Gosch-2-Gannon: The conspiracy theory that refuses to die

Admittedly, my thinking on the Jeff Gannon/Jim Guckert scandal has been (you should pardon the expression) outside the box. In sum and in short, I suspect -- but cannot prove -- that "Jeff" and a certain fellow we shall here know only as "W" have made the beast with one back.

Don't presume, though, that I'm likely to fall for every oddball theory to arise out of this controversy. One popular theory which I have treated scoffingly holds that Jeff Gannon (whose real name is James Guckert) is actually famed child kidnap victim Johnny Gosch.

This scenario should have lost all popularity by now, given the tidal wave of counter-evidence. We have:

1. The documented history of Guckert's youth (including yearbook photos).

2. The divergence in ages between Guckert/Gannon and Gosch (47 and 35, respectively -- presuming Gosch is still alive).

3. An utter lack of verifiable, factual material in the presentations of the best-known Johnny/Jeff theorists, Ted Gunderson and Sherman Skolnick. Neither man has a sterling reputation.

Despite all this, the Gosch-2-Gannon theory refuses to acknowledge its own death. Like El Cid on his mount, the damn thing rides into post-mortum battle.

The latest charge comes to us via a report broadcast on KWWL news in Dubuque, Iowa. The report quotes an investigator named James Rothstein. Of Gosch's kidnapping in 1982, Rothstein says:

"This man has told us that at the end of their investigation that there were 834 kids involved that were kidnapped," says James Rothstein. He's talking about a former CIA agent who must remain anonymous.

Rothstein is a former New York City police detective, now a private investigator working the case for Johnny's mother, Noreen. And within the last couple weeks, Rothstein has uncovered new evidence linking Johnny's kidnapping to child prostitution.

More:

Rothstein is talking about individuals who would spend as much as $10,000 to have sex with young boys and girls. And this new evidence points to the involvement of U.S. government officials. "They were using kids to compromise people. And what better way to compromise somebody than get a young boy with a politician or some powerful person that may be in the military or whatever and then you can compromise them and get what ever you want."

Last month, people on the internet and investigators like Rothstein began to believe a man who passed himself off as a White House reporter and known male prostitute Jeff Gannon could be Johnny Gosch. And while Gannon's true identity still can't be confirmed, Rothstein says the more clues he uncovers, the possibility Gannon may be Gosch increases...

Who is Rothstein? A bit of cursory googling indicates that he is fairly well-known on the "conspiracy" circuit. He has been associated with radio host Michael Corbin, a decent fellow who operates on a level located some ways above the Skolnickian sewer. This site offers a rather tantalizing tidbit:

Noreen Gosch and James Rothstein were interviewed on KCRO radio in Omaha, Nebraska by Marty Stacy, a local talk show host in Omaha. Following the interview, Marty Stacy was fired from his job, and Noreen had a strange warning at her home in Iowa.

There may be less here than meets the eye. The only web-based info I have on Stacy indicates that he runs, or ran, a religious radio show that has aroused the interest and the ire of various fanatics. (Readers in Iowa may be able to help me gather more data.) At any rate, insubstantial data of this sort cannot add much strength to the Gosch-2-Gannon rumor.

Toward the end of the KWWL story, Rohstein refers to a "phone conversation he had with a CIA agent. 'That's solid information with names. That's where you start investigating and that should have been done years ago,' he says."

So far, what do we have? Simply this: A man claiming to be CIA calls Rothstein out of the blue and offers up some names and other tidbits. The investigator decides to do some investigating. At some point, the investigator decides -- for reasons never made clear to the public -- that the Gosch-2-Gannon story may be valid.

Now, I have little problem with any of this; in checking out the info provided by his source, Rothstein has proceeded precisely as he ought.

Even so, I counsel caution. Leads are not evidence. The Gosch-2-Gannon theory has at least three serious strikes against it, and we've been given nothing to counter the counter-arguments. Rothstein's tale reminds me of the one told by Ted Gunderson, who also based his report on the word of a never-named informant -- whose information we are given no reason to trust.

Lots of people -- lots and lots of people -- have falsely claimed to work for one intelligence agency or another. And even if Rothstein's source presents verifiable bona fides -- what of it? Spies lie.

Ah, but now we come to the most intriguing question of all: Why would this source lie? Why (as I have elsewhere suggested might be the case) would someone mount a disinformation campaign intended to deceive researchers into accepting a false link between Gosch and Gannon?

A widespread obsession with an intriguing false theory may misdirect interested parties away from an equally intriguing reality. I advise the reader to scroll back to this post's opening -- particularly to my beast-with-one-back jape. The rest of the story should tell itself.