"Quick Draw" Cheney (AKA "Slow Response" Cheney

The overhyped media story on Dick Cheney shooting his hunting buddy reveals a couple lessons:

• At a time when Iran is working on a nuclear arms program, the media would rather spend all of their time pouring salt on the wounds of the Bush administration;
• The Bush administration regularly cuts open wounds and holds out its arm for the media to pour salt on.

I'm a Bushie, I'll admit it--meaning that I agree with him on policy more than I disagree with him. But his communication team is the worst in presidential history. Why haven't they all been fired a long time ago? Ever since Karen Hughes went back to Texas and Ari Fleisher started making real money, it's been downhill. Let's face it, the Prez needs the BEST the communications industry has to offer to help him. He's not The Great Communicator by any stretch of the imagination.

But let's focus on the shooting incident. First of all, media people: get a grip! This is as non-news as you get. Fodder for Leno and Letterman? Absolutely. For CNN and the CBS Evening News? Maybe as a blip on the night after it happened. Do you really think anybody cares about it? It doesn't affect anything or anybody other than the poor lawyer who got some character added to his flesh. To me, this event highlights the elitism of the White House press corp...how dare we not find out about this story first? Yes, I think they should have been told first, but their hyped-up reaction when there are so many critical stories they SHOULD be investigating shows their true colors.

To the Bush "communications people" -- did you think nobody would know or find out? What were you thinking? You give your enemies (the media, of course) ammunition by not being forthcoming. You make a small story much bigger by trying to pretend it didn't happen. There wasn't a crime here (other than perhaps the lack of a $7 hunting permit), so why the cover up? There is at least a perception of a cover up. I know it's not his style, but Cheney should speak to the matter: "We were having a great time...the accident happened...I feel terrible that he was injured...I wish him the best." I probably wouldn't crack an Aaron Burr joke because it would be inappropriate and would be awfully contrived or scripted. But he is the 2nd most powerful man in the U.S. and he needs to say something to the American people about it. He should have issued a statement immediately after it happened.

One thing is sure...the "secrecy" thing in the Bush White House (created and implemented, from what I understand, by Cheney himself) needs to stop. Even if this IS a non-event (which I agree), get in front of the story!

In a related item, Opinion Journal has a nice review of a book by a Pentagon spokesperson that should be a good read for anybody involved in high-stakes PR. "Lipstick on a Pig" by Torie Clark tells of the communications effort by the Pentagon during the Iraq war. The book tells tells "how to deliver bad news, defuse scandal and build trusting relations with constituents and customers." Give it a read.

UPDATE: Linda Chavez's latest column discusses the Cheney issue and reiterates my point in more detail.