Left-leaning blogs have been fairly unanimous
in condemning DIck Cheney, Scott McClellan and other Bush
administration officials for their handling of the Harry Whittington
shooting. Right-leaning blogs have revealed a split in the conservative
forces between those who support the assertion that this is
Whittington’s fault that he got shot and Cheney has nothing to
apologize for versus those who, at a minimum, express concern
with the Bush administration’s handling of the matter with others
speculating on the potential impact on the GOP and gun rights.
I recommend to you Alphecca’s blog
(first linked from Instapundit) for a Red State-flavored argument among
experienced hunters on the topic. It mirrors much of the discourse here
in DC with many conservative hunters questioning the facts with others
supporting the Vice President. Generally speaking, one hunter shooting
at another hunter is seen among
many outdoor sportsmen as often at best, incompetent and/or drunken
shooting and at worst, a malevolent action — a firearm Freudian slip.
Thus, some blogs are speculating on whether or not alcohol use had any role to play in the accident.
The blogs are also buzzing about the paper at the center of the accident, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Today, an avid hunter used a paper target to simulate the impact of taking a load of birdshot at 30 yards. Check out the results.
Bloggers are questioning the true severity, particularly post-cardiac
event, of the victim’s injuries. Look for this line of speculation to
continue in the blogs.
Excerpt: "We can pretty much see that at least over 200
BBs have touched this area right here," [George] Gongora said, motioning to the
face and torso area of the target.
Yesterday, the Smoking Gun’s publication of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept report
in which blame is placed squarely on the shooter with only light cover
noted was a popular topic of analysis among bloggers on the long tail.
Bob Cesca at the Huffington Post has an even more spicy rumor that part of the delay in reporting the shooting centered on the potential nature of the hunting party entitled "Was Cheney hiding his Lewinsky"?
2 single women (1 linked to Cheney), 1 single man — plus Dick Cheney.
It may be one explanation why Lynne Cheney, who is often brought out
into the public eye to soften her husband’s image, has not been visible
to date on this issue. For example, one scenario might involve Mrs.
Cheney visiting Whittington’s family in person and hold press
conferences from Corpus Christi. Yet that’s not how the story has
unfolded thus far.
The rumors are flying quick and thick in the air here in Washington
D.C. Essentially Dick Cheney is rumored not to care what other people,
particularly journalists, think and refused Karl Rove’s proposed master
strategy for damage control, choosing to handle the issue out of his
office. Cheney hasn’t given a press conference in years. Comparisons in
the blogs to Sen. Ted Kennedy and a certain car accident some years
abound. Like Kennedy, it seems likely this incident may shadow Cheney
the rest of his life.
The trouble with Dick is that any open press conference featuring
him carries the threat of difficult questions for Cheney, such as his
insistence (despite mounting evidence to the contrary) that Iraq had
WMDs and that Saddam Hussein was directly linked to Al Qaeda, Katrina
and Homeland Security’s failures, domestic wiretapping, Scooter Libby’s
leak and who authorized it, his stance on torture and so on. The
Washington Post led the online version of the paper today with a
revealing article that implies that only direct orders from George W. Bush would result in a press appearance starring his Number 2.
Stay tuned for the blogs’ reaction to Cheney’s Fox News appearance today…Here’s an MSNBC article that expands on the theme of bloggers and Dick Cheney.
