By exposing themselves as thin-skinned, self-serving attack dogs and behaving fairly classlessly following Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of a hunting companion, the White House press corps did the vice president a favor. Cheney and the Republicans should be worried about Scooter Libby's defense in the CIA leak case, but instead much of the attention has been focused on the behavior of the Washington press, which clearly despises the vice president and hasn't done a very good job of hiding that fact.
The White House press corps is petulant that the Corpus Christi Caller-Times was first notified about the hunting mishap and not they, themselves. They expressed outrage that Cheney and/or the White House didn't drop everything to report the incident to them. Never mind that Cheney correctly had to be concerned first about his hunting companion's health, and to be sure to get all the facts straight. The White House press corps does not seem to understand that a hunting accident, even involving the vice president, though tragic, doesn't necessarily rise to the level of a national crisis.
Following Cheney's exclusive interview Wednesday with Fox News' Brit Hume, the story should now be moved to the back pages -- assuming, of course, that the vice president's companion, 78-year-old lawyer Harry Whittington, recovers. But, of course, we knew that the Hume interview wouldn't satisfy Cheney's critics. No sooner did it come out that the press' jealous nature was exposed again. Yes, the vice president was attacked because he chose Fox News for his interview instead of venues that would have been less sympathetic, such as the New York Times or the Washington Post.
In the end, it only confirms what we already know and what the national press just can't seem to accept. There are plenty of news outlets out there. Public figures of all stripes know this quite well, and the days when their only option is to report to "accepted," or "mainstream media" are long gone.
