Oddly Inflammatory

The notably thoughtful and demure Elisabeth Bumiller of the Times appraises Mary Matalin's damage control effort in the recoil of Dick Cheney's attempt to gun down a senior citizen who was no doubt griping about the new Medicare drug benefit:

Mary Matalin, Vice President Dick Cheney's longtime troubleshooter, was sleeping in last Sunday when the phone jangled her awake at 8 a.m. She groggily picked it up to hear, 'The vice president shot somebody, and he's O.K.' "

"And I said," Ms. Matalin recounted, " 'Can I get a cup of coffee?' "

Fine, who cares?  But this sentence stands out like a shot of flaming tequila on a cold Saturday night:

Ms. Matalin, a former top aide to Mr. Cheney who was summoned back to the West Wing to help manage the crisis, offered a new glimpse, clearly from her own perspective, into some of the behind-the-scenes frenzy. She also described a vice president, who, she said, was in no condition in the hours after the shooting to speak out himself.

Emphasis added!  What is she telling us here?!?  And why do the Times editors think people won't leap to this innuendo?

Well.  What she is telling us is covered in the next paragraph:

She first talked to Mr. Cheney by phone around 10 a.m. Sunday, some 16 hours after he shot Mr. Whittington. "It was not to go through the statement or what do we do, it was to tell me it happened," said Ms. Matalin, a former campaign manager for the first President Bush who was known for her bare-knuckled outbursts.

She added, "It was so about Harry — 'I hit him and I can't believe it and he's such a good guy.'

"And I said, O.K., this guy is going to be worthless about getting me what I need to help him here,' " she added, speaking of Mr. Cheney. "He's so Harry-centric."

Ahh.

So far, and words cannot capture my disappointment, no one at Memorandum is leaping to this bait, and the two respondents are models of clarity and restraint.

But the day is young!

Comments

[Sue]

Wow. Those people at {two} {respondents} are seriously angry. Either that are they just don't like Mary Matalin and Dick Cheney.

[clarice]

Mary Matalin is the best at what she does.
She's worth whatever she is paid.

[TexasToast]

I guess it really depends on one’s point of view.

The quotations of Bumiller that you find offensive read to me like attempts to explain Cheney’s delay by portraying Cheney as a human – not as a drunk. “He was in no condition … to speak out himself” might simply mean, “he was upset”. I know that I would be upset if I had blasted my buddy with birdshot.

Matelin wants us to see a kinder, gentler Dick Cheney – are you saying that this is so unbelievable that everyone, (including you , Tom) will read it as a code for a few too many?

Looks that way.

[Sue]

I'm with Texas Toast. What on earth would leave Tom to jump to the conclusion that someone will jump on that and leap to the Cheney was drunk conclusion? Certainly not those attorneys O'Donnell talked to or the drunk either. Or was that a drunk attorney? I misremember.

[topsecretk9]

was sleeping in last Sunday when the phone jangled her awake at 8 a.m.

Hysterical Nit Pick Alert - Since when is 8am on a Sunday sleeping in?

[topsecretk9]

BTW
I loooooove Matalin.

[Cecil Turner]

Wow. Those people at {two} {respondents} are seriously angry.

Something is affecting the thought process. For example:

Guess who was responsible for spiking an early statement from Cheney that would have defused some of Shooter’s self-inflicted political wounds . . .?

The only possible answer to that question (just as the only possible answer to: "who is to blame for the shooting?") is "Cheney." Losing track of such basic considerations leads to silly conclusions.

[julia]

Rather the latter, I think, Sue.

I hasten to disclaim having done anything you might have approved of, Mr. Maguire. I didn't think she was suggesting that Cheney was drinking. I think she was suggesting that he was overcome with emotion. I think she was lying, but I think that's what she was lying about.

I also think that the spin coming out of the White House suggests that Mr. Rove is trying to make Mr. Cheney walk the plank, but that's sort of a go husband go bear for me. I'm sure whoever they replaced him with would be equally as appalling.

On the other hand, this is your family fight, so I'll let you worry about it.

[Other Tom]

I for one am not worried at all. Cheney isn't going anywhere; he and Bush will complete their terms; and no Democrat has a prayer in 2008. All is pretty much right with the world, and fools who know nothing of hunting are hysterical over an accident. No wonder we keep winning.

[Sue]

Gosh, I was going for the angry part. As a matter of fact, I still vote angry. Only angry people are that emotional.

[TM]

are you saying that this is so unbelievable that everyone, (including you , Tom) will read it as a code for a few too many?

Well, I am saying that you, Tex, will read it that way. Don't let me down!

And honestly, the phrasing - "in no condition in the hours after the shooting".

Since Ms. Matalin only got involved the next day, the non-inflamatory version would be, "in no condition the morning after the shooting".

That would make it clear to all but Lawrence O'Donnell that we aren't talking about Cheney hopped up on drugs.

Well, they will have their fun.

[Cecil Turner]

I didn't think she was suggesting that Cheney was drinking. I think she was suggesting that he was overcome with emotion.

If you're referring to Matalin, there's little doubt she was talking about emotion. However, I doubt Bumiller is so tone-deaf she couldn't see what the lunatic fringe would assume from her "no condition" paraphrase.

I think she was lying, but I think that's what she was lying about.

Charming.

[Dan S]

But TM...

"in no condition the morning after" is code for sex! First drinking, now sex, what kind of can of worms are you trying to open here anyway?!

I am with the crowd that doesn't really take away any primary suggestion of inebriation from the text you quoted. I think you're sensitized to that by other things already said, that's all.

