hell, I even had a nickname for him months ago (“Scottie’s Suppository”).

So let’s take an obsessive stroll down gaggle lane, being careful to step over the little piles Gannon deposited along the way.

Here’s an oldie-but-goodie from July 19, 2004. I was subbing for Atrios at the time when I happened to obsess on this gaggle exchange. Here Gannon gives Little Scottie McClellan the opportunity to revise the official White House position on the 16 State of the Union words, but Scottie did not bite. Watch for Gannon’s minor slap fight with Helen Thomas, too.

Q Last Friday, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report that shows that Ambassador Joe Wilson lied when he said his wife didn’t put him up for the mission to Niger. The British inquiry into their own prewar intelligence yesterday concluded that the President’s 16 words were “well-founded.” Doesn’t Joe Wilson owe the President and America an apology for his deception and his own intelligence failure?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, one, let me point out that I think those reports speak for themselves on that issue. And I think if you have questions about that, you can direct that to Mr. Wilson.

Q Well, we spent so many weeks here dissecting the 16 words that are now absolutely true. Don’t you think —

Q How do you know that? [that’s Helen Thomas’ question to Buttload Gannon]

Q Excuse me, Helen. Don’t you think that America deserves the opportunity to have this information brought forward, as well?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I noticed the media reports on this very issue over the weekend.

Q There were very few of them.

MR. McCLELLAN: And I certainly recognize that it was getting a lot of attention previously. But I think the reports speak for themselves on it. Go ahead.

Now turn the calendar forward to August 9th, when I obsessed over this gagglie goodie in which Jeffy tries to provide McClellan with a link between al Qaeda and Saddam. And, again, Scottie was not interested.

Q Thank you. The imam that was arrested in New York last week was discovered because his name appeared in a Rolodex in a terrorist training camp in Iraq before the war. The book was found after, by U.S. troops, but he was in Iraq before the war. Is this another piece of evidence showing the direct terror ties between Iraq and al Qaeda?

MR. McCLELLAN: One, that’s an ongoing investigation. I think the questions related to those particular individuals are best directed to the Department of Justice. And so that’s — I would refer any questions about that investigation to the Department of Justice.

Finally we reach November 9, when I commented on the first full-blown press briefing since August 2.

This one is THE SHIT, as Gannon had the audacity to accuse his fellow press corps members of being…

wait for it…

Partisan!!!

Q Thank you. With all the reaching out that’s going on around here, the President said Thursday in his press conference that he was reaching out to the press corps. What did he mean by that, and why would he feel the need to reach out to a group of supposedly non-partisan people?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that was a tongue-in-cheek comment that the President made at the beginning of the press conference, and he was showing his outreach efforts by holding that press conference the day after the election was decided.

Q Has he decided to let bygones be bygones —

MR. McCLELLAN: Look, you heard from the President — you heard from the President in the news conference. The media certainly has an important role to play in keeping the American people informed about the decisions that we make here in Washington, D.C.

Q And despite the role that they tried to play, the President won anyhow. Is there some kind of rapprochement that’s going on here?

MR. McCLELLAN: There will be plenty of analysis of the media and critiquing of the media, I’m sure, going forward. And I’ll leave that to others to get into. The President has great respect for the job that the press does.