Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

In an exclusive interview with Fox News' Brit Hume this afternoon, ...according to Hume, in summarizing the contents, the vice president remained "totally unapologetic" about the long lag in reporting the shooting to the public -- and also said that he had consumed one beer at lunch that day.

This account runs counter to the statement taken from Katharine Armstrong, the owner of the land upon which Cheney and Whittington had been hunting. (Note: This link leads to a screenshot of the article BEFORE MSNBC felt compelled to delete the material from the article. No word on why they felt it wasn't important enough to remain in the already published article.)

"Armstrong also told NBC News that she does not believe alcohol was involved in the accident. She says she believes no one that day was drinking, although she says there may have been beer available during a picnic lunch that preceded the incident. 'There may be a beer or two in there,' she said, 'but remember, not everyone in the party was shooting'"

Okay, so she says there's beer there -- doesn't really sound like she's trying to cover up anything.

But wait! Let's step back for a moment and look at the first account of Armstrong's statement as reported by Kathryn Garcia and Jamie Powell, who broke the story Sunday for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

An owner of the ranch where Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a hunting companion said Monday "it did not even occur" to her to contact the authorities, and the sheriff didn't investigate the mishap until the next day.

None in the hunting party was drinking alcohol, said the owner, Katharine Armstrong.

"No, zero, zippo and I don't drink at all," she said. "No one was drinking."

Boy, I hope she didn't tell this lie to the Chief Deputy of the Kenedy County Sheriff's Office. Lying to the police... uh.. that's a crime. Right?

So the pieces of the puzzle come together and the resultant image is none too pretty. But just in case you can't quite picture it, let's get a rundown from star criminal lawyer Alan Dershowitz:

Why would a media-savvy and clever man like Dick Cheney delay notifying the press and the police about an accident when a) he knew it would eventually be covered by the press and b) he knew he would be criticized for delaying release of the story?

A simple cost/benefit analysis suggests that he (or those advising him) must have believed that there was more to be gained than lost by a 14 hour delay that would eventually be made public. It is likely, therefore, that something happened during that 14 hour period which was worth the negative costs of the delay.

What is the most likely thing to happen during a 14 hour delay that is worth the negative publicity? One possibility is that it takes approximately that period of time for alcohol to dissipate in the body and no longer be subject to accurate testing. It is fairly common for people involved in alcohol-related accidents to delay reporting them until the alcohol has left the body.

And he's certainly not the only one to come to this conclusion. According to Lawrence O'Donnell:  

The L.A. Times is edging closer to the most likely reason for the 18 hour delay in reporting that the Vice President of the United States shot someone:

"This was a hunting accident," said Gilbert San Miguel, chief deputy of the Kenedy County Sheriff's Office. "There was no alcohol or misconduct."

How do we know there was no alcohol? Cheney refused to talk to local authorities until the next day. No point in giving him a breathalyzer then. Every lawyer I've talked to assumes Cheney was too drunk to talk to the cops after the shooting. The next question for the White House should be: Was Cheney drunk?

So why was there no test given to Cheney. Well, because it was simply too damn long after the fact. Oh... and probably because he's the Vice President and all that.

But why was the Chief Deputy of the Kenedy County Sheriff's Office so quick to say "There was no alcohol or misconduct." -- because Armstrong or Cheney told him so??

Well, Cheney himself has admitted that he in fact DID consume alcohol prior to hunting.

Did someone lie to the chief deputy? Isn't that a crime as well?

Will an investigation ensue?

LOL!

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