Don’t Fink and Drive

There are some obvious things to say about this story, which is why we won’t bother saying them:

A once-classified FBI memo reveals that the bureau treated a senior ABC News journalist as a potential confidential informant in the 1990s, pumping the reporter to ascertain the source of a sensational but uncorroborated tip that the network had obtained during its early coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing.

The journalist, whose name is not disclosed in the document labeled “secret,” not only cooperated but provided the identity of a confidential source, according to the FBI memo — a possible breach of journalistic ethics if he or she did not have the source’s permission.

Yes, well, there’s getting in bed with your source, and then there’s fucking his brains out, but that’s Journalism 101. If the profession needs anybody to tell them Don’t Do That, the profession has deeper problems than simple unsolicited advice will remedy.

What instead draws our attention is this detail:

The journalist “advised that a source within the Saudi Arabian Intelligence Service advised that the Oklahoma City bombing was sponsored by the Iraqi Special Services who contracted seven (7) former Afghani Freedom Fighters out of Pakistan.”

Our stern J-school prof would dock you a grade for a fact-error like that.

Or, if you’d like to give the reporter the benefit of the doubt — hey, he was just forwarding a tip! — then we would hope he knew enough about Mideast politics to suspect he might just be getting played.

Unless, of course, it wasn’t even his tip:

Nearly a year later, the network staffer was contacted by the FBI and agreed to divulge ABC’s source for the uncorroborated claim: a former CIA officer named Vincent Cannistraro, who was on contract to the network as a consultant, who, in turn, had gotten the information from a Saudi general…

In an interview this week, Cannistraro said he was surprised that an ABC journalist had contacted the FBI and relayed the information, in part because it had not been corroborated and was just a rumor passing through Saudi circles.

By the way, a rumor is something like “We think Saddam’s behind it.” That, plus Afghani Freedom Fighters, plus seven Afghani Freedom Fighters, plus Pakistan, strikes us as a tad detailed for idle chitchat. But hey, it’s not our beat.

The former ABC reporter, deduced by Gawker to be CBS DC bureau chief Christopher Isham, says he never considered himself an FBI informant, and that finking on Cannistraro wasn’t cheating because Cannistraro was a colleague, not a source.

It’s certainly an understandable distinction. And if we ever find ourself working with Christopher Isham, we’ll be sure to give him a very wide berth.

Memo suggests FBI had mole inside ABC News in 1990s [Center for Public Integrity, via Yahoo]
53 Comments

I have no idea what this means. Someone has to explain.

And did we know that Overstock seems to have gone birther? Sales tax is now unconstitutional and they are doing something to punish NY businesses because our new gov is demanding that they pay their fair share. And other stuff. The ‘CEO’ would seem to be not only an asshole but an hysteric.

@Benedick is not as stupid as he looks.:
Amazon is another company that cheats on collecting state taxes. They recently closed their “Affiliate” warehouse here in Texas because the State was trying to collect about $243mil.I won’t buy from them anymore.

Amazon’s little Ensenda delivery service (part of their “Prime” scheme) sends out drivers they find in the penny-saver. The other day an Ensenda guy made a delivery at my house driving an open bed pickup with piles of Amazon product in the back. That is the end of Amazon for me.

@texrednface: Good to know. I’m going to be much more careful in future. I thought the tax-free idea was to help get internet shopping get off the ground but I think that time is now past.

Yes, it’s a great shot — love his hair and fantabulous glasses.

Is Overstock in the midst of a class action settlement b/c they lied about thread count, or is it SmartBargains? I get them confused.

@JNOV is like, FUCK!:
what kind of world do we live in where people lie about thread count?

@JNOV is like, FUCK!: They lied about fucking thread count??? That is sick. Someone who lies about thread count will lie about anything. Like not cumming in your mouth. Anything!

PS. Did I just go too far? Alright, but that was a shock.

@JNOV is like, FUCK!: @baked: @Benedick is not as stupid as he looks.: Oh-my-God-in-heaven, no. The humanity! Nothing is sacred anymore.

BTW, Fellatio to completion became unexciting and unsexy the exact second I realized I had met my partner for life. From that moment on it was the washcloth for THAT stuff…

P.S. And, as usual, Benedick and I are off in gross-land, checking out the frame damage on the wrecked decorum.

@Tommmcatt: I thought that meeting your partner for life meant that swallowing is now mandatory. I’ll have to check with the union.

@nojo: Not when one is moonlighting as a milking machine.

@¡Andrew!: It’s After Darque somewhere, right?

@nojo: I am a married woman, I’ll have you know. You and your dirty talk.

