WorldNetDaily Porn-Buster: The Next Matt Drudge?

Matt Drudge had the Lewinsky story. The Smoking Gun made pop-culture history by digging up dirt on the "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire" groom. Now WorldNetDaily.com has become the latest Internet news outlet to scoop the big boys with a scandal. This time, it's White House staffers checking out hardcore porno at work.

The WorldNetDaily report by Paul Sperry went something like this: A consultant hired last year reviewed the White House's logs and found smut galore. That would have been enough, but one White House source said the triple-X downloaders included some female staffers, some "significant names" and the West Wing. "There were things that said 'teen,'" said the White House computer consultant. "There was gay and bestiality stuff too - donkeys, goats, dogs. It's embarrassing." (What should also be embarrassing is the implication, repeated by Sperry and other reporters, that homosexuality and barnyard sex are equally kinky).

With a wild story like that, you can't help but question the anonymous sources. Sperry said White House geeks asked WorldNetDaily to withhold the name of the consultant, "arguing that disclosing the information would tip off hackers to the security software the White House is using and make it easier for them to breach the network." WorldNetDaily followed up its scoop with a story entitled "Who is porn-buster Paul Sperry?" which rebutted unspecified "supporters of President Clinton" who have questioned Sperry's credentials.

After a run-down of Sperry's qualifications, an unnamed WorldNetDaily writer practically boasted that Sperry is best-known for an argument with Clinton at a White House picnic that got him banned from future presidential functions. We don't suppose his latest expose will get him back on the guest list.

Other outlets gave the nod to WorldNetDaily for breaking the news but followed up with their own reporting. "White House staffers have been downloading porn from the Internet in the past several weeks, White House officials acknowledged after a review of their server logs," wrote MSNBC's Lisa Napoli. White House spokesman Jake Siewart also told Napoli that, contrary to Sperry's article, none of the naughtiness can be traced to the West Wing, and the guilty staffers are "no one you ever heard of."

"Like any workplace, we have occasional problems, but we do not tolerate inappropriate use," Siewart told the New York Post.

Sperry made one other claim that ran counter to official dogma. "According to White House insiders, White House guidelines for proper computer use by employees prohibit using them for profit but do not specifically restrict using them to access Internet pornography," Sperry wrote. MSNBC reported that White House employees must agree not to use the computers for "personal use" or for downloading pictures of any kind, which sounds a bit more plausible. Sperry may or may not have some facts wrong, but he gets points for making the White House admit its little porn-at-work problem.

Maybe the White House should make like Ford and buy all of its employees home PCs - you can bet future consultants will be extra-curious about those logs. - Jen Muehlbauer

Web-Porn Scandal Rocks White House http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_sperry_news/20000809_xnspy_webporn_sc.shtml

Porn Downloaders 'Ought to Be Fired' http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_sperry_news/20000811_xnspy_porn_downl.shtml

Who Is Porn-Buster Paul Sperry? http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_exnews/20000811_xex_who_pornbust.shtml

White House Employees Reprimanded for Downloading Porn (AP) http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/08/10/whitehouse.porn.ap/index.html

Porn-Gate http://www.msnbc.com/news/444322.asp

Porn-Again Losers Use Prez-Staff Computers http://nypost.com/news/9253.htm

Farmyard and Teen Hardcore Porn Found on White House System http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/12511.html

It's a Drudge World, After All http://www.wired.com/news/topstories/0,1287,9857,00.html

Millionaire Groom's Dirty Secret http://www.thesmokinggun.com/millionaire/millionaire.shtml

-- cpr (buytexas@swbell.net), August 11, 2000

Answers

So what you are saying is that it might be Al Gore who is posting the naughty pictures here?

-- Butt Nugget (catsbutt@umailme.com), August 11, 2000.

I'll vote for a candidate that likes to buttfuck iguanas as long as he cancels income taxes.

-- (porn.is@the.norm), August 11, 2000.

CPR, do you think it's inconsistent to disrespect WND, many times and then use them as a news source?

-- KoFE (your@town.USA), August 11, 2000.

"(What should also be embarrassing is the implication, repeated by Sperry and other reporters, that homosexuality and barnyard sex are equally kinky)."

Rump rangers and tampon kissers aside, sadie the cow isnt much kinkier, have you seen those big brown eyes? Compare than to a guys hairy ass! Sadie, my lady!

-- Rump Rangers Suck (butnot@meyou.homos), August 11, 2000.