It isn’t that Vice President Dick Cheney shot somebody during a quail hunt that is bothersome — of course it was just a hunting accident; they do happen, and more than people think they do. It’s that Cheney, this president (I can’t even bring myself to say his name), and this administration can’t seem to understand why there is such a bad reaction to it by the press.
 The accident happened Saturday afternoon, yet the press and the public at large wasn’t even informed about it until Sunday evening. And the only reason any of us was finally informed about it is because the owner of the ranch where the hunt took place told the local newspaper — word spread from there. When asked about this by the press, the Vice President’s office has no comment whatsoever, but what is even more absurd is that when the White House press office is asked, not only do they steer all inquiries to the Vice President’s office, but they claim that this has nothing to do with the President…
Nothing to do with the President?!
 The most involved vice president in American history, the guy who has the autonomy to delineate American policy when he sees fit, has nothing to do with the President?! This has EVERYTHING to do with the President. This isn’t just some guy who shot another person, this is the next guy in line of succession to the White House — and he’s bahaving this irresponsibily with a firearm. Need Proof? Cheney didn’t even have a hunting license when the accident occurred. If this was “just some guy”, there would have been a full on police investigation, at least a fine for not having a hunting license, and depending on what a formal law enforcement investigation would have found, a possible arrest on some small charge. When Scott McClellen makes assinine and ludicrous claims that this has nothing to do with the President, you know that this administration thinks we are stupid.
 Look, I’m not cynical enough to believe or claim that Cheney shot somebody on purpose, or that he has anything to hide thereof. This clearly was just a hunting accident. However, that these people sat on this for well over a day — A DAY — and then tried to stonewall and deny and spin — on something this benign, on an incident that is comical at worst and has nothing to do with ANYBODY’s life either directly or indirectly at best — is completely symptomatic of how it is this administration in general and this president in particular operates. This incident meant nothing to anybody as anything more than comedic fodder for stand-up comics and late-nite talk show hosts. Yet the Bush-Cheney-Rove P.R. machine went into overdrive. If there was ever an incident that beg for the truth from the start it was this, but these people wouldn’t know how to tell the truth to save their lives. Instead, instinct took over and they did what comes naturally to them: Deceive, deny, stonewall, cover up, lie and then spin.
 Of course, this is not surprising. They haven’t told the truth about anything that really matters. Why should we expect them to tell the truth about insignificant minutae? This administration is in its element when it operates in the shadows. They would rather we didn’t know anything about their activities, however benign they may be.
 daveydoug