He shot a guy. Get over it.
So says a caller to my old pal Jim Bohannon on his show Tuesday night.
I'll get back to just how stupid a statement that is in a minute, but first:
Bohannon, who is a generally sensible guy says he doesn't understand what all the press fuss is about.
I was surprised myself. In normal times, with normal politicians this would be a running joke that would burn up the airwaves for a few days, the better jokes would last for a few years and no one would think much about it.
But these are not normal times and Dick Cheney is not a normal politician.
For five and a half years this White House has been ... well ... less than honest with us, the American public, and downright distainful and dismissive of the role of the Press. They lied about WMDs ... they lied about 9-11 ... they lied about what it was going to cost in Iraq ... they lied about Medicare ... they just forgot about New Orleans, so they didn't have to lie ... they trashed a 230 year-old document, called the Constitution, on the flimsiest of theories.
And the press sat there like turtles in the sun and let them do it.
And all of a sudden something like this comes up and the press wakes up long enough to realize that this was the little straw that shows which way the big wind is blowing. I doubt that those in the press who cover Washington can ever get my trust again, but all of a sudden they seemed to realize they have lost it.
And that caller to Bohannon's Show? What if it had been Bill Clinton who blasted a friend with a shotgun from 30 feet away, put him in intensive care now for 5 days, forgot to report it for hours, and then tried to hide it from the public until they finally send some woman from Texas out to a non-discript newpaper to tell the tale.
Oh ... yes, I forget .... what the right-wing has been whining about for years and years and years, Chappaquidick. The circumstances are weirdly similar.
And after today's performance by Simple Scotty McClelland in the Press Room of the White House I am reminded of an old show-biz term....
Flop sweat ....
I'll get back to just how stupid a statement that is in a minute, but first:
Bohannon, who is a generally sensible guy says he doesn't understand what all the press fuss is about.
I was surprised myself. In normal times, with normal politicians this would be a running joke that would burn up the airwaves for a few days, the better jokes would last for a few years and no one would think much about it.
But these are not normal times and Dick Cheney is not a normal politician.
For five and a half years this White House has been ... well ... less than honest with us, the American public, and downright distainful and dismissive of the role of the Press. They lied about WMDs ... they lied about 9-11 ... they lied about what it was going to cost in Iraq ... they lied about Medicare ... they just forgot about New Orleans, so they didn't have to lie ... they trashed a 230 year-old document, called the Constitution, on the flimsiest of theories.
And the press sat there like turtles in the sun and let them do it.
And all of a sudden something like this comes up and the press wakes up long enough to realize that this was the little straw that shows which way the big wind is blowing. I doubt that those in the press who cover Washington can ever get my trust again, but all of a sudden they seemed to realize they have lost it.
And that caller to Bohannon's Show? What if it had been Bill Clinton who blasted a friend with a shotgun from 30 feet away, put him in intensive care now for 5 days, forgot to report it for hours, and then tried to hide it from the public until they finally send some woman from Texas out to a non-discript newpaper to tell the tale.
Oh ... yes, I forget .... what the right-wing has been whining about for years and years and years, Chappaquidick. The circumstances are weirdly similar.
And after today's performance by Simple Scotty McClelland in the Press Room of the White House I am reminded of an old show-biz term....
Flop sweat ....
posted by John Stone at 11:47 PM
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