Spin cycle

The unrelenting spin machine that is our Vice President has finally made a tour of the Katrina disaster area. A Washington Post reporter does a good job catching his traditional looseness with facts:

As Cheney was speaking to reporters, a passerby shouted obscenities at him. Cheney dismissed it, saying it was the first negative reaction he had heard on his trip.

Earlier, as Cheney walked along a debris-strewn Gulfport street, resident Lynn Lofton called his visit "a media opportunity that is a complete waste of time and taxpayer money," adding, "They should have been here last week."

Sounds like a negative reaction to me. But then, Cheney has always been bad at recognizing the difference between the first time he's experienced something and every subsequent time. Remember the VP debate, when he said it was the first time he'd met John Edwards? Well, that turned out to be very wrong. Maybe we'll just have to face the fact that Cheney's not so much the senior sales associate in the Brains department. Or maybe seniority is his problem.

And I like the suggestion of Ms. Lofton - I imagine it would have been hard, even for Cheney, to deny a negative reaction if he'd visited the Superdome last week.