Unruly press conferences at the White House reveal the press as very upset at not being informed earlier about Cheney's hunting accident.  And it may well be that providing information this was not handled as well as it could have been from a PR standpoint.

The important point here is that this incident was not official business.  Therefore the question of when the President was informed is not really of great public concern.  Questions are being raised almost as if the President were going to call the Joint Chiefs and order a retaliatory strike. 

"When the Presdient knew" is not in this case a critical issue.  Cheney was engaged in personal recreation, not official business.

And what happened appears to be what should have happened.  An ambulance was called immediately and the injured hunter was taken to the hospital for treatment.  There was no "cover—up" or abdication of responsibility. Apparently, the Secret Service was able to give the injured man first aid while waiting for the ambulance.

So everybody acted properly.  I am not a hunter, but I gather that getting peppered with birdshot is an occupational hazard in that activity.  Not an everyday occurrence, but a hazard of the sport. The further medical complications are terrible for the victim of the accident, and worthy of note because of the prominence of the Vice President. But this is not a matter of governmental concern.

Informing the president and the public would be an issue if (a) this incident were related to official business or (b) if there had been some effort at concealment which exacerbated the injury. 

It is likely that VP Cheney wanted to find out how badly injured his friend was before putting out a press release and starting the circus.

Greg Richards   2 15 06