This event is nothing more than what it looks like: a horrible accident that should never of happened — but did.

It’s a rare occasion for me to come to the defense of Vice President Dick Cheney. But with all of the excitement this week about his hunting accident, it’s hard for some to contain themselves.

Many are making light of the situation despite the seriousness of the matter. I, too, have been guilty of laughing at or making jokes about this misfortune.

The fact of the matter is there is no need to divulge in the issue more than we already have. I am convinced that this was a hunting accident and nothing more. The man Cheney shot was an old friend of his. This eliminates any motive Cheney might have had had it not been an accident.

Sure, Cheney did several things wrong during this hunting trip. There are reports that he and his hunting buddies had a beer or two before the incident occurred. He also should have been a lot more cautious while handling his weapon, knowing where his friend Harry Whittington and the other people in his group were at all times.

And perhaps Cheney and the White House should have informed the media a little bit earlier, as this was (and evidently still is) a major news story.

But I believe that the media have taken this a bit too far.

This event is nothing more than what it looks like: a horrible accident that should never of happened — but did. The media need to keep up with the story, no doubt. But to advocate that they continue to hound Cheney down like they have been would be hypocritical of me, especially if it were a democrat in the same situation.

Cheney and Whittington are great friends. Cheney did not mean to shoot his friend, just as anyone else who has a friend would never intend to do harm to them when an accident occurs.

I would hope that if I were to accidentally injure a friend while engaging in a sport like hunting that I would receive nothing but empathy from the people around me. But because Cheney is a controversial figure, it isn’t surprising to see that many are making assumptions about this incident.

We need to leave this issue alone and focus on more important matters. Perhaps we should look into other controversial things that the Bush administration has been a part of lately, instead of creating so much uproar about this event.

The situation is between two friends, a hunting party, and nothing more.

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