VP Cheney Shoots Man

Truly a spoiled brat media.

As I said previously, the WH press corps is acting like they’re a legitimate branch of government that had to be notified according to law.

Below is an article that I believe illustrates the silliness well.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-2_16_06_TS.html

February 16, 2006
Spoiled Brat Media
By Thomas Sowell

The first revolt of the American colonists against their British rulers was immortalized by Ralph Waldo Emerson as “the shot heard round the world.” Vice President Dick Cheney’s hunting accident has now become the shot heard round the Beltway.

The accidental shooting of Harry Whittington, while he was on a hunting trip with Dick Cheney, has nothing to do with government policy or the Vice President’s official duties but the mainstream media have gone ballistic over it nevertheless.

They are also angry that the news was not given to them more quickly, which prevented it from becoming the feeding frenzy of the Sunday television talk shows. Whether this delay was deliberate or otherwise, it is being called a “cover-up” in the media, as if there were some crime to cover up.

NBC White House correspondent David Gregory was shouting at White House press secretary Scott McClellan, as if Mr. Gregory’s Constitutional rights were being violated. It was a classic example of a special interest demanding special privileges – as if they were rights.

There is nothing in the Constitution or the laws that says that the media have a right to be in the White House at all, much less to have press conferences.

This has become a customary courtesy over the years, but courtesy is a two-way street, except for those in the media who act like spoiled brats, as if they have some inherent right to whatever serves their institutional, career, or ideological purposes.

The media love to wrap themselves in the mantle of “the public’s right to know” but there is no such dedication to that right when it goes against the journalists’ own prejudices.

The public’s right to know what a “partial birth abortion” is has been consistently disregarded for years by whole networks, even when they have given wide coverage to abortion controversies. Whatever your position on abortions, you need to know what you are talking about but the media recognize no such “right to know.”

If you knew, you might not agree with them.

The same journalists who used phony documents to attack President Bush’s military service recognize no “right to know” why Senator John Kerry’s honorable discharge is dated long after his service was over and during the Carter administration, when less than honorable discharges were allowed to be upgraded to honorable.

The “public’s right to know” apparently extends only to such things as will not cause the public to reach conclusions different from those of the liberal media.

My favorite press secretary was Margaret Tutwiler, who treated reporters like misbehaving little boys, which is how they often acted. Nor were the reporters’ antics due solely to personal boorishness.

They had before them the example of Dan Rather and Sam Donaldson, who reached the big time on TV by being snotty to Presidents. At the very least, White House correspondents can get more time on the tube by waxing indignant at what they choose to portray as violations of “the public’s right to know” while the cameras are rolling.

An off-duty incident in Dick Cheney’s private life has been hyped in the media as if it had some real significance for more than a quarter of a billion Americans.

The media want to know when was President Bush informed about this incident? What did the White House press secretary know and when did he know it?

The people who mattered – doctors and local law enforcement – were informed immediately about the hunting accident. What was President Bush supposed to do – other than provide the media with something to print or broadcast?

The media are so full of themselves – among other things that they are full of – that they act as if the government exists to provide them with something to publicize. The time is long overdue to put these people in their place. Where is Margaret Tutwiler when we need her?

The New York Times informs us solemnly that, if Mr. Whittington dies, there will be a grand jury investigation.

If Mr. Whittington is so uncooperative as not to die, there will be much disappointment and frustration in Beltway media circles.

[quote]dermo wrote:

I agree that he has no obligation to call CBS. But there is some disagreement about when he was interviewed by police. This is from the Washington post:

The Washington Post reported on February 14:

Local law enforcement officials did not interview Cheney until Sunday morning, about 14 hours after the shooting, in an agreement worked out between the Secret Service and Kenedy County Sheriff Ramon Salinas III. Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren said at least one deputy was turned away shortly after the shooting because security personnel at the ranch were not aware of the agreement between the sheriff and the Secret Service.

[/quote]

Here is the sheriff’s story:

http://caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_4471795,00.html

Decisions on inquiry are his own, official says

Salinas based his actions on witnesses who he trusts

By NANCY MARTINEZ Caller-Times
February 16, 2006

SARITA - The Kenedy County Sheriff’s Department feels at home with the Secret Service and the powerful people who go hunting on the Armstrong Ranch, but is out of its comfort zone with the media circus that the hunting accident involving Vice President Dick Cheney has attracted.

