Just becacuse Matt Drudge posts a pre-emptive headline predicing that everyone is going to spend another week on Harry Whittington doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. That, in fact, is the presumptive reason that Mr. Drudge posted tthe headline.

If drinking beer isn't drinking, then receiving a blow job isn't having sex. Fair's fair.

Tell me again, how many DUI's has Cheney had? And, the reports say that Cheney "poured himself a cocktail" after his victim was taken to the hospital. Strange and dangerous behavior for a man with a history of five heart attacks and who takes many medications as a result. However, that is precisely what a person would want to do in order to eliminate the charge of driving (shooting) under the influence. Proof is impossible! Cheney may be crazy and dangerous but he is not stupid.

I must say, Matalin's Time interview sounds a lot more rational than her appearance on Sunday's Meet the Press, where she looked and sounded like some dreadful cross between Cruella DeVille and the witch from Snow White. She was defensive, sarcastic, mean-spirited and downright nasty.

Come to think of it, who better to spin for Dick Cheney?

In her hysterical appearance on "Meet the Press," Mary Matalin denied every blaming Harry Whittington for getting shot in the face by the Vice President. However, to the best of my recollection, she appeared on "Imus in the Morning" on the Monday following the shooting and did just that. As I recall she said something about Whittington never announcing his presence, as he was obliged to do. Not that we need further evidence of her baldfaced lying on behalf of Cheney, but it might be worth checking out.

"It is true that the vice president had a beer at lunch, and let me ask anybody sitting at this table who knows the vice president, has known him for many years, has seen him in social situations, he’s known not to be a drinker," she said.

So he's not a social drinker? No, actually more of an anti-social drinker, I guess, for crissakes, Mary, the guy's got two (2!) drunk driving convictions.

And you've got to love the fact that the initial story to be release neglected to mention WHO the shooter was. What - did it say something like:

Dateline: Texas. A member of the vice president's hunting party was shot by another member of the hunting party when the party of the second part mistook the party of the first part for a flushed quail. The vice president is said to be resting comfortably in an undisclosed location, feeding on the tiny carcasses of the downed quail and free from bird shot.

Something that I haven't seen poured over in this incident: Cheney, Armstrong, et al say that they went out again to hunt at 3:00, after having beer with lunch "...four or five hours earlier." The implication is that whatever alcohol they had consumed was long gone from their systems. So, the vice president of the United States was drinking at 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning??? Why is our fearless cutthroat infotain media not going after this?

"The next day's newspapers included Armstrong's account and Matalin's spin: Armstrong said the incident was Whittington's fault, and Matalin seemed to back that view by insisting that the vice president "didn't do anything he wasn't supposed to do."

That's not the way Cheney would tell the story in his interview with Hume. Cheney said that, whatever the other conditions might have been, he bore the ultimate responsibility for shooting Whittington because he was the one who pulled the trigger."

I would submit that Armstrong, Matalin, and Cheney have in fact been telling the exact same story, which is the following one: the shooting is really Whittington's fault, and the blame belongs to him; but Cheney is such a stand-up guy and good friend and overall manly man that he takes responsibility "whatever the other conditions." Everything is in that little qualifying phrase. What can those "other conditions" be, if not precisely the conditions supposedly created by Whittington, as reported by Armstrong and Matalin. Conclusion: Cheney may not exactly be Jesus, taking upon himself the sins of the world (or at least those of Whittington), but close.

I love the arguement that he may or may not have had a drink, but he isn't a "drinker." Doesn't that make it even worse? Then we can presume he has a low tolerance, and perhaps "just a beer" may have had a stong effect on him, thus accidently shooting a man! Ridiculous arguement -- it's crazy no one called her out on it.

It's common legal advice to take alcohol in front of a witness after an accident where you may be asked to take a blood alcohol test. Armstrong was very clear that she witnessed Cheney drink after the incident negating the accuracy of any blood alcohol test. For someone who doesn't drink, he sure drinks when it's important. I guess there was at least one legal advisor conscious after the shooting. I can imagine poor Harry's first words to Cheney from the ground: Take a tall drink and blame me.

Also amusing are Harry's words on his own recovery: How sorry he is for the difficult time Cheney has been through. Talk about taking one for the team.