Cheney Misquoted by Press Herd

I have to admit I was stunned when I heard news stories about Vice President Cheney's remarks on the campaign trail. He was quoted in newspapers and on news shows as saying this:

"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make
the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that
we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the
standpoint of the United States." (AP)

USA Today characterized that quote with a story by Jill Lawrence and Richard Bennetto titled:

"Cheney ties election result to chance of terror attack" (USA Today,
9/8/04)

I was puzzled. Why would Dick Cheney, a shrewd political veteran, make such a naked and damaging statement in front of a media herd. But he must have said it. I've seen several clips of him saying it. So what give?

Finally last night I understood it. I was watching Fox News Special Report with Britt Hume and they were discussing the story. But they didn't stop the clip where everyone else did - right after "... we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States." That's where all of the mainstream media stops the tape. But Fox let it roll a couple of more sentences allowing Cheney to finish his thought. His next couple of sentences were about a new administration's handling of the attack in a pre 9/11 mindset, with a law enforcement approach. When you finish the thought you get a completely different message, which I picked up immediately when I heard the full clip.

So let's look at the full quote and see how it stands:

"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States." and it will be handled in a pre-9/11 mindset with law enforcement means instead of treating it like a war.

I had to paraphrase the last part because I can't find the full quote anywhere online.

In other words:

Dick Cheney was not saying that the danger is that if we make the wrong choice (elect Kerry) that we'll get hit again, with the implication being that if we elect Bush we won't get hit again.

Dick Cheney was saying that the danger is that if we make the wrong choice (elect Kerry) we'll get hit again and it will be mishandled, using law enforcement means instead of treating it like a war.

The full quote gives a completely different, and I would say completely accurate, picture.

This small story re-emphasizes two points to me:

1. The mainstream media is a herd that all repeat the same story. Why did they all stop the clip early?
2. The mainstream media cannot be trusted to report the story accurately.

Really, is there not one reporter there who heard the full statement by Dick Cheney and could properly understand it and report it? Amazing.