The pellet wounds suffered by Vice President Cheney’s hunting companion Harry Whittington were mere scratches compared to the damage done to the egos – and reputations – of the crybabies in White House press corps. They have been mortally wounded, and the wounds are self-inflicted

While the Democrats and the rest of the hate-Bush crowd are joyfully proclaiming the hunting accident as another nail in the administration’s coffin, it was the mainstream media who provoked the ire of most Americans who have been treated to a reality show of big media’s inflated egos.

Like the Democrats, the lords of the White House press room and their colleagues in the Washington press corps, have not the slightest idea of how their fellow Americans think and react. “Us folks” might just as well be alien creatures as far as they are concerned. They simply know darned little about the American people – those strange people who live in fly-over country and the red states – and what they do know makes then sniff dismissively about what they see as our ignorance and lack of what passes for class in their elitist ivory towers.

Now, thanks to a mis-aimed charge of tiny bird shot, the full extent of media childishness and snobbery has been put on display for all Americans to see. Huge numbers of Americans who have never once seen the White House press corps in action during White House press briefings have been treated to a display of petulance seldom seen outside of child care nurseries full of tired tots in need of naps.

Anybody who watched these self-ordained superior beings reveal their true natures must now realize how badly the nation is being served by those upon whom we rely to report the news.

They showed themselves to be spoiled brats and NBC’s David Gregory became the poster boy for their petulance. Gregory, a man with an ego so massive he can barely contain it, is admired for his flair for comedy. He is the class clown who frequently preens himself on the Don Imus MSNBC morning show where Mr. Imus, who should know better, feeds his voracious appetite for adulation.

For two days running he played the nasty little boy who did not get what he wanted from his mommy, stamping his feet and all but threatening to hold his breath until he turned blue and expired if he wasn’t given what he wanted.

In this case mommy was White House spokesman Scott McClellan, who should have sent him to his room without supper.

The spoiled brats were also upset that the vice president gave his first interview about the incident to Fox’s Brit Hume, the very embodiment of his network’s fair and balanced claim. The poor babies complained that Cheney choose a friendly interviewer. What did they expect – is the vice president obliged to expose himself to his enemies in the media?

Lost amidst all the bruised egos were a couple of important facts about the shooting incident. One, it was an accident, and not an uncommon one. As a bird hunter I have been sprayed with bird shot more times than I can remember. Anybody who goes bird hunting can expect to feel the sting of these tiny tenth-of-an-inch pellets. Sometimes directly out of the barrel of a shotgun, sometimes when pellets rain down on you from above. I’m not downplaying the severity of Harry Whittington’s injuries, but it’s important to recognize that this kind of thing happens from time to time.

The media are outraged because the vice president didn’t immediately report the matter. This is the same media that managed to overlook Mrs. Clinton’s 30-hour delay in releasing Vince Foster’s alleged suicide note.

From the kind of hysterical reporting we are now witnessing you’d think the ice president had deliberately aimed at his friend. Some idiot just wrote a column calling this incident “Cheney’s Chappaquiddick.” That’s the kind of junk the media considers unbiased journalism. They forget somebody died at Chappaquiddick. Mr. Whittington disappointed the media by failing to follow suit.

©2006 Mike Reagan. If you’re not a paying subscriber to our service, you must contact us to print or web post this column. Mike’s column is distributed exclusively by: Cagle Cartoons, Inc. Cari Dawson Bartley email Cari@cagle.com, (800) 696-7561.