« Mohammed Cartoon Conflict Grows | Main | Morales Execution Delayed, Indefinitely »
February 17, 2006
Cheney Hunting Accident: Press Blowup?
There's been a media frenzy over Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident - last Saturday the Vice President accidentally shot fellow hunter Harry Whittington, a millionaire attorney from Austin, Texas.
"The vice president didn't see him," says Cheney's spokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride. "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." (qtd. in CNN.com)
Whittington is currently in stable condition at a Corpus Christi hospital, and it's been said that hunting accidents such as these are typical (see Cincinnati Post). Still, the media has been satirizing the accident (click for Washington Post's run down of jokes) and attacking the White House's public relations.
According to Yahoo! News, "in a testy exchange with reporters on Monday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan faced dozens of questions about the propriety of a private citizen making public a shooting incident involving the vice president and whether Cheney had followed White House protocol... McClellan declined to say if he was satisfied with the way it was handled. 'You can always look back at these issues and look at how to do a better job,' he said."
What do you think? Is this media frenzy a blowup of a hunting accident, or is the press right to criticize the Bush Administration's handling of the situation?
Posted by Tuck at February 17, 2006 11:21 AM
Comments
Can someone ask congressman Charlie Rangel to step down?
The American people have had it with his constant lying and slander techniques.
If we send enought emails, will he take the hint and get out of New York?
Worth a try.
Posted by: Art at February 17, 2006 08:10 PM
The only thing that is particulary newsworthy about this accident is that it involved the Vice President, and that the Vice President / Whitehouse didn't report it quickly. What do they expect the media to do? Blow it off like nothing ever happened? By not reporting it, the White House & Vice President made it seem like a coverup when it was just an unfortunate accident.
Posted by: JM at February 19, 2006 02:45 AM
But to keep such a non issue in the front pages for 2 weeks shows their blatant biases. I read where they plan to continue for another week dissecting the story. What a waste.
I think the liberal press were just upset that the health of an old man was put ahead of their need to feel important. Waiting 14 hrs to report a story is not an issue. You have to understand the mainstream media's narcissism to see why they are so ticked off.
There are much more interesting things going on than a lousy shooting accident.
For example, the fact that former president Clinton is stating that he doesn't support freedom of the press is a big story (relating to the cartoon riots.) I guess he's still pissed that the lying, stonewalling and secrecy that he and his wife lived under for years was exposed by a new and more objective media (the internet.) I heard a condensed version of Clinton saying "I don't remember" at his grand jury. He said it 110 times!! Now that's stonewalling !!
Oh well, the Cheney jokes will be forever. The first thing I thought of was the Aerosmith song, "Janey's got a gun," but with Cheney's name instead.
Ok, it's not that funny, but I try.
I just realized I haven't been on here since before the superbowl. I think it was a good one actually and I'm happy for Pittsburgh, but surprised that Seattle didn't do better. Still it was a much better game than the last two superbowls.
Posted by: Ted at February 21, 2006 09:55 AM
The Internet is not as objective as you think. There are many websites, be they left-wing or right-wing or non-political, that post all sorts of crap that only gullible people would believe. No offense - I'm not calling anybody here gullible just pointing out a fact. I'm getting tired of that stupid shooting accident too. Just drop it already that was almost 2 weeks ago.
Posted by: Henry at February 23, 2006 10:01 PM
As a whole, the internet is more objective than newspapers and TV because it represents a multitude of view points, not just one. Admittedly there are plenty of extreme points of view out there but you get the whole spectrum.
"Mainstream" media is controlled by a small number of very large corporations who process one point of view and push it home constantly, thus brainwashing the less informed. It's worked for decades, but it's not working as well anymore thanks to the internet, for one.
I think many suddenly saw the light when the Dan Rather forged papers story hit. We found out we just can't trust these newscasters we are told to trust. Sad, but it's good to wake up, even if it's later rather than sooner.
Some say FoxNews is refreshing because it debates several points of view and its enormous ratings show that mainstream America is starving for fairness and balance. It may have started out that way, but some say it is moving to the left very quickly.
The internet boom has opened the door for other sides to get their opinion across. This infuriates the big news people because they're losing their monopoly as well as their ability to control the way people think.
You should still do your homework and check on the information you are fed, but that's something we should always do. Use books and other references if you want the truth. The internet is just another form of media. The difference is that it gives multiple points of view.
The internet certainly makes it harder for the "mainstream" media (who don't actually represent the beliefs of mainstream America) to get away with lying the way they have for the last 40 years.
