2008 Woodie Awards
Editor's Column: Cheney's accident
Samuel Narisi ’07
Issue date: 2/17/06 Section: Opinion
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On Saturday, while quail hunting in Texas, Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot his hunting companion, Harry Whittington, in the cheek, neck, and chest. Virtually all Americans are aware of this because of the flood of reporting of the incident in the media.
The incident certainly makes an interesting story. The vice president accidentally shot a man in the face. The story is in a way sad and shocking, though all reports have stated that Whittington is on his way to recovery, even after his shotgun pellet-related heart attack on Tuesday. At the risk of sounding insensitive, the incident, then, has a humorous bent to it; it is incredibly easy to write jokes about, or even simply laugh about it at face value.
After a few days, however, the news media continued to talk about it. Reporters, editorialists, and members of the general public have read further and further into the story. Questions are being raised about why the press wasn't notified of the accident until the next day. The incident has been cited as proof that Cheney is a careless and irrational leader, unconcerned with the safety of the American people. An editorial in today's Philadelphia Inquirer called the accident a metaphor for the Bush administration's tendency to "shoot first" and "blame someone else for your faulty aim."
This is taking it a little too far. Cheney and his staff neglected to formally announce the shooting, but they made no effort to cover it up, or dodge the issue when it was revealed. It was an accidental shooting - something there is always a risk of when groups of men or women gather with loaded guns to shoot at things that are moving. And while Cheney may deservedly be looked at as a bumbling oaf and a bad hunter, this was a private endeavor and not really related to any official government business. So while Cheney should have anticipated the criticism and made an immediate announcement, he shouldn't necessarily be help accountable for not doing so.
The incident certainly makes an interesting story. The vice president accidentally shot a man in the face. The story is in a way sad and shocking, though all reports have stated that Whittington is on his way to recovery, even after his shotgun pellet-related heart attack on Tuesday. At the risk of sounding insensitive, the incident, then, has a humorous bent to it; it is incredibly easy to write jokes about, or even simply laugh about it at face value.
After a few days, however, the news media continued to talk about it. Reporters, editorialists, and members of the general public have read further and further into the story. Questions are being raised about why the press wasn't notified of the accident until the next day. The incident has been cited as proof that Cheney is a careless and irrational leader, unconcerned with the safety of the American people. An editorial in today's Philadelphia Inquirer called the accident a metaphor for the Bush administration's tendency to "shoot first" and "blame someone else for your faulty aim."
This is taking it a little too far. Cheney and his staff neglected to formally announce the shooting, but they made no effort to cover it up, or dodge the issue when it was revealed. It was an accidental shooting - something there is always a risk of when groups of men or women gather with loaded guns to shoot at things that are moving. And while Cheney may deservedly be looked at as a bumbling oaf and a bad hunter, this was a private endeavor and not really related to any official government business. So while Cheney should have anticipated the criticism and made an immediate announcement, he shouldn't necessarily be help accountable for not doing so.