Dick Cheney, Hunting the Truth

by emptywheel

One of the most fascinating things about Dick's little hunting accident is that it exposes Dick violating the rules--rules that few are going to argue are partisan. When Dick and Libby broke the law to out Valerie Plame, wingnuts proclaimed they were just exposing an unfair partisan attack. When Dick and Bush broke the law to eavesdrop on American citizens, most Republicans excused it by saying Democratic complaints about the law-breaking just proves they're pre-9/11 partisan sissies. But many of the same conservatives excusing Dick for breaking the laws of the United States are the same who will tell you--in no uncertain terms--that you don't shoot your gun without looking where you're shooting. My blogmates (who are much better shots than I) are better qualified than I to pursue this line of thought. Meanwhile, though, I'd like to talk about a similar object lesson this shooting incident might offer.

Cheney's shooting accident and the bungled aftermath demonstrates clearly (again, to people who have doubted this in the past) many of Cheney's and Rove's favorite techniques for lying.

Repeating the Lie until It Becomes True

My favorite of these is a technique that is quickly becoming ineffective. Just keep asserting something to be the truth over and over again. Will it to be true.

I knew, when I watch Scottie's Monday press conference, that Katharine Armstrong did not really witness the shooting she claimed to have seen. How did I know? Because Scottie said, no fewer than six times, that Katharine Armstrong was an eyewitness, or that she saw what happened. When this crowd repeats something that many times, you can bet they're lying.

The Vice President spoke with Mrs. Katherine Armstrong and they agreed that she should make that information public. She was an eyewitness, she saw what occurred and she called her local paper to provide those facts to the local paper.

[snip]

The Vice President thought that Mrs. Armstrong should be the first one to give that information out, since she was an eyewitness.

[snip]

I mean, Mrs. Armstrong was there and saw that --

{snip]

hang on, hang on -- she was an eyewitness to what occurred and could provide the facts to the press.

[snip]

Well, Mrs. Armstrong provided that information. She was the eyewitness to what took place. [my emphasis]

And guess what? I was right. Ms. Armstrong herself admits that the first indication she had that something was wrong was when she saw the Secret Service responding to the accident--and even then, she thought Dick's ticker had given out.

Armstrong said she saw Cheney’s security detail running toward the scene. "The first thing that crossed my mind was he had a heart problem," she told The Associated Press.

While the press corps is asking Scottie why he was so insistent that Ms. Armstrong was an eyewitness, they might also want to ask him about the WMDs they promised we'd find, the ties between Al Qaeda and Saddam, or heck--let's think domestically for a second--the jobs they've promised would result every time they cut taxes on people like Ms. Armstrong. Repeating those lies haven't made the lies true any more than the lie that Ms. Armstrong was an eyewitness.

Erasing the Evidence

Then there's the celebrated memory hole.

One of TNH's loyal readers, John Casper, was one of the first people to notice that MSNBC had erased a damning quote from Armstrong.

"There may be a beer or two in there, but remember not everyone in the party was shooting,"

Now MSNBC has kind of replaced the line:

In a recorded, on-the-record phone call with NBC News, Armstrong said that beer may have been available at lunch that day. "If someone wants to help themselves to a beer," she said, "they may, but I did not see anyone do that," Armstrong says. She says she was not sure if there were beers in the coolers but wasn't ready to rule it out: "There may be a beer or two in there, but remember not everyone in the party was shooting," she told NBC News.

I doubt the bloggers' catch on the MSNBC erasure is the only thing that has now convinced Dick to admit he was drinking before he shot his friend. (Given the way Whittington's doctors refused to comment on alcohol in Whittington's blood, I suspect there's some medical records that reveal beer was involved.) But Dick's admission will bring more attention to the way these facts have a way of disappearing. FWIW, MSNBC seems to be saying that they had accidentally published a comment that had been given on background. But we know the White House has cleaned things like the July 12, 2003 press briefing transcript off of their website before. Not to mention things like call logs and e-mails. Erased, apparently, without a trace.

Referencing a Doctored Report

Which brings me to another Bush Administration favorite: answering questions by referring someone to a doctored report. When NBC called Dick's office to confirm whether or not he had been drinking (knowing, because Armstrong had told them, that there had been beer at lunch), his office directed them to refer to the Sheriff's report, which says alcohol was not involved in the accident.

NBC News called the vice president’s office for comment four times Tuesday and Wednesday and asked whether the vice president or anyone in the hunting party had consumed any alcohol on Saturday prior to the accident. In an e-mail statement Wednesday to NBC News, the vice president’s press secretary referred NBC News to the Kenedy County Sheriff’s Department report on the incident.

Of course, they could point someone to the Sheriff's report because they had managed to postpone Dick's interview with the Sheriff's Office until Sunday morning, after the alcohol in his system had worn off. So the report says there was no alcohol involved. I guess that's the nice part of practically owning the county your guests have major hunting accidents in.

