Those who think that the current media excitations over the Dick Cheney shooting mishap are simply due to media narcissism and pique at having been kept in the dark are, in my opinion, misreading this affair.
The left once again has had their hopes and expectations raised to the point where they can scarcely contain themselves. Maybe Cheney was drunk. Maybe Mr. Whittington will die. Maybe this will be a case of negligent homicide. Oh, if only. Then Cheney can be removed from office, and the way would be clear to impeach Bush, if they win the Senate in November, without having to worry about Cheney taking over. What a godsend!
Look for the left-wing media to refuse to let this episode go. It has breathed new life into their heretofore moribund hopes for toppling the administration and exacting the desire for revenge that has lay festering in their hearts since January of 2000. All their other anticipations and fantasies have come to naught. Like Wile E. Coyote trying to dynamite the RoadRunner, their machinations keep blowing up in their face, but maybe this time will be different. Maybe this time the stars are favorably aligned.
It is sad, though, that the left seems always reduced to having to hope for calamity in order to gain a political triumph. They have to hope for failure in Iraq, a faltering economy with people out of work, and now the death of a 78 year old gunshot victim. If you think this is too cynical, ask yourself this: How many leftists would be delighted at a complete success in Iraq and a booming economy, if these developments made Bush look good, and how many would view Mr. Wittington's potential death as a tragedy if it made Dick Cheney vulnerable to criminal prosecution?