Vice President shoots hunting companion

The last time a Vice President was involved in a shooting was when Aaron Burr fatally shot Alexander Hamilton in 1804. They both shot someone while they were sitting Vice-Presidents. Fortunately for Mr. Harry Whittington, whom Mr. Cheney accidently peppered with shot during a hunting trip, being shot by the vice-president ended better for him than it did for Alexander Hamilton, who was shot by Mr. Burr during a duel.

Vice President Dick Cheney has made headlines lately after what can only be called a public relations disaster for the avid hunter who regularly shoots. The US Vice-President shot and wounded Harry Whittington, a 78-year-old millionaire lawyer from Austin, at a ranch in South Texas. In terms of how Cheney's camp handled the incident, Lea Anne McBride, Mr Cheney’s spokeswoman, said that he “was pleased to see that he’s doing fine and in good spirits” after Saturday’s accident. While this statement was overall well put together as far as crisis public relations goes, the Vice-President’s office did not disclose details of the incident for nearly 24 hours. This lack of public relations tact has me wondering, "What were they thinking?" The vice president of the United States shoots a man, accidentally, and White House officials wait a whole day and don't tell the press? Did they think it wouldn't get out? No one would care? It would remain secret as a matter of national security? Granted Whittington is currently in stable condition at Corpus Christi Hosptial, but Cheney should have immediately disclosed the accident. After the main media got wind of the incident, they had a field day! This is what the New York Times had to say:

"The White House sought with little success on Monday to quell an uproar over why it took the better part of a day to disclose that Vice President Dick Cheney had accidentally wounded a fellow hunter in Texas on Saturday and why even President Bush initially got an incomplete report on the shooting...Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, was battered at his daily news briefing by journalists demanding answers to why Mr. Cheney had not been faster to make public what happened and why he had chosen a local newspaper in Texas as his vehicle for doing so. The pressure came in part from questions about whether Mr. Cheney, who is already known for his inclination to keep his business, professional and political dealings behind closed doors, might have been trying to play down the incident, a suggestion rejected by those who were with Mr. Cheney over the weekend" (NYT.com).

All in all, this crisis has just begun. Democrats, gun control activists and critics of the Bush administration are using this incident to further their own causes while leaving Cheney in a public relations nightmare which won't soon end.