Calling Chevy Chase

A young Dick, pictured here with his mentor, to whom
perhaps he should be more often compared...

Malevolence or incompetence—or both?

That has always been the problem with sizing up Cheney/Bush. Are they evil geniuses doing what they intend to do, or are they just fucking up?

Did they destroy Iraq on purpose, or by accident? To this day, I still don't have a clue.

The malevolence is beyond doubt, in either case, and the results point to someone, er, unfit for command.

Anyway, came across this excellent summary of how Cheney's hunting mishap is the last five and a half years in microcosm, courtesy of a "reader jeff" comment on a firedoglake thread:

I think this is dangerous territory for Cheney et al. There is no good explanation for this, other than being drunk or stupid. Anti-gun people are going to hate the whole thing. Gun people like me are going to hate that he was such a complete idiot.

I think, as other have pointed out, that this is a microcosm of the whole administration:

1. Try to play tough, with a gun, or an army.

2. Fail to follow well-established rules, guidelines, and past experience (either out of ignorance or willful disregard, or both).

3. Get someone hurt or killed.

4. Try to keep the story under wraps for as long as possible.

5. When the story does come out, spin it so that there was no possible way the administration did anything wrong.

6. Blame someone else, where possible, blame the victim.

7. Make anyone who has a problem with it look like an un-American pussy.