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'Beer quote' pulled from MSNBC Cheney hunting party article
The Missing Beer Or Two

Philadelphia Inquirer
February 15, 2006

Thought nothing of Lawrence O'Donnell's pickle-barrel musings in the Huffington Post yesterday, which carried the headline, "Was Cheney Drunk?"

But now Raw Story has made the question more interesting.

O'Donnell, the former West Wing exec producer who was chief of staff, for the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, wrote:

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 Kennedy 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?

Among his evidence? The observation that rich Republicans sometimes drink riotously at Ivy League tailgate parties.

The Raw Story reports that an MSNBC Website post on the vice president's accidental shooting of a hunting buddy was edited to remove a reference to the alcohol that might have been available at a pre-quailing picnic.

Several lefty bloggers noted the change, starting with JohnnyCougar, who was commenting on Democratic Underground. Raw Story reported:

In the article, credited to Aram Roston and the NBC Investigative Unit, Katherine Armstrong, a member of the family who own the ranch, revealed new details about her lobbying for the Bush Administration, and about circumstances surrounding the incident itself, which wasn't reported to the media until the following morning. Armstrong was the one who reported the news to a local news reporter, and she said that Cheney agreed with the decision.

This was the missing paragraph:

Armstrong also told NBC News that she does not believe alcohol was involved in the accident. She says she believes no one that day was drinking, although she says there may have been beer available during a picnic lunch that preceded the incident. "There may be a beer or two in there," she said, "but remember not everyone in the party was shooting."

This is how the article appears now. This is how it was.

It might have been good journalism to remove this speculation, since the quote is messy. There may have been a beer or two "in there," she says. But she also says no one that day was drinking. I suppose someone could do an accounting. Interview some people. Maybe the vice president will address the matter some time.

An MSNBC.com spokeswoman is on the case. Will update.