In that respect, it's a good thing.
Posted by: Ted at February 27, 2006 12:57 PM
I agree, Ted.
The "mainstream" media has never reported what the mainstream of America believes, just what they want us to believe. It's a good trick that fools a lot of uninformed people.
It's like that constantly. We're told poll numbers that are obviously biased. For example, the latest poll on Bush's approval was about 60% disapproving, but on closer examination, it turns out that 60% of the people asked were Democrats. To me that says that they are voting along party lines. Not unusual, but note how that fact is conveniently left out.
Another example is this "civil war" talk in Iraq. There is no evidence at all to support it, but the "mainstream" media keeps talking about it in hopes it will happen.
So they (and I mean rabidly biased media outlets like the NY Times, LA Times, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC etc) really believe they can create news by wishing it to happen instead of reporting what is really happening.
When did that change? When was it more important to report on the wishes of a biased few, rather than to report on what actually is going on?
I also agree that most of this country are starting to ignore those biased media outlets, but it hurts our country when they purposely lie about us.
Good thing is we're getting smarter and aren't fooled by their lies anymore.
Posted by: Eve at March 23, 2006 08:47 PM
Americans don't need polls or the media to tell them that Bush simply "sucks" as president. His Katrina response and handling of Iraq say it all. Instead of being more bipartisan and reducing the deficit like he promised to do in his second term he did even more damage to our country - the extreme bipartisanship, the spiraling deficits, a war in Iraq with no end in sight and mounting casualties. Whether the UN found wmds in Iraq or not he and Blair were already set to go to war. They both thought that the war would be a piece of cake but obviously they underestimated the insurgency.
At his press conference on March 21, Bush acknowledged that the continuing bloodshed in Iraq had drained his political capital. He then blurted out that the issue of whether to withdraw all US troops from Iraq would be decided by "future presidents and future governments of Iraq."
This comment marked one of the few times Bush has given a clue about how long he expects the war to continue. But the suggestion that his successors will have to make the hard decisions on extricating US troops reinforces Bush’s image as a feckless son of privilege who rushes into projects, flounders and then gets bailed out by others. I feel bad for our next president. He has a hell of a job to do to clean up his predecessor's mess.
Posted by: Henry at March 28, 2006 05:37 PM
my bad - I meant "extreme partisanship" not extreme bipartisanship
Posted by: Henry at April 1, 2006 01:58 PM
Eve, you've hit on something there- the big news outlets really DO think they can wish news into existance. An Iraqi civil war would draw attention and viewers to the fact through these same outlets. "When there's no good news headlines," an old newdspaper editor's adage says, "invent some!". Actually, the 2004 October surprise was wished into existance, because it had no basis in fact. And it was only right Dan Rather was humiliated into retirement because of it. What a crushing blow to find out he wasn't actually God!
Posted by: Dave at May 6, 2006 10:26 AM
Welcome back Dave !!
I guess this site has died down a lot in the last few months. Must admit I've been too busy to check much, but glad I checked today.
You're right, the media really has turned into a big propaganda machine, but the fact that we all know their agenda tends to detract from its effectiveness.
Of course, they can still influence the ignorant and uninformed masses, right? When you see Democrats in the Senate telling flat lies to the media, you know someone must still be in the dark. Ahh, what can we do??
Oh, you have *got* to see "United 93." We weren't sure if it was going to be any good, but were exceedingly impressed with the way it was done. I guess going in there not expecting much helped, but it's actually very well done. The camera angles make you feel like you're right there in the plane.
And even though we all know how it turns out, I was on the edge of my seat during the last 20 minutes of the movie.
Definitely worth seeing !!
Posted by: Eve at May 18, 2006 07:51 PM
Yeah, that was a great movie !!! Just shows you don't have to spend 300 million to make a good movie.
It's on DVD now, so we'll be renting it as well.
It sure did a lot better at the box office than Al Gore's bogus movie on "global warming." I guess people are fed up with his lies now that we know the truth about what causes climatic changes. I bet he knows the truth too and wants to cash in on the ignorance of the masses, but apparently there aren't as many gullible idiots as he thought there were.
He's rich anyway with all his daddy's oil and tobacco money, so it won't hurt him too much to lose money on a stupid movie.
Actually, everyone I've talked to agrees that United 93 was much more exciting than Mission Impossible 3. Now THAT was a big waste of money. I'll never see another Tom Cruise movie as long as I live.
