Cheney shooting that guy

When I first heard about this, I thought it was kind of funny. Cheney seems to hunt alot but sometimes it seems that maybe he is a little too zealous a hunter. First it was hunting with Scalia, the justice who was hearing a case he was involved in, causing a bit of political fallout for both of them. Now, he's shooting his own party allies. Imagine what would happen if a democrat went along with him?

Then, the event snowballed into an overblown scandal. It turns out sneaky Dick delayed informing the press and the president of what actually happened and in the confusion in the day or so after the accident, we are reminded once again the Veep is truly playing by his own rules. I really don't like his assumption that he need not be accountable for his actions as a vice president but that attitude as a private citizen when someone gets hurt as a result of his negligence is the height of being an arrogant asshole.

The miscommunication made the event more newsworthy than it ever should have been. Attempting to smooth things over, poor Scott McLellan ends up placing blame on the man who was shot invoking the fury of experienced hunters. Public skepticism over the details of the incident are making the rounds of hunting circles and even die-hard republican hunters are unhappy with Cheney's role in the accident and attitude following it.

When an experienced hunter shoots a fellow shooter in what is a tragic but avoidable accident it is ultimately his fault (according to hunting protocol, the one doing the shooting is at fault, the exception being when the guy getting shot was wearing a deer costume). Dick however, apparently can't accept the blame for anything he does as a private citizen or a politician. The NRA is strangely silent on the issue, though they are normall all too happy to point out how guns should properly be used in such situations. If they remain silent, whatever notion of non-partisanship they can claim with a straight face would be blown away like a quail in a burst of machine gun fire.

I thought shooting your self was something the democrats excelled at. The administration was supposed to be the one with control over their communications and message, instead, they bungled it badly, allowing a simple mishap to become a major issue. My advice would be to curtail Cheney's hunting trips lest any more damage come as a result. It's all fun and games until someone loses an office.

UPDATE:
Dead-Eye Dick did finally go in front of a camera and take responsibility so good for him. However, the matter is still clouded by the weak notification and some questions about how much he had to drink that day. The initial press release by the Ranch manager stated that there was no drinking going on but Cheney himself admitted to having a beer at lunch. A popular theory I heard on the radio this morning was that he held off on the notification because he had been drinking and needed to keep that mum. Drinking and handling firearms is another huge no-no for hunters, some consider it worse than drinking and driving.