On Feb. 12, a horrible accident occurred on a private Texas ranch. During a hunting excursion, lawyer Harry Whittington accidentally forced 65-year-old Vice President Dick Cheney to apologize.
It was truly a shameful scene to watch.
The great man, Dick Cheney, had to humble himself before the commonality, before the television cameras, and apologize.
This is the same man who helped warn us about the dangers of Saddam Hussein.
Even right now, his former company, Halliburton, is helping to rebuild Iraq and turn it into a fountain of democracy and freedom. And now, here we sit, actually watching him say ‘I’m sorry.’
It is almost too much for me as an American to behold. Cheney is a strong man and in this post-Sept. 11 period, he can’t show himself as weak.
This is just as much an image war as it is a military one. Because of Cheney’s apology, the terrorists now have a clear fact which they could exploit.
Last Wednesday, Cheney appeared on FOX News and issued his statement.
That’s one thing to be thankful for, at least, for FOX News is perhaps the only channel that would ask fair, nonpartisan questions.
If Cheney was to do a news conference, why, he would be lambasted by leftist stations such as CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, MSNBC and CNBC, where the liberal bias would have added insult to injury. Imagine what this man is going through.
Imagine what it must feel like for the 65-year-old Cheney to have to apologize.
What I’d like to ask is where is Cheney’s supposed friend? It seems to me that Whittington is on the lam.
Think about it. He has already been released from the hospital, but has made no official statement. Where is his television appearance? Where are the hounds of reporters?
This is obviously the acts of a man who is using the liberal media to his advantage.
Whittington is using his tricks as a rich lawyer to escape all blame for what he did.
But the truth is out there and here’s at least one reporter who won’t sit down while Whittington gets away.
Now, don’t misunderstand me, I know that Whittington didn’t go on this hunting trip with the mission of forcing a 65-year-old man to apologize, but there are circumstances which seem out of place.
First of all, Whittington and Cheney were not best friends; in fact, this was the first time the two had been hunting together.
Also, before they left, they had a few beers. I think a pattern is beginning to form here. Whittington’s judgments were impaired when he set out on the trip.
He probably didn’t know where the quail were or where he was going.
This, coupled with the fact that he doesn’t even know Cheney that well, shows that Whittington probably never cared about what was going on and was just simply inattentive.
He probably even wanted to get the trip over with quickly because he didn’t want to spend too much time trying to act friendly and businesslike with a man he barely knew.
Whittington was just plain careless and ignorant, and in an act of utter clumsiness, inadvertently catalyzed a series of events that led to Cheney’s apology.
I don’t think I’m the only one out there who thinks that Whittington must clearly admit to what he’s done.
I am sure he realizes what he did, but he’s too afraid to acknowledge it. There comes a time in everyone’s life where a mistake is made.
Every person will one day make a slip-up that has no confounding factors and no excuses.
This is one of those situations. Whittington could say that he didn’t see Cheney.
Whittington could say that he meant no harm.
But that does not change the fact that Whittington forced Cheney to apologize.
You may not be the best of friends with him and you’ll probably never see him again when this incident is over, yet, Mr. Whittington, you still have a duty to fulfill.
I implore you to leave the comfort of your high and mighty societal position and face the man you injured.
David Syatt is a first-year literary journalism major.
Filed Under: Opinion