This tactic is one, of course, that the White House just loves. The Silberman-Robb report, for example, is a favorite reference to "prove" that pre-war intelligence wasn't politicized. Ditto the Roberts-Hatch-Bond addendum to the SSCI report attacking Joe Wilson. Ditto the British White Paper announcing--in an unclassified document--that Iraq was trying to get Nigerien yellowcake. Ditto all of Judy Miller's pre-war reporting. All of these documents were doctored in every way possible. But the Bush Administration has been unbelievably successful at getting otherwise intelligent humans to believe a lie by pointing to these dodgy dossiers.

Hiding the Witnesses

Then there's the technique of hiding the witnesses.

Pamela Willeford was almost certainly the primary witness of the shooting. She was the person standing next to Dick when he shot Whittington. But if you google Willeford and Whittington, you find just a few stories that managed to interview her. Instead, we get Armstrong claiming she witnessed the accident, even though by her own account, she didn't realize something was wrong until the Secret Service detail started running toward Cheney. It will be interesting if the press or the police decide to find Ms. Willeford to interview her at more length.

In this case, the press might be able to find the real witness, if they try (after all, Ms. Willeford is a government employee over there in Switzerland). But think of the witnesses the Bush Administration has hidden over the last several years. Any number of Iraqi scientists who would testify there were no WMDs. A number of American scientists or intelligence professionals who disputed the claims that Iraq did have WMDs. Curveball and a host of other INC defectors, whose stories could be sustained only so long as no one interviewed them directly or looked closely enough to realize they're alcoholic freeloaders.

Working Media Timelines

And finally, the Bush favorite of working media timelines. This is something any smart media person is going to do--time your stories to make the most of the rhythm of press reporting. But the Bush Administration has taken this to a new level, what with their consistent Friday document dumps, the release of bad news late on a Friday to avoid any press attention. The idea, of course, is to release information, while virtually guaranteeing it will get little attention.

With Cheney's shooting accident, I doubt they believed the news could be buried forever. But by having Katharine Armstrong announce this via the local paper, they bought themselves several hours. Armstrong first tried to contact a friendly reporter at the Corpus Christi Caller Times at 8:00 on Sunday and didn't actually reach anyone until 11:00 am. That, plus the lag between the time the Caller Times reported the story on their website and the AP picked it up guaranteed that the story wouldn't appear on any Sunday morning talk shows. Which of course also forestalled the time when Dick would have to make a public appearance.

So if you're talking to a hunter who has just realized--after seeing Dick break the most basic rules of hunting etiquette--that Dick Cheney is a lying, foolish idiot, be sure to use this as a teaching opportunity. It's not just reckless violence Dick has been fomenting around the world, it's also transparent lying.

Comments

[DemFromCT]

Watching Tim (of Sunday AM's Meet the Tim) on NBC pontificate on the matter was very puzzling. Time says whether this remains a story, now that the Veep has been forthcoming and has humanized the situation, is entirely up to the victim's health. Only then can we see whether the story 'resonates'.

What a pompous ass. The story's resonating for all the stated reasons whether Tim approves of it or not. And Cheney lying to his media dog, Hume, doesn't end the story, it just adds fresh questions.

[Mimikatz]

Cherchez la femme. There's more to this story at Huffingtonpost. Armstrong's lobbying partner Karen Johnson is frequently linked to Rove down there in Texas. And where was Lynne Cheney? Is she another reason why Cheney tried to suppress the story and why Pamela Willeford hasn't been interviewed?

[peanutgallery]

It's not shooting an old guy in the face, but going hunting with women that's the big secret! Cheney better get out in front and do some damage control about the rumours now emerging about him and US Ambassador to Switzerland Pamela Willeford! And just how would the VP have hooked up with the head of the Texas Higher Education Coordination Board? Maybe it was during the course of her performance of duty as the apparently figurehead "Partner and President" of Pico Drilling Company? What's up with Pico Drilling, anyway. In a 2000 commencement speech in which she talks about careers, education, salaries, Willeford refers to herself thus;

I stand here before you today as a volunteer appointed to a statewide board--not as a recognized author, nor a Nobel prize winner, nor a famous actor, nor a brilliant neurosurgeon, nor a former president or ambassador, nor any kind of elected official, nor a world-renowned orator (obviously)--well, you get the picture. My opportunity for service is probably different from what will present itself to you. But we who are blessed with an education and other opportunities must want the best--and do our parts to make the best happen--for not only our own children and families but for our society as a whole.

How did this woman get to be the president of a well connected oil drilling company anyway? What else was the OVP up to in the summer of 03 when Pam was appointed to the cushiest ambassadorships?

[emptywheel]

I'm aware of the rumors about Willeford (plus, why continue to stonewall on her identity??).

I'm also very curious about Armstrong's lobbying. No one will say which company it is, but it's a company that is involved in Defense and Foreign Affairs. And one that uses Baker Botts, as many oil and gas firms do. And, of course, Armstrong's mom is one of the people Dick at Halliburton in the first place. I think there are several unpurused angles. The alcohol, at this point, is the low-risk confession.

[peanutgallery]

After being informed that Mr. Willeford was also at the Armstrong Ranch, big game hunting in another party, I looked around and found this truly surreal but telling picture. Ewwww... The woman in this picture of a thousand words wasn't hanging out with vascular Cheney and the canned quails for carnal purposes....I reckon the links have to do with Pico Drilling of Breckenridge....

