Mr. Cheney's duck hunt.

[MM_Dandy]

Well, KOS is a mythical creature and should be protected under the endangered species act. :)

Whether Cheney likes someone doesn't seem to be an issue. By all accounts I've seen, Cheney and Whittington considered each other as friends.

For those who are concerned about the delay in disclosing the accident to the media, may I ask why you are concerned? I'd also like to know how long you would consider an appropriate amount of time to wait to alert the press in this situation. Should Cheney have dropped his gun, picked up his mobile and called the AP?

And while they were technically hunting illegally, I'd hardly say that it points to nefarious intentions held by anyone in the hunting party. In the absence of the accident, had a game warden gone out to check their permits and limits, he would have most likely suggested that they purchase the permit at their earliest possible convenience. I'm not sure exactly what this particular permit contains, but I feel fairly confident that will go largely unenforced compared to limit violations, more general (and expensive) hunting license violations, hunting under the influence, etc.

[Animal]

Dandy,

I agree with your last statement about the legality, but not with your thoughts on the delay.

Cheney is a public figure. Moreover, he is a governmental figure. This means that every single thing he does is public information. That sucks, but that's the way it is. If a public figure does not like the scrutiny, they should stick with flipping burgers for a living.

This was an innocent hunting accident that would go completely unreport had it happened to Joe Sixpack. But because he is the Vice President of the U.S., its major news.

The proper response would have been for his PR people to issue a statement within a few hours saying that there was an accident. No large details other than that. All further questions could then be directed to the hospital and local sherrif. If he had done this the story would have blown over by now.

Hell, he could have even issued the first statement to the local paper instead of a major news outlet.

[Bill EE]

Animal is .... correct. The VP is a public figure and this was going to get out one way or another. Think about Bill Clinton - once word got out about the affair he should have wagged his finger and said - "I HAD sexual relations with that woman." It would have blown (pun intended) over sooner and a lot of problems would have be averted.

[Animal]

I don't think that this delay was really intended as a cover-up. I'm leaning more towards arrogance.

Be that as it may, I have another point about why he should have immediately said something: The press hates this Administration. They therefore have to fly straighter, dot every 'i' and cross every 't'.

(The Isle of Yap just announced the third national holiday of the year.)

[Мастер]

Think about Bill Clinton - once word got out about the affair he should have wagged his finger and said - "I HAD sexual relations with that woman." It would have blown (pun intended) over sooner and a lot of problems would have be averted.

I had the impression that this is basically what John Howard did in Australia, but I can't find anything through Google, so maybe I'm misremembering...

That which must come out eventually, must come out immediately, was also the advice Henry Kissinger gave to Richard Nixon. It would appear the latter did not take the advice...

[nicozine]

cnn says that Karl Rove had a press release ready to go within a few hours, but Cheney vetoed it cause he wanted to talk to the sherrif first. He didn't talk to the sherrif until the morning after the accident I guess. they said Rove wasn't happy about a delay. He probably was afraid it would get out by itself first.

[Lance]

Was the choice of the spelling "Quayle" deliberate?

Uh...

Yeah, yeah, I meant it that way.

Yup.

I sure did.

<shhhh>

[I Am He]

Everyone thinks it was an accident, but it was part of a master plan. If you don't believe me, look here.

http://www.watchersweb.com/submissions/ ... 7h6zf2.jpg

[RAF]

White House had prior knowledge of Cheney threat.

I just love the Onion...:)