Sheriff Ramon Salinas III said no one in the federal government has told him or his deputies how to do their job. He was the one who decided not to go to the ranch to investigate until Sunday, the day after Cheney shot and wounded Austin lawyer Harry Whittington on a quail hunt. Salinas based the decision on witness accounts and advice from people on the ranch he knows and trusts, including a former sheriff.

“Everybody’s been saying there’s a cover-up from the time they heard about this,” he said. “That is not true.”

Salinas said he was barbecuing with his family at 5:30 p.m. Saturday when he received a call from sheriff’s Capt. Charles Kirk.

“He told me he heard of a possible hunting accident on Armstrong Ranch,” Salinas said.

Minutes later, Salinas got a call from a U.S. Secret Service agent.

“He said the reason he was calling was to officially notify the sheriff’s department that the vice president was involved in that shooting accident.”

Soon after, Salinas said, Kirk called him from the Armstrong Ranch gate. He told him he was there with a U.S. Border Patrol agent who didn’t know what was going on.

“I told him don’t worry about it. I’ll make a call,” Salinas said.

Salinas called Precinct 3 Constable Ramiro Medellin Jr., a former sheriff who lives on Armstrong Ranch and works as a ranch hand. Medellin called Salinas back and confirmed the incident was an accident.

It was at this point that Salinas decided to wait until the next morning to send Chief Deputy Gilberto San Miguel Jr. to investigate.

“We’ve known these people (witnesses) for years. They are honest and wouldn’t call us, telling us a lie,” Salinas said. “I talked to an eyewitness who said it was a definite accident. We knew Mr. Whittington was being cared for.”

He told a Secret Service agent who called him that he would send San Miguel to the ranch at 8 a.m. Sunday.

Interviewing cheney

San Miguel arrived at the Armstrong Ranch gate shortly after 8 a.m. After he reported to the Main House, his vehicle was inspected - a regular protocol on the ranch.

Then, he parked and was escorted by a Secret Service agent to meet Cheney.

“I was introduced to Mr. Cheney and I sat down and spoke to him about what had happened. I can tell you Mr. Cheney cooperated with me and explained everything,” San Miguel said, refusing to go into detail about the 30-45 minute interview.

“I could tell he was still upset. He was very, very upset. He came, shook my hand and told me he was willing to cooperate with whatever I needed.”

Mutual respect

Salinas and San Miguel said the Secret Service has utmost respect for their department, a relationship that has been refined through the years, through the vice president’s visits to the area.

“They don’t treat us like a backdoor police department, like someone under them,” Salinas said.

Salinas said Cheney visits yearly and his department is contacted to assist with the motorcade.

“It’s a multi-departmental effort,” Salinas said. “It is DPS, Kleberg County, Border Patrol and us. We all help as a courtesy. They’ve (Secret Service) always told us they can’t do this without our help.”

Salinas said the same courtesies were afforded to “Daddy Bush” during his hunting visits. Others get courtesy services as well, San Miguel said.

“When undocumented immigrants’ lives are at stake we escort the ambulance to the hospital. When people die, we do the funeral escort. We don’t charge for these services.”

The investigation

San Miguel said the case was not investigated as a criminal incident. He also noted that there were no 911 calls or radio transmissions between dispatchers and deputies because the calls went to the sheriff’s home.

San Miguel and Lt. Juan Guzman interviewed Whittington at Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial on Monday, San Miguel said. He wouldn’t divulge details of that interview until the report was complete but said Whittington was in good spirits.

Salinas and San Miguel said no one told them not to make details of the incident public, nor were they told how to investigate.

The department has not released an incident report, but will do so, Salinas and San Miguel said. The crush of national media has slowed the department, they said.

“We’ll get it, it just takes time,” San Miguel said, adding that normally no details are divulged until the report is complete. “We want this report to be accurate.”

Media frenzy

“We’re just everyday small town people. We aren’t used to this attention,” San Miguel said as he and Salinas took a toll of the open records request faxes and phone call messages from the nation’s largest media outlets: CNN, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, ABC News, and several others.

The calls from the media have been non-stop, they said. One business contact said it took her five hours to get an open phone line, San Miguel said. There are two phone lines at the department.

“It’s been overwhelming for us,” San Miguel said.

“They don’t want to believe it’s just an accident,” Salinas said.

San Miguel and Salinas walked from their office to the empty front lobby, both taking a look from left to right.

