The last several days have been frustrating. Observing the media's treatment of the Guckert/Gannon has been similar to watching the Three Stooges fix a plumbing leak. They simply have it all wrong.
And the blogosphere is partly to blame.
The issue is all about the White House allegedly planting a ringer in the press corp in order to, 1) control the flow of questions in the briefings and gaggles, and 2) control the spread of news into the media. In other words, this all comes around to PROPAGANDA and the subversion of the media by our government.
The problem here is this... So much is being made of the details, the press doesn't know what the big picture is. Even Aaron Brown, who could be the most savvy newsman on television now, totally missed the point and focussed on bias in the press corp.
This isn't about bias, or male escort services, or the use of pseudonyms. It's not even about Gannon, any more than Watergate was about Liddy or Hunt. They're all clues, yes. And the clues have to be gathered, yet any presentation of the clues MUST be prefaced with the thesis -- and that thesis must be SCREAMED in order for the television media to understand.
We're losing on the underscoring of the thesis.
I call upon every blogger covering this story, either online or as guests on television news shows, to emphasize this: all these little details are leading to the singular conclusion that the White House is continuing its propaganda effort and its subversion of the media. The press's function in this nation is to watchdog the government for us -- not to rubber stamp it. But when the government co-opts the press, that function is destroyed.
Don't allow the discourse to be muddied and make sure that when communicating with television media, the thesis is rammed down their throats or else they'll become distracted by the shiny objects behind you.