"Strange Incident?" Yes in the Media's Coverage of It

Vice President Cheney had the extreme misfortune of accidentally shooting his hunting companion with a 28-guage shotgun while quail hunting. Anyone who has hunting extensively (me included) understands that while extremely rare, these accidents can happen.

What is unfortunate is how the news media is blowing this up into some kind of national crisis. Elizabeth Vargas used the words "strange incident" to describe the accident and then she quizes Stepanopolous in an obviously pre-staged interview about whether the public has a "right to know" these things more urgently. Give me a break. Is it the administration's duty to run to the press to inform them of something that has nothing to do with the rest of the country. The ABC headline say "Why So Secret?" Uh, duh. Think about it for a minute. Cheney obviously feels terrible about this and it has no implications on the nation so why make in public? "Why So Secret" implies that there is something else behind this, some conspiracy the vice president is involved in. The ABC story showed reporters grilling the president's spokesman at a briefing.

This incident shows how out of touch the media is. They're purpose is to boost ratings, period. Can they not find news that really has an impact on the country?

Perhaps all the buzz surrounding this story is caused by the public's lack of experience with hunting and firearms. They forget that most of us operate machines much more dangerous than guns every day. We call them cars.