Posted on 02/21/2006 4:07:48 PM PST by Luis Gonzalez
"I thought the vice president handled the issue just fine." — George W. Bush, Feb. 16, 2006
"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." — George W. Bush, Sept. 2, 2005
Some of us have always thought of Dick Cheney, vice president of the United States, former secretary of defense, industrial magnate and general mover-and-shaker, as The Brains of the Outfit.
We still do, but intelligence isn't everything in a leader. Or even the most important thing — like judgment or honesty or prudence or modesty or, well, name your own favorite character trait. Lest we forget, the smartest people can do the stupidest things. (Cf. The Hon. William Jefferson Clinton.)
It's become almost a Washington mantra since Watergate: What really gets a politician into trouble isn't the mistake, even a serious mistake, but how it's addressed afterward — promptly or tardily, candidly or evasively, well or badly enough to amount to a far more serious mistake, as in cover-up.
Dick Cheney now has stepped forward (finally) and taken responsibility, full responsibility, for firing first and looking afterward on that quail hunt, or maybe looking simultaneously, which can be just as dangerous. That's good.
But he's still sticking with his story about its being perfectly proper to wait till the next morning to let the country know that a vice president of the United States has shot a friend in a hunting accident. Even though presidential counselor Dan Bartlett and the president's press secretary, Scott McClellan, both advised him to get the story out — widely — as soon as he could. But the best advice is of no use if one doesn't take it, and the vice president didn't. .
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
We may just have to disagree. But think it through for a minute...
Which story would you rather have out there? The story about when Vice President Cheney should have informed David Gregory or the story about Cheney being arrogant, reckless, and probably drunk?
Remember, you have to pick one.
No matter what, the howler monkeys in the MSM are not going to let Cheney skate. They have wanted to bring him down since Florida 2000, and before.
OK, Hotshot... Which will it be?
You and I both knmow what this forum would have been saying, and it wouldn't have been "B".
Cheney wasn't.
In other words -- that horse looked ok (well, other than being kinda dead) to me. What was wrong with that posting?
I think it's great that the MSM is on this false flag of a story........Presstitutes just keep chasing their tail in fine form !
This is what should have happened.
White House press announcement:
The VP accidentally shot a friend.
The friend is in stable condition.
The Cheney family, along with the President and Mrs. Bush send their best wishes to the Whittington family, and will keep Harry on their hearts and prayers, asking for a full and speedy recovery.
They ask that all Americans do the same.
We will keep you posted.
(end of announcement)
Trust us not to believe the media, and let us pray along with you Mr. Cheney.
Dick shot Harry. It's aweful, it sucked, and I'm glad is was not me. Lord know, it could have been, all the times I went out and did silly things with my friends. With guns, too.
But, but, but...he did get the story out and everyone knew it. Just because the MSM was not involved in the press release to a local paper and there was a delay of sorts is no real reason for the MSM to start criticizing. The writer at JWR might look around for more productive day job.
Sorry, I gotta agree with "gridlock". Anything that screws the MSM, particularly the WH Press Corp (after the way they have acted), is perfectly fine with me. "Brilliant" is a good word.
gotta keep this story alive.
I think I can ask you a question and get an honest answer.
If this had been 1998 instead of 2005, if the shooter had been Al Gore instead of Dick Cheney, and if everything else about this story remained exactly the same...what would the majority of the people in this forum, you and I included, be saying?
A) COVER UP!!!
-- I'd say about 20-25% of the FR posters of that day would have overreacted, -- lead by silly rabble rouser's like Navigator; Mojo; go bill go; -- types like that..
B) No big deal...nothing to see, move along.
-- 75-80% of FReepers back then were gun savvy hunting types who would have scoffed at a simple hunting accident being blown out of proportion.
Am I the only one who thinks that later tis year Cheney will retire for medical reasons and Rice will be appointed.
Cheney could not have improved his friend's medical care in the ICU, in fact he would almost certainly have been denied admittance. The many security personnel surrounding Cheney would have disrupted normal hospital operation. Had Cheney and his entourage gone to the hospital, they might well have been asked to leave. Also, Cheney's security team would certainly object to him visiting a location that they had not examined and secured beforehand.
So, the best answer to your question is B. Cheney did the right thing.
So they and they alone can TELL us the "truth." First. Best.
Pure and simple, the story got out WITHOUT their spin and they're mad as hell about it.
They ate dinner; it was hardly a "dinner party with friends."
Whittington was going to be fine, regardless. His condition was not that dire.
At the very least, there was a competing story out last week about how the press corps was out of control. That has to be a good thing.
Your course would not have resulted in a more sympathetic response from the White House Press Corps. They want Cheney's blood, and always have. Any weakness or vulnerability would have been exploited to the utmost.
Frankly, I don't care who the VEEP shoots, as long as he does it by accident. I don't need to know within the first six hours.
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