Gunning for Trouble

White House Briefing -- News on President George W Bush and the Bush Administration

Only the relatively minor injuries of Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting companion make this weekend's hunting accident, in which the V.P. inadvertently unloaded a round of birdshot into Austin attorney Harry Whittington, remotely humorous. For once again we are confronted with the almost indestructible bubble in which the upper tier of the Bush administration conducts its day-to-day affairs.

Had the owner of the ranch at which the accident occurred not phoned the local paper with the story, and had a reporter for the local paper not followed that call up with a call to the White House demanding some response, the world might still be unaware of the incident. No huge to-do was required: Just call the pool reporter within a few hours and put out a brief, factual release about an embarrassing but minor snafu. That did not happen, and now the irked press corps smells a story, which it will doubtless proceed to beat into the ground.

Everyone comes off worse as a result, not to mention that public trust in this administration takes another hit. A few pellets, really.