He's not only crazy in real life, but his last few movies have really sucked.
Posted by: jimmy at June 8, 2006 07:16 PM
Thanks Eve, that really was a good movie. We rented it the other night and loved it.
I guess everyone knows about Al Zarqawi being killed in that bombing in Iraq. What a great turning point in the war. He was the thug who cut off the heads of hundreds of innocent people. I'm glad he can no longer do that. One extremely evil man is gone, and that's good.
Of course, the Democrats are pretty upset about this, but who cares?
I know Bush's popularity is low, but every president in history had low approval during a war. That includes FDR and Truman. The good thing is that these presidents went down in history as having done something others would not for fear of losing popularity.
Definitely explains why Clinton never defended our country when we were repeatedly attacked during his reign. Well, he did drop some bombs, but since the press was on his side we didn't hear much about it. I'm glad we finally have a good man in the office. Think how bad off we'd be if either Gore or Kerry had won. I'm glad the American people voted the best man in.
I heard that this year's "Upperclass Twit of the Year" award went to Al Gore. Previous winners were Kerry, Kennedy and Al Franken.
Thanks again for the tip on the good movie. It did very well at the box office, and now I know why. Wish we'd seen it on the big screen.
Posted by: Amber at June 11, 2006 10:53 PM
Al-Zarqawi is dead.
Scratch one dirtbag. Let's see if we can do the same thing to Osama bin Laden.
Posted by: Matt at June 17, 2006 04:23 AM
That's hilarious Amber !!
I remember "Upperclass Twit of the year" from Monty Python. I didn't know anyone still watched that funny stuff.
Certainly proves that we don't listen to nonsense, even when the person who tells it is extremely rich. (Gore is worth in the billions now, even tho' his bogus movie lost money at the box office.)
Oh, and I agree about the Iraq situation. All facts point to an extemely successful mission so far. Chalk up the Afghan and Iraq wars as having been won. Now the keeping of the peace there and crushing more terrorists is the issue of the day.
Posted by: Ted at June 19, 2006 01:39 PM
I have no respect for Bush at all. He is one of the dumbest presidents we ever had and the major reasons are the economy and Iraq. Tax cuts to the rich that's exploding our deficit and mortgaging our children's future while failing to capture Osama bin Laden and going after a non-existant threat in Saddam Hussein instead. That's why his poll numbers are the lowest since Nixon's.
Posted by: Matt at June 29, 2006 01:40 PM
We should rename the NY Times the Al Jazeera Times.
It's no surprise, we've always known that Pinch was a communist and hates America. Since they work overtime trying to undermine this country's safety, it's no surprise that they want to help our enemies to destroy us.
Sadly, most Democrats are in the same boat. They want power so bad they will risk our safety every day of the week. I know it's hard to understand, but most of us don't think in the same terms.
Posted by: Fred at June 29, 2006 04:09 PM
Let's review:
>We've killed or captured most of the top Al Quaida operatives, who were responsible for the murders of thousands of innocent people.
>Our economy is the best it's been in decades.
>We've got Saddam who slaughtered millions and was proven to be financing and training terrorists.
>We've found tons of his WMD's in Iraq, even though that wasn't the main reason for carrying out the UN initiative.
>We've won two wars that Congress voted for and then funded. (only one congressman voted not to go to war - who was that anyway? I forget)
>It's been tough, but we're making great strides in keeping the peace there.
>Bush has higher approval ratings than the democrats and a higher rating than any other president during wartime.
>We freed millions in Iraq, rebuilt their infrastructure and we don't expect anything in return.
And some dolt named Matt is complaining that we don't have Bin Laden??
When we get that useless lump there won't be any reason left to complain, right? Don't bet on it. Pessimists always find something to complain about.
Put the blame where it belongs. Carter started the whole Islamic problem, then he and Clinton and Allbright funded the North Koreans nuclear program. That's our next problem that Bush will have to deal with. Sure takes a long time to clean up the mess caused by just a couple of past presidents, doesn't it?
When you think about it, Bush would qualify as one of the most successful presidents in history, having to clean up the messes caused by two of the worst.
Posted by: Art at July 2, 2006 04:23 PM
Fred, the "hate America" crowd are very small but have a lot of money and power. And they have the biggest megaphone. Just look what they own.
The radical left owns Hollywood, TV, newspapers, book publishing etc and they constantly send out their propaganda to the ignorant.
