OK, I’ll have to weigh in on the Cheney hunting fiasco.
Let’s have some real perspective here. I can’t be the only one who thinks the reason this is such a major story is because the White House Press Corps has a knot in their collective shorts because the story was given first to a local paper. Yes, Cheney could have handled the public disclosure better. No question about it, his team behaved like a bunch of amateurs during the whole mess (and are still behaving that way, for all I can tell). A statement should have been released sooner, they should have realized the only way to have any influence on the coverage would be to get out in front of it, not try to hide from it. As soon as I heard the outrage in the question “Why did you give it to the local paper?” I knew this was going to happen. The pack was offended at being passed over, and was out for punishment.
Hence the snarling wolfpack attacks, and in their bloodlust many other, far more important issues, will be ignored. I mean, who cares about the economy, or dead soldiers, or any of those other issues? We got scooped by a local newspaper, and we’re going to have our revenge.
Cheney himself isn’t blameless. Obviously he’s forgotten everything he might have been taught about hunting safety. At the very least his hunting license should be taken away from him, and he should be barred from getting another until he can show proof he’s taken a refresher course. I’d even be tempted to let that be it, if I thought it’d have any effect, but since he was already hunting without a license, I doubt those measures would be enough.
I think also a criminal investigation should commence. In any hunting accident, the first fact that needs to be determined is that it is, in fact, an accident. Or was there a reason Cheney might have wanted his erstwhile buddy out of the way? Cheney’s part in this accident should be investigated, determined, and treated the same way other such hunting accidents are treated.
And that’s the main point. Once it’s determined whether it actually was an accident, The Vice President’s position should not protect him from whatever consequences an ordinary citizen might get. Hunting accidents aren’t at all rare, we have lots of experience and precedents for how they should be handled. (Don’t believe me? Here are some examples, from my own state.) Celebrities of all stripes have given and received injuries while hunting. (If it hadn’t have been for a hunting accident, Lance Armstrong might still be chasing Greg Lemond to make his mark as most dominant Tour rider. That’s one example that pops immediately to mind. Yes, Armstrong won the Tour after survivng cancer; but remember, Greg Lemond won it while still carying thirty shotgun pellets in his body because it was more dangerous to remove them than to leave them there.)
I just wish the press corps would get over themselves and devote at least some part of the energy they’re wasting on venting their outraged pride on seeing justice is done, that the Veep gets treated the same way as any other hunter involved in a non-fatal incident.