Washington Reporters Press for Answers on Cheney's Misfire

[sabra]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001995823

Washington Reporters Press for Answers on Cheney's Misfire

NEW YORK Reporters at White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan's Monday morning press "gaggle" peppered him with questions about the 18-hour delay in any word emerging on Vice President Cheney's shooting incident in Texas on Saturday.

McClellan explained that the White House knew about the accidental shooting of a fellow hunter on Saturday night, but deferred to the vice president's office, which did not announce it. The vice president's office in turn deferred to Katharine Armstrong, the ranch owner in Texas where the shooting took place. She called a Corpus Christi reporter at midday Sunday and only then did the news come out.

...

In an online chat ongoing at the Washington Post site, the paper's White House reporter Peter Baker said reporters in D.C. are "flabbergasted" by the shooting.

"It sure woke up a lot of folks here in Washington on a quiet, snowy Sunday. Whether the story has legs I suppose remains to be seen." He said the delay question is "being asked a lot in Washington today...

[BlacknBlue in Red NC]

1. Yet another "delay (Delay?) question" hmmmmm

[Sugar Smack]

2. "peppered him with questions "!

LOL! :rofl:

[TerdlowSmedley]

3. The time delay is owing to the fact that Whittington had to first

be "rendered" to Syria for a little waterboarding until a promise was extracted from him not to badmouth Cheney to the media. Oh, yes, and he had to write out another big check.

[oldtime dfl_er]

4. oh well, hey, it's the victim's fault anyway

according to some press reports, anyway.

http://www.cafepress.com/scarebaby/936290

[warrens]

5. According to NPR this morning, Corpus Christi reported on Saturday

And the national wires either missed it or the White House talked them into sitting on it, IMO.

[HereSince1628]

9. Or is that an NPR cover-up? Last Thursday PBS gave Dick a pass

on the story he directed Libby to leak classified information on the News Hour.

Anyone got friends down in the Corpus area who can confirm this?

[rodeodance]

13. was it on the airwaves or press on Saturday?---why not till Afternoon on

Sunday. missing pieces here

[myrna minx]

6. OK so the Veep of the United States shoots a guy, and they're

not sure if the story has legs? :crazy: :crazy:

[lyonn]

18. Well, Cheney had to get his legs stable

Surely he had his flask with him. Most people frown on drunks shooting people. Twenty-four hours should sober up anyone. This was mention on this site yesterday and certainly makes sense. Once again we are treated like idiots. Surely if I shot someone on my property the press wouldn't wait for Me to announce it!

[Straight Shooter]

7. If Cheney had shot Whittington on October 31 of 2004 ...

We wouldn't have heard about it until the Friday news dump of November 5, 2004.

Is there anything the bush administration won't cover up? Anything at all?

[napi21]

8. Every excuse I've heard from them so far has been BS!

Some I've heard have been:

We decided to let Ms. Armstrong release the info to the Dalas new because she's more familiar with them!

We were most interested in the care of Mr. Wittington FIRST, and when he was stable, we informed the Press.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
I thin they fully intended to NEVER release this info, and I'd bet some little reporter in TX found the info on a hospital admission doc, or police report during the standard AM review of overnight happenings, Armstrong got tipped that the news was getting out, and they decided they better get some info out before the cover-up was discovered!

[MO_Dem]

23. I think you're right, napi

They intended to keep it secret! They didn't want anyone to know that Cheney is just as incompetent and untrustworthy as his (I use the word loosely) boss.

Do ya reckon that it's Dead-Eye Dick that's responsible for all the facial boo-boos that keep appearing on w's face?

[tularetom]

10. White House knew on Saturday night, but

deferred to the vice president's office? Guess this confirms everybody's suspicions about who really is in charge in this so called administration. The delay in releasing this information does not benefit bush but it sure helps cheney (gave them time to get stories straignt, pay off or threaten victim and witnesses, and for dick to sober up).

[CrazyOrangeCat]

14. yes. proof of who is running the machine.

[rodeodance]

11. so, does this mean the Tx reporters where told to keep quiet or were

they just sleeping?

[rodeodance]

12. and WHY did not the TX reporting report this?

[LizW]

15. WH sat on it until the story wasn't so bad

The WH knew on Saturday night. Whittington was shot at around 5:30 p.m., was taken to the local hospital, where he was evidently worked on for a while, then was flown by Lifesaver helicopter to Corpus Christi, arriving at 8:15 p.m. Went into surgery Sunday morning.

