Recent
Cheney hunting accident over-hyped
Sean Cocca
I love the media. They
always seem to take a relatively simple story and blow it completely out of proportion.
It happens
all the time. Look at Vice President Dick Cheney’s terrible hunting accident
when he shot his friend and hunting partner, 78-year-old lawyer Harry Whittington,
in the face, neck and chest with birdshot.
According to Katharine Armstrong, one of the owners of the ranch where Cheney
and Whittington were hunting quail, Whittington shot at a quail and went to go
look for it while Cheney went on looking for more quail. In Armstrong’s
own words, Whittington “came up from behind the vice president and the
other hunter and didn’t signal them or indicate to them or announce himself.”
She then went on to tell The Associated Press, “The vice president didn’t
see him. The covey flushed and the vice president picked out a bird and was following
it and shot. And, by God, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty
good.”
Armstrong admits Whittington was a little shaken up, but he was not badly hurt.
The vice president always travels with his medical team because of his history
of heart attacks and, luckily for him, Cheney’s medical team was able to
tend to him immediately. After he was stabilized, Whittington was airlifted to
a local hospital where he underwent further treatment.
This should have been the end of the story, but the media had different plans.
They were upset, and rightfully so, that information about the accident was not
made available to them until the day after it happened. However, the information
was not completely classified. A local newspaper in Corpus Christi, Texas, ran
a story about the accident on its Web site Saturday. After being contacted by
the media, the White House confirmed the story.
Then the media frenzy began. I personally think the White House press corps felt
a little slighted knowing they were not the first ones to break the news. Most
notably, and verbally, I might add, was NBC Chief White House Correspondent David
Gregory who aggressively questioned and, at one point, yelled at White House
Press Secretary Scott McClellan before a scheduled press conference. He was more
than a little upset when, while Gregory was asking questions about the incident,
McClellan made a somewhat insulting comment toward him that implied he poses
for the camera whenever he asks questions.
These guys are usually the first ones to report any news coming from the White
House, and one has to imagine they must have felt irritated, to say the least,
at being scooped by a local newspaper on what has become a top story across the
nation.
But I digress.
The real issue here is how the media has blown this story out of the stratosphere.
Since the story broke four days ago, I have read numerous news stories and columns
and heard the ramblings of countless pundits speculating on everything from whether
or not Cheney was drunk at the time of the shooting to whether Cheney was upset
with Whittington. One of the newest stories is Cheney did not have the $7 stamp
to shoot game birds on his hunting license when the accident occurred, which
lead to a citation but no fine.
This story has already been lampooned almost to death by the likes of Jay Leno,
David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and every other late night talk show host
in the nation, and it has only been a week. The media is having a field day with
this story, and it is only the beginning.
The latest development in the story is Whittington had a silent heart attack
Tuesday, caused by arterial blockage from one of the birdshot pellets. The heart
attack was more of an irregular heartbeat than an actual heart attack. Doctors
seem to think he is still in no real danger and will make a full recovery.
Still, the stories persist.
Since Cheney has been in office he has not be perceived as a nice, amicable man.
He is often portrayed as an evil, clandestine, money-hungry politician by the
media. Whether or not he actually is is a matter of opinion, but this story has
done nothing to help his poor public image.
While I will grant Cheney should have been more forthcoming in the way he handled
the situation, I ask myself what I would do if I were in his place. What would
my first reaction be after I accidentally shot a friend on a hunting trip? Would
I, like Cheney, make sure he received the medical treatment he needed and do
everything in my power to assure his safety and comfort? Of course I would. Would
my next thought be to hold a press conference outlining the tragedy that just
took place? Probably not.
Think about what happens after a tragic accident, which, from my understanding,
is exactly what this is. If a friend of yours was accidentally shot, how clear
would your mind be? I don’t think it would’be clear at all.
Everyone makes mistakes. I know we always want our celebrities and politicians
to be perfect, but that is not real life. Cheney made a mistake in not immediately
telling the media what had happened, but consider yourselves. Are you always
quick to admit your mistakes and accidents to everyone? I think Cheney deserves
a break. Sure, he made a mistake, but he accidentally shot a friend of his. I
am sure he feels bad enough about it without all the media hoopla. Accidents
happen, and I think it is time we moved on with our lives. Let the story die,
because if you don’t, the media never will.
Sean Cocca is a senior journalism major and the News Editor for the Daily
49er.
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