San Miguel caught himself and laughed, remembering the mob of reporters who camped at the department Monday.

“See, we’re even looking for them now.”

Contact Nancy Martinez at 886-3794 or HYPERLINK mailto:matinezna@caller.com matinezna@caller.com

[quote]The continued bitchy behavior of the WH press corp just shows that they are indeed the enemy of Bush’s admin and he has been dealing with them correctly since day one.

The WH press corp has let down the country with their bitchy behavior.[/quote]

Oh yes, the world is much better served if the media is sucking the dick of the white house staff members and acting as sycophants.

It would be incredibly horrible if they held anyones feet to the fire and searched for stories of import to share with is.

You expect them to simply be zombies and accept everything they are told? Get a fucking clue as to what the role of the media is…

[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Because it was an accident. I suppose you’re referring to Clinton in your post (although you are an enigma to me). The White House is OUR house. The man came into our house and had a blowjob there. Do you want him coming into your house and doing that?

An accident is not the same as intentional behavior. If the VP intentionally shot the guy, sure, it would be big news. Emptying your balls on an interns dress is not an accident (unless Bill’s got a little trouble in the premee dept).

The Democrats and their cronies in the media are making jackasses of themselves to the American people.

[/quote]

Using your own logic, how does this trump people dying all over the world? There were many other countries that couldn’t even understand what the big deal was as far as Clinton and a blowjob. If there are more important world matters…and this isn’t even the first time a president has banged and outside woman (going all of the way back to Thomas Jefferson…or as I like to call him, Great great great great great great grand-dad)…then why such a big deal?

[quote]vroom wrote:
The continued bitchy behavior of the WH press corp just shows that they are indeed the enemy of Bush’s admin and he has been dealing with them correctly since day one.

The WH press corp has let down the country with their bitchy behavior.

Oh yes, the world is much better served if the media is sucking the dick of the white house staff members and acting as sycophants.

It would be incredibly horrible if they held anyones feet to the fire and searched for stories of import to share with is.

You expect them to simply be zombies and accept everything they are told? Get a fucking clue as to what the role of the media is…[/quote]

I understand the role of the media. They are supposed to report the truth as best they are able in an unbiased manner and try to maintain a little dignity for themselves and their subjects.

They don’t do that very well. They are fucking vultures and often digust me.

This has nothing to do with sitting still and doing what they are told.

They need to get off their ass and do their jobs.

Why wasn’t a reporter at or just outside the ranch?

They cannot assign a man to follow Cheney around?

He is arguably the most powerful VP in the history of our nation and they expect him to report his comings and goings to them instead of the other way around.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
Because it was an accident. I suppose you’re referring to Clinton in your post (although you are an enigma to me). The White House is OUR house. The man came into our house and had a blowjob there. Do you want him coming into your house and doing that?

An accident is not the same as intentional behavior. If the VP intentionally shot the guy, sure, it would be big news. Emptying your balls on an interns dress is not an accident (unless Bill’s got a little trouble in the premee dept).

The Democrats and their cronies in the media are making jackasses of themselves to the American people.

Using your own logic, how does this trump people dying all over the world? There were many other countries that couldn’t even understand what the big deal was as far as Clinton and a blowjob. If there are more important world matters…and this isn’t even the first time a president has banged and outside woman (going all of the way back to Thomas Jefferson…or as I like to call him, Great great great great great great grand-dad)…then why such a big deal?[/quote]

Of course it doesn’t ‘trump’ it Professor. It’s just that this is a triviality, much more so than the antics in the White House by Clinton.

I don’t attach world-shaking importance to either event though. Why did you think I did? The shooting should be on page 22, Clinton’s antics on page 3. So what? I’d grill both of these guys, asking what their doing to alleviate real problems, instead of this bullshit.

you need to check your definitions a little bit better for impeachment…clinton was impeached.

[quote]I understand the role of the media. They are supposed to report the truth as best they are able in an unbiased manner and try to maintain a little dignity for themselves and their subjects.

They don’t do that very well. They are fucking vultures and often digust me. [/quote]

You do realize that any information coming out of the White House is almost by definition pre-spun?

Anyway, decrying them for not acting honorably enough is kind of funny. Like anyone acts honorably in this day and age.

Maybe we should be looking somewhere other than the press if we want to find boring examples of simple honorable behavior?

bumper sticker mentality

I’d rather hunt with Dick Cheney
Than ride with Ted Kennedy