Propagannon - All about GOPUSA

My task was to comb the diaries and try to put the information we have learned about gopusa all in one diary. Many people have contributed to this, but because information was duplicated I'd rather just credit the "users at KOS" Thank you all

GOPUSA.COM

MISSION STATEMENT:

GOPUSA is a privately-held corporation based in Houston, TX. The goal of GOPUSA is to spread the conservative message throughout America. Through its e-mail magazine (The Eagle) and its web site, GOPUSA is committed to providing conservative news, information, and commentary in a professional and comprehensive manner. GOPUSA strives to be the first source Republicans and conservatives turn to for information, both at the state and national levels.

GOPUSA is also dedicated to providing the tools which allow others to spread their own conservative message. From web site design and other multi-media services, GOPUSA is making it possible for more conservative voices to be heard. (from the Web Site)

How Large is GOPUSA?

To Omega List Company who sells the membership list gives a number of 50,000. It is possible that the 50,000 names are all the names of everyone who has EVER joined GOPUSA/Talon/ MillionsofAmericans. That is how list companies inflate their lists, by not scrubbing old users and  duplications. Other places much higher numbers are claimed such as 600,000. I tend to think that people feel freer to exagerate when they are doing PR, as opposed to selling a product.

HISTORY TIMELINE

• September 27 1999, GOPUSA3-DOM Created
  December 1999, GOPUSA (according to Bobby Eberle, see interview) started as a Web-design company for Republican candidates. Not much activity and lacking success they reevaluated direction in Spring 2000.
  
• September 2000, the GOPUSA became Internet news/information/commentary company.
  
• November 2000, following election, Bruce Eberle, starts Election Integrity 2000 (later known as MillionsofAmericans.com).  In the following two weeks, 335,656 petitions delivered to Sec. of State Katherine Harris in support of Bush. In later articles, they claim that 600,000 petitions were gathered. (more on activities in box below)
  
• January 1, 2003 The GOPUSA news archives began
• January 15, 2003 Gannon byline in GOPUSA
• February 28, 2003 Gannon in White House
• March 29, 2003, Talon News registers its domain name
  
• April 1, 2003, the site goes live
  
• April 3, 2003, Guckert goes to work in White House as Talon reporter
  
• September 2003, GOPUSA Conference
  
• March 24, 2004 merger of www.millionsofamerican.com with www.gopusa.com (see letter below)

Activities of GOPUSA

GOPUSA has continued in the same vein as MOA including advocacy articles, petition drives, fundraising and other similar activities. They have also sponsored conferences. TalonNews was set up to appear to be a news rather than advocacy site. There also some questionable involvement in campaigns such as the Dasle/Thune race.  More later.

Election Integrity 2000/ MillionsofAmericans activities

Following the November 2000 election, Election Integrity 2000 (later known as MillionsofAmericans.com) is created. In the following two weeks , 335,656 petitions are delivered to Sec. of State Katherine Harris urging her to Certify the Bush Victory in Florida.

Petition for constitutional amendment Keeping God in Pledge of Allegiance, MillionsofAmericans.com goes to work asking Congress for a constitutional amendment. 133,139 sign it.

" Jesse Helms announces his plans to retire, and MOA posts a "Thank You" card at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Bruce Eberle's brother, Bob, and the MillionsofAmericans.com webmaster, Jordan Gehrke present the senator with the card and thank him for his long career of service, and his willingness to champion the conservative cause. Over 22,656 readers signed the card."

52,444 sign a card to Rush on news of his struggle with deafness.

"The start of something big--Aschcroft and beyond. January 2001
Bush nominates Sen. John Ashcroft, and the Left is enraged. They go on the attack, calling Ashcroft a racist, and some Senators even go so far as to vow a fillibuster on the Senate floor. Election Integrity 2000, now working under a new name, MillionsofAmericans.com, goes back to work. 275,428 petitions are signed and delivered during a news conference with the Senate Leadership. Ashcroft is confirmed by a narrow margin, and it's starting to become clear just how strong a voice average Americans can have with MillionsofAmericans.com. Click here to see what we did for Jesse Helms."

Election Projects 2000-2002
Elections campaigns in California, New Jersey, and Virginia.

"Past projects include, work in California for Bill Simon in the Republican Primary for Governor, as well as with Ward Connerly and his California Racial Privacy Initiative. Efforts were also undertaken in Alabama and Michigan to limit the expansion of Casinos. Not to mention efforts for Brett Schundler in New Jersey during the 2001 Republican Primary.

The work doesn't stop there though. It continues well into 2002, playing an active role in the midterm elections, working on nearly a dozens different races, at the federal, state, and local levels. The MOA plan last year was to support the President, and we did, by not only supporting his agenda, but by raising money for him at the end of the last election cycle.

The work continues now into 2003 and beyond. MillionsofAmericans.com will continue to push the President's agenda legislatively, working to pass his economic plan, and to confirm conservative judges." (quotes are from GOPUSA web site)

PEOPLE OF INTEREST:

Current GOPUSA Board  and Interesting Connections

Bobby Eberle ----------- ? > Bruce Eberle,  Eberly Communications Group

some sources indicate they may be brothers; others disagree, we need definative research on this Kerri Houston  -> Malcolm Wallop  -> Cheney

Charlie & Melissa Weldon ------> worked for -> Enron

Richard Powell of Austin is also linked   -> Scott Mc Clellon through his mother, Comptroller, Carole Keeton Strayhorn of Austin.
No direct evidence, but could a Republican activist/fundraiser whose business involves selling to Texas Public Schools not know one of the major Republican politicians in Austin?

Media Matters for America Democracy for Colorado, "He was the mayor's son in town, everybody knew who he was," the source added, referring to McClellan's mother Carole Keeton Strayhorn."

Board of Directors

Bobby Eberle -- Bobby Eberle received his Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1990. This was followed by M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University in Houston, Texas in 1993 and 1995, respectively. Bobby was a delegate to the 1996, 98, and 2000 Republican Party of Texas State Conventions and was a delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. In 1998, Bobby was named to Outstanding Young Men of America.

Bill Fairbrother -- Bill Fairbrother earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in Mathematics and Computer Science from Baylor University in 1988. This was followed by a Master of Arts degree in Mathematics from Indiana University in 1990. Bill currently serves as Chairman of the Williamson County, Texas Republican Party and has previously served as a Precinct Chairman and chairman of the county Technology Committee. Bill has been active in politics since 1984 when he joined the Baylor University College Republicans. Since then, he has served as a delegate to four Republican Party of Texas state conventions and an alternate delegate to one convention.

Steve Findley -- Steve Findley is the President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Titan Dynamics Systems, Inc., a military technology corporation, located in Marshall, Texas. Steve currently serves as a member of the Rules Committee with the Texas State Republican Executive Committee, and was a delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. Steve has also served as a delegate to several Republican Party of Texas state conventions, as well as numerous county conventions.

Terri Hillhouse -- Terri has seven years experience working to build Internet communities, ranging from very large community sites to several conservative political sites. She has a long history as a volunteer and has held multiple offices within various public school organizations over the years. Having always been a conservative, Terri came late to serious political activism. She is very interested in restoring family values and preserving our American system for future generations. She believes that the Internet is the best way to spread the grassroots conservative message.

Kerri Houston -- Kerri Houston is a public policy analyst and expert in media, marketing and external relations for public policy institutes. Based in Dallas, she is director of American Conservative Network, a state outreach project of The American Conservative Union (ACU). Prior to joining with ACU to start the American Conservative Network project, Ms. Houston was executive director of State Policy Network, a member organization of free market state-based think tanks. In this capacity, she served as facilitator for the 37 state public institutes in assisting them to meet their communications, publications and governmental outreach needs.

Richard Powell -- Richard is the founder and president of JPX Interactive Technologies, Inc., a comprehensive technology integration firm offering consulting, deployment and integration services in the business, government and education market segments. He is a former policy advisor(sic.) to Texas Governor Rick Perry, and is active in national, state and local political and civic causes. Richard is a graduate of St. Edward's University.

