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Off Target Again

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 February 2006, 15:00 CST

The following editorial appeared in the Kansas City Star on Tuesday, Feb. 14:

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Now that Vice President Dick Cheney has bagged his limit on lawyers, he should take a refresher course in gun safety.

Despite testimonials to Cheney being an experienced and "very safe sportsman," initial accounts of what happened last Saturday suggest he made some serious mistakes that could have resulted in tragedy.

To qualify for a "very safe" ranking as a hunter, for example, one should ensure that no humans are in the line of fire before pulling the trigger on a shotgun. Cheney obviously failed that test on his quail-hunting trip in Texas.

Cheney's office did not disclose what had happened until nearly 24 hours later, after a newspaper Web site had spilled the beans.

Perhaps the administration will now want to investigate another damnable leak to the press. After all, we wouldn't want the nation's enemies to think that behind the vice president's facade of sober, tough-minded competence is a trigger-happy bumbler.

Cheney, though, has always found it difficult to admit mistakes. Predictably enough, the owner of the ranch where the hunt took place was called upon to explain that the victim, a 78-year-old lawyer from Austin, "came up from behind the vice president and the other hunter, and didn't signal them ... ."

The ranch owner, who was sitting in a car at the time of the shooting, may not be the best source of information on what actually happened.

But any mistakes by a fellow hunter didn't relieve the vice president of the fundamental responsibility to look where he was shooting.

Shooting first, asking questions later. Claiming expertise while demonstrating ineptitude. Refusing to acknowledge when things go wrong _ and trying to shift the blame.

With Cheney, there is a familiar ring to all this.

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(c) 2006, The Kansas City Star.

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Source: The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri)

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