More Gannon Antics, with a Side of Treason

Ah, Gannon. He's like an old friend. Or maybe a creepy uncle with whiskey breath who leans in too close when he talks to you. According to Kos, the man who changed his name from "Jim" to "Jeff" because it's easier to pronounce went off and registered hisself a 501(c)(3) non-profit, The Free Speech Foundation, which then shilled for Bush during the campaign. The Washington Times reports that

The Free Speech Foundation was registered as a tax-exempt non-profit with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service under code 501(c)(3), which prohibits the organizations from participating in or funding political activities.

Despite this, dailyKos.com charged, the organization was used to fundraise for a pro-Bush Web site, ProBush.com, that was facing a $5 million libel suit for naming an Arab-American senator on its ongoing "Traitor List."

The Washington Times reporting allegations made by DailyKos; how rich is that?

But my favorite is Guckert's defense: that "dailyKos.com had 'an extreme left-wing' bent." And? That's like a wife walking in on her husband fucking another woman and her husband saying, "You're against polygamy." In a classic non-denial denial, he asserts that "The Free Speech Foundation is 'entirely legitimate...It complies with IRS rules and regulations.'"

For my money, though, the ProBush.com Traitor List is particularly odious, and even more so when a Republican operative only two degrees of separation from the POTUS creates it. The word "traitor" should not be used lightly. The top of the list reads:

Treason: Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one's country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies.

Traitor: If you do not support our President's decisions you are a traitor.

Oh, I see. Not only are you a "liberal" for not mistaking for diamonds each steaming pile of demonstrable falsehood that falls from the ass of the RNC, but you're a "traitor" for opposing the policies of Our Beloved Leader. I was under the mistaken impression that our allegiance belongs to our nation, not its president. Else (could this be the point?) dissent is ruled out, and if dissent is ruled out then so is free speech, the most fundamental right of all. No, treason is an act against a nation, not an office. Sorry, but if there's a traitor here, it's James Guckert. And maybe his boss, and his boss, too.