Charlie Weldon -- Charlie is currently employed with UBS Warburg Energy in Houston as a natural gas commodities trader. In 1995, Charlie became a Board member of the Weldon-Stacey-Blake Corporation and currently serves as Vice President. Responsibilities include corporate portfolio management, shareholder relations, and corporate financing activities.

Corporate Officers

Bobby Eberle, President and CEO -- Bobby Eberle received his Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1990. This was followed by M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University in Houston, Texas in 1993 and 1995, respectively. Bobby was a delegate to the 1996, 98, and 2000 Republican Party of Texas State Convention and was a delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. In 1998, Bobby was named to Outstanding Young Men of America.

Terri Hillhouse, Vice President, Operations -- Terri has seven years experience working to build Internet communities, ranging from very large community sites to several conservative political sites. She has a long history as a volunteer and has held multiple offices within various public school organizations over the years. Having always been a conservative, Terri came late to serious political activism. She is very interested in restoring family values and preserving our American system for future generations. She believes that the Internet is the best way to spread the grassroots conservative message.

Melissa Weldon, Secretary -- Melissa Weldon is the proud mother of two boys, Hunter (age 7) and Blake (age 2). She has been involved in church activities her entire life and has focused primarily in music activities such as choir singing and musical productions. Melissa has also spent extensive time assisting in children's ministries.

Kathleen Eberle, Treasurer -- In 1998, Kathleen received her Doctorate of Medicine degree and is now in her last year of residency in neurology in the Baylor College of Medicine system. Following her residency, Kathleen plans to enter into private practice. Kathleen now serves as the Treasurer of GOPUSA.com, Inc. (although she has put in considerable "volunteer" work for the company in an unofficial capacity since its inception as the wife of the President and CEO of the company, Bobby Eberle)

July 9, 2001 - corporate officers:
Bobby Eberle -- President and CEO
Bill Fairbrother -- Vice President, Special Projects
Jorge Uresti -- Vice President, MediaWorks
Melissa Weldon -- Secretary
Kathleen Eberle -- Treasurer

GOPUSA Senior Writers

Christopher G. Adamo
Gary W. Aldrich
Gregg Bish
Horace Cooper
Carol Devine- Molin
Bobby Eberle
Rick Erickson
Doug Patton
Barbara J. Stock  

Longer Bios, Connections and interesting tidbits:

During our investigation of Guckert the board of directors page is scrubbed. Of special interest is Steve Findley as his names was scrubbed before the whole board of directors page was deleted. Could it be because of his business connections?

Steve Findley - President, CEO and Chairman of Titan Dynamics Systems, Inc. Titan is essentially a subsidiary of Carlyle Group. By way of Allied Defense Group (which owns Titan Dynamics Systems) there is a direct tie to the Carlyle Group. One of the Board of Directors at Carlyle (J.H. Binford Peay III) owns Allied Defense Group, who in turn owns Titan Dynamics. By extension they have direct, unimpeded access to (and very likely have full knowledge of) GOPUSA and their partners

Melissa Weldon worked for Enron - and in the nefarious trading operation.
Associate with Enron Corporation in Houston covering natural gas market research, commodity structuring, and natural gas trading; Board member of the Weldon-Stacey-Blake Corporation, currently serving as Vice President and overseeing corporate portfolio management, shareholder relations, and corporate financing activities.
Charles Weldon Also worked for Enron.

Kerri Houston connections. Not only is she on the board of GOPUSA, but Jeff Gannon frequently used her as a source. He uses her here to criticize Subways, and here as an expert on Macedonia.

Her bio on the Fontiers of Freedom website, says
"Kerri Houston, Vice President of Policy
Kerri Houston is a public policy analyst and expert in media, marketing and external relations for public policy institutes. Her areas of expertise include tax, social security reform, and healthcare. Prior to joining Frontiers of Freedom, Ms. Houston served as National Field Director for the American Conservative Union. She was also executive director of State Policy Network and director of external affairs for Dallas' Institute for Policy Innovation. A strong proponent of individual and economic liberty, Ms. Houston is a Brain Trust columnist for Investor's Business Daily, and her opeds have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The Dallas Morning News, Forbes magazine, Intellectual Ammunition, and numerous other print, internet and institutional publications. She has appeared on Fox News and MSNBC, and was a frequent guest on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. Ms. Houston is a member of the National Paycheck Protection Working Group and an advisor to the Texas Conservative Coalition's Health and Human Services Task Force. She serves on the Board of Directors for GOPUSA.com and the Board of Advisors for The Project for California's Future. She was also nominated to serve on the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security. Well known for her dedication to presenting public policy in a way that will "pass the dinner table test," Ms. Houston brings a sharp wit and a practical spin to her areas of expertise."

From grannyhelen's diary:
"So she is on the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security. Interesting. But I think she is only a henchman (hench-wyman?). Along with George Landrith and a few others, she is basically carrying out the will of Malcolm Wallop.

This is where it gets interesting. Wallop has all sorts of connections to Cheney, aside from both being from Wyoming. He spent many years working for Cheney. When Cheney was looking into who should be Bush's Vice Presidential candidate, enter Malcolm Wallop in an interview with Cal Thomas, pushing Cheney as the best choice and full of integrity. Also, when Cheney's energy plans hit a snag, he called on Wallop's Frontiers of Freedom to attack the tax exempt status of environmental groups here.

I've seen him referred to frequently as a friend of Cheney's, but I haven't found any hard evidence.

He also served on the Rumsfeld Space Commission. Here is his bio from Rightwatch. The sourcewatch page for Fontiers of Freedom has more info on this think tank. "

From SF Chronicle article on Dina Powell, explaining personnel management and the headhunters of the Oval Office.

"Four people know who have gotten the nod -- Bush, Vice President Cheney, political adviser Karl Rove and Powell. Powell prepares the paperwork and actually makes recommendations on hiring, according to Josh Bolten, director Office of Management and Budget. "She is the quarterback of the whole process."

The process of identifying, then hiring, presidential talent requires "all kinds of research and a lot of discipline," says Clay Johnson, the president's old friend from Midland, Tex., who first handled personnel during the truncated transition in 2000 and then was Powell's boss until January 2003, when she succeeded him.

Powell, who is married to public affairs executive Richard Powell, and has a 3-year-old daughter, worked her way through the University of Texas by serving as a full-time legislative assistant to a state senator. After graduation, she took an internship with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), intending to go on to law school. Instead, she moved over to work in the office of fellow Texan Dick Armey, then the House majority leader.

Later, she went to the Republican National Committee, where she coordinated congressional affairs and helped lobbying offices that wanted to recruit Republicans. When Johnson came looking for assistants who knew Washington, she was recommended by Dick Armey."

PARENT COMPANIES AND THE MONEY TRAIL

I refer to these companies as parent organizations because it appears that Omega List Company may actually have made money from selling the lists of  membership names.This is contrary to their claim that they are solely supported through contributions. There are also links to Newsmax.

From MediaCitizen:

"Talon News is an on-line news service owned by Bobby Eberle. He said Mr. Eberle told him Talon News is an all-volunteer news service, though since Mr. Guckert's application was submitted, a stipend was arranged that would provide more than half of Mr. Guckerts [sic] income in an effort to comply with the gallery's requirement that correspondents be paid, full time employees of the organization for which they are applying. Mr. Keenan said Talon News is the primary news supplier for GOPUSA, also owned by Mr. Eberle, and provides its news service at no charge to other organizations".

Eberly Communications Group and The Omega List Company

ECG, Inc. also owns Fund Raising Strategies, Inc. and seems to prefer the name Eberle & Associates.

1420 Spring Hill Road, Suite 490
McLean, Virginia 22102
Voice [phone]    Fax [phone]
e-mail : [e-mail]

past clients, according to the Center for Media and Democracy, have included:
Pat Buchanan's 1992 campaign for president; Stacey Koon, one of the Los Angeles police officers convicted in the 1991 beating of Rodney King; Ollie North during his losing Senate bid in 1994; Paula Jones, the former Arkansas state worker whose lawsuit accused President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment; and conservative Missouri Senator John Ashcroft...

