Gilbert Cranberg: Enhanced Interrogation Techniques for Questioning Bush
Posted at 2:01 pm, October 16th, 2007
After the Bush administration denied that it manhandles prisoners, it was revealed that it does. Since turnabout is fair play, it would be appropriate for the White House press corps to try its hand at enhanced interrogation techniques to pry information out of its high-value source, George W. Bush.
No rough stuff, of course, no head slaps, loud music, stress positions or simulated drowning, just good old-fashioned tough, skeptical questioning, unlike what goes on at the typical presidential press conference. At the last one, Sept. 20, there were a handful of follow-up questions, but none after Bush’s slippery response to a question about the complaint in Alan Greenspan’s just-released book about Bush being fiscally irresponsible.
In his book, Greenspan criticized the failure by Bush to impose spending discipline following massive tax cuts. At the press conference, Bush vented his hostility to raising taxes, saying 11 separate times in the space of 35 minutes how much he opposed any tax increase. No one to whom Bush gave the floor thought to ask whether it might be reasonable, in the face of huge deficits, to suggest that Americans pay a bit more for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
But then, no one thought to ask the instigator and chief apologist for the Iraq war about the second biggest shocker in Greenspan’s book: “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.”
By not asking the question, the press corps was at least spared the embarrassment of having it repeated, as when this occurred:
Question: “Mr. President, economists say that the nation is at increasing risk of recession. What do you say?”
No sooner had Bush responded, with a heavy dose of don’t-dare-raise taxes, when this echo was heard: “Do you think there’s a risk of a recession?” Either the cue cards got mixed up or somebody figured that, if a question is worth asking once, it’s worth a retread.
Not all of the low points at a press conference, such as the time Bush was asked the inane one about how “his faith sustains him,” can be blamed entirely on the press; after all, the president gets to choose his interlocutors. If a president wants softball questions, he knows where to find them. Think James Dale Guckert, a.k.a Jeff Gannon, the phony reporter who was called on by Bush at a press conference in 2005 and lambasted Senate Democrats in the guise of a question.
Which raises the issue of why the press puts up with having the president pick and choose who questions him. The White House has a vast public information apparatus. The president can command front-page space, and prime-time on-air exposure, virtually any time he wants it. He should not also be able to manipulate the news generated by a press conference by selecting friendly questioners or avoiding hostile ones.
A half hour of give-and-take every month or so is little enough time for the press to question the president. Even if it wants to subject him to “enhanced interrogation techniques,” it won’t amount to much so long as the president picks his interrogators. The press corps needs to ask probing questions, and to insist that journalists, not the president, decide who gets to ask them.
October 17th, 2007 at 7:25 pm |
Gil:
As I mentioned in my email to you, your reference to me as “phony reporter” is false and defamatory. I am requesting that you remove it immediately.
As I also indicated in my communication, if you chose not to comply, I would be happy to subject the matter to the legal process.
Cheers,
Jeff Gannon
October 18th, 2007 at 3:35 pm |
You’ve perhaps explained why the press corps is averse to forcing answers out of CheneybushCo. Maybe they fear the fate of Lynndie England (3 years in the slammer) or Corporal Garner (10 years). While England is now out, you’d think that Garner would be released, given all the proof available now about where exactly the torture orders for Abu G came from.
(Seems as if you’ve smoked the Guckert-insect out of whatever pile of trash he’s been living in — nice work, Gil!)
October 18th, 2007 at 6:28 pm |
Count me in as one who thinks Jeff Bulldog Gannon is a phony reporter. Just go with the term “phony” and leave it at that!
signed,
An American citizen
October 18th, 2007 at 6:30 pm |
Remember the Constitution. I live in the USA and I can say anything I want to say. 1st Amendment and all. And Mr. Gannon was in the White House Press corps to ask softball questions, right? Let’s do some research into that.
October 18th, 2007 at 6:44 pm |
From AmericablMonday, February 14, 2005
“photos show Jeff wearing the same silver watch with a black band that Jeff Gannon is known to sport. Some show that Jeff and Jeff Gannon have the same short and pointed eyebrows, same ears, same face structure, chest structure and nipples. Same wrinkles/creases in their stomachs when they bend forward. The resemblance is astonishing.
Jeff Gannon was contacted and asked to comment on the specific allegations that he is the owner of USMCPT.com and several other profiles that offer his services as an escort. He did not respond to this request. . . .
So in the end, why does this matter? Why does it matter that Jeff Gannon may have been a gay hooker named James Guckert with a $20,000 defaulted court judgment against him? So he somehow got a job lobbing softball questions to the White House. Big deal. If he was already a prostitute, why not be one in the White House briefing room as well?
This is the Conservative Republican Bush White House we’re talking about. It’s looking increasingly like they made a decision to allow a hooker to ask the President of the United States questions. They made a decision to give a man with an alias and no journalistic experience access to the West Wing of the White House on a “daily basis.” They reportedly made a decision to give him – one of only six – access to documents, or information in those documents, that exposed a clandestine CIA operative. Say what you will about Monika Lewinsky – a tasteless episode, “inappropriate,” whatever. Monika wasn’t a gay prostitute running around the West Wing. What kind of leadership would let prostitutes roam the halls of the West Wing? What kind of war-time leadership can’t find the same information that took bloggers only days to find?
None of this is by accident.
Someone had to make a decision to let all this happen. Who? Someone committed a crime in exposing Valerie Plame and now it appears a gay hooker may be right in the middle of it”
October 19th, 2007 at 12:54 pm |
Oh please let Gannon file a lawsuit. I so look forward to him answering questions, under oath, about his (overnight?) visits to the White House and what kind of business “Bulldog” was running.
October 20th, 2007 at 10:53 am |
Jeff Gannon Book Selected for National Press Club Book Fair
‘The Great Media War: A Battlefield Report’ Featured At 30th Annual Event
Standard Newswire/ — A book by former White House correspondent Jeff Gannon, “The Great Media War: A Battlefield Report” will be among those featured at the 2007 National Press Club Book Fair. The National Press Club is the world’s most prestigious association of professional journalists. The November 1st event is the 30th annual book fair and benefits the Eric Friedheim Journalism Library at the National Press Club.
Jeff Gannon, the first exclusively online reporter to cover the White House on a regular basis is considered a New Media pioneer. He notes that his daily readership of more than half a million topped the circulation of most newspapers, despite reporting for a small news outlet. Gannon points out that since his tenure at the White House nearly every news entity has launched an online presence.
Gannon chronicles his two years as a member of the White House Press Corps and reveals his role in the Valerie Plame affair and the scandal that toppled Dan Rather from the CBS News anchor chair as well as the historic defeat of Sen. Tom Daschle in 2004. He also offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the White House Press Corps, led by the legendary Helen Thomas.
Gannon weighs in on the left versus right, liberal versus conservative debate that he dubs “The Great Media War”. He contends that the struggles between those opposing ideologies play themselves out on radio, television and in the newspapers every day and determine how news is reported. Gannon also sees the Internet as the next front in The Great Media War and discusses its effect on the future of journalism and news reporting.
Gannon writes about his experiences after asking one of the most famous questions ever posed by a reporter to a president. He explains “The Question” and speculates as to the reasons the reaction to it caused a nationwide sensation.