Paying the price for secrecy

Dick Cheney's obsession with secrecy is finally catching up with him. It doesn't revolve around his top secret energy advisers or his lies and deceptions about Iraq. Of course it involves his shooting an old friend. Because it was over 18 hours before it was announced to the press and more importantly because the Secret Service refused to make him available to local law enforcement the rumors are flying. We will never know if any of them are true but we will never know if they are not true either. In addition there is one detail that doesn't ring true. This from FOX news:

Whittington, whom Cheney described as an acquaintance he's known for more than 30 years, was hit with more than 200 birdshot pellets from an estimated 30 yards away.

Anyone who has done some bird hunting will realize that from 30 yards it's unlikely that one would have a close pattern of 200 pellets in the face and chest and none of them should have been able to make it through clothing and skin to a depth where they would irritate the heart. Sorry, the 30 yards is a no sale to this hunter. There are a couple of rumors/conjectures regarding his refusal to talk to local law enforcement. The first is he had been drinking, not an unlikely scenario, and even more interesting, it's Cheney's Chappaquiddick.

The real story is already emerging, if you're willing to do a little digging. Cheney and Whittington went hunting with two women (not their wives), there was some drinking, and Whittington wound up shot. Armstrong didn't see the incident but claimed she had, Cheney refused to be questioned by the Sheriff until the next morning, and a born-again evangelical physician has been downplaying Whittington's injuries since they occurrred.

Neither the press nor law enforcement seems inclined to investigate.

Before the right-wing commenters howl - there's documentation for all of these statements. Let's take them one by one: In addition to Cheney and Whittington, the hunting party included Katherine Armstrong (who was in the car at the time of the shooting: more on that later). After lots of evasive comments that only referred to a "third hunter," we now know her identity: Pamela Willeford, the US Ambassador to Switzerland.

Then there was this Armstrong quote on MSNBC and picked up by Firedoglake (later dutifully scrubbed, but preserved on Google cache): "There may be a beer or two in there," (Armstrong) said, 'but remember not everyone in the party was shooting.'"

Interestingly, Armstrong's playing with words here. She later said that she (Armstrong) hadn't had anything to drink, so at least one of the other three must have been drinking - and the other three were shooting. So while her statement was literally correct ("not everyone ... was shooting"), it gives the false impression that nobody drank and shot.

We will never know one way or another but Cheney is damaged and this won't go away. The cable TV viewers love this stuff and will demand more. A great chance for CNN and MSNBC to pick up some FOX viewers.