more questions about cheney

More on the Cheney shooting story. Apparently, nobody was drinking (I feel compelled to pass that on). And all joking aside, a hunting accident is not exactly a crime against the nation. (Condoning torture, shredding the Constitution with assertions of unchecked presidential power, starting wars based on faked intelligence -- THOSE are crimes against the nation.)

But there are curious elements to the Whittington shooting. First, the Secret Service turned away a local deputy on Saturday evening. Does the Secret Service's power extend to the point where they can keep away local law enforcement seeking to investigate an incident like this? Is the de facto Vice President immune to law enforcement? Apparently so... just as the President has unlimited power to spy on us and start wars, according to Darth Cheney.

Second, the way this was revealed -- by Katharine Armstrong, at the Armstrong family's instigation NOT Cheney's, to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times -- also shows who really wears the pants in the White House. The White House press people routinely reveal little mishaps that happen to Bush (bike accidents, near-death experiences with killer pretzels, barfing on a Japanese prime minister's lap (oops, wrong Bush), etc) but its press operation can't get Dick Cheney's permission to say that the Vice President of the United States of America just SHOT somebody? The Post says the Vice President's office acts "autonomously." That's a nice way to say that King Cheney feels beholden to nobody.

And now poor old Whittington has had a heart attack caused by a pellet near his heart!