The Shootist

Apologies to John Wayne for stealing the title to one of his greatest movies but I can't think of a better title to give the recent hunting mishap by Vice-President Cheney. This is, of course, not about Vice-President Cheney, but about the mainstream press. More specifically about the Washington D.C. press corps and their shoot from the hip, shoot off their collective mouths, and finally shooting themselves in the foot over a nothing story covering an accidental shooting while hunting.

The Washington press corps did not cover themselves in glory on this story. Mr. Cheney's first duty was to his friend. His second duty was to his friend, his friend's family and to the other people directly affected by the shooting. His last duty was to a self-indulgent group of professional gossips laughingly called the press. I say he handled this hunting accident in exactly the correct manner. The press was informed although I doubt that the press would have even cared if anyone other than this vice-president had been involved. If LBJ had a hunting accident in Texas, we certainly would never have heard from this press corps. If Mr. Kerry had a hunting accident we would have never heard anything about it.