Mary Matalin:First Cheney Statement for Press Did Not Admit He Was Shooter

[sabra]

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002035216

Mary Matalin: First Cheney Statement for Press Did Not Admit He Was Shooter

<snip>

Newsweek and Time magazines both put the vice president on their covers this week with lengthy, if not especially fresh, accounts of the shooting of Harry Whittington inside. Most major newspapers rehashed the episode in their Sunday papers. Cheney aide Mary Matalin accused NBC reporter David Gregory of going on a "jihad" gainst the vice president.

Buried in the Time cover story, however, was one brain-teaser that could fuel more speculation, as it contradicts earlier explanations that Cheney wanted to get the full story out, he was just a bit tardy about it. The passage reads:

"At about 8 a.m. Sunday, a Cheney aide called strategist Mary Matalin, who regularly advises the Vice President. The aide read her a statement about the accident that Cheney had considered releasing before he decided to encourage Armstrong to go to the (Corpus Christi) Caller-Times.

"But the statement 'didn't say much of anything,' Matalin says—not even that Cheney was the shooter. Matalin then spoke with a second aide and with Cheney's family and heard different versions of what had happened in the shooting. She decided no statement should be released amid the confusion. Matalin spoke with Cheney, and, she says, they agreed that 'a fuller accounting, with an eyewitness,' would be preferable."

[varkam]

1. Cheney being disingenuous?

I...I don't know....I mean...I'm just speechless...

[DawgHouse]

25. yeah, I know. It's just not possible!

:sarcasm:

[joemurphy]

2. It took at least 24 hours to determine that Whittington's wounds

were not self-inflicted.

[rodeodance]

3. and that bombed as Armstrong ws no eyewitness!--but papers don't

seem to grasp her contradictory statements.


....."But the statement 'didn't say much of anything,' Matalin says—not even that Cheney was the shooter. Matalin then spoke with a second aide and with Cheney's family and heard different versions of what had happened in the shooting. She decided no statement should be released amid the confusion. Matalin spoke with Cheney, and, she says, they agreed that 'a fuller accounting, with an eyewitness,' would be preferable."

[Sanity Claws]

4. because he was trying to get someone else to take the rap

He was trying to convince someone to come forward.

[rodeodance]

5. you mean Cheney was not so concerned about Mr. W--he was just

getting his story straight?

yes, i know--just jesting.

[RC]

9. Sure you are.

[tularetom]

6. Jeezus this stinks worse by the hour

I thought they had shitcanned Matalin but it looks like they brought the skank back and I'm glad. She is fucking this up just like she did with everything else. Christ what a nasty piece of work she is. She could fuck up a wet dream.

[anitar1]

32. And this is why I haven't a shred of faith in her husband,

James Carville. Can't stand the guy. Something very shady there, IMO.edit for spelling

[wtmusic]

7. Or he could tell the truth

just an idea.

[joeunderdog]

18. You idiot, he FORGOT! Haven't you ever forgotten where you

parked the car when you got out of a bar? A few beers, a little gun play, a chaser, and--poof--"what'd I do last night?" :sarcasm:

Just a simple blackout, that's all. :toast:

[izzybeans]

8. "Again, I apologize that my friend shot me in the face

and lied to everyone about it" replied Dick Licker Whittington to reporters. "You see I really think this whole thing is blown out of proportion. He's a good friend whose had my best interest at heart the whole time," he replied without the smallest hint at recognizing the tragic comedy.

[anitar1]

33. Whittington, whose wife is James Bakers sister. n/t

[Tanuki]

10. Fascinating!

I hope someone will grill Matalin about those "different versions" of what happened, and what was said by whom, and at what point they said it!

[teach1st]

11. Presumption of accident

"Then there was Mary's use -- twice -- of the bizarre term "presumption of accident," which was never explained, but which wouldn't be a bad slogan for the entire administration."

:silly:

[daleo]

12. Maybe they were waiting to see if Whittington would die

Before telling the press. Then they could have claimed it was a suicide.

[stevedeshazer]

13. Whenever Cheney digs up old Mary, they're in trouble

She's way past her prime days as a pundit.

She was just terrible on 'Meet the Press' today. But she's all they have now.

The more they talk about it, the worse it gets. This thing is blowing up 'big time'. (Pun intended)

[0007]

14. This is looking worse everyday. Either Cheney was drunk or

it was perhaps an attempt on Whittingham's life.

[truthisfreedom]

15. there's also the theory that the Ambassador to Switzerland was the shooter

and cheney covered for her to reduce the attention placed on his wife not being present, nor her husband. so if they were trying to figure out what to do about that, it could have taken more time and caused more confusion.

[goforit]

16. Cruela DeVille defends her Satan master.

:puke:

[PSPS]

17. "Welcome to the citrus industry, Mr. Rockford."

Obviously they were waiting to see if he died before putting out an "appropriate" story, if any at all. Was it a personal whack by Cheney gone bad? If he died, would they have claimed it was a "suicide?" Or would they have buried him out there so he could just "disappear?" Or would they have scribbled out a suicide note and lugged his lifeless corpse back to his car?

We're never going to know the truth about this. But I'm sure it's bad, whatever it is.

[DemBones DemBones]

19. DId you see that virago on Meet the Press today?

Russert let her monopolize the time, giving far less time to Maureen Dowd, David Gregory, and somebody from the WSJ whose name I've forgotten.