From the Eberly Communications Web site:

"Welcome To Omega List Company

  Omega is an industry leader in charitable and political direct mail lists. We have a consistent record of growth and profitability over the past 25 years. Today, we broker over 70 million names each year for an ever growing list of satisfied clients. As the industry leader, we are confident that we can assist you with your direct mail list needs.

To browse the directory of lists we broker click here. For information about brokerage services and fees contact Mike Hiban at [phone].
Featured E-mail List - GOPUSA  |  500,000 Opt-In E-mail Names

GOPUSA is one of the premier conservative websites, started by conservative activists for conservative activists; GOPUSA represents a one-stop source for the latest conservative news, information, editorials, online petitions, polls, forums and more. These activists have signed petitions and/or requested to receive a subscription to the weekly e-magazine The GOPUSA Eagle.

Get these conservative activists behind your cause today

For more information contact Mike Hiban at [phone] or by using our online contact form.

Usage includes:
Newsmax.com
Accuracy in Media
World Net Daily
Republican Party of Texas
Judicial Watch
American Conservative Union
Conservative Book Club
National Republican Senatorial
Committee
Heritage Foundation Americans for Fair Taxation
Parents Television Council
Washington Times
National Weekly RNC
Human Events Book Service
Robinson for Congress
Bob Barr for Congress
Human Events
Plus over 50 more organizations.

Evidence that Talon News  and GOPUSA are the same organization:
Guckert/Gannon publishes his articles on GOPUSA switching over to Talon when it is created without a pause. The articles are then published in both places.

Identical posts example:
"MY COMMENT YESTERDAY
WOULD SOMEONE SAVE THE PAGES ON TALON NEWS & FR
20-Year-Old Republican Website Owner Sued by Former Democrat Senator
Posted on 07/31/2003 8:07:58 AM PDT by prairiebreeze [since 2003-01-20]
Look at time of post: 07/31/2003 8:07:58 AM PDT
The post is, verbatim to the dot and text lay-out, identical to Talon News article of Jeff Gannon date: July 31, 2003. Still wonder which of the articles was published first as Talon News has no time stamp.
Jeff Gannon [since 2003-06-23] on FR
Notice URL of TALON NEWS:
http://www.gopusa.com/news/2003/july/0731_probush_responds.shtml
Significant: Talon News = GOPUSA.com
Caption of article: probush_responds "

Domains:

talonnews.com
Registrant:
Eberle, Bobby
(24065026I)
2620 Sunday House Dr.
Pearland, TX 77584
US
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Domain Name: TALONNEWS.COM
Administrative Contact , Technical Contact :      
Eberle, Bobby
(24065026I)
[e-mail]
2620 Sunday House Dr.
Pearland, TX 77584
US
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Record expires on 29-Mar-2006    
Record created on 29-Mar-2003
Database last updated on 09-Jul-2004
www.talonnews.com is hosted by GOPUSA

No only is Talon news's domain name run by GOPUSA, the www.talonnews.com web site runs on a GOP USA server, listsrv.gopusa.com [65.17.231.174].

gopusa.com
65.17.231.173
GOPUSA.com, Inc
2620 Sunday House Dr.
Pearland, TX 77584
US
Eberle, Bobby (OLRVSDLMDI) [e-mail]
GOPUSA
4738 Kinglet
Houston, TX 77035
US
Master, Host
[e-mail]
DataPipe
609 WASHINGTON ST
HOBOKEN, NJ 07030-4907
US
NS1.DATAPIPE.NET 64.27.65.13
NS2.DATAPIPE.NET 64.27.64.76
GOPUSA3-DOM
Created: 27-Sep-1999
Updated: 30-Jan-2005 01:05:21 EST
Expires: 27-Sep-2007
Source: whois.networksolutions.com

Altered Records

"According to whois records, talonnews.com is owned by Endeavor Media Group in Houston TX -- a company with a PO Box and a fake phone number listing. When checking on endeavormediagroup.com in whois, the same info comes up -- but endeavormediagroup.com is a Forbidden domain. Also, googling "endeavor media group" gets you nothing. It's like this company doesn't exist. And it didn't -- until Monday.

Endeavor Media Group, LLC (39068802O)
[e-mail]
P.O. Box 891354
Houston, TX 77289
US
Phone: [phone]
Record expires on 07-Feb-2008
Record created on 07-Feb-2005
Database last updated on 07-Feb-2005"

GOPUSA.COM  SPONSORED CONFERENCES 2004

GOPUSA.com  Conference 2004
Conference Speakers
Just to mention a few:
*    Ronald W. Dworkin, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
*    Rick Erickson, Executive Director, Americans for Military Readiness
*    Jeff Gannon, White House Correspondent, Talon News
*    Martin Gillespie, Coordinator, RNC GOP Catholic Outreach
*    Tim Goeglein, Deputy Director, White House Office of Public Liaison
*    Bo Harmon, Deputy Communications Director, National Republican Congressional Committee
*    Kerri Houston, Vice President of Policy, Frontiers of Freedom
*    Thomas P. Kilgannon, President, Freedom Alliance
*    G. Gordon Liddy, Radio Talk Show Host and Former Presidential Advisor
*    Mark Montini, President and CEO, CampaignSecrets.com

FOR THE COMPLETE LISTING of SPEAKERS

Scott McClellan, just the past few days on Jeff Gannon, Talon News & GOPUSA: "Hardly know them, it's just a modern news organisation, I don't make the choices". Is this possible, considering this who's who of conservatives?

GOPUSA.com  Conference 2003

*    James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Defense and Homeland Security, Davis Institute, The Heritage Foundation
*    The Honorable John Cornyn, U.S. Senate, TX
*    Chuck DeFeo, eCampaign Manager, Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.
*    Tim Goeglein, Deputy Director, White House Office of Public Liaison
*    Pete Jeffries, Communications Director, House Speaker Dennis Hastert
*    Mark Montini, President and CEO, CampaignSecrets.com
*    Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform
*    Jack Spencer, Senior Policy Analyst, Defense and National Security, Davis Institute, The Heritage Foundation
*    Genevieve Wood, Vice President of Communications, Family Research Council

SCANDALS AND POSSIBLE ILLEGALITY:

Anti-Semitism
Besides the anti-gay and anti-liberal articles there were accusation of anti-Semitic articles:
Conservative Calumny: GOPUSA, a conservative Web site, was criticized all over the blogosphere and at Salon.com last week for publishing, briefly, a column on financier George Soros that many found antisemitic.

Soros recently brought down the ire of conservative commentators by agreeing to spend millions on various Democratic efforts to defeat President Bush. The GOPUSA columnist, however, trafficked in something way beyond mere commentary, which the site tacitly acknowledged when it pulled the column after a day.

"Satan Lives in George Soros," wrote the pseudonymous columnist, who publishes weekly at the site under the pen name "Sartre."

"The fiction which is interdependency has a prolocutor in the congregation of Moloch. His name is George Soros. No other single person represents the symbol and the substance of Globalism more than this Hungarian-born descendant of Shylock. He is the embodiment of the Merchant from Venice. ... If Soros is correct when he says a `supremacist ideology' guides the White House, what would you call the practices of the archfiend of Free Enterprise? The Soros deception would make Shylock proud. ... [I]t's not about antisemitism! [Out-going Malaysian Prime Minister] Mahathir Mohammad was just stating the truth."

Democrats went ballistic.

"Suddenly deleting such vile antisemitism from this Republican site -- with no explanation, and no apology -- simply won't cut it," the executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, Ira Forman, said in a press release. "Virulent antisemitism causes very real damage, and GOPUSA must acknowledge this."

Serial stalker/writer Rachel Marsden
.
Visit Rachel's official website at http://web.archive.org/web/20040203211211/http://www.rachelmarsden.com/.

