Out of the Loop

Well, there's very little I can add to Dick Cheney's own words, but that won't keep me from trying.

DC: "And it was also important, I thought, to get the story out as accurately as possible, and this is a complicated story that, frankly, most reporters would never have dealt with before, so —"

Very true. Sarah McClendon died back in 2003 and she had only started covering the White House in the FDR administration. I doubt that anyone still working the Washington beat is likely to have covered Aaron Burr shooting Alexander Hamilton.

DC: "I had a bit of the feeling that the press corps was upset because, to some extent, it was about them — they didn't like the idea that we called the Corpus Christi Caller-Times instead of The New York Times. But it strikes me that the Corpus Christi Caller-Times is just as valid a news outlet as The New York Times is, especially for covering a major story in south Texas."

Possibly true as well. Of course it would have played better if Dick hadn't just said: "In terms of who I would contact to have somebody who would understand what we're even talking about, the first person that we talked with at one point, when Katherine first called the desk to get hold of a reporter didn't know the difference between a bullet and a shotgun — a rifle bullet and a shotgun." I'm reasonably confident that the Times has someone on the National Desk who can tell the difference between being sniped and being blasted, even on a Saturday.

DC: "I think this decision we made, that this was the right way to do it."

Now we know the real mastermind of Adminstration policy. This is almost a direct quote to explain away the debacles of Iraq and Katrina. Consistency is a fundamental virtue.

And finally, Dick shows that he's a real softy at heart.

Brit Hume: "Will it affect your attitude toward this pastime you so love in the future?"

DC: "I can't say that. You know, we canceled the Sunday hunt. I said, look I'm not — we were scheduled to go out again on Sunday and I said I'm not going to go on Sunday, I want to focus on Harry. I'll have to think about it."

What more can you say about the guy? After blasting his friend in the face and chest, he was concerned enough not to go out shooting the next day.