A Study in Damage Control

I just watched Scott McClellan brief the press corps about Dick Cheney's shooting incident. Sometimes I feel so sorry for that guy, being shoved out on the front line with no ammunition. Here are some questions that remain unanswered or unasked:

Why did attending to Whittington's medical needs consume so much of Dick Cheney's time, as well as the members of the hunting party? So much so that no one could communicate to the White House until Sunday morning that Cheney was not shot? The only persons notified of the incident on Saturday were Andy Card, Karl Rove, and Bush; and even then weren't told who the shooter was? Scott McClellan said something to the effect of "Information came slowly as the situation developed."

What needed to develop before Card/Rove/Bush could notify the Press Office? Kudos to David Gregory for asking this one, "Did Cheney not know he had shot someone? What was developing beyond that?"

Who is the fourth person in the hunting party that Scott McClellan at this hour cannot name? Could it be Cheney's personal physician? It's a safe bet considering his condition. Did Cheney's personal physician do anything unethical? Did he try to treat Whittington without seeking additional medical help, so as to avoid any unfortunate news stories?

Was Dick Cheney drunk?

Why did Cheney decide that the Ranch owner should break the story to a local paper the next morning? Who does he think he is, the head of the local school board? None of this makes any sense whatsoever.

Notice that basically no one at the White House knew anything until Sunday morning... therefore they are not responsible for the cockamamie gobbledygook - that's for the Vice President's office to explain. Notice there was no statement from the Vice President's office, nor a representative at the press conference to field questions. Notice that the responsibility of answering questions the White House should have been prepared for, is put on the reporters once again.

It's just another version of "The White House will not comment on an on-going investigation" and "I'm not going to allow you to conduct a fishing expedition" and "This President doesn't believe in looking back."

It makes you wonder how we would have found out if he had been killed... it makes you wonder what the Republicans would be saying if a Liberal had done this, "This is who you want defending your COUNTRY??" It makes you wonder when the only statement from Whittington is, "I won't be commenting on this to the press out of respect for Cheney." What? Not even a humorous anecdote to prove you're not mad? Boy, wouldn't that go a long way to smoothing this over! But strangely, he's already decided that no one needs to hear his account of the incident.

There hasn't been so much secrecy in our government since Nixon. Or the X-Files. I'm beginning to think that Whittington was seriously injured and his survival was in question for many hours. We will find out in the coming weeks. Local police are being questioned and Whittington will be released when he is well enough to leave. If it's simply a matter of digging buckshot out of his hide, he should have been released by now. If he's not released by tomorrow, I think it will be safe to infer that his injuries are pretty severe.

Or, they all saw a UFO.