Over that past week, I have heard a lot of views and read a lot of different viewpoints on the Dick Cheney hunting accident, and the primary voice I have heard is one of accusation ("Dick Cheney: Secrecy over shooting typical of administration," Feb. 16).

I would just like to emphasize the fact that this was an accident. The vice president has taken full responsibility for the incident and he admitted to exactly what happened. I am not sure what else people want from him. The fact that he took between 18 and 24 hours to release the information is irrelevant. Why not be pleased with the fact that he waited until he knew the facts of the situation?

Everyone who needed to know what had happened had been informed. I know of a lot of people who think the public should have been immediately told and my response to that is, "Why?" How was anyone, who was not immediately involved in the situation, adversely affected by not knowing for one day?

The bottom line is that the American public was not, but that is not what the media is telling us.

That is why is it our responsibility as citizens to think critically about these situations and not be told what to believe or when you should be offended.