"AKA "Elle Henderson", this enthusiastic GOPUSA commentator and GOP "Babe of The Week" - known otherwise as an alleged serial stalker, and as  the "Canadian Anne Coulter" - seemed to be in a rather casual line of work, as depicted  below. The contrast between her GOPUSA bio and the picture below, the front page of her recently scrubbed website - roughly contemporary with the now sanitized GOPUSA site - is intriguing and suggests, in line with a colorful, picaresque  past - romantic and otherwise, that this is a multifaceted woman, one of many dimensions.Diaries :: Troutfishing's diary :: "

Ilana Mercer, at Antiwar.com.
08/11/2003 Archived Entry: "Canada's 'Republican Babe of the Week'"

"CONSERVA-HOTTIE OR CONSERVA-FRAUD?: (Via Relapsed Catholic)
"If her name seems familiar, however, it is not likely to do with any piece of commentary she may have written. In 1996, while attending Simon Fraser University near Vancouver, Marsden alleged the school's swim coach had raped her. In 1997, following an internal SFU inquiry, the coach, Liam Donnelly, was fired.

He was soon reinstated, however, after putting forward evidence that cast doubt upon Marsden's credibility. Marsden admitted to having frequently sent Donnelly gifts and sexually explicit e-mails. She claimed they were intended to draw him into a discussion of his alleged sexual harassment. According to Donnelly, Marsden had been stalking him for months."

[...]Marsden was later accused of harassing the former head of SFU's own harassment office, Patricia O'Hagan, and, later, SFU criminology professor Neil Boyd. Last fall, Marsden was charged with criminal harassment of former Vancouver radio personality Michael Morgan, 52.

Bruce Eberle, illegal fundraising and paying conservative commentators

Eberle's fund-raising activities have also drawn repeated charges of ethical misconduct, the most notorious of which was a campaign in the 1980s that used phony prisoner-of-war sightings to solicit money from veterans for former Air Force Col. Jack Bailey's "Operation Rescue," which claimed to be on the verge of saving American POWs still being held in Vietnam.

[...]Republican Senator John McCain offered similar sentiments. "In my opinion they are criminals and some of the most craven, most cynical and most despicable human beings to ever run a scam," McCain said. "They have preyed on the anguish of families, and helped to turn an issue which should unite all Americans into an issue that often divides us."

Eberle Communications Group, Inc., which is involved in Tom Delay's fundraising scandal.
Eberle and Omega were busted for selling data lists to Ashcroft when he was a senator.  

GrannyHelen found this interesting article by Sheldon Rampton of the Center for Media and Democracy, where he talks about Bruce Eberle's Omega List Company and its practice of paying conservative commentators to endorse clients and their causes:

"On a section of the website that has subsequently been removed, Omega List was quite straightforward about the fact that it pays conservative commentators to endorse clients and their causes. A series of web pages featured conservative radio show host Blanquita Cullum explaining exactly how the system works and how other radio hosts could get in on the gravy. "You do what you do best!" she said. "Get on the air and talk to your listeners! Drive them to your website by conducting a daily survey or a contest on the topic of your choosing."

Eberle's "polling wizard" software, installed on the site, would then capture the names of respondents so that they could be hit up for money. "What happens next is a cakewalk," Cullum continued. "Omega will call you with an opportunity to send an endorsement e-mail to your list . . . and receive a royalty for lending your name to a cause, organization or product you believe in. . . . Omega gives you their specialized software absolutely FREE and presents you with an opportunity to earn an extra $25,000 or more annually."

It is interesting to note that GOPUSA.com's membership list is a part of Omega List's offerings.

Documents:

Bruce's letter of March 24, 2004 speaks of the wonderful merger of www.millionsofamerican.com with www.gopusa.com:

"The good news is that www.millionsofamericans.com is now combining forces with www.gopusa.com to bring you even better reports and news on hot conservative topics. Bobby Eberle (of what you might call the "Texas branch" of the Eberle clan) founded www.gopusa.com several years ago. With news sources across the nation and in key places, Bobby Eberle has created one of the best outlets for conservative news and insight in the nation and today www.gopusa.com has some 50,000 opt-in subscribers.

In fact, he has done such an outstanding job that he will now be sending conservative commentary and action items to you. I'm stepping aside to let this talented and well-informed young man take the helm of www.millionsofamericans.com and I am confident he will do a great job - giving you the same top quality conservative news and giving you an opportunity to have a powerful impact on events that affect our nation."

•  Tip Jar

  :)

  by mollyd on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 09:56:08 PM PDT

  •  Any connections with Sinclair?

    That would be interesting to find out....

    by Volvo Liberal on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:41:22 PM PDT

    •  very loose link

      I found a very loose link with Sinclair if you feel there is a link between The Leadership Insitute (place where Gannon took his course) and GOPusa.  The Leadership Insitute lists an Alumni connection for job placement by a Rich Westfall.  

      A google of Rich Westfall led to some EEO reports for Nexstar Broadcasting group (Right wing conglomerate of 42 stations based out of Texas owned by GOP backer Perry Sook) listing Westfall as a source for job recruitment.

      A google of Nexstar Broadcasting leads to articles that discuss how Nexstar Broadcasting and Mission Broadcasting while technically two companies, are actually operating as one, a sort of loophole to allow saturation in certain markets.

      A little more searching on Mission shows that Mission Broadcasting sold off its stations in 2001ish splitting them between Nexstar and Sinclair.  This gives the two companies access to close to 10% of the national market; all small to middle markets mostly in the northeast, south west and midwest.  Is it possible that they are working together, and dividing the market to meet legal requirements?  Sinclair is mentioned in Nexstar's November 2004 filing http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:QHJl0mJMOHUJ:biz.yahoo.com/e/041113/nxst10-q.html+sinclair+broa dcasting+mission+broadcasting+nexstar&hl=en&start=1&ie=UTF-8
      If you read down the page, you will find a section that discusses Sinclair and Nexstar doing business together on one of the Mission stations.

      In addition to Nexstar's agreements with Mission, pursuant to an outsourcing agreement that became effective December 1, 2001 with a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. ("Sinclair"), Nexstar provides engineering, production, sales and administrative services for WYZZ, the Fox affiliate in the Peoria-Bloomington, Illinois market. The parties share the combined broadcast cash flow (as defined in the outsourcing agreement) generated by WYZZ and Nexstar-owned WMBD. The outsourcing agreement expires in December 2008, but at any time it may be canceled by either party upon 180 days written notice. Nexstar has evaluated the arrangement under Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Interpretation No. 46, "Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities, an interpretation on Accounting Research Bulletin No. 51" ("FIN No. 46") as revised in December 2003 ("FIN No. 46R") and has determined that it is not the primary beneficiary of WYZZ.
      

      I also find that the Sinclair station websites do not post the EEO reports, while the Nexstar ones seem to, so I don't know if Westfall is a recruiter for Sinclair as well.  I know little or nothing about how these companies operate, so maybe this is totally normal, but I wanted to bring it up just in case.

      Anyway, I don't think anything here is illegal, I just think it shows what a spider web we are up against.

      by brighton on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 07:56:55 AM PDT

  •  Worthy diary and excellent job for starters

    Magnificent to have all [preliminary] info in a single diary for all to view. Any thought and sufficient substance for a short press release: GOPUSA under further scrutiny because of Talon News and Jeff Gannon story?

    This is just what we need as a start for further review, establish the FACTS^TR and wipe the smirk and mud off the Houston Tx center of GOP evil. On to the McLean Va and Jeb's Sunny Florida center of machination and fabrication. We'll get to that, just let it all slowly evolve, no need to rush the issue.

    Definition: FACTS^TR should be registered by dKos as FACTS in search for TRUTH. This in comparison to the role of Jeb Bush with involvement with 1980's coke runner Hank Asher, owner & founder of DBT Inc. - ChoicePoint Inc. - Seisint Inc. - MATRIX data base and FACTS^TM. This involves the stealing of Election 2000 and Election 2004.

    The State and Federal Government have been used to reimburse corporations through "no performance" or highly inflated pricing of contracts. See also tactics used by DoD with Iraq War contracts handed to Dick Cheney's Halliburton, SIAC, Titan Corp., KBR and Accenture Ltd on Bermuda.

