Easy Shot

In regards to Dick Cheney shooting his hunting partner, the easy joke is that "If this is how he treats his friends, just don't get on his bad side."

The real comment, though, is that when you're the second most powerful man in the USA (some might claim that he's the first) then you can pretty much do whatever the heck you want and then deal with the consequences later.

I remember this really trashy movie years ago, called THE BETSY. As I remember, it was about a Detroit auto family (back when that meant something) and how they could get away with anything because they controlled the town -- sorta like the Ewings in Dallas, right? [A diversion -- I saw the film in Times Square, and there's one scene where a husband comes back unexpectedly and starts walking up this huge sprial staircase to his bedroom where his wife is screwing around with her brother or some such thing. With each step, the audience became more and more restless, calling out to the screen: "Oh, no. Don't go up there. DON'T GO UP THERE!!!"]

In any case, the point was that those who were in power operated with a different set of rules than the rest of us. That will, of course, be of no surprise to anyone who has lived in a monarchy or a dictatorship. The big deal, however, about a democracy is that ain't supposed to happen.

Sure. Sure.

In any case, Cheney continues to demonstrate that he believes that the rules are for other people, and that hunters who run countries can do anything they want (he paid his missing hunting stamp after the fact, by the way). Just like a monarchy. Or a dictatorship. Or reality.