Quick Draw Dick

After watching Dick Cheney's interview from FOX News earlier today, I was compelled by the subtle shift in his demeanor as the discussion went from the actual shooting to the subsequent release of information.

I think that shift probably represents very closely what actually happened over the weekend:

1.) The Gunshot - I have no doubt that Cheney was shaken by the incident. It's easy to make fun of him for being a grumbling robot and call out his confession to FOX News as the staged drama it was, but actually putting a scatter of bullets (no matter how small) into another human being has to make one feel just a little sick, especially if it's unexpected.

Plenty of blame can be laid on Cheney for not taking the proper safety precautions, and John Dickerson at Slate has a nice little diatribe about how the NRA can actually strengthen their message by admonishing Cheney for his role in the incident, but nonetheless I'm willing to give Dick the benefit of the doubt when he claims shock as one of the prime ingredients of his decision making process right after the bullets left his gun.

2.) The Leak - Here is where the mood shifts. In the interview on FOX, Cheney suddenly becomes a much more focused speaker, listing off a multitude of reasons he felt it was best to forgo the official press mechanism of the White House and instead use the ranch owner and a local reporter to break the story.

I imagine this same shift in focus happened to Cheney after it was clear that his pal, Harry Whittington, was going to be okay (Ed. By "okay," I'm referring to the relative nature of OK-ness, where one is considered on the plus side of things after getting shot by virtue of being alive and on their way to a hospital, whereas this would generally be an undesirable circumstance, but is certainly more relished than the option of being dead after getting shot).

Once Mr. Whittington was carted off to the hospital, Cheney was able to take his mind off the actual incident and shift back into work mode; coming up with the best plan to inform the world he'd almost murdered somebody.

An announcement through the White House would have involved a lot of showmanship from both sides of the podium and probably muddied the message in the official way most White House press briefings do. In this case, though, Cheney didn't need the message to be vague, he needed it to be perfectly clear: "The Veep Accidentally Shot Somebody, But That Person Is Okay And It's No Big Deal."

By having the ranch owner talk to a local reporter from Podunk, Cheney could basically dictate the story and then worry about the spin later.

As it turns out, it was a pretty easy spin. Let the press complain about the secrecy and then claim you were distraught. Insinuate it was the victim's fault (through the ranch owner's quotes) then be a hero for taking the blame yourself (through emotional answers to softball questions on FOX).

I see this as a fading story in another couple of days unless the guy actually dies or it turns out he was about to go public with some insider "Cheney wears women's undergarments" kind of story, and big Dick decided to take him out for real.

Well, Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline is back in court.

This time, he is defending his decision to require that all "doctors, nurses, counselors, and all other care providers report--as abuse--any sexual interaction between teens under 16."

Or course, as Dahlia Lithwick points out, this is merely another ill-conceiveded attempt at eradicating abortions under the guise of caring about children.

Lithwick (one of my favorites) does a pretty good job of laying out Kline's recent policies aimed at putting the pinch on abortion clinics in Kansas. Check it out when you have a minute.

Slate.com - Smells Like Teen Snogging, by: Dahlia Lithwick