We liberals never get to have any fun! I don’t want to be high minded any more. Ethics suck. Nobody ever won any election using ethics. Ethics is for sissies.

Oops, I think I went to far. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I like ethics, I really do. It’s all that keeps my Republican boss from firing my ass.

April Fool!

During pillow talk, Gigi mentions to a GOP-connected client his interest in political matters and “reporting.” The client, not necessarily a WH or even national GOP figure, knows Bobby Eberle and what was then “GOPUSA News”, so as a favor he hooks Gigi up with Eberle (so to speak). The decision is made by Eberle and Gigi that he could cover WH press briefings, so someone at this point intercedes with the WH press office to help arrange for daily passes for Gigi. But that someone could have been a political contact of Eberle as much as a client of Gigi. Maybe it started innocently enough as just allowing Gigi a couple of visits on behalf “GOPUSA News”.

No extortion necessary at the beginning, just a favor that I’m sure someone now regrets. Where I start to smell a rat is with the apparent decision by Ari that Gigi wasn’t a legitimate journalist – that’s when “GOPUSA News” changes its name to “Talon News” – followed a week or so later with the resumption of allowing him to ask questions. It’s that timeframe when (a) somebody should have realized, but didn’t, the continuing issuance of daily passes to Gigi was wrong, or (b) someone did realize it, but pressure was brought to bear. Ari’s story on this issue sounds hollow, and the suggestion that Scott wasn’t aware of any of this either at the time equally doesn’t ring true. So I think that’s where the narrative is susceptible to theories that someone higher-up is involved.

“President Bush Signs Act of Contrition”