THE FRANKLIN TAPE

January 18, 2006 2:55 PM

THE ORIGINAL GAY REPUBLICANS A homosexual prostitution ring was under investigation by federal and district authorities that included among its clients Key officials of the reagan and Bush (senior) officials. The story received some newspaper coverage but there was a TV News Media blackout on the subject. For this reason, most Americans have never heard of it. Former republican Senator John Decamp was involved in the production a documentary about called "Conspiracy of Silence".
posted by sundaymag (51 comments total)

Render unto Caesar what is Caesars.
posted by The Jesse Helms at 3:08 PM on January 18, 2006

First off, a lot of this is unsubstantiated rumor and hearsay. Secondly — and worse — the virulently homophobic undertone presented in the link by the site's owner makes me further question its veracity. Flagged.
posted by Rothko at 3:08 PM on January 18, 2006

"This was the biggest scandal in the history of the U.S.A history."

Huh.

"Almost immediately, the rights to the documentary were purchased by unknown persons who had ordered all copies destroyed."

They're not destroyed, they're in the bunker with the 200 MPG carburetor, Jimmy Hoffa, and JFK's brain.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:11 PM on January 18, 2006

That's hott.
posted by billysumday at 3:14 PM on January 18, 2006

Ok. what about Washington Times front cover? did you scroll down? to see the 80's coverage?

do you have sense of humor? or you've become such a proxy server for ideological interest that cannot even see any fin in this?

I am a gay guy (actually, I just finished having fun with a stranger from gay.com. who came over.... so if you think I am moralizing anyone you're wrong. in fact you're the ideological moralizer, catching me insulting the "truth integrity" and the "gay issues".

just relax, this is not meant to bring the Whitehouse down, but only to make your boring day job a bit more fun, also something to make you think, not to make you spew Scott McClellan type responses.
posted by sundaymag at 3:17 PM on January 18, 2006

but there was a TV News Media blackout on the subject. For this reason, most Americans have never heard of it.

Dontcha just hate when that happens?

I was kind of hoping for something like an update on the investigation of Jeff Gannon in the Valerie Plame case, and all we get is Bush in a wig at a frat party? Very lame.
posted by zaelic at 3:18 PM on January 18, 2006

Ok. what about Washington Times front cover? did you scroll down? to see the 80's coverage?

You know who owns the Times, right? Just because something gets printed in it doesn't mean a whole lot.

or you've become such a proxy server for ideological interest that cannot even see any fin in this?

You understand, of course, that putting out this kind of conspiracy-filled garbage turns a lot of people immediately off your cause, right?

in fact you're the ideological moralizer, catching me insulting the "truth integrity" and the "gay issues".

*laughs* Okay, I get it, you're pulling my leg.

also something to make you think, not to make you spew Scott McClellan type responses.

*laughs harder* I'm quoting this any time someone accuses me of groupthink here.
posted by Rothko at 3:26 PM on January 18, 2006

"also something to make you think"

The site is a huge mess of random bullshit. The only thing this makes me think about is whether the author is a fruitcake.

In reference to Jeff Gannon - "Bush Jr. continues in has father's Homosexual footsteps, by having callboys visiting the Whitehouse."

This is National Enquirer stuff. It's designed to entertain idiots. The Gannon thing was very weird and news-worthy. But once you assert that it means the Bushs are gay you loose all credibility. It's not funny. It's not thought provoking. It's not new, or even news. It's just dumb.
posted by y6y6y6 at 3:28 PM on January 18, 2006

I fantasize about beating the shit out of Jeff Gannon. Does that make me a closet homophobe?
‘Cause it’s not any other homosexual individuals. In fact I can’t think of anyone else I’d want to harm right now. Weird. Like a cobra and a mongoose. Everything about him offends me. (and I have gay friends who in no way offend me)

Hmm...I’ve done things with my rugby team in drag. Mostly running around like a drunken idiot.

This “child” piece of it bothers me though. I can’t imagine anyone would be able to cover something like that up if that magnitude of a story was in any way real.
posted by Smedleyman at 3:30 PM on January 18, 2006

As amusing as I find the idea of midnight rent boy tours of the White House, the Washington Times isn't exactly a reputable news source. I do like the gaywhitehouse tag, though, so it isn't a total loss.
posted by mkhall at 3:34 PM on January 18, 2006

Oh no you didn't!
posted by Rothko at 3:35 PM on January 18, 2006

"... I have had thousands of sexual encounters with strangers ... "


posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:38 PM on January 18, 2006

I fantasize about beating the shit out of Jeff Gannon. Does that make me a closet homophobe?

No in fact you may have severe gay sex addiction problem. You must have passed all thresholds your sexuality and the only thing that can really satisfy you is to beat the crap out of your hot military male prostitute. There are quite a lot of people like you, some of them actually high-class clients of Jeff Gannon I suppose. It's called boot-camp fetish, if I'm not wrong. There is so much underground gay porn similar to your obsession.
posted by sundaymag at 3:38 PM on January 18, 2006

dios is just jealous that straight guys don't have easy access to anonymous sex without spending a load of cash.
posted by bashos_frog at 3:40 PM on January 18, 2006

Also, I was in college when the original call boys in the whitehouse story came out - I vaguely remember it, some SS agents got in trouble, and then it kind of went away.

Obligatory:

posted by bashos_frog at 3:43 PM on January 18, 2006

Jesus fucking Christ. As with my parents and anyone over 50, I should not be forced to even imagine the image of another mefite having sex.

Thanks Sundaymag. You jumped the shark faster than any other new user, IMHO. I now dub thee the anti-Shouting.

/off to bathe in lye
posted by bardic at 3:44 PM on January 18, 2006

WTF, is this supposed to be irony or something?

Homophobic. Dumb. Flagged.
posted by youarenothere at 3:48 PM on January 18, 2006

This is National Enquirer stuff. It's designed to entertain idiots. The Gannon thing was very weird and news-worthy.

...and the Gannon thing was weird and news-worthy not because Gannon was evidently some sort of gay prostitute, but because the White House had a plant in the press pool.
posted by interrobang at 3:56 PM on January 18, 2006

Also, flagged.
posted by interrobang at 3:57 PM on January 18, 2006

I don't get it, is the story supposed to be satire or did it really happen?
posted by mathowie at 3:58 PM on January 18, 2006

“It's called boot-camp fetish, if I'm not wrong.”
I see, and this involves actually breaking bones (I prefer the femur - it’s such a challenge), knocking out teeth and permanent and severe injuries to the head, spine and major organs?

Gannon must make more money than I thought.
Well, he looks to be in shape and I really haven’t gone full contact in a while. What’s he charge? Does he charge extra if I give him a smiley?
posted by Smedleyman at 3:58 PM on January 18, 2006

sundaymag: actually, I just finished having fun with a stranger from gay.com. who came over....

Finish the sentence, dammit! He came over what... your right shoulder?
(rimshot)

Uh... I mean "tiddy-boom"... rimshot is probably a poor choice of words here...
posted by hincandenza at 4:00 PM on January 18, 2006

"and the Gannon thing was weird and news-worthy not because Gannon was evidently some sort of gay prostitute, but because the White House had a plant in the press pool"

Hmmmm......... I guess I missed the point then. I remember thinking it was very predictable and obvious that Bush/Rove would have a plant for press conferences. I mean seriously - Isn't that rather characteristic?

The news-worthy part for me was that they were dumb enough to hire a male prostitute for the job. But maybe that's characteristic as well.
posted by y6y6y6 at 4:09 PM on January 18, 2006

I got the show off bittorrent a month or two ago...
posted by imaswinger at 4:27 PM on January 18, 2006

I like dailykos new design?

I also agree with Rothko.

::shudders::
posted by Dreamghost at 4:33 PM on January 18, 2006

Oh please, we all know that Cheney/Rumsfeld is the real Gay Republican Scandal. If by scandal you mean hot hot hot.
posted by Nelson at 4:34 PM on January 18, 2006

I don't get it, is the story supposed to be satire

No.

or did it really happen?

I don't know.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 4:47 PM on January 18, 2006

This was all rehashed during the Jeff Gagnon thing. I don't know why this deserves a FPP now.
posted by furtive at 5:02 PM on January 18, 2006

I'd just like to say that "The Original Gay Republicans" is the name of my new band.
posted by Decani at 5:14 PM on January 18, 2006

Wow!

Another investigator, Ted Gunderson, has been pursuing the case for years and has raised the idea that Jeff Gannon may be somehow connected to the Franklin scandal. ... Gunderson proposes that Guckert is actually Johnny Gosch, a person who has been on the Missing Persons list since childhood.

*snip*

Johnny Gosch was a young paperboy in Iowa when he was reportedly kidnapped in 1982 and has not been located.

He has been the subject of a conspiracy theory regarding conservative journalist Jeff Gannon / James Guckert, who ran a homosexual escort service. Some have argued that Gannon is in fact Gosch, but this idea has been widely criticised as unfounded. It has been now proven that Guckert is not Gosch.

I love Crackpots!
posted by SweetJesus at 5:16 PM on January 18, 2006

sundaymag: ...in fact you're the ideological moralizer, catching me insulting the "truth integrity" and the "gay issues".

All right, that's pretty crazy. But if you don't mind, I'm going to crazy it up just a little bit more. One can never have enough of teh crazy.
posted by milquetoast at 5:17 PM on January 18, 2006

I don't mind the homosexuality. I understand it. Nevertheless, goddamn, I don't think you glorify it on public television, homosexuality, even more than you glorify whores. We all know we have weaknesses. But, goddammit, what do you think that does to kids? You know what happened to the Greeks! Homosexuality destroyed them. Sure, Aristotle was a homo. We all know that. So was Socrates.


---Dick Nixon
posted by stirfry at 5:22 PM on January 18, 2006

And of course, Ted Gunderson's got a website. Here's just a taste of the insanity:

U.S. intelligence sources: Sexually-explicit photos at Abu Ghraib special ordered by a homosexual and pedophile ring inside the Bush White House

There is good reason for the embarrassment of the Pentagon in the affair. The orders to take the sexually-oriented photos and videos, some of which involve teenage Iraqi boys and girls and sodomization by their guards, came directly from a pedophile and closeted male homosexual ring operating in the White House, according to the intelligence sources. Copies of the tapes and photos were sent directly to the White House for the entertainment of senior members of the Bush White House, including officials in the Vice President's office and the Executive Office of the President.

Keep in mind that Ted is a former Senior Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI's L.A. field office, and had a 28 year career with the FBI. Suprise - he's also on talk radio!

Dude is all the way through the looking glass...
posted by SweetJesus at 5:32 PM on January 18, 2006

posted by ericb at 5:32 PM on January 18, 2006

I don't see the problem here; it's not like they married them.
posted by Citizen Premier at 5:38 PM on January 18, 2006

You realize that the whole underlying message here is really this:

There's nothing wrong with homosexual love, as long as no one publicly admits it. Because admitting it publicly is like admitting that it's nothing more than a variation, like eye color or skin tone. And that's not how we get votes in this country, where the citizens wear their god like a T-shirt (and you don't always have to wear a T-shirt).
posted by deusdiabolus at 6:22 PM on January 18, 2006

I just finished having fun with a stranger from gay.com. who came over

looks like you blew a seal.
posted by quonsar at 6:45 PM on January 18, 2006

No, they just had ice cream.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:46 PM on January 18, 2006

"the history of the U.S.A history"

...written by the Department of Redundancy Department.
posted by grimcity at 6:50 PM on January 18, 2006

Yeah, I can't believe no one's speculated on the role in this of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who has boasted that he knows all our secrets because he owns the Times. I'm not making this up, go to IApproveThisMessiah.com and check it out.
posted by johngoren at 7:03 PM on January 18, 2006

I don't get it, is the story supposed to be satire or did it really happen?

the "call boy scandal?" yes. it was national news one day and went away the next.

that wack link and fpp? unintentional self-satire. the story lives on to this day with more grandiose embellishment with each telling in kook blogs all over the web.
posted by 3.2.3 at 7:04 PM on January 18, 2006

no, they just had ice cream

ooh! that's my favorite joke! i knew there was a reason i was still reading---
posted by anda L. at 7:29 PM on January 18, 2006

This thread seems a bit choppy, have there been comment deletions?

not to make you spew Scott McClellan type responses.

Dude, you compared Rothko to Scott McClellan?! That is the craziest conspiracy theory of all time.
posted by LarryC at 8:25 PM on January 18, 2006

Matt: I don't get it, is the story supposed to be satire or did it really happen?

Here is a link to the page with a video of the documentary. I haven't watched it yet. There was a copy floating around Google Video too but I couldn't find it again.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 9:53 PM on January 18, 2006

Jeff Wells has a blog, Rigorus Intuition, that has covered this for a while now. my apologies for the link dump but he has a vast collection of posts related to national security and pedophile activity.
posted by hortense at 9:56 PM on January 18, 2006

I heard that Daniel and Donald, have the Rather- Rumsfield Ranch, somewhere on the range of New Mexico, really.
posted by hortense at 10:05 PM on January 18, 2006

But, but but...I never got MY midnight tour of the Whitehouse! I was a 15 year old teenage gay prostitute! Guess I was born too early.

As recently as 10 years ago, teenaged gay boys tended to prefer sex with adult men to that of their own peer group. Times have changed, and maybe that has changed too.
posted by Goofyy at 11:46 PM on January 18, 2006

Hetero, Homo, Bi or even farm I don't care. It is all the metaphorical fucking by the white house that bothers me.
posted by srboisvert at 2:55 AM on January 19, 2006

I don't get it, is the story supposed to be satire or did it really happen?
posted by mathowie at 3:58 PM PST on January 18 [!]

I think it is more important to ask why trust of the people in power have us questioning 'could X be true'.

Did it happen? Might, might not. Blackmail possibilities combined with removal of societal taboos via a received lack of reproductions when one has alot of power lead would point to 'sure, it happened'. And, even if there were sworn testimony, video footage, DNA samples and other bits of data - such data doesn't 100% mean it was not fabricated.

If one believes in 'truth', then its too bad that some bits of history end up getting buried.

If ya like TODAYS Bush-homo-erotic dirt let me deliver....
‘It seems that Judge Alito has a good-looking son, Philip, and when the family was at the White House recently to meet with Bush and his wife, the President somehow got the son alone and tried to kiss him!
posted by rough ashlar at 4:56 AM on January 19, 2006

reproductions Err repercussions.
posted by rough ashlar at 5:30 AM on January 19, 2006

Dude, you compared Rothko to Scott McClellan?! That is the craziest conspiracy theory of all time.

I'm going deep deep undercover with the Young Republicans. Don't tell anyone.
posted by Rothko at 6:41 AM on January 19, 2006