    In 2005 - Be liberal: Support our Allies of Democracy on Human Rights, the Environment, Gay and Minority Rights & EU and UN Third World Development Programs & Our Friends

    by creve coeur on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 12:07:06 AM PDT

  •  So GOPUSA BigWig Richard Powell

    is linked to Scott McClellan's mother?  That sure sounds interesting.  Here is a profile of her as Texas State Comptroller.  

    by NotFuzzy on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 01:15:34 PM PDT

    •  Scottie's Mom Aspires to Texas Governorship

      very interesting set of videos here

      by NotFuzzy on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 01:35:53 PM PDT

      •  There's More

        Here is an article about her feud with Governor Perry entitled: "One ticked-off grandma: comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn says Governor Rick Perry is messing with her: better him than us".  In another article we learn about a "legislative audit of her agency, which began in the spring of 2003 and (she charges) has continued beyond all reason, most recently with an attempt to determine whether any of her agency's tax case decisions may have been influenced by contributions to her campaign."

         I wonder if GOPUSA or either of the Eberles are contributors?  Hmmmm.....
        

        by NotFuzzy on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 02:16:24 PM PDT

•  wallop and cheney

  Wallop was a U.S. Senator from Wyoming whiel cheney was the sole U.S. Rep from Wyoming in the 80s. They would certainly have worked closely together.
  

  by Frederick Clarkson on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 09:56:54 PM PDT

  •  Another Kurtz piece tomorrow

    This should keep it alive for another day, even with Whore Howie's snarky tone...

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27730-2005Feb15.html

    by Volvo Liberal on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 11:15:22 PM PDT

    •  Kurtz Article

      For Howard Kurtz, this is actually rather straightforward reporting, which is surprising.

      I went back and found the Wilmington News-Journal article he refers to, if anyone hasn't seen it yet.

      Interesting quote from that article:

      "When it rains, it pours," Guckert said Friday from his Washington home. He would not comment further.

      Made me think instantly of Morton Salt--not that Jeff would be clever enough to want us to think of Morton Blackwell or anything. Just a funny coincidence.
      

      by wanderindiana on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 12:11:35 AM PDT

      •  And just where is Guckert's Washington home?

        Does anyone know? (No, I'm not looking to stalk him, but I find it rather curious that I haven't been able to turn up a Wash DC address for him under any of his names.)

        Is he using yet another name? Or is someone else paying for his housing?

        by thebes on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 06:37:27 AM PDT

    •  Catch that 1999 reference to Bedrock?

      Gannon/Guckert sent those checks to the webdesigner in 1999 and beyond.  That takes the connection to GOPUSA/Millions etc. back farther than we had in previous timelines doesn't it?

      Hence, he wasn't just "hired" by Eberle for Talon, Gannon/Guckert already had an association with them.

      by kfred on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 06:46:41 AM PDT

      •  Bedrock doesn't have anything to do with GOPUSA

        It is a closed corporation formed in Delaware in 1997, with its address the same as Guckert's residence. Considering that Guckert hadn't been paying his state (and I would imagine his federal) taxes for several years and had a judgment against him, I believe he formed Bedrock to shield any income he made from potential tax liens (the timing is right - the tax judgment was filed in October 1996, Bedrock was incorporated in April 1997).

        GOPUSA wasn't incorporated until December 1999, and Talon News was NEVER a separate entity - a strong argument that there's no separation btw Talon & GOPUSA.

        by thebes on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 08:14:19 AM PDT

        •  You are probably correct

          But for some reason I thought the whois reports showed the website connections - I wasn't necessarily referring to corporate connections, more personnel connections.

          Gannon/Guckert didn't fall out of the sky into Talon.

          by kfred on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 09:28:57 AM PDT

          •  G/G

            had an enthusiastic client who was a highly placed military officer. This was probably the route.

            by NCYellowDog on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 10:45:03 AM PDT

•  who knew

  there was a canadian ann coulter?

  by rasbobbo on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:00:00 PM PDT

  •  Rachel Marsden is hot

    
    See the beautiful Rachel in a dialogue with O'Reilly in the excellent documentary:

    STICKS and STONES

    It's online (47 minutes) and it's well worth watching.

    http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/sticksandstones.html

    Would you believe her conviction for criminal stalking forced GOPUSA to fire her. It put a crimp in her career. But O'Reilly told her he would always protect her. :-)

    There's a great clip of Ann Coulter making a fool of herself insisting to a prize winning journalist that Canada sent troops to Viet Nam.

    by Agathena on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 11:44:51 PM PDT

    •  "We Stalkers Stick Together"

      There's a good exchange between the interviewer and Rachel when he traps her into admitting that O'Reilly is being hypocritial with his moral indignation considering his 'stalking' background. She agrees, then he says that she shares a common background with O'Reilly. He then names the three men that she has stalked.
      (She almost ruined her first victim's life.) Rachel stutters a little after that.

      by Agathena on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 12:17:38 AM PDT

    •  What a Mind Picture That Is!

      "O'Reilly told her he would always protect her."
      Right, with his loofah and falafel!
      

      by NotFuzzy on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 05:59:08 AM PDT

•  I take back whatever I said about Hillary

  She was right, there is a vast right wing conspiracy. Some of these people are the same crew who conspired to bring down Bill Clinton. I remember reading somewhere they also funded the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. If that is true, this is a dangerous right wing conspiracy. They simply do not want any opposition to exist.They will also go to any extreme to destroy it.

  by Vera Lofaro on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:12:40 PM PDT

  •  It's too true

    they are the termites of democracy bringing the house down on our heads and they've been chewing for quite a while.

    by moon in the house of moe on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:37:02 PM PDT

    •  "Termites of democracy"?

      Excellent.

      by nolalily on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 07:41:31 AM PDT

  •  Did you actually doubt it?

    That's the big story here and the reason the whore media is mostly staying away from it (just like they did during the Clinton years)...It's all the stuff David Brock wrote about in his past two books, plus Conason/Lyons....It's all big corporate repug wingnut donors that underwrite all of these nefarious activities. The people who sign these checks are too powerful and the MSM whores know it. So they look the other way like they always do...

    And next week the Swift Boat Vets will be honored at CPAC in Washington.

    Any questions?

    by Volvo Liberal on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:40:15 PM PDT

    •  Just one.

      When does the revolution begin?

      by Vera Lofaro on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:44:45 PM PDT

      •  This is it.

        It's us and this community effort to bring things to light and to pressure our reps.

        The blogosphere, if nothing else, let's our reps and the press that we're watching them, in big numbers.

        That's a start.

        by 2lucky on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 11:10:59 PM PDT

        •  The revolution will NOT be televised...

          ...it will be blogged.

          by grannyhelen on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 08:01:13 AM PDT

    •  A graph depicting

      the right wing hydra centering around GOPUSA was posted in one of the neglected diaries here. The poster said he got it from DU but I have not been able to find it.

      There's nothing like an image to make things more clear.

      by Agathena on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 12:42:06 AM PDT

      •  That Hydra Graph from DU

        That was within the Leadership Institute info.  It's also where Mark McMansky or whatever his name is (RW blogger) inserted himself into the conversation and poo-pooed it because his name showed up as connected to someone on the graph.  He said he'd never been in contact with that person.

        If I can find that link again, I'll post it.

        by kfred on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 06:55:47 AM PDT

        •  It was <b> Mike Krempasky</b>.

          Morton Blackwell/Leadership Institute's spokesman here. He drops in and acts self-important and pretends to be helpful.

          by sawcielackey on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 02:22:26 PM PDT

  •  it's worse than you think.

    someone should look at the carlyle group. there was a recent article about their investments. and if it's the same group, james baker and madeleine albright are both involved. profit, more than politics, makes strange bedfellows.

    by yankeedoodler on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:50:29 PM PDT

    •  Yup...

      Something to look foward to ...

      When F911 was released the Carlyle Group bought Lowes Theatres the second largest cinema chain in the US. So how much you wanna bet that movies like F911 will never be shown again in the US

      by dddemocrat on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 12:02:50 AM PDT

      •  I saw F9/11 in a Leows Theatre...

        either they didn't but them all, or they couldn't stop the viewing for some reason.

