Media failed to report contradiction in Cheney's alcohol claims . . .

[goodhue]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200602160007

Thu, Feb 16, 2006 1:44pm EST

Media failed to report contradiction in Cheney's and Armstrong's alcohol claims

Summary: Reporting on Vice President Dick Cheney's admission that he had consumed "a beer at lunch" prior to accidentally shooting a hunting companion, numerous media outlets failed to report that Cheney's admission contradicted earlier statements by Katharine and Anne Armstrong, co-owners of the ranch where the accident occurred, who had said that Dr. Pepper was served with lunch and "heavily implied," according to The New York Times, that "no alcohol was served at all."

In reporting on Vice President Dick Cheney's February 15 admission that he had consumed "a beer at lunch" prior to accidentally shooting Texas lawyer Harry Whittington during a February 11 hunting trip, numerous media outlets failed to report that Cheney's admission contradicted earlier statements by Katharine and Anne Armstrong, co-owners of the ranch where the accident occurred, who had said that Dr. Pepper was served with lunch and "heavily implied," according to The New York Times, that "no alcohol was served at all." The Washington Post went so far as to report that Cheney's account "largely squared" with Katharine Armstrong's.

Katharine Armstrong was the first person to alert the press that the incident had occurred and, according to a February 13 article in The Washington Post, Cheney's office directed reporters to Armstrong for an eyewitness account of the incident. Moreover, Cheney acknowledged in his February 15 interview with Fox News host Brit Hume that he agreed with Armstrong that she should be the one to inform the press because "the accuracy was enormously important."

Cheney, during his interview with Hume, claimed that he drank "a beer at lunch," hours before the accident happened. But, as The New York Times reported on February 16, Cheney's admission was inconsistent with earlier statements made by other members of the hunting party who denied that alcohol was involved at all.

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http://mediamatters.org/items/200602160007

[fooj]

1. Now, how could the LIBERAL MEDIA miss such a thing?

:sarcasm:

[havocmom]

2. No alcohol allowed on the ranch. The sign says so!

Yeah, sure, Mrs Armstrong. Just words on a board, that sign.

[goodhue]

3. beer at lunch, cocktail before dinner . . .

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/15/cheney/index.html

Armstrong, a longtime friend of the Cheney family, told CNN before the vice president's interview that she never saw Cheney or Whittington "drink at all on the day of the shooting until after the accident occurred, when the vice president fixed himself a cocktail back at the house."

[goodhue]

4. went to bed by 10pm

[goodhue]

6. feeling badly

[goodhue]

7. slept soundly?

[goodhue]

8. like a baby

[cliss]

5. See what happens when you have too much power?

You become so lazy, that you can't even put out the effort to get your damn stories straight.

Dick Cheney is really in the wrong century. He should have lived in the 1300's, in some castle in southern England or maybe France. He could have jerked around his little vassals, and told them to bring him more grain etc. He would NEVER have had to explain himself to anybody.

That would have worked much better.

It's crystal clear to me that Cheney has SO MUCH POWER that he doesn't even go to the effort of concoting a good story that they all agree on. The creep didn't even go to visit W. at the hospital. This is truly a case of power gone bad.

[Disturbed]

9. Armstrong for an eyewitness account

Cheney's office directed reporters to Armstrong for an eyewitness account of the incident.

Cheney lies right off the top. Armstrong was NOT an eyewitness. She herself stated that she thought that perhaps Cheney had experience a heart attack when she saw the SS rush toward him. The Swiss Ambasador was the actual eyewitness yet no report from her on the offical inquiry was made.