Accountability

Neocon news media, Fox News, steps in to save the day for Vice President Cheney, and ultimately for George Bush as well. Almost four days after shooting someone with a shotgun, Cheney admits that it was his fault and that he had a beer hours prior to the incident.

I’m sure everyone who reads this will have already read the MSM reports of Cheney’s interview. I’m glad Cheney finally came clean, sort of. People who call this a public appearance are not completely correct. Sure the interview is being aired publicly, but this pre-recorded Brit Hume, one-on-one interview of Cheney is not exactly a public appearance. Hume was hand selected by Cheney and the interview was not live. Nor was the “public” able to ask Cheney questions or do any sort of follow up. And I’m willing to bet that Cheney required an advanced copy of all questions and scratched off the ones he didn’t want to be bothered with. In the end, its one reporter from Fox News getting sole possession of the entire public’s communiqué-- a media outlet the Saudi royal family owns over 5%. And this is an American public relations event how?

Supporters of Bush and Cheney will say that I am taking this whole thing out of context and that there is nothing short of dying that Cheney or Bush could do that I would agree with. To a certain extent maybe those who say that are correct. But we are talking about the Vice President of the United States shooting someone with a gun. This is serious stuff. This isn’t a hunting accident where someone slipped and fell; someone was shot at near point-blank range. People want to call this a minor hunting accident, but there is no such thing. Hunting safety is not an accident, and after all, the thesis of this story is that Cheney shot someone, not Cheney tripped someone while walking.

Cheney’s reply as to why he didn’t notify the press was because his first reaction was not “I need to call the press.” That’s a good thing; because the last time Cheney appeared in front of the press to give any information was months ago. And the last time Cheney has giving a press conference has been years ago. Certainly Cheney’s first reaction, or even his fifth reaction, wouldn’t be to alert the press, but that is why Cheney has a staff with a fully functional press office. I don’t think anyone is saying that the first reaction from Cheney should have been to call CNN. And even with that, Cheney himself wouldn’t have to alert the press. Tax payers pay people to do that for him.

It’s understandable that the last thing Cheney would want to do is go before cameras and a hounding press, he doesn’t even do that when he hasn’t shot someone, though it is the job of his staff to issue statements to the press. And when something is as serious as the vice president shooting someone, it is the duty, and even the obligation of the White House in conjunction with the VP’s press secretary to provide the necessary information, within a timely manner to the people who pay for it all to take place.

Some may still disagree with me and that is their right, but we also must remember that the president and the vice president are publicly elected officials. They are not private citizens, or private office holders. They are accountable representatives of the public’s good. They are at our disposal, or should be. If this were a monarchy or a dictatorship I would have no right to argue the role the public serves in ensuring that our elected officials are elected officials. The vice president is responsible to the entire public of the 300 million or so citizens of this nation. Not just to one reporter at a conservative foreign owned news outlet, or a handful of conservative talking heads. The interview is a step in the right direction and sadly that may be all we get.

Tags:
Cheney, Bush, Cowards