WP: White House Deferred to Cheney on Shooting

[kskiska]

(snip)

…It is highly unusual, if not unprecedented, for the White House to allow a private citizen serve as its de facto spokesman.

But current and former aides said the White House rarely imposes its practices, especially on press matters, on Cheney. The vice president's office often operates autonomously in a manner that many top White House officials are reluctant to challenge.

In this case, Cheney worked with family members and former aide Mary Matalin on how to handle the fallout of the shooting accident, said a person close to the vice president who demanded anonymity to talk about internal discussions.

(snip)

The manager of a ranch in neighboring Brooks County attended a quail lunch at the Armstrong Ranch headquarters midday Sunday with Cheney. Lavoyger Durham, manager of El Tule Ranch, said the luncheon talk was of "North Korea, India, China, Taiwan."

There was no discussion about the accident the night before, he said, but it became known at the luncheon that Cheney asked to have the morning hunt canceled. "He didn't want to shoot," Durham said.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/13/AR2006021300452.html

[NanceGreggs]

1. "He didn't want to shoot," Durham said.

Is ONE hunting buddy the limit? I don't hunt, so I'm just wonderin' ...

[Canuckistanian]

2. Mary Matalin designed this "strategy"?

Oh, this should be good.

[Canuckistanian]

3. Even more disturbing is how differently Cheney is treated.

The puppetmaster is not used to giving up control of those strings.

The atmosphere in the WH must be explosive.

[f-bush]

5. No kidding!

[Pirate Smile]

4. This is crazy:

"In a telephone interview, Armstrong said that she, her mother and her sister, Sara Storey Armstrong Hixon, decided on Sunday morning after breakfast to report the shooting accident to the media. "It was my family's own volition, and the vice president agreed. We felt -- my family felt and we conferred as a family -- that the information needed to go public. It was our idea," Armstrong said."

[yellowcanine]

6. Cheney hides behind the skirts of women instead of standing up and

admitting his mistake like a real man would.

[BR_Parkway]

7. Another deferment to Cheney, thought he used up his quota staying

out of Vietnam.

[Pirate Smile]

8. kick