Mr. Bones and I were talking about what a nasty piece of work Matalin is and we concluded that, to be fair, Carville is so good because he's also nasty, but he's nasty in a funny way. Matalin is just nasty. I'm so glad she's a Republican.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[John Barrett]

21. We Need a Hundred More David Gregory's

Bush has made an example to White House press corps by ostracizing Helen Thomas because she asks tough questions. You ask tough questions and you will be neutered is the unspken threat. As a result they have been soft peddling questions. Maybe things have changed and the media have finally had it to here with the spin. What I'd like to see are a hundred more like Gregory who will go for the jugular (figuratively speaking) at every press conference instead of laying back on the administration. I'd like to see them cross examine the press secretary until he cries with frustration. Since 9-11 the US media have forgotten that their primary role is to make waves and separate the facts from the obvious spin of our elected leaders.

[DemBones DemBones]

23. Well said. nt

[DemBones DemBones]

24. Uh huh

:eyes:

[cboy4]

28. You need to send me some of that crack you're smoking

:sarcasm:

[Mr_Spock]

35. Haha - Freeper troll doesn't like to hear the truth!!

Not surprising - all you Freepers are a bunch of whining cowardly sissies who can't stand to hear the truth.

[Garbo 2004]

22. Not only that, didn't Cheney claim part of the reason for delay was to

make sure Whittington's family was getting accurate info about his condition? But Whittington's wife was with him at both hospitals. She and the family didn't need to get info from nonfamily members. Another load of crap from the Cheney bs brigade.

From cached google of local newspaper:

The group immediately headed for the scene, Love said.

"Before we reached it, the ambulance was coming out of the ranch," he said. "We tried to catch the ambulance, but didn't have enough steam to get the job done."

After changing vehicles, Bob Hixon, George Willeford and Merce Whittington headed for the hospital in Kingsville and then on to Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial, to which Whittington was airlifted, Love said. They called the ranch to report on his condition, which was not considered life-threatening.
http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:mp9hQgqkZKUJ:www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_4475005,00.html+Whittington%27s+wife+hospital+shooting&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=opera

[creeksneakers2]

26. Time also reported

that Bush had to lean on Cheney to get him to talk about it at all.

[ihelpu2see]

27. On Meet the Press, I don't believe anyone challenged her

quote about the common place of hunting accidents in Texas. In 2005 there were only 19!! She touted the long hunting season and said that accidents happen and this is why the police did not feel the need to question Cheney that day but I did not hear anyone bring up that accidental shootings are NOT common.

as a side note I do think this is a diversion from getting more heat on the White House for the NSA spying and the CIA Valerie Plame stuff.

[MagickMuffin]

29. Here's another article on the timeline

More Halliburton connections, besides Anne Armstrong's connections who got Dick his job there, we now have another participant Nancy Negley. Interesting:eyes:

This time the celebrity at the 50,000-acre Armstrong Ranch was Cheney, a regular visitor in quail season and a longtime friend, particularly to Armstrong's 78-year-old mother, Anne, a former counselor to President Gerald R. Ford and the first woman to serve as United States ambassador to Britain.

The other guests were Willeford, the ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and her husband, George, a physician in Austin; Ben Love, a West Texas rancher whom Armstrong called her "beau"; her sister, Sarita Hixon, a Houston museum chairwoman, and her husband, Bob, an insurance executive; Nancy Negley, an art philanthropist whose family once controlled Brown & Root, now a part of Halliburton; and Whittington, a 78-year-old Austin lawyer, Republican stalwart and presiding officer of the Texas Funeral Service Commission, and his wife, Mercedes.

http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2006/02/16/america/web.0216timeline.php

Another excellent article

The Rules of the Game by Sidney Blumenthal

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0218-26.htm

[madmark]

30. i have to tell you i dont give a shit about the hunting accident; I do

give a shit about about the fraudulent (or at best grossly negligent)misrepresentations that led to war with Iraq. Not a peep about that this week. Its amazing that our so called national press is at heart a tabloid bitch; they all might as well work for the National Inquirer because that is how they conduct themselves.

[GeorgeGist]

31. The victim has confessed...

what more do you need?

[Mr_Spock]

34. Wow, they agreed to tell just a little bit of truth??

Amazing, but not surprising - telling anything resembling the truth is real feat for these criminals.

[superconnected]

36. Everyday in everyway - lies lies lies yeah

[Robb]

37. So, since one or more people were lying

...the best plan they could muster was to keep clam.

Actually the first sensible thing I've read all day. Not excusable, but certainly makes sense with the crowd.

[Disturbed]

38. This incident is big because it displays the...

Bush Regime in a simple way to the masses. The Regime is secretive, arrogant, dishonest and corupt.

[Metta]

39. So she didn't mention his pathological traits of not being responsible and

for withholding/ suppressing information. Isn't that special? :sarcasm:

[yellowcanine]

40. I think an account from the shooter would be preferable to just an

eyewitness account - am I missing something? Why was there confusion? Cheney certainly knew he was the shooter, unless he was REALLY drunk. Actually it is starting to sound like he may have been drunk. Drunks have difficulty getting details straight. Maybe that was the problem, he was afraid he might give an account that didn't square with the physical evidence - hence he let Armstrong make the statement.