Haha @ All you silly fuckers!

@¡Andrew!: Hey! On some other thread you were talking about marketing? I think so. Once upon a time, when I had students >:-/, we read an essay about some behavioral psychologist guy who designs SUVs. (Honestly, I’ve blocked a lot of that teaching stuff out, because it breaks my heart, but yeah, I think he was a behavioral psychologist from some foreign land.) Annnnnyyyyywaaaay, he was talking about how even though they handle like shit, have craptastic gas mileage, etc., the more menacing the SUV, the better it sells. Make it look like a Mack truck, and it will fly off the lot. He said it appealed to our reptilian brains. He also said that minivans look like pregnant women if you stand them on end. The minivan thing? Maybe. The SUV thing? Mos def. When asked if he drove one, he was like, “Hell no. Those things are dangerous.”

We now continue our regularly-programmed special about sperm chewing. If it’s thick enough to chew, there’s a plumbing problem.

@Tommmcatt is with Karin Marie on This One: So, wait. How does the washcloth thing work? You don’t give him a spermy kiss? That’s rotten of you.

TJ/ Okay. So you’re about to write The Whatever American Novel, but you have oh, maybe five or six ways (and more coming by the minute) you’d like to begin. What do you do?

Oh, lovely. Now I’m getting an ad for an online creative writing MFA program. I’ll give it a shot if Yaddo Daddo Doo doesn’t work out.

@JNOV is like, FUCK!: Heheh. Just call me “Snowball”.

The washcloth thing is not hard, ya just wipe it up where it lands.

@Tommmcatt is with Karin Marie on This One: Well, being on the receiving side of Come (yes, Benedick, “come”) Surprise, I don’t think I’m that skilled.

@JNOV is like, FUCK!: Index cards. Write in pencil so you can erase. let one lead to another. Doesn’t have to be linear. Let it spread – as the actress said to the bishop. You will find your way. You can think it through without committing too soon.

@Tommmcatt is with Karin Marie on This One: … ya just wipe it up where it lands. The headboard? The ceiling? The roof of the car?

I thought the gay mantra was was How do I love thee? Let me swallow the cum. Amirite Andrew? You fancy Hollywood gays and your newfangled ways, Catt. I swear, in my prime, loose in New York, we had spit and cum and did pretty well. But we didn’t have to do the condom thing. True. Latex is a harsh master. For us it was all fluids all the time, thick and ropey and slick and sticky, mouth to mouth and also other orifices. Must say I’m intrigued by this stern mastery vibe you got going on with washcloths. Does this also involve handcuffs? Do you do phone?

Note to token Str8ts: IanJ (as if!) noje, bloggie, chainsaw, manchu, nabisco, and whatevs, the water is boiling for pasta… With this conversation you are now officially chorus boys. Congrats. Toasters on the way.

For the wimminz… Have you checked out the extras on the Chicago DVD? They’re really super. All that Jizz.

@Benedick is not as stupid as he looks.: Write in pencil? I’m left handed. I’d like to be able to read it later. Or maybe not…

Yeah, Catt is a prude, and I think we need to give him a new name.

@JNOV is like, FUCK!: So you’re about the write The Whatever American Novel, but you have oh, maybe five or six ways (and more coming by the minute) you’d like to begin. What do you do?

Quit reporting, pick peaches when the meager savings account runs dry, switch to pizza prep cook for a couple of years, take a lucky opening at the campus radio station, enter grad school to learn more background on your subject, take an ABD master’s, move from the radio station to the alumni magazine, start a tabloid on the side, quit the magazine to go freelance, finally give up on the novel idea, and start a blog.

Your mileage may vary.

@nojo: Oh, hey! Thanks for leaving my typo in your cut and paste. See? I’ll never amount to anything. Oh, and that blog thing? Been there. Got fucked. My fault.

@SanFranLefty: I think he’s not aiming but disinfecting.

Jesus, Catt! Sex is supposed to be a mess.

@JNOV is like, FUCK!: Oh, I’m sure Catt is one of those neatnik OCD waxing ghey boyz in WeHo. I’m suspecting that sculpted Brazilian waxes are involved along with the washcloths. Not all furry-accepting, willing to be occasionally grubby, and bear-loving like Homofascist and rptrcub.

@Tommmcatt is with Karin Marie on This One: And I say all that with love, not judgment. There’s a place for the hairless and 5% body fat ones.

Reading through this thread really emphasizes the aptness of today’s tweet. And I love y’all for it.