        This was just a couple of days after I heard Leows would not show the movie and I was very surprised when I found it playing at our local Leows theatre.

        Luckily they did here, because Leows is the better of two theatre establishments we have here. I won't go in the other, my husband got bit by a spider in there and got very sick.

        by 2care4others on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 03:15:16 AM PDT

    •  Albright, Rice, what's the difference?

      Madeleine Albright is not such a strange bedfellow for the neocons. During her tenure, she is said to have constantly pissed off Colin Powell with her cavalier hawkishness. One one occasion, she reportedly said, "What's the point in having all of these bombs if we don't use them?" or words to that effect.

      Try to remember that Bill Clinton was about as far to the left as Richard Nixon. There is bound to be some overlap between the Clinton bureaucracy and the Bush bureaucracy. It would be profoundly sloppy of the right wing not to infiltrate the opposition and attempt to co-opt the uncommitted.

      profit, more than politics, makes strange bedfellows.

      It's not profit, it's power. Profit is just a tool of power. The kind of personal power that goes with running a superpower has got to be both intoxicating and highly addictive.

      by eodell on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 12:11:33 AM PDT

      •  Question...

        Isn't Madeleine Albright a member of CFR or some such?

        I know I saw her name on the list of at least one of those secret Illuminati organizations.

        by 2care4others on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 03:19:02 AM PDT

•  Your information

  on Titan/Allied is incorrect.  Allied is a publicly traded company and Carlyle doesn't own enugh of the stock even to have that publicly reported; therefore, if they own any amount of the stock it is so small as to be negligible.  Findley in the Allied corporatate structure is too far down from the top to be in a position to dictate what Allied does.

  (I haven't read through your whole diary because I don't have time to do so at the moment nor the time to pull up the links on my previous comments on Allied but will try to do it later.)

  by Marie on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:13:01 PM PDT

  •  thanks

    removed it

    by mollyd on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:19:33 PM PDT

•  a few small

  but very important nitpickings

  • it's spelled "eberle"

  • make sure it's always clear which eberle you mean

  • we are not sure of the exact relationship between bruce and bobby eberle

  thanks for putting all that in one place!
  

  by Cedwyn on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:13:51 PM PDT

  •  brothers

    I am pretty sure now, because Bruce in a letter refers to Bobby as his brother.

    by mollyd on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:17:45 PM PDT

    •  from their own web site

      "Sen. Jesse Helms announces his plans to retire, and MOA posts a "Thank You" card at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Bruce Eberle's brother, Bob, and the MillionsofAmericans.com webmaster, Jordan Gehrke present the senator with the card and thank him for his long career of service, and his willingness to champion the conservative cause. Over 22,656 readers signed"

      by mollyd on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:27:18 PM PDT

      •  But Isn't Bobby's Father Also Bob?

        that would make Bobby the nephew.

        by NotFuzzy on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 06:01:22 AM PDT

      •  What difference does it

        make whether Bruce W. and Bobby Eberle are related.

        Bobby started up GOPUSA and collect the emails of visitors to their web site.

        Bruce W. Eberly doing business as Eberle Communications Group has a number of subsidiaries, including Kaleidoscope Publishing, Ltd, Fund Raising Strategies and the Omega List Company.

        Omega advertises that it has lists of names for sale and, among others, it lists GOPUSA.com with an indication that there are 500,000 names available to be bought.

        Now, since the Omega List presumable makes money selling the names, one might conclude that the source of the names is also reimbursed.

        What I have found interesting is that Bruce W. Eberle, along with his other civic activities is involved with the Joe Gibbs Youth for Tomorrow Foundation (which runs a home for wayward boys),which had a recent event hosted by Brit Hume and his wife.

        by hannah on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 07:27:13 AM PDT

        •  Kaleidoscope...this is WEIRD

          Okay...I've been trying to research Kaleidoscope Publishing, one of the "family of companies".

          The only - and I mean ONLY - venture it seems this "company" publishes is Bob Carlson's "Retirement Watch" (see link: http://www.retirementwatch.com/).

          Now...seems that this is pretty standard, nonpartisan retirement advise.  That's not the weird part.

          The weird part is...how can you have an entire company devoted to just ONE publishing venture?

          This just doesn't smell right, if y'all know what I mean. Does anyone have any additional information on Kaleidoscope Publishing?

           

          by grannyhelen on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 08:20:08 AM PDT

          •  Kaleidoscope Pub

            There are plenty of small publishing ventures that consist of just one newsletter.

            I searched in OCLC Worldcat (worldwide database of library holdings) for Kaleidoscope and there are many variations on this publisher name.

            Email me with any more details. I haven't seen the original "family of companies." Are you sure it's the one in MacLean, VA?

            I'm a law librarian with many resources at hand, so people are welcome to send me specific questions to work on. I can't keep up with the all the research that is or isn't still going on.

            by interbitere on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 09:45:08 AM PDT

            •  will do...

              will have to be later on tonight...but yeah, this is part of the Bruce Eberle family of co's, so they would be based in VA.

              by grannyhelen on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 10:15:46 AM PDT

    •  I've been trying to research

      the relationship between Bruce and Bobby. That's the only thing I've been able to find concerning the brothers connection.

      It'll probably take another week of going through archives and ancestry to even find a stronger link between the two. There's a pdf I've been trying to get from one of Bruce's mail sites, but it seems to have gone missing.

      Excellent work you did on the diary!

      by ladydawg on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 11:38:56 PM PDT

      •  I read that Bruce is not his brother

        Despite sharing the same last name and buying the "Millions of Americans" Internet petition company from him recently, Bobby Eberle is not related to direct mail baron Bruce Eberle. Bobby Eberle hopes to transition out of engineering into politics and news full-time. "I believe in enacting conservative ideas through Republican solutions," he said.

        Link

        "Time is for careful people, not passionate ones"

        by roseeriter on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 01:21:35 AM PDT

        •  I read that too,

          but couldn't remember where.

          Thanks for posting it.

          Now how can we figure this one out? One place says one thing, and another says another.
          Are there maybe more than 1 Bob (or Bruce) Eberle, one who's related to someone and one who's not?

          Like, we've got 3 different Richard Powells so far (granted, that would seem to be a more common name).

          by Donna in Rome on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 03:42:46 AM PDT

        •  The source is bunk

          Directly from some pages from their site, they mention that they are brothers.

          Mitch Gore

          Wanna win in '08...?

          Put your money where your mouth is.

          by Lestatdelc on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 03:46:21 AM PDT

        •  Where are you quoting that from?

          The blockquoted text you cite is nowhere in the interview with Bobby Eberle, which I have read rpeviously as well.

          Mitch Gore

          Wanna win in '08...?

          Put your money where your mouth is.

          by Lestatdelc on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 09:35:05 AM PDT

          •  Click the link under the quote

            "Time is for careful people, not passionate ones"

            by roseeriter on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 12:20:16 PM PDT

            •  Where?

              I can't find the quoted text in that article.

              by dlcampbe on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 12:53:23 PM PDT

            •  That link goes to an article

              that doesn't contain that quote at all.

              I googled the quote and found a different article which has the quote.

              Mitch Gore

              Wanna win in '08...?

              Put your money where your mouth is.

              by Lestatdelc on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 03:16:46 PM PDT

          •  Google it...

            ...it comes up on the same web site with a different address.  Perhaps their archival numbers changed, but it is there.  Of course, it's only 1 article, which could be a plant to throw us off.

            Here's the correct link:
            http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3827/is_200408/ai_n9436903

            (hope it lasts a bit longer)

            by steve04 on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 12:53:59 PM PDT

  •  Brothers, according to their web site

    The text box in the post indicates that it was pulled from the gopusa.com website.  It contains the following statement:

    Bruce Eberle's brother, Bob, and the MillionsofAmericans.com webmaster, Jordan Gehrke present the senator with the card and thank him for his long career of service, and his willingness to champion the conservative cause.

