Buckshot Cheney
Rant Time!
Duck.
Before I get into the meat of the rant, let me just say that I understand the nature of the U.S. News media. I understand on a conceptual level why the Today Show can bring on a victim of the Columbine Shooting and still expect it to be relevant.
That being said, why the hell is the Cheney hunting accident still in the news?! Beyond the initial news break and possible short update on Harry Whittington's condition. Instead we get stuff like this:
Secret Service agents say Cheney was drunk when he shot lawyer
By DOUG THOMPSON
Feb 22, 2006, 07:35
A written report from Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Dick Cheney when he shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington on a hunting outing two weeks ago says Cheney was "clearly inebriated" at the time of the shooting.
Agents observed several members of the hunting party, including the Vice President, consuming alcohol before and during the hunting expedition, the report notes, and Cheney exhibited "visible signs" of impairment, including slurred speech and erratic actions, the report said.
According to those who have read the report and talked with others present at the outing, Cheney was drunk when he gunned down his friend and the day-and-a-half delay in allowing Texas law enforcement officials on the ranch where the shooting occurred gave all members of the hunting party time to sober up.
Etc.
Please note the date. Today. Wednesday. Almost two weeks after the incident in question. The worst part of all of this seems to be the fact that the media is blowing thing out of proportion because they were snubbed. The biggest part of this news story seems to be that the media didn't get to it in a reasonable amount of time. It took fourteen hours for the story to break. Fourteen hours. It wasn't too long ago when the media was happy to get a story in fourteen hours. Then the media jumped down Cheney's throat, something I wish they would have done about his connections to Haliburton or any number of other questionable things that the VP has been involved in. They accused him of trying to hide the truth and launched a full scale effort to find some more incriminating material like the above article stating that he was drunk. Fortunately for us, an 12 year old has seen through the media blitz. In one of the most salient points that has been in the media in the last two weeks, I give you the point of view of a girl from Charlotte, NC.
Dani Wheeler, 12, Grandview Middle School, : I don't think they should be criticizing him for what he did because he is just a person and we make mistakes. Plus if it were an nonfamous person than no one would care about the incident. I strongly believe that the situation has been blown out of proportion.
From the Charlotte Observer
posted on Tue, Feb. 21, 2006
Thank god for children.
I would go on but I don't think I need to. The media has made an ass of itself in a way that rivals what John Stewart did to Crossfire a few years back. And that's ultimately where the problem is. The Media has taken the story and run with it and the rest of the world is just sitting back a laughing.
Written in Hate.
Lyrinoir
