The mess regarding the VP's shooting of a prominent Republican
at Texas ranch is emblamatic of the Bush spin machine gone haywire. Secrecy leading to misinformation leading to confusion all courtesy of their patented fog machine.
The first line of defense was to lay low in the high grass. The only reasonable thought here was they hoped that the injuries were minor and Whittington would be discharged by the time they had Armstrong release the info on the shooting the next day.
The second line of defense was Armstrong's statement that followed I'm sure Rove's line: it was the victim that was accountable for his own shooting and minimize the matter- sort of "blame the bird" and we all get shot some time. This of course collapsed with the reporters finally talking to unbiased hunters about the ultimate responsability of the hunter to know where his party is at all time and the he/she is totally accountable for making sure what he shooitng. The citation Cheney got from the Texas agency that regulates this hunt which cited only the hunter for incident didn't help their cause.
The third line was most rediculous by controlling the words used: they insisted it was not a shooting becuase that implied a bullet which would be inaccurate. They tried to subsitutate (ala Armstrong) "a peppering" which didn't catch on. This also failed sadly.
The fourth line of defense was that this was a funny incident. This fell apart when Mr. Whittington suffered a heart attack as a direct result of one of the pellets lodging in his heart.
What was at stake with all this BS? The concept or image of Cheney as the ultimate sportman who really knows the finer points of western manhood especially hunting with a gun. This kind of man doesn't make mistakes. The whole incident was wrapped around this phony image. They deserve all the scrutiny they get as they bring more "honor" to the White House.
Their luck is running out and we hope the best for Harry Whittington.