This Was Not A Tea Party

I've been discussing this drama with friends and family since Sunday night. Let's get real here. You've got a bunch of hunting buddies shooting the shit (among other things). There is no way on earth those dudes weren't throwing back some shots of Jack Daniels, Old Fitz or Wild Turkey. There are some reports that MSNBC scrubbed an article that originally had a quote from the ranch owner where she acknowledged that there may have been a beer or two in with the lunches. But come on! Hunting just isn't a sport that goes along with tea toddling! You can't pay me Halliburton's money to believe that most of these guys weren't sucking up some serious whiskey. Somebody needs to be bold enough, like Lawrence O'Donnell is here, to call that spade a spade.

The L.A. Times is edging closer to the most likely reason for the 18 hour delay in reporting that the Vice President of the United States shot someone:

'This was a hunting accident,' said Gilbert San Miguel, chief deputy of the Kenedy County Sheriff's Office. 'There was no alcohol or misconduct.'

How do we know there was no alcohol? Cheney refused to talk to local authorities until the next day. No point in giving him a breathalyzer then. Every lawyer I've talked to assumes Cheney was too drunk to talk to the cops after the shooting. The next question for the White House should be: Was Cheney drunk?

I have never gone hunting with ultra-rich Republicans on a Saturday afternoon, but I have seen them tailgating at Ivy League football games, so it's hard for me to believe that any of their Saturday lunches are alcohol free.

I believe that Cheney was HUI, stumbled around in the high grass like a fool and shot his friend.