Glenn Reynolds, the blogger behind Instapundit, writing for Guardian Unlimited today, says the media overreaction to the Cheney hunting accident is typical of Bush administration opponents' own scattergun criticism. In fact, in its limp response to the "cartoon jihad", its lack of a plan for Iran, and its failure to curb domestic spending, the presidency is vulnerable. But media critics keep "turning the volume up to 11" on every issue, thus drowning out warnings of real flaws.
"Vice-president has hunting accident." Not long ago, that would have been a page-seven story, at best. But this time it was the top story of the week in America. Not only did it get the kind of attention from cable news channels that is normally reserved for teenaged white girls gone missing, it got daily above-the-fold treatment in even the stodgiest of Old Media.Part of the reason is because the story combined themes the news media love: the dangers of firearms and the untrustworthiness of Dick Cheney. It seemed a golden opportunity to indulge in a lengthy exposition of both but, at the end of the week, it seemed as if Dick Cheney was the winner. That should not be surprising, given that the Cheney shooting incident was merely the latest in a long string of episodes demonstrating the tendency of the administration's opponents, and the press, to strike at the capillary rather than the jugular.
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