"Cheney's law"

Geez, the tide has really turned among Republicans, increasingly desperate to distance themselves from the Miserable Failure and, especially, Dead-eye Dick.

ALBANY, Feb. 14 — They are calling it "Cheney's Law."

Named laws are nothing new in Albany. From Megan's Law to Kendra's Law to VaSean's Law, state lawmakers often use names to try to put a human face on the occasionally arcane issues that they address with their legislation.

Usually the laws are named for the victims of violence. But now a bill on hunting safety that has been introduced in several legislative sessions but never became law has been christened "Cheney's Law" by several Republican senators.

The bill, which would make it a felony to leave the scene of a hunting accident, passed out of the Senate Codes Committee yesterday, just as much of the nation continued to discuss Vice President Dick Cheney's accident on