It's a story, whether the White House thinks so or not. The excuses given for not reporting it, and then deferring to the owner of the ranch, are about the lamest I've seen in a long time. I can't figure out if it's simply arrogance on the VP's part (I don't have to tell anyone!) or if they were just trying to figure out a way to play it down, but I am amused by imagining possible scenarios for the latter. I am sure it was just a dumb accident, and in a way it humanizes Cheney to me, but to try and say it's not a story is erroneous. He's the VP, for God's sake! Of course people are going to want to read about it, but their lapse in reporting has made it much more of a story than it would have been. It could have been downplayed as a Gerald FOrd moment, but now conspiracy theorists will have a field day. I am also amused by the righteous indignation of the Press Corps and some of their comments to McClellan- they are genuinly indignant about the perceived lapse of protocol, and you can really see the ego's coming out as well.
Darn good thing Cheney travels with a medical team, eh?
Edited to add: More news on the VP's
shooting vistim.