Cheney Shooting - The ongoing spin

Harry Whittington, as everyone knows by now, remains in Intensive Care after a heart attack brought on by birdshot that has moved to his heart. This casts serious doubt, putting it mildly, on the initial characterization of this incident as a minor injury.

The Bush administration might be inept at such things as preventing terrorist attacks, planning for war, waging war, managing the aftermath of war, managing the economy and mitigating the affects of natural disasters on major American cities, but I have to give them credit for one thing: they are masters at manipulating the news media.

Every news outlet in this country should be ashamed of itself for its uncritical adoption and dissemination of the White House talking points at the beginning of the news cycle on this story. When the news first broke, one could have been forgiven for believing that poor Mr. Whittington was being treated for his gunshot wound as an outpatient and would be home in time for cocktail hour.

The behavior of the cable TV news networks was particularly egregious. As late as Monday afternoon, CNN was describing Whittington as having been "peppered" or "sprayed" by "pellets" from Cheney's gun. In fact, what Cheney inflicted on his hunting companion was a shotgun headwound. Getting the news media to describe it as, essentially, a scratch was a masterstroke, and up until the moment they learned of Whittington's heart attack (and, who knows, maybe even after that), Rove & Co. must have been laughing their spleens out.

Even this afternoon, the story is being reported as a sudden and unexpected turn for the worse, as if one would not expect the worst when a 78 year old man is laid low by a shotgun blast to the face, neck and chest. They are reporting the statement from Cheney's office that the V.P. called and spoke to Whittington without even asking what, if any, response the man was able to give.

The state of the news in this country is appalling.