Day: February 14, 2006

National Review Online has a suggestion for the Vice President.

Cheney himself should make a public appearance on the matter, and the sooner the better. He should get himself with a respected national anchor — perhaps Brit Hume of Fox News — as soon as this evening to express his regret and explain in his own words what happened. He should stop relying on press aides who were not present at the accident to tell his side of the story. Not talking only feeds speculation, and aids the cause of those who want to lampoon and smear him. Let’s hear from the vice president.

I agree, only because it appears that with each passing moment, the MSM and the lefties add another hour to the delay of the initial report (first it was 12 hours, then 14 and now suddenly it’s 24 hours), they hypothesize, they dream up conspiracy theories, and they propagate unnecessary speculation.

It’s time to end this, and the Veep is the only one who can.

MORE: This is exactly the kind of crap I’m talking about.

STILL MORE: And here’s another example.

STILL STILL MORE: Cheney must read NRO. He’s scheduled to talk with Brit Hume today.

In an effort to keep the sensationalism alive, the MSM uses scary’headlines in order to mislead the public. I’m talking about the news that Harry Whittington, the 78 year-old lawyer who was accidently shot by Vice President Dick Cheney last weekend, suffered a heart attack this morning as a result of his injuries. Glancing at the wire reports, here’s what you read.

‘Hunter Shot by Cheney Has Heart Attack’

Word pictures. What do you see when you read this? A group of doctors and nurses huddling around Mr. Whittington’s bed, yelling out codes and’instructions, while one of the doctors holds two paddles and screams ‘CLEAR!’ before slamming Whittington with a jolt of’electricity in the hopes of restarting his ‘no longer beating’ heart. After all, isn’t this what we see on NBC’s’‘ER’ every week?

On the contrary, it wasn’t like that at all.

Banko said there was an irregularity in the heartbeat caused by a pellet, and doctors performed a cardiac catheterization. Whittington expressed a desire to leave the hospital, but Banko said he would probably stay for another week to make sure more shot doesn’t move to other organs or to other part of his body.

“Some of the bird shot appears to have moved and lodged into part of his heart in what we would say is a minor heart attack,” Banko said in a news conference outside the hospital.

The doctors said Whittington did not experience symptoms of a heart attack or any other problems. They left the birdshot in place and said he could live a healthy life with it there.

David Blanchard, chief of emergency care, called it “a silent heart attack, an asymptomatic heart attack. He’s not had a heart attack in the traditional sense.”

But that’s not what the MSM wants you to know. Nope, in a weird twisted way, hands are wringing in newsrooms throughout the country, as if the media had a pool going on whether Whittington would survive the accident. After all, the story would really get interesting if he were to die, right? I can hear them now…

“Cheney would have to resign.”

“Or, better yet, he’d be sued for millions by Whittington’s wife.”

“Maybe criminal charges will be brought and Dick would GO TO JAIL!!! Yeah…oh please, oh please, let it be, let it be.”

Given the attitude of the wolf pack yesterday, I’m probably not very far off on this. The blood is still in the water and I’expect even more inflammatory headlines to surface in the days to come.

UPDATE: Just as I predicted. Via Drudge – The New York Times reports, CHENEY FACES GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION IF MAN DIES… In Texas, Carlos Valdez, the district attorney in Kleberg County, said a fatality would immediately spur a new report from the local sheriff and, most likely, a grand jury investigation.

Others: Hugh Hewitt echos.

Paul Hackett, a popular Democratic candidate in Ohio’s Senate race has dropped out of the contest, and has announced his withdrawal from politics. On first glance you would immediately believe that health problems are prompting Hackett’s decision. Nope. Hackett’s getting out due to the ‘mafia like’ tactics brought on by his ‘friends’ – Senator Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

Mr. Hackett said Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Harry Reid of Nevada, the same party leaders who he said persuaded him last August to enter the Senate race, had pushed him to step aside so that Representative Sherrod Brown, a longtime member of Congress, could take on Senator Mike DeWine, the Republican incumbent.

During the last two weeks, he said, state and national Democratic Party leaders have urged him to drop his Senate campaign and again run for Congress.

“This is an extremely disappointing decision that I feel has been forced on me,” said Mr. Hackett, whose announcement comes two days before the state’s filing deadline for candidates. He said he was outraged to learn that party leaders were calling his donors and asking them to stop giving and said he would not enter the Second District Congressional race.

You see, it’s all about grabbing a seat and holding power, not about the ideas, the plans, or the implementation of positive solutions for the problems America faces. It’s not about what you do in office, it’s what you do to keep your office.

Democratic leaders say Representative Brown, a seven-term incumbent from Avon, has a far better chance of toppling Senator DeWine.

“It boils down to who we think can pull the most votes in November against DeWine,” said Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. “And in Ohio, Brown’s name is golden. It’s just that simple.”

Mr. Fern added that Mr. Brown’s fund-raising abilities made him the better Senate candidate. By the end of last year, Mr. Brown had already amassed $2.37 million, 10 times what Mr. Hackett had raised.

Electability, then reelectability.

I’m not about to accuse the Democrats of exclusively using strategies like this, since I believe it’s a bipartisan problem. And you know what? It’s our fault. We Americans get all excited about electing ‘our guy’ to Congress, or to the Presidency, then suddenly, the excitement stops. We don’t actually require that our leaders do anything, or so it seems. If we did care, we wouldn’t reelect the same ‘ol bloviating do nothing wind bags term after term after term. We buy into their election year promises, giveaways, and pandering. We become intoxicated by their smile, their ‘can do’ attitude, and their sudden burst of leadership. It’s really about feeling good, and when you hear your guy selling patriotism with all the pomp and circumstance, you naturally want to stand up and cheer. Yet, when we see the same guy sitting on a congressional committee panel droning on and on using big words that don’t really mean anything, we change the channel.

But, it is what it is and there doesn’t seem to be anything that will change it, unless of course, Americans engage and become interested in the future of their country.

Don’t hold your breath on that happening anytime soon.

Based on the way Democrats react to every action and every utterance from the Bush Administration, it’s clear that Liberals interpret the president’s words differently than Conservatives do. I’ve often wondered what the Left actually hears when they listen to a speech by George W. Bush.

Well, now I know.