Not Exactly Clearing Things Up

Howard Kurtz writes in The Washington Post: "Mary Matalin, a former Cheney aide and informal adviser . . . said Cheney considered holding a news conference, but that 'would have meant a lot of grandstanding' by reporters. 'Everyone asks the same questions so they can get on their networks,' she said. Matalin said she didn't think 'any purpose would be served' by the vice president doing further interviews because every news organization will excerpt the Fox session. . . .

"Hume has questioned the recent behavior of the White House press corps, telling viewers Tuesday: 'It doesn't seem to me, from what I can tell, from what I'm reading from the public, that the public much cares about whether they found out about this on Saturday night or Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.' "

Yesterday, after the interview, Hume said: "I think a lot of the public will tend to be sympathetic to the vice president, not least because of the behavior of the White House press corps. But that's neither here nor there for the moment."

Paul Brownfield writes in the Los Angeles Times: "If you accidentally shoot a hunting buddy in the face, make it about the media.

"That was the message Vice President Dick Cheney got out Wednesday, courtesy of Fox News Channel and its most sober and decorated journalist, Brit Hume, who was summoned by Cheney for an exclusive interview and then left to play Cheney's press secretary, getting the veep's talking points out the rest of the day on Fox."

On CNN yesterday, Jack Cafferty cracked: "I would guess it didn't exactly represent a Profile in Courage for the vice president to wander over there to the f-word network for a sit down with Brit Hume. That's a little like Bonnie interviewing Clyde, ain't it? Where was the news conference? Where was the access to all of the members of the media?

The Goal

Peter Baker writes in The Washington Post: "White House aides and allies expressed hope that Cheney's public comments would defuse the uproar."

Peter Wallsten and Nicholas Riccardi write in the Los Angeles Times: "Cheney's decision to appear on television, and to display an unusual level of contrition, came as White House officials hoped that Whittington's improving condition might quell an uproar over the administration's failure to disclose the news immediately after the Saturday afternoon accident."

What Hunters and Lawyers Say

Allen G. Breed writes for the Associated Press: "Maybe Harry Whittington shouldn't have stepped out of the hunting line to pick up a downed quail. Maybe the dog handler should've sent a retriever to fetch the bird instead. Maybe the guide should have stopped the hunt until everyone was back together.

"But most hunters seem to agree the responsibility lies with the guy holding the smoking gun."

John Riley writes in Newsday that hunters believe: "Cheney and the other hunter should have stopped hunting when Whittington broke out of the line, and Cheney should have had the discipline to only fire into the zone in front of him, instead of shooting quickly as he turned.

"Lawyers said that if Whittington wanted to sue his friend Cheney for negligence, he would probably win. . . .

"In fact, according to some Texas legal experts, Cheney could theoretically face a criminally negligent homicide charge if Whittington died and a grand jury concluded the vice president should have known he was creating a 'substantial and unjustifiable risk' of shooting another hunter."

Not Really Taking Blame

Dana Milbank writes in The Washington Post: "President Bush in 2000 ushered in the Era of Personal Responsibility. Yesterday ushered in the Era of Qualified Personal Responsibility."

Bigger Problem?

Ronald Brownstein and Peter Wallsten write in the Los Angeles Times: "The Cheney shooting and the Katrina response have raised tough questions about what the president knows, when he knows it and how the White House shares information with elected officials and the public."

Scooter Libby Watch

Peter Baker writes in The Washington Post: "Vice President Cheney yesterday praised his former chief of staff, I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, and said the indicted ex-aide deserves to be considered not guilty until proved otherwise. But the vice president declined to say whether he authorized Libby to disclose classified information. . . .

"In the interview, Cheney said he had the power under a presidential executive order to declassify information. 'I've certainly advocated declassification and participated in declassification decisions,' he said, but he would not say whether he had done so unilaterally.

"Cheney was referring to an executive order on classification of information first signed by President Bill Clinton in 1995. In March 2003, just days after ordering U.S. troops into Iraq, President Bush amended [the] order to, among other things, give the vice president the same classification power as the president."

Ron Fournier writes for the Associated Press: "Republicans say they are pleasantly surprised that the intense media coverage of the hunting accident has shifted attention from the case of I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff. Libby is accused of misleading investigators about who leaked the identify of a CIA official."

Opinion Watch

Arianna Huffington writes that, "taking a page from Orwell, Cheney assured us -- again and again -- that by keeping the story hidden he was only trying to make sure the truth got out."

Kevin Drum writes: "Hume suggested that since this was obviously a national story, Cheney should have informed the national press and gotten the word out sooner. Cheney's reply: 'It isn't easy to do that. Are they going to take my word for what happened?'

"Seriously? Cheney's story is that his own credibility is so poor that a statement from him would have been worthless? Is he really going to stick to that as his explanation?"

Bob Herbert writes in the New York Times (subscription required): "It's time for Dick Cheney to step down -- for the sake of the country and for the sake of the Bush administration."

Jay Rosen writes: "Cheney took the opportunity to show the White House press corps that it is not the natural conduit to the nation-at-large; and it has no special place in the information chain. Cheney does not grant legitimacy to the large news organizations with brand names who think of themselves as proxies for the public and its right to know. Nor does he think the press should know where he is, what he's doing, or who he's doing it with."

Late-Night Humor Watch

From "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" via the New York Daily News :

"So it turns out Dick Cheney's gang weren't even walking through the woods hunting. They were in a car. He was in a car. They drive along, they get out of the car, he shoots a friend in the face and then they get back in the car and they go hide for 18 hours. That's not hunting, that's an episode of 'The Sopranos.' "