Trigger happy Dick!

Well, tsk, tsk, isn't it great to see the mainstream media doing a wonderful job again? I'm talking about their endless fascination with Dick Cheney's hunting prowess that seems to pretty much reflect his M.O. in Iraq. "Just drop the fuckin' bombs, you're bound to kill something."

That's the beauty of a 24 gauge shotgun that splatters buckshot across the landscape. You don't have to be a marksman. Just pull the trigger and you're likely to hit something (or someone), even if you don't kill it (or him).

You gotta sure wonder what the hell is in it for Scott McClellan to go out there, day after day, and face the myopic MSM grillings. It's not that he's even proficient at spin and stonewalling. But he's sure getting practice squirming.

By day's end, I was extremely fatigued by the whole subject. But the administration's handling of Cheney's weekend adventure is much to blame for all the wild speculation that arose yesterday. And, in typical fashion of non-accountability, you have to love the way local law enforcement didn't even bother to investigate the incident right away--as they would have, had you or I pulled that shotgun trigger. Everybody knew it was an accident, the local sheriff said, as they went out the next day to take a look around.

Nor did the White House see it as anything particularly newsworthy. This also fits into typical White House M.O. Ignore it, maybe it'll go unnoticed, go away. Or when the shit finally hits the fan, it's impact will be diminished by time. And besides, waiting for 24 hours as they did, they'll avoid all those Sunday morning "Meet the Press" shows.

But as a result of the WH's complicit silence, there arose all kinds of wild speculation. Cheney had been drinking, he was drunker than a titmouse fallen in a vat of witches' brew. Cheney was angered at something Harry Whittington had said. Maybe Whittington was jumping all over the VP for his misguided misadventurism some of the speculations went. Cheney, in a moment of anger, shot the bastard, but kinda missed. (Or maybe it was just intended as a "warning" to Mr. Whittington.) Jesus, if the White House had only been more forthcoming, maybe all the wild talk of what really happened would never have arisen.

But the White House wasn't forthcoming. They stonewalled so the media ran with it, wondering what they were trying to hide. So we're left to suffer on with this, while the real crimes of Cheney are laid aside.

But the facts in review: Dick Cheney shot someone. As gun enthusiast, a long standing member of the National Rifle Association and well versed in gun safety, it was"obviously an accident". Authorities were slow to investigate. This was in Texas.

I wonder, what if something really bad were to happen to Cheney's victim, Harry Whittington? Say he were to die as a result of too much buckshot to the heart. Would Cheney be made to face manslaughter charges like you or I at least? And if filed, wouldn't it be ironic a war criminal responsible for the intentional deaths of tens of thousands of innocent folks and the torture of thousands more goes unpunished while he'd be charged for a hunting accident that unintentionally killed someone? Irony indeed! That'd be one weird freakin' Universe, wouldn't it?

Just drop the fuckin' bombs, you're bound to kill somebody.
Just pull the fuckin' trigger, you're bound to hit something.