This whole thing was an entirely silly MSM hurt feelings at not being important enough to be notified first juvenile tantrum in my eyes. I love it. More sensible people will recognise them for what they are.

I predict by 2008 they will have a firm grip on the lowest profession in public esteem, having worked tirelessly to wrest it from lawyers and politicians.

[julia]

Well, Sue, I'm guessing you've voted for things I disagree with before.

[Jon Swift]

The MSM as usual is missing the real story of what happened on the Armstrong Ranch:
http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2006/02/what-really-happened-on-armstrong.html

[larwyn]

TimesWatch peeks behind the wall:

Krugman on the Texas Cheney Massacre

The liberal columnists of the Times are still churning away left-wing rants behind the TimesSelect pay firewall. Here’s an excerpt from Monday morning’s Paul Krugman column on Vice President Cheney’s hunting accident.

“There have been many attempts to turn the shooting of Harry Whittington into a political metaphor, but the most characteristic moment was the final act -- the Moscow show-trial moment in which the victim of Mr. Cheney's recklessness apologized for getting shot. Remember, Mr. Cheney, more than anyone else, misled us into the Iraq war.”

[Sue]

Touched a nerve, huh? Wasn't my intention, but I admit, I'm not sorry.

[Sue]

Larwyn,

You have to admit that is some mighty fine gymnastics on display. From Corpus to Iraq, the contortionists are limber enough to make you gasp...

[moneyrunner]

I am now allowed to reveal that the decision to delay the announcement was made by Karl Rove (also known as Bush’s brain). He also decreed that the news would be given to a small local paper. Why? The answer is simple, gentle reader. He knows the Washington Press Corpse [spelling deliberate] like he knows every detail of his glorious naked body. He knows David Gregory and he knows that ditz who asked the question about Cheney resigning.

Knowing that the best way to marginalize the press is to hold them up to ridicule, he decided that the best way to have them look ridiculous is to give them a chance to be themselves. So he delayed the news release and then gave it to a local Corpus Christi paper and the Washington Press Corpse reacted as he knew they would. Bottom line, The Press Corpse is made to look petty and ridiculous, Cheney does not give a rat’s ass – he’s not running for anything – and the Democrats are left feeling frustrated, thinking that Cheney has escaped their trap; all they while, they are the victims of a funny, impromptu and effective sting operation.

[Neo]

When the Clinton Administration was in full swing, a story like this meant that they were trying to change the subject.

So what subject did we leave behind or miss entirely ?

NSA wiretaps maybe, and this was making the Dems look silly (illegal but the show goes on, unimpeded).

al CartoonGate maybe, if there ever was a perpetual motion motion machine for making "The Prophet" look bad, this is/was it; a real lose-lose (even Ghandi didn't threaten his opponents lives); begs the question "What does God need with a starship?" or looney defenders.

The Palestinians maybe, the world worst bargainers return with the regularity of an unwanted season; now were told not be believe anything they may have said; all this while trying to bolster their credibility; you couldn't make this stuff up.

Abu Ghraib part [fill in the blank] perhaps, Oh Please; the next showing of the illegally generated photographs; these guys need that starship.

Iran's quest for "the bomb" maybe, we got to drive the story about the most likely source of "an atomic bomb used in anger" from the headlines.

[kim]

Isn't it precious, Julia, imagining feelings? It's onan so sweet, you can enjoy all his feelings all by yourself.
=========================================

[Patton]

If you people can't see how important it is that Cheney shot someone and then covered it up by informing the secret service immediately, informing the local authorities in 1/2 hour, and informing the press the next morning, then you will also not be able to see how Bushs NSA program spies on all americans and we all have lost our freedom, and you won't be able to see how Abu Gyrab was planned by Bush and 9/11 was planned by the Jews.

You just won't get it, don't try.
You've had too much Bush koolaid to recognize the Bush/Cheney coup and the silencing of Mr Whittington.

[Patton]

Ohhhhh, sorry, Im back...went a little nuts on that last post...
too much Daily Kos and Democrat Underground.

[larwyn]

Sue,
"the contortionists are limber enough to make you gasp..."

Sure does when you get a peek, but not worth the 50 bucks - I'll
wait for the next Summer Olympics.
Fear that sooner or later Kos and the DU et al will come up with secret passwords so we can see them
either.

moneyrunner
Guess you missed Mark Styne's column in Sun Telegraph.
Lost link - sorry.

[topsecretk9]

If I'm an "authoritarian cultist" then they are "contort-o-crats©" , so there--- sticking out tongue, thumbs in ears, fingers wiggling.

[larwyn]

HACKETT'S ON HARDBALL

RIGHT NOW - MSNBC!

[Other Tom]

I'm delighted to be having much more fun with all of this than either the Democrats or the MSM. It's like shooting fish in a barrel, so to speak.

[moneyrunner]

Larwyn - No, I saw the Steyn column. But he has it slightly wrong. Gregory is NOT one of the Rovebots (some of the others are, not Gregory). Here's a link

[larwyn]

That is the genius of Rove -
the Rovebots are trained to pump
up the "courage" of the arrogant and egotistical elites.

Rovebots to LSM elites to Pelosi,
Reid, Dean,..............Rovebots
to Pelosi, Reid, Kennedy, Dean to
LSM elites.......

No infinity key on this keyboard.

[larwyn]

Remember when we loved the
"playmakers" on high school and
college basketball teams?

Rovebots are "playmakers"