How do you think someone like Matt becomes so uninforned and misinformed? Many people these days check for facts, but the lazy and ignorant ones like him accept what is constantly piped to them on the airwaves.
It's sad, but until people start looking for the truth they will end up lazy and stupid like Matt.
(nothing personal Matt, but with so much info available these days to not know the facts makes you ignorant by choice or just plain stupid.)
Posted by: Paul at July 2, 2006 05:44 PM
you're right about the new york times. They really hate this country and will do anything to destroy it.
Matt, most of what you said is wrong, especially the tax cuts for the rich. The cuts were for everyone and benefit the middle class the most. Why do you think the economy is doing so well?
It happens every time we get tax cuts - the economy booms !!
I think Bush is the best president we've had in a while. He keeps outsmarting the left wing boobs in the senate, like Kerry and Kennedy, two of the dumbest idiots ever voted in. I guess Massachusetts don't have too many smart people there or they'd have seen thru those two crooks by now.
Keep up the good work W !!!
and Matt, try reading a book. you may surprise yourself and learn something. It's not too late to educate yourself.
Posted by: Brenda at July 3, 2006 07:49 PM
Wow, what a great 4th of July speech by Bush.
I'm so glad he's our president and I'm proud that we voted in such a man.
We should be proud that we're such a generous and prosperous country. I've studied a lot of history and we're the only country that has sacrificed it's own men and women (as well as zillions of our tax dollars) to help other countries that are starving and overrun by ruthless tyrants. And after we succeed we don't ask for anything in return.
We don't take conquests as imperialist nations do. We fight for the freedom of the oppressed and then we let them have their country back. Historically, this has never been done by any other country.
I know Iraq is a real challenge, but I think we can fix it. Look at our successes in Japan and Germany. Well, Germany has gone back to socialism somewhat, but Japan is a thriving democracy thanks to MacArthur. I guess Germany would've been better off if FDR hadn't been such a fan of the communist murderer Stalin. Well, you can't have everything.
So on this day we should all be proud that as Americans we have done so much to free so many all around the world.
Happy 4th to all !!!!!
Posted by: Amber at July 4, 2006 11:23 AM
Two more examples of the incompetence of Democrats in our government.
Remember we already had to deal with the corruption in New Orleans of the democrats stealing and taking bribes and leaving their people to die - re: William Jefferson and Ray Nagle.
Now NJ is shut down because the democrat run state can't make ends meet with some of the highest tax rates in the country. Being democrats, they won't consider cutting spending or anything else that will help the people. They just want more and more money !! What a bunch of lying thieves.
Also we have the result of the incompetent democrats of the last administration and one previous with Clinton, Albright and Carter taking billions of our tax money and giving it to North Korea to "enhance their nuclear projects."
Albright later admitted they were "duped." She said she had no idea they would use the money to build nuclear weapons to attack us with. What a tool !! Could she be any stupider???
So Clinton, Carter and Albright can go down in history as the stupidest and most corrupt government officials in our country's history, and we're all paying for their incompetence with the North Korea threat as well as the Islamic terrorism Carter created back in the 70's.
Everyon agrees Carter was the worst president in our history, but few suspected the problems he caused would still be plaguing us today.
I guess you have to be extremely stupid as well as corrupt to make it as a democrat these days.
I pray our country can recover from the damage just a few Democrats have caused in such a short time.
Posted by: Ted at July 5, 2006 09:47 AM
As a former Democrat, I apologize for the mistakes Clinton and Carter did to arm the North Koreans with nuclear weapons.
What I'd like to see is more support from inside this country as well as our allies to stop this madman from starting a world war.
Let's forget the mistakes of the past and band together before it's too late !!
Posted by: Les Moore at July 5, 2006 11:10 AM
So nice of Kim Jong (mentally) Ill to recognise our 4th of July by shooting off a few rockets for us.
I didn't know he was such a US patriot.
:-)
Posted by: Pete at July 5, 2006 12:26 PM
Just to educate "Matt" - the deficit is shrinking faster than predicted thanks to the tax cuts for all tax payers (not just the rich), and these same tax cuts have increased the tax revenues higher than they were during the Clinton administration.
Now I don't like giving the government more money, but this does prove - as has been proven time and time again - that tax cuts boost the economy and increase tax revenue.
It's a no brainer for those who understand economics. I'm assuming that "Matt" doesn't understand economics very well, but it may not be his fault. Perhaps he went to a government school.
Posted by: Caine at July 11, 2006 01:27 PM
