Hosin’ Off the Gibbers

Huh. That's odd.

The Review Journal decided, for no apparent reason, to run an extended piece about the Dennis Montgomery, eTreppid fiasco. (RJ)

The only thing particularly noteworthy about the piece was some accusations that Montgomery's software didn't work, but loyal VGO readers knew about some of those–back in March 2007. (VGO,VGO) The RJ rehearsed some inventive software demonstration techniques putatively used by Montgomery to make his stuff look like it did things it really couldn't. But, you know, they do that sort of stuff for the Star Wars anti-missile defense space shield doo-hicky, too, but you don't hear a peep about that anymore.

And since Gibbons' lawyer announced that the FBI had dropped the investigation into GIbbers' ties with Trepp, only skeptical cranks have had any interest in the story, the MSM preferring to accept Gibbers' own assessment of the affair: that he had been vindicated of all charges.

Anyways, Dennis Montgomery seems to be the villain of the story, and one Mr. Gibbons some sort of innocent victim of the tug of war between Warren Trepp and Mr. Montgomery over who owned the software–that apparently never worked.

Ah. Perhaps, then, we see some sort of justification for filling up valuable print space where a furniture or pantyhose ad would have actually served some purpose. Is the RJ starting of the 2010 campaign season by doing some preemptive scrubbing of our dirty Gube?

Well, keep in mind that even though the FBI apparently gave up the hunt, Gibbons' still behaved like a first class Congressional skank during the affair. So, are we supposed to think that a Congressman taking his family on numerous holidays with defense contractors looking for earmarks is a good thing? The story mentioned the boatride with the Trepps that the Gibbons took–and it's still unclear who paid for that. But, hey, there was also that trip to Turkey with the Ozmens, too.

Also note that Gibbons could not tap into the classified "black" earmark money bin, which allowed Congressfolk to throw money at cronies with little oversight, so easily anymore. Congress found the practice so stinky that it passed laws to make those expenditures public. (Hill,CREW)

Indeed, that was probably the most important aspect of the whole sorry affair. Forget Trepp, forget Montgomery–it was all about a sleazy little backwater Congressman trying to game the system to steal taxpayer money to fund poorly evaluated projects without oversight. THAT was what the original Wall Street Journal story was about. The fact that the software may suck just goes to show how unwilling the Congressman was to protect the taxpayer from scams in his eagerness to shell out secret earmarks.

Some hero of the taxpayer! If we could peek into the books of those defense contractors, we'd probably find that it was taxpayer dollars that, in the end, paid for all the little trips, and for Mrs. Gibbons' employment at Sierra Nevada, too.

Nonetheless, Treppgate is old news. The RJ will really need a big hose to wash off that "F" the Governor recently earned from members of his own party and the lobbyists of the corporate bandits who used to fund the grotesque sideshows that constitute his campaigns.

There was one other particular stinker that stood out in today's story, tho. And that is the portrayal of a squeaky clean FBI investigation. Remember, the FBI at one point searched Montgomery's house for the code he allegedly took from eTreppid. The RJ story made Montgomery's accusations that the FBI mishandled the search look like the ravings of a lunatic.

However, a federal judge shared Montgomery's opinion. Judge Valarie Cooke, who authorized the search warrant, would later complain that the FBI had misled her by not telling her that Trepp  and Montgomery were involved in a civil lawsuit with Montgomery. Indeed, the FBI's activities reeked so badly of cronyism that folks wondered if Gibbons was pulling some strings with the Bureau. (Sun)

Better buy a bigger hose, guys. It'll take more water than Lake Mead's got to wash off the stink coming off the Guber.