Monumental Misfire

Nitpicker delivers a hunting lecture:

"Remember that this is the same Dick Cheney who mocked John Kerry by calling his camouflage outfit an 'October Disguise.' But, if Dick was a real hunter, he would know that hunters are supposed to have 'zones of fire,' areas which are theirs for the picking. Other areas, for safety reasons, are off-limits . . .

"So, unless Harry Whittington went [bonkers] and dashed out in front of men wielding shotguns, Dick Cheney violated one of the most important rules of hunting."

Michelle Malkin is sympathetic:

"Unfortunately, this is very bad news for the White House--and not just because of the inevitable late-night jokes that will inundate the airwaves over the next week. The Dems will exploit this accident to smear Cheney as incapable of being trusted, weak of mind, etc. The resignation rumors will fly again. And the biography of a man who has served this country so well and so honorably for so many years will be overshadowed by a single, ill-fated hunting mishap."

Left Coaster : holds nothing back: "What were they afraid of? The embarrassment of Cheney looking stupid, reckless, or perhaps being drunk as a skunk? The fact that his idea of hunting is like his idea of liberating countries?"

Cue the dark music for Ace of Spades : "The spin is that it was just a mistake.

"The truth is that Cheney was just hunting the ultimate prey-- man ."

Tbogg : has the one-liner: "Can we call this Cheneyquidick?"

Slate press critic Jack Shafer accuses NYT columnist Nick Kristof of pulling a stunt by challenging Bill O'Reilly to visit Darfur with him:

"As Kristof readers know, he's such a frequent visitor to the Darfur slaughterhouse that he's purchased a time-share condominium there. I jest, of course, but there's something around the bend about Kristof's Darfur-instead-of-Christmas harping. Every journalist who chooses to report on Subject A receives critical mail and phone calls from folks who insist that the journalist should be reporting on Subject B if he thinks A is a problem. Kristof must think it's clever to stoop to a gambit that's beneath any self-respecting blogger.

"Kristof's taunt also smacks of the sort of self-aggrandizement you're more likely to view on The O'Reilly Factor than on the Times op-ed page. Kristof seems to be saying, As the vicar of Darfur, I stand in absolute judgment of all who have not paid witness to this crime against humanity by touring the region with me . . . .