Feeding Frenzy

Let’s start by acknowledging error. If someone is impacted by projectiles directed at something else, then an error has occurred. Let me further note that anyone who takes to the field hunting is responsible for the highest standards of gun safety. I’m a long time hunter and I’ve been fortunate enough to hunt with a number of good friends over the years. We’ve forged great friendships in the field and in the process no one has come away wounded. So, that being said, we can conclude that the Vice-President this past weekend made a mistake. Fortunately no one was seriously injured. In the classic political phrase of passive double-speak, “mistakes were made.”

But let’s now look at the media handling of this. This morning’s Dallas Morning Trash Bundler boasted the headline above the fold on page one: “Cheney Had No Stamp to Hunt Quail”! Read the frantic reportage and you learn that it has been discovered that neither the shooter nor shootee in this incident had the requisite $7.00 stamp on their otherwise valid hunting license to hunt quail in Texas. Yes, indeed folks, we’ve proof positive here of the level of corruption of the current administration. They willfully (or maybe inadvertently, since it’s almost impossible for the common Bubba to decipher hunting regulations) went afield to harvest incredibly valuable quail without a $7.00 tax stamp. Is this really front page news?

Or, maybe we should go to the “what did they know and when did they know it” mantra and ask what the motivation was for failure to report this to the media immediately. What were they trying to hide? But, if we read carefully, we learn that the Secret Service element accompanying the VP called the local sheriff within ten minutes of the incident. Report to local law enforcement in a timely manner? Sheriff said it seemed like exactly what it was—a hunting incident being handled properly with no criminal intent. Duly noted on the blotter.

So, who was hiding what and when were they hiding it? With the police notified, the victim in the care of medical facilities and the “crisis” apparently managed, the owner of the ranch calls the local newspaper and passes the word to the weekend journalism-student-phone-answerer-person. She reacts by calling the White House which responds to her call with what they know and the rest, as they say, is hysteria.

Cover-up? I don’t think so. Blow-up to mythic proportions? Apparently. How soon will we see the linkage to the East Coast blizzard? When will Cheney be asked to resign? Will Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer be demanding bans on shot-guns in the hands of senior administration officials?

One worries about the state of the Republic. What would Jefferson do?