Attn. Liberal Gun-Owners RML and IanJ (and Corgi-owner Jamie):

Governor Moonbeam cryptically states “I’ve got three guns and a dog.” Given the dog is a Corgi-mix, I don’t know how that falls.

ADD: Best.Droll.Line.By.Spokesperson.Ever:

A spokeswoman for Jerry Brown declined to provide details about his firearms. “We don’t discuss the governor’s arsenal,” Elizabeth Ashford said after his remarks.

@Mistress Cynica: ((((hugs))))

@nojo: I nominate “We don’t discuss the governor’s arsenal” for tomorrow’s tweet. Either that or some of the nastiness coming out of Catt and Benedick.

@Benedick is not as stupid as he looks.: Not to be a downer, but I’ve never lived in a world where body fluids were harmless. As soon as I became sexual (at @ thirteen), AIDS lept on to the scene.

Which, paradoxically, made swallowing naughty and hot. Until it became safe with my monogamous partner. Now for some reason my attitude is that if he wants it swallowed, he’ll have to do it himself.

@Tommmcatt is with Karin Marie on This One: But at a certain age, you can’t tell the difference between Ensure and cum, right?

@Tommmcatt is with Karin Marie on This One: “Now for some reason my attitude is that if he wants it swallowed, he’ll have to do it himself.”
I once “dated” a man who insisted that after blowing him off I spit all of his spluge in his mouth. Yuuuuukk. The last “date” we had consisted of me saying, “Why don’t you cut out the middleman and just suck your own dick, slugger?” You could have heard the needle scratch across the record when I said that. Good times.

@Tommmcatt is with Karin Marie on This One: If he can do that, what’s he keeping you around for does he ever leave the house?

You’re not a downer (or a swallower). I’m glad you were safe.

@JNOV is like, FUCK!: I am in possession of photographs that would prove you wrong conclusively.

@SanFranLefty: You will gave to ask Benedick regarding the first point.

Regarding the second, maybe we should start calling YOU “snowball”.

Kinda fits the theme, a little: Obama Buddy Arrested in Prostitution Sting – Bobby Titcomb, a close friend of President Obama, was arrested on Monday evening in a Honolulu prostitution sting that used a fake escort website.

Titcomb.

– gawker

@SanFranLefty: Cool. Jamie will love the part about the Corgi. BTW, Gov. Bill Richardson’s people never told me what kind of heat he purportedly packed after getting a concealed carry license before his presidential run. The current gov referred to her .45 on the campaign trail but I don’t know if she has a carry permit or not.

@Tommmcatt is with Karin Marie on This One: Um, no. So fucking nasty. Slap me and call me Alice, or whatever the fuck Benedick’s expression is, but I did it once and that’s about it. I can say that about a lot of things in and out of bed.

@redmanlaw: I thought his name was Titty Bomb! Speaking of titties, where’s Promnight? He’s the only one besides my mother I’ve heard use that word.

@redmanlaw: I’ve amended that post to call out Corgi-loving Jamie. I haven’t checked the Jez March Madness bracket yet to see how Team Corgi is doing.

Ohhhhh, Snowwwwballlllll! Heeeere’s a taaaasteee treat for youuuuuu!

Jesus H on a Unicycle, I hope Nojo retags this post as a Stinque After Darque (Wednesday Edition). Where’s our expat blogger and her adorable porn-screenplay-writing domestic partner on a night like this?

@Tommmcatt is with Karin Marie on This One: And I have seen some photographs on FB that prove “YOU LIE!”

ADD: Oh, wait. I thought you were saying you looked old. Photos, eh? Were you paid?

@SanFranLefty: Didn’t he get pissed when we (I?) jumped all on his shit for some reason long forgotten?

@Tommmcatt is with Karin Marie on This One: You were the first terrified generation. With good reason. I remember a time before that when splooge was thick on the sidewalks of Christopher Street come July. I was never much impressed but I was always a haughty gay. Sailors wouldn’t melt in my mouth and swallowing or not has always been an intensely personal matter.

I don’t understand why Benedick gets to be Squirrely Tony and I can’t be Crazy Queen of Not Sandy Eggo. I mean, just look at that face.

@Benedick is not as stupid as he looks.: Good night sunshine. The Left Coast peanut gallery/porn show will stagger along in your absence.

@JNOV is like, FUCK!: If it’s any consoloations, I personally liked Lillibet.

@Mistress Cynica: If it’s any consolation, I personally liked Lillibet.

Thank you! Yes, yes it is consoling. I thought that her bottom teeth were divine, and I took to calling her “Libbet” in honor of Nojo’s amphibian fantasies. See what happens when I try to play nice?

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