Just imagine the story CNN and the others would have had if they had gotten it Saturday night: Cheney Shoots Hunting Companion - Victim Flown by Helicopter for Surgery to Face and Chest.

No, they much preferred the story we got Sunday afternoon, that the old guy is fine, laughing and joking and the oh-so-compassionate Cheney is visiting with him.

There is NOTHING this WH won't manipulate to their political advantage.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

17. And definitely too late for a Breathalyzer. n/t

[ShortnFiery]

16. Shit! Now they call it a MISFIRE?!? He was shooting at a quail

he had sighted according to Madame Armstrong. They can't have it BOTH WAYS. :(

MISFIRE my ass!

[Ensalada]

19. the real surprise

Mainly I'm surprised that Dick pulled the trigger himself. Normally when there's shooting to be done, he sends poor folks and minorities to do the job.

[Timefortruth]

21. You raise an interesting point

Why didn't they get someone else to say they shot the guy? Dick's acceptance of responsibility is very strange.

[peacebird]

27. Welcome to DU Ensalada!

Have a welcome heart!

:hi:

[still_one]

20. who cares, why not ask questions about

the outing of a COVERT CIA AGENT, and Cheney's involvement

wire taps on U.S. citizens without a court order

the cutting of programs to people in the most need

The lies about Iraq that caused us to be there

The medicare prescription drug debacle

and this is just a sample

[MADem]

22. If the guy's condition is NOT SERIOUS, why is he still in the hospital?

It's Monday, he was shot by the VP on Saturday...hell, I know women who have babies and are sent home sooner! And I've known folks who have had pretty major surgeries and NEVER GO to the ICU...they go from recovery to a ward or a semiprivate or private room (depending on how rich they are). From the WAPO:

"It's not critical. It's not serious," Banko said at a morning briefing. He said admitting Whittington to the trauma-intensive care unit was "a fairly common procedure" for a patient hit by a spray of the small pellets.

"I don't know how much spray he has got," Banko said. "My understanding from the physicians is that after you get peppered, sometimes they need to do exploratory surgeries if it gets lodged in a little deeper. Sometimes it's tweezers."

Banko said he did not know when Whittington would be released.

No charges had been filed and reports on the incident were still pending Monday, said Sandra Guzman, secretary for Kenedy County Sheriff...The local prosecutor's office had not been contacted, said Carlos Valdez, district attorney for a three-county district that includes Nueces, Kleberg and Kenedy counties. He said his office would become involved only if an investigative agency found a hint of criminal wrongdoing or a dispute about the facts.

The accident was not reported publicly by the vice president's office for nearly 24 hours, and then only after the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported it Sunday. Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said the vice president's office did not tell reporters about the accident Saturday because they were deferring to the ranch owner to announce what happened on her property.

Hunting parties are not required to report accidents, said state Parks and Wildlife spokesman Tom Harvey. The state penal code requires people to report fatalities, which would be investigated by law enforcement....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/13/AR2006021300093_pf.html

What a load of hooey! You know darn well if this was Poorboy McAsshole hunting in the backyard of his pal's house, who happened to shoot one of his buddies accidentally, that the sherriff would be over there lickedy-split to haul Poorboy in for QUESTIONING, at the very least.

[NashVegas]

24. They Sound Like Jealous Girlfriends!

Geeeeeeezzzzzz.

[gizmo1979]

25. Do you ever wonder if he hates his job?

I know I couldn't take all the covering other peoples asses and getting hammered everyday.What a crappy job.

[aaronbees]

26. It's insane...

to see the complete abdication of responsibility to inform the press - "deferred to...." blah blah blah blah blah blah. Overall, I see this as a relatively minor incident (comparing it to other shenanigans) but it so clearly shows this administration's utter contempt for the public. Honestly, fiction couldn't come up with anything as good as this. Just insane ... and calculated.

[symbolman]

28. I wonder if there's any chance of those BBs

showing up on Ebay, because I'd sure bid on one, make a great ring - A DeadEye Dick necklace, whatever..

Be cool to own a piece of a major potential murder coverup by the most corrupt public official since Hitler :)

Who would have those BBs anyway?

Wonder if they're still around, as evidence or whatever?

[doc03]

29. Heard on Faux News of all places: Dead eye Dick didn't

have a bird hunting stamp, but no citation will be issued. If I was hunting without the proper permits I sure would have been fined.