‘There may be a beer or two in there’

February 15, 2006

The possible role of alcohol in the Cheney shooting has been widely discussed — just below the surface. Media outlets have reported that the Texas sheriff’s office concluded that “there was no alcohol or misconduct involved in the incident,” which seemed to resolve the questions that many reporters had, but few were willing to touch.

But there may be a little more to it. Ranch owner Katharine Armstrong told NBC News’ Aram Roston, an investigative reporter, that Cheney and Whittington had a picnic lunch before going hunting and “there may be a beer or two in there.”

NBC reported the quote and published it on MSNBC — until it was quietly removed from the site.

I don’t know what kind of standards are in place for these kinds of edits, but it seems incumbent on professional news outlets to explain when a story is changed, particularly on substantive points like this one. If the quote was wrong, fine; amend the story and add an editor’s note with the correction. If Armstrong called and changed her mind about the quote, fine; just tell the reader about the switch.

It’s wrong, however, for any news outlet to publicly report one thing and then pretend it was never said.

This is an important story involving a vice president, who has had a few alcohol-related run-ins with the law, and who delayed an interview with local law enforcement for nearly 14 hours after the incident. If MSNBC is going to run a provocative quote, MSNBC needs to either stand behind it or explain the change.

Animal Farm. What rules?

One day it’s “All animals are equal.” Next day it’s “All animals are equal, but some animal are more equal than others.”

  • If you care about journalistic integrity, please inform MSNBC about their egregious error. I just sent this email to them, at letters@msnbc.com

    Dear Sir,

    I think it was completely irresponsible to remove the quote from Katherine Harris that “there may be a beer or two in there” from the Dick Cheney shooting story with no explanation. That’s an action we’d expect from Pravda, not a supposedly reputable US news source.

    David ——

  • LOL David…

    You’re excused – both enabling female members of the Bush plantation caste…I can’t tell the difference either…

  • The Democrat Mob’s fascination with the LEFT Media Trust’s reporting of a hunting accident continues to amaze disinterested observers. There is so little that happens in this World that actually conforms to their model of reality, so the Mob demands a morbid twisting of the reporting of the simple events of a tragic accident. These United States are winning The Global War On Terror, which impending victory has left the Mob disillusioned, for they expected to resume their misgovernment of the Nation standing on the necks of the soldiers of a defeated American Army. How they long for a repeat of the shameful Viet Nam bug out! It will not happen!

  • I’ve been thinking about this and it’s time for Cheney to resign:

    -He was hunting illegally and negligently resulting in the shooting of a co-hunter…negligence???…reports say Whittington was shot at 5:30 pm central time and that was already after sunset in Corpus Christi…illegally???…there’s the matter of the $7 stamp…
    -He was hunting despite probable warnings on the meds he takes – no doubt he’s prohibited the operation of heavy machinery…is the use of firearms less lethal???
    -And then there’s the little matter of the delay in his interview with local law enforcement…we’ll never know if he was adding alcohol to his cocktail of meds.

    Bottom line: an illegal, negligent act betraying an appalling lack of judgment…and this is a guy a heartbeat away from the Presidency. As others have posted, Cheney can’t be trusted to shoot a firearm…do we want his impaired finger on the button???

    Get him out of office before he does more damage…

  • “continues to amaze disinterested observers”

    I bow down to you sir or madam. I have never mastered the ability to be both amazed and disinterested at the same time.

  • Dan — You’re confusing “disinterested” with “uninterested.” (Not that wampuscat’s post actually makes sense, on the whole.)

  • And when he’s out of office:
    -The Bush Administration is effectively decapitated…
    -Cheney will no longer enjoy executive privilege…maybe we can get some answers from him in Congressional testimony and before Plame prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald.

  • The sheriff says:

    “there was no alcohol or misconduct involved in the incident,”

    But how does he know? He’s already conceded he wasn’t able to investigate until the next morning.

  • This story just gets more fascinating every day it drags out. Whittington was shot at 30 yards, not it looks like he was shot at near point-blank range. He received minor injuries, but he’s been in the ICU twice now and had a “minor” heart attack. Cheney believes it’s beneath him to tell the press and public, but he’ll talk to the RNC’s mouthpiece. And they hadn’t been drinking, but Cheney may had tipped a few over lunch.

    I really like Armstrong’s qualifying statement: “Remember, not everyone was shooting.” That doesn’t exactly exonerate Cheney does it?

    So not only were they drinking … they were drinking and driving around the ranch looking to shoot birds. How many beers did Karen Armstrong have? She was driving, wasn’t she? And if she was, isn’t this a imminent threat to the life of the VP? Where was the Secret Service?

    AND … what was Harry Whittington’s blood alcohol content when he was admitted to the hospital? I’m guessing they’d test an incoming patient for alcohol or narcotics before administering medications. His BAC would certainly help put to rest the question of whether alcohol was present.

    I don’t hold any hope for this to create lasting damage to the Bush administration. I’ll give Cheney the benefit of the doubt and say the shooting was accidental. But it’s interesting to see how their ineptitude has blown an accident into something that’s perceived to be far more sinister.

  • Hey, Waumpuscat, it hasn’t been “these United States are” since your traitor ancestors lost the Civil War. Since 1865, it has been “The United States is…” But hey, you’re moron enough to spout the rest of the baloney you did, I suppose this won’t matter.

    .

  • Cleaver, baby, will you join me in a petition to unseal the judicial and congressional records accumulated by Squire Fitzgerald as he prepared for Fitzmas? I’ll take care of lettering the Picket Signs, and you will just have to dress warmly with comfortable shoes, for the cold truth will freeze careers in the Bureaucracy. We’ll, You and I, restore liberty in this glorious Nation as in the olden times!

  • I’m thinking that Bush must be sweating it.
    He knows in his heart that he is an unqualified figurehead who needs prompting through the onslought of mindbending complexities of Presidental Responsibility.
    And his handlers are preoccupied. Cheney and Rove are busy fighting off personal political and legal threats ….so Georgie might start acting on his own from instinct.
    Then I think we all should be sweating it. Rove and Cheney may be rats but they are the adult babysitters for George.

  • What is his relationship with Katharine Armstrong and Pamela Willeford, the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland? Why isn’t Willeford listed as an eyewitness on the incident report? She was right there with Cheney, not seated in car watching from a distance. “… from PDB progressive blog.

    We got the drugs (alcohol) and we might have sex, so where’s the rock and roll?

  • cleaver

    Are you going to debate waumpuscat or call his ancestors names and quibble over trivial issues re these United States.

    Name calling does not impress but is expected, thank you for confirming my expectations of liberal debate.

    • Comments are closed.