[John Casper]

ew->On Keith Olbermann, John Dean just identified the issue you did back on Monday in comments at FDL, and in this article, that Armstrong can't both be a witness to the shooting and in the vehicle, as the most serious of Dead Eye's contradictions.

[Oleary25]

Excellent analysis...very perceptive...and enlightening...

[emptywheel]

JOhn Casper

Cool, glad to see that point will finally get some attention. One thing's for sure, Armstrong is a big fat liar.

[jacl]

There should be at least one more witness: In the interview with Hume, Cheney says a "guide" or "outrider" was with them.

[Meteor Blades]

As usual, despite the fact you're not a post-modernist, terrific deconstruction.

Among the best news of this whole incident is the reaction on the right. Judging by a cruise through a dozen or so of their more vociferous blogs, they're devouring each other over this, with one side saying this is really a screw-up and others saying, yes, but it's a little one. I love to see them, for a change, eating their own.

[KM]

Nice job, EW. A great, systematic analysis of how this fits into the classic MO of this Admin -- which, after all, is probably the most important point of all in this ridiculous mess.

[Pachacutec]

Brilliant work, EW.

I saw that John Dean bit. He's also going to review in depth any executive orders that might give Cheney cover to assert what Dean totally doubts is the case: that he or anyone can unilaterally make the decision to declassify (as opposed to classify) anything.

[SimoneDB]

Brings to mind the Bizarro cartoon of a few years ago: "But surely you agree that the truth can be created by the repetition of lie," says Karl Rove to Plato. Still one of the best visual commentaries on this administration.

[jwp]

EW,

you are correct, of course

It truly puzzles me why the press does not jump on the "eyewitness" lie. Just so obvious, and so easy.

Another thing I wonder, and maybe you have seen it, is why no one staked out the scene. Determine positions, distances, etc.

Perhaps the locals were too tightly bound to the manor to even think of doing such things.

But the SS must have made a report. Have the press asked for it?

[Rayne]

EW -- when you get "free" time (hah!), take a look at the ambulance thing. I won't be able to do it justice like you would. Google up the Armstrong Ranch map (Latitude: 26.93389, Longitude: -97.76222), take a look. Even though you won't get in close, you'll catch my drift. How'd a security detail at the gate not know about what happened when the cops showed up Saturday night? How'd they miss a chopper or an ambulance coming or going, ostensibly in a big, fat hurry? Keep up the good work.

[marysz]

I agree with mimikatz--where's Lynne Cheney? She should be out in public standing by her man. And his two daughters--not a peep. Is Dick in the doghouse?

[Steve]

"...apparently figurehead "Partner and President" of Pico Drilling Company? What's up with Pico Drilling..."

This is interesting...certainly has a low profile on Google.
The first thing that caught my eye was the phrase "Partner and President". Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but partnerships have Partners not Presidents and corporations never refer to Shareholders as partners. Who is Pamula Willeford and how did she get appointed to the position of Ambassador?

[jwp]

Steve,

I have no idea about this case

but you can have a limited partnership, and the general partner can be a corporation

so PW could be the President of the general partner, and a limited partner

wonder who the other limited partners would be in that case. typically, the investors

[lukery]

there was also the odd case of the disappearing/morphing woman from the cheney/scalia hunt 2 years ago...

[eric]

so wait...

where's david addington?

[shawn]

Everyone needs to file a complaint on Cheny he was obviously more than a bear or two while hunting,,
Texas Parks and Wildlife
Executive Office/Office of Internal Affairs
4200 Smith School Road
Austin, TX 78744
Phone: (512) 389-4440

[freepatriot]

so dick cheney was drinking and involved in adultry when he shot this poor schmuck in the face ???

we've got a three stooges routine as presidential politics ???

where's the dignity ???

[kim]

It's great to see an analysis like this, now the Democrats and press need to develope an attack plan for responding (I'll keep hoping).

EW there's a post of KOS you will be interested in regarding who has the missing Plame emails at the White House:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/2/16/32934/9980

[Intrepid Liberal Journal]

One problem the Soviet Communists had at the end of their reign was the inability to manage their lies competently. Chernobyl was the seminal moment that preceded Glasnost and Perestroika. It took seventy years to catch up to them because as a dictatorship they retained iron control over information. The communications revolution finally beat them down.

Similary, Republicans can no longer manage the flow of their lies competently. This inspite of a subservient media serving as stenographers for their message. Katrina was their Chernobyl and Cheney's "Gungate" is their Chappaquidick. This is encouraging. Not so much because the Republicans are getting what they deserve. Rather it gives me hope that even in these troubled times of lies, public apathy, and a corporatist media - America is still America and the truth is bubbling to the surface now. And it didn't take seventy years. That said: five years is way too long for my patience.

Intrepid Liberal Journal

[Oleary25]

I thought of one other thing to add to the typical tactics..."Pick someone to blame who fits the worst prejudices held by the base". In this case, the hated "liberal media" so full of themselves that they got upset at being "upstaged" by the Caller Times.