    Is cited brother "Bob" the same as "Bobby"?  Given Bobby's involvement in gopusa.com, it would make sense they are one and the same.

    by DavidW in SF on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 01:01:50 AM PDT

    •  Need a better fact - Bob is too common

      especially in an extended family and relations between cousins.

      See also the Scott McClellan and Richard Powell data.

      Good observation though.

      In 2005 - Be liberal: Support our Allies of Democracy on Human Rights, the Environment, Gay and Minority Rights & EU and UN Third World Development Programs & Our Friends

      by creve coeur on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 03:21:58 AM PDT

      •  Now...

        the Bob is in reference to Bobby Eberle. He (Bobby) is in the photo together with Bruce, holding up the "card" for Helm's retirement party.

        Mitch Gore

        Wanna win in '08...?

        Put your money where your mouth is.

        by Lestatdelc on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 04:00:31 AM PDT

        •  Choose a different grammar

          .
          Millions for Americans

          

          

          I would read encapsulated quote as follows:

          Bruce Eberle's
          brother, Bob,
          and the MillionsofAmericans.com webmaster, Jordan Gehrke

          present the senator with the card
          and thank him for his long career of service,
          and his willingness to champion the conservative cause.

          Prefer the website's reference as the
          "Texas branche of the Eberle clan".

          The good news is that www.millionsofamericans.com is now combining forces with www.gopusa.com to bring you even better reports and news on hot conservative topics. Bobby Eberle (of what you might call the "Texas branch" of the Eberle clan) founded www.gopusa.com several years ago.

          In 2005 - Be liberal: Support our Allies of Democracy on Human Rights, the Environment, Gay and Minority Rights & EU and UN Third World Development Programs & Our Friends

          by creve coeur on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 05:05:48 AM PDT

          •  Yes...

            ...and that is how I was reading it.

            Bruce's brother Bob, and the web-master Jordan, present the card.

            Bruce's brother Bob... i.e. Bobby Eberle.

            Mitch Gore

            Wanna win in '08...?

            Put your money where your mouth is.

            by Lestatdelc on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 09:26:30 AM PDT

            •  The older guy is Bob Eberle

              

              See my photos down thread.

              by Biblio on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 09:45:38 AM PDT

              •  Jordan Gehrke

                Is the younger guy in the photo.  Here's another picture of him.

                by Biblio on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 10:10:34 AM PDT

              •  No

                That is Bruce Eberle... not Bob Eberle

                Mitch Gore

                Wanna win in '08...?

                Put your money where your mouth is.

                by Lestatdelc on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 12:41:06 PM PDT

                •  The Eberle Bros.

                  In the above picture of the Jesse Helms dinner, the two men are identified as Bruce's brother Bob and Jordan Gherke, the webmaster.  Bruce wasn't there.
                  Google Gherke. He's a 20-something formerly homeschooled college-student.  He's obviously the younger guy in the picture.  The older guy, then, MUST be Bob Eberle.  He's an exact match for the picture I posted of Bob Eberle down thread.
                  

                  by Biblio on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 05:35:40 PM PDT

    •  Another Robert Eberle

      (I apologize for the repetition from another diary)

      Robert Eberle is treasurer of the Washington (State) Conservative Union:

      Treasurer: Robert Eberle. Bob is a former three-term Washington State Legislator, drafting member of the King Co Charter Commission, Region 10 Administrator of GSA (Reagan and Bush appointee), and Boeing engineer. He has been active in conservative
      politics since the Goldwater for President campaign. Bob served as Executive Director of
      the King Co. Republican Party, and is currently treasurer of the Skagit Co. Republican
      Party. Bob has worked in many campaigns, has served as WA State Chairman of the
      Young Republicans, and as treasurer of the Citizens Committee to Defeat the State
      Income Tax.

      He certainly has the credentials to be Bruce's brother. He also works for Boeing - one of the first lines of attack that Gannon/Guckert used against Daschle was his wife's lobbying for Boeing.

      by thebes on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 06:47:54 AM PDT

      •  it'd be easy enough

        to get the County Courthouse records on this wouldn't it, from wherever Bobby/Bruce were born?

        by Carolyn on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 07:57:59 AM PDT

    •  Go google images

      Bruce looks to be one generation older than Bobby

      by payingattentionandappalled on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 12:40:30 PM PDT

•  Note the longstanding practice

  of paying (under the table?) conservatives with a mike to promote their clients and causes.
  Armstrong Williams (sp?) had plenty of cousins.

  by nargel on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:22:10 PM PDT

•  Thanks for a great piece of work

  The gannon story is a triumph for the blogs and this type of article is part of the reason why, research and investigative reporting with no limits.

  by moon in the house of moe on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:40:50 PM PDT

•  The response is just beginning

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27730-2005Feb15.html

  http://www.americablog.blogspot.com/

  http://www.observer.com/pages/conason.asp

  http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2005_02_13_digbysblog_archive.html#110849435828569255

  http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2005/02/why-gannonguckert-matters-rude-version.html

  Daily Kos needs a diary entitled:

  "there's naked gay conservative male prostitute sitting in the middle of the family values White House living room"
  (from AMERICAblog.)

  Or "Bush Brought Moral Tone to the White House."

  Bush's base, the religious right have not weighed in yet, maybe because they haven't heard.

  This story is not over. Although the Republicans are trying to make it look that way. Don't buy it.

  by Agathena on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:51:49 PM PDT

  •  Kurtz's story is big

    Confirms lots of John's details and finally sticks in Plame, though towards the end....But good to see...Kurtz is still trying to downplay it, but his articles get read, so it keeps it alive which is good...

    by Volvo Liberal on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 11:14:25 PM PDT

    •  Even Cheney reads the WaPo

      This story is enough to make him spit out his Starbucks. :-)

      by Agathena on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 11:48:22 PM PDT

    •  Although

      There seems to be a squeamishness on the part of both Kurtz and Conason about stating clearly that this guy's sites were still active when he was sitting there waiting to be called on by Scottie. His own site was active until May of 2003 (therefore 5 week overlap at least). ANd his escort profile is still active.

      by emptywheel on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 04:45:34 AM PDT

      •  The Facts Are There But.....

        While Kurtz accurately reports what we here have known about Guckert for quite some time now, and is not squeamish about using words like "porn" and "escort", he NOWHERE acknowledges that this was a WORKING PROSTITUTE sitting a stone's throw from the President who apparently was PLANTED there by someone high in the power structure.  It's like ALL THE DOTS are presented in his article but he NEVER CONNECTS THEM!

        Instead, what he says is that this episode has "
        deepened the debate over blogging and the tactics used to drive a conservative reporter from his job as White House correspondent".

        AAAARRRRGGHHHHH!

        by NotFuzzy on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 06:12:41 AM PDT

        •  I think Howie didn't like being lied to

          by JG.

          The problem for Gannon, whose real name is James Dale Guckert, is that he told The Washington Post and CNN's Wolf Blitzer last week that he never launched the Web sites whose provocative names he had registered, such as hotmilitarystud.com. But a Web designer in California said yesterday that he had designed a gay escort site for Gannon and had posted naked pictures of Gannon at the client's request.

          by Agathena on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 09:04:35 AM PDT

        •  Try reading Rude Pundit

          Here

          by Agathena on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 10:31:00 AM PDT

      •  That date of May 8, 2003

        was pointed out by AMERICAblog as the only mistake in the article.

        by Agathena on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 08:21:07 AM PDT

        •  March 8, 2003 was the mistake, sorry.

          by Agathena on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 08:21:48 AM PDT

•  Good work,

  you haven't given up the fight and that's great because this is not

  "the little story that will blow over" like the Republicans are trying so hard to spin.

  by Agathena on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 10:53:32 PM PDT

•  One correction, I think

  Great work but I believe the Dina Powell/Richard Powell connection has been disproven.  Marie made this correction on her last diary.  Dina Powell is married to Richard C Powell which is a diffent Powell.  Is that correct Marie?

  by Jill Lehnert on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 11:09:00 PM PDT

  •  Pending Marie's confirmation ,

    I can confirm that there's no connection. We've established that there are (at least) 3 different Richard Powells.

    by Donna in Rome on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 12:46:07 AM PDT

    •  3 different Richard Powells

      Trying to find a bio on anyone of them is very difficult. I am doing my best, probably we need to put up a separate diary with collected facts to put the puzzle pieces together.

      It is almost similar to the start of gathering data on a Jeff Gannon, the reporter. I will post some findings later.

      The address of Richard and Dina:
      Richard C. Powell  (45)
      Dina H. Powell       (38)
      4840 Rodman St NW
      Washington, DC 20016
      (202) 244-23xx

      C stands for?  Crux or Cruz, does anyone know.

      PS. In a determined affort to find some sense to any background of Richard Powell I-II-III I did some extensive searching on the web, copying some links to my word processor, finding a corrupted .DOC document upon opening today. Glad I have saved most of the material by posting extensively on dKos. An excellent cache.

      In 2005 - Be liberal: Support our Allies of Democracy on Human Rights, the Environment, Gay and Minority Rights & EU and UN Third World Development Programs & Our Friends

      by creve coeur on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 03:16:17 AM PDT

      •  Lesson #1 - keep that VIRUS ALERT HIGH

        Just a reminder when ploughing through data on unknown websites.

        I'm glad my provider screens for both SPAM & Virus or I would be at a loss with those bugs invading my PC.

        I have enough battling the modern Trojan Horses and invasion of privacy, data collecting like MATRIX and FACTS^TM does anyone have a take on this?

        In 2005 - Be liberal: Support our Allies of Democracy on Human Rights, the Environment, Gay and Minority Rights & EU and UN Third World Development Programs & Our Friends

        by creve coeur on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 03:27:47 AM PDT

        •  I'm not sure exactly to what you are referring

          but I use DSL through a router that hides my IP so it's not visible. In addition to that hardware firewall, I run a Norton software firewall. I've had no trouble for years, other than occasional spyware, which yields to a spyware utility. When I ran a modem connection, I would get a Trojan attack on the average of every 20 minutes. DSL and something like my US Robotics 8000 is the way to go. Plus, don't use MS Outlook for email.

          I still run a virus scan once a week, but it never finds anything.

          by CarbonFiberBoy on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 09:55:37 AM PDT

      •  Pictures of any of them

        ... and subsequent matching, would be very useful.

        After all, it's pictures that helped confirm to us blogging sleuths the Jeff Gannon = JD Guckert equation (and the unexpected tangent the whole thing took off on shortly afterward). Knowing what these people look like can be crucial. If that's not possible, at least their ages (although even those could be coincidentally close) can provide a clue.

        Same goes for the Eberles: are there more than one Bob... or more than one Bruce?

        by Donna in Rome on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 03:55:23 AM PDT

        •  Richard Powell's business dealings

          I've been looking into the GOPUSA's Richard Powell and his business dealings. A quick summary of what is known can be found here. There is also a Feb. 11 article in the Dallas Morning News about him.

          by silence on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 05:12:28 AM PDT

      •  Dina Powell

        was the former Dina Habib, who emigrated from Egypt with her family in the 1970s.  She and Richard got a marriage license 1/10/98 in Travis Co. Texas.  At the time, her middle initial was O. and she was listed as age 25.  Her groom, Richard C. Powell, Jr. was age 31.

        I looked through Texas marriage licenses from 1992 to 2001 (which are downloadable from the Texas state webpage), just to confirm whether or not Richard M. Powell was connected with Dina.  The only Richard M. Powell was married 10/2/99 to a Cynthia Reagan in Harris County.  She is a realtor there, so I don't think this is a match, since the JPX Interactive/GOPUSA Richard Powell doesn't seem to have strayed far from Austin (where he lives and went to college).  I didn't look through other years, but it seems that if our Richard graduated from college in Texas in 1991, he would have showed up in the years I searched.
        

        by Uncle Toby on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 05:52:55 AM PDT

      •  Well, that's strange

        I'm coming up with a Richard M Powell at that address - age 54 - married to a Katherine or Kathryn Powell.

        I've found an address in Virginia they're both associated with, and maybe one in Texas. Richard Powell seems to be hard to pin down.

        by thebes on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 07:11:37 AM PDT

•  This story is much bigger than Gannon

  What all this investigation is about is the truth.  It's not about the blogosphere, or GOP hypocrisy.  It's not about left or right.  It's not even about gay escort services.  It's about the truth.  It's about figuring out how complicated of propaganda machine our current government have over our perceptions of reality.

  How deeply corrupted is every bit of information we hear from our government?  How many of our government's reports are deliberate manipulations of reality for the betterment of Bush's Republican Party?

  We must continue to expose their right-wing media complex for the propaganda machine that it is.

  by pacified on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 11:12:41 PM PDT

  •  Welcome the World

    "What all this investigation is about is the truth."

    Agreed. Admit it, you're a Democrat.

    "It's not about the blogosphere, or GOP hypocrisy.  It's not about left or right.  It's not even about gay escort services.  It's about the truth.

    Whoa! Completely wrong. It's about all those things. Can you really imagine it otherwise? It's an amazing story with many angles, all of which benefit us. Let's embrace that.

    "It's about figuring out how complicated of propaganda machine our current government have over our perceptions of reality."

    Yes, that's an important focus.

    "How deeply corrupted is every bit of information we hear from our government?  How many of our government's reports are deliberate manipulations of reality for the betterment of Bush's Republican Party?"

    Yes, this possibility is terribly awkward. How sad is it that yours is a perfectly legitimate question?

    "We must continue to expose their right-wing media complex for the propaganda machine that it is"

    Indeed.
    

    by RatIV on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 11:26:05 PM PDT

  •  "Propagannon"

    Now defined at urban dictionary

    
    Propagannon

    Noun: "The secret use by a government or political party of a fake reporter to spread propaganda as news."

    The word derives from the project name used by independent researchers and bloggers at Daily Kos who uncovered the fact that alleged journalist Jeff Gannon did not have any credentials as a journalist, used a fake name, worked for a fake new organization (Talon News), and for nearly two years was given daily press passes by the White House and even allowed to pose partisan softball questions to the president and obtain White House documents (like the 8/6/01 President's Daily Bulletin stating that Bin Laden was "determined" to strike in the US) before their release to the public.

    Propagannon is becoming a widespread technique of the Bush Administration, as secret payments and privileges for allegedly unbiased journalists like William Armstrong, Maggie Gallager and Jeff Gannon (aka James D. Guckert) are being gradually uncovered

    
    THIS is where we need to keep the focus, on the PURCHASED and PLANTED journalists who are subverting our free press in service of Bush's political propaganda!

    by NotFuzzy on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 06:18:47 AM PDT

    •  Except that definition is wrong

      There is no evidence that Gannon was paid by the Bush administraton. There is no need, There are a number of well-funded right-wing organisations around  willing to pay the Gannons  (please, not just GOPUSA - big players in this game have been chronicled in other diaries.)

      And if Propagannon is about Gannon, then we are missing the point. It is about the whole web of Republican and administration media manipulation.

      But be careful. Do we know how clean everyone else is in this? I have an uneasy feeling that it may be that the Republicans have just used it more massively, more directly, and yes....more effectively

      by Welshman on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 07:11:25 AM PDT

      •  Gannon was paid by GOPUSA/Talon

        which is a Repbulican activist group connected to the RNC.

        Consider that the RNC and the right wing propaganda machine put Bush in the White House.

        by Agathena on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 08:25:10 AM PDT

        •  Agathena

          Yes, that is my point. There is big difference, between the administration paying a journalist directly ("Ah, but it was the Department of Education and we've put a new chief in there, so it's OK now") and this being done by a "non-associated" group funded from elsewhere.

          Unfortunately, neither legally nor politically is this latter practice the same as a White House staffer paying Gannon as the definition implies.

          I think the point that you are making is that morally it is the same. In which case, I don't disagree with you.

          by Welshman on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 08:36:41 AM PDT

          •  The Definittion Says Nothing About Payment

            The definition generally covers the secret "use" of journalists by government to spread propaganda.  And the definition says nothing about Gannon specifically, that reference is just in the background section.