A NEW REPORT: CHENEY WAS STAGGERING DRUNK WHEN HE SHOT HARRY WHITTINGTON

A few days after the Cheney shooting rampage a very old friend of mine, a Secret Service agent, told me that the press and the bloggers-- including this one-- were missing an important aspect of the story. "Oh, tell me." But I couldn't get another word out of him-- not even a hint. And I tried.

Today Doug Thompson at OpEdNews has a story called "Secret Service Agents Say Cheney Was Drunk When He Shot Lawyer." Thompson claims there's a written report from his personal detail that states he was "clearly inebriated" when he shot Harry Whittington. "Agents observed several members of the hunting party, including the Vice President, consuming alcohol before and during the hunting expedition, the report notes, and Cheney exhibited 'visible signs' of impairment, including slurred speech and erratic actions, the report said.
According to those who have read the report and talked with others present at the outing, Cheney was drunk when he gunned down his friend and the day-and-a-half delay in allowing Texas law enforcement officials on the ranch where the shooting occurred gave all members of the hunting party time to sober up."

There have been reports that Wyoming hunters who have gone shooting with Cheney says he never drinks beer when he's hunting because it makes him pee. He like whiskey. And acording to Thompson a White House aide said "This was a South Texas hunt. Of course there was drinking. There's always drinking. Lots of it."

I don't know what to make of this report-- there are some well-known points (like about Cheney having had drinking problems before) and they're mixed with things that could be true of could be fantasies. We'll see...

LAST MINUTE UPDATE

Coincidentally, NBC News just announced that they have obtained new documents that show Cheney's account of the story is... um... good enough for NBC News to believe. Basically the documents being touted as proof Cheney isn't a criminal are hand-written memos from his friends on the hunt with him. It's obvious to everyone but NBC that these are coordinated stories that all claim Cheney wasn't drunk. This "scoop" makes me believe more than before that he was drunk.