We Shall Not Forget: A World Without Jeff Gannon, Day Two

Ray Midge (on f'n' fire, you'll have noticed) offers the following:

I think Ace's semi-mea culpa here is right on point. But I think a lot of people around here could be (should be?) saying the same thing. And it's our OWN damn fault.

For too long, we've made a false god of a man. We've placed all our hopes and dreams on a man's shoulders, then when he cannot bear the load, we all come here to pretend he never meant anything to us.

But seriously, how could one man have lived up to all we've made GANNON out to be? He was a great man, but a man nonetheless. Sure, how many of us had even heard of a "briefing-room" or a "prez-a-dent" before Gannon. I'll admit it: For me, they were just vague buzzwords smart people used on tv. Gannon made them real for me.

I think a lot of people around here are now feeling something Shelley captured:

"I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said--"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert . . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Gannon, King of Kings,
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."

Now, of course Gannon never had that opinion of himself. It was us projecting onto him. So, you'll please excuse us. If it now seems we're making fun of Gannon, we're really only making fun of ourselves. We laugh here, but only to stop the tears.

I think we can all agree with those sentiments.

Meanwhile, I've changed the banner as a tribute to our fallen god Jeff Gannon. Thanks again to the most excellent Slublog for his terrific work of devotion.

Clarifying Jeff Gannon's Use of a Pseudonym: Bob, who should know, says emphatically what I said to See-Dubya in the comments:

Some here seem to have a nut on because Gannon used a nom de plume. Just to make it clear, he used his real name in all dealings with the White House and the daily press pass. He used his real name in applying for a permanent pass (which BTW is handled by the Senate Press Gallery...anyone wondering who leaked his real name?) People who dealt with Jeff in a business way knew his real name...Talon News did, GOPUSA did, hell, I did.

Jeff used a psuedo for one reason, he didn't want to use his real name, Guckert (use your imagination).

Jerry Riviera (Geraldo Rivera) and Larry Ziegler (Larry King) also use a nom as do many others.

So shoot him.

I would not advise anyone to actually shoot Jeff Gannon. That's just likely to anger him, kind of like shooting a small-caliber round into a Kodiak bear's pelt.

You ever see a pissed off Kodiak bear? Trust me, you don't want to. They're 800 pounds of claws and teeth and (sometimes) engorged sex organs. It's not anything you should be fooling with, unless, of course, you have a yen to be mauled/raped by a berserking bear.