Bang! Out go the lights!

[libertango]

jrittenhouse points to this piece in Editor and Publisher about Cheney's adventurous weekend.

Interesting quotes and revelations to this observer are right up in the lead paragraphs:

"The more than 18-hour delay in news emerging that the vice president of the United States had shot a man, sending him to an intensive care unit with his wounds, grew even more curious Monday with word from the White House that President Bush had been informed of the incident Saturday but not Dick Cheney's role until the next day.

Earlier, E&P had learned that the official confirmation of the shooting came about only after a local reporter in Corpus Christi, Texas, received a tip from the owner of the property where the shooting occurred and called Vice President Cheney's office for confirmation."

Further down:

"The (Houston) Chronicle also reports Monday that hunting accidents are very rare in Texas. In 2004, it said, the state's one million-plus hunters were involved in only 29 hunting-related accidents (19 involving firearms), four of which were fatal."

Call me a skeptic, but my first questions are along these lines: Does this seem a bit closer to Chappaquiddick than you'd think most Republicans would like? Also, given it seems the story came out because a local reporter had a relationship with the property owner, how many other times has Cheney shot someone up in the field, only to have it silenced after the fact?