He will take whatever steps are needed to comply with applicable rules

Oh dear holy fuck, it just gets better. This is the statement, evidently the ONLY statement, issued by the office of the vice president:

It has been brought to the Vice President’s attention by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department this afternoon that, although he had acquired a 125 dollar Texas non-resident season hunting license, he lacked a 7 dollar stamp for hunting upland game birds. To address any questions about the licensing:

-- A member of the Vice President’s staff wrote a check for 140 dollars understanding that this would purchase a Texas non-resident season hunting license that would permit the Vice President to hunt quail in Texas. It appears now that the license itself cost 125 dollars, and an extra 15 dollars covered the cost of a Federal migratory bird stamp. The Vice President did not need the Federal stamp, as he already possessed one.

-- The staff asked for all permits needed, but was not informed of the 7 dollar upland game bird stamp requirement.

-- Because the requirement is new, the Department has informed us that it is issuing warnings, and the Vice President expects to receive one. He will take whatever steps are needed to comply with applicable rules.

-- In the meantime, the Vice President has sent a 7 dollar check to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which is the cost of an upland game bird stamp.

I know I’m satisfied.

Actually, I’m no longer convinced that the wall of secrecy was just to get them past the Sunday talk shows. Not telling Bush for 12 hours, and telling the White House that there had been a shooting but not who the shooter was, smells of “plausible deniability.” I think they were planning a cover-up that didn’t work, probably getting Whittington to say that he’d accidentally shot himself.

Wait a minute, why is a member of Cheney’s staff, paid for by taxpayer dollars, running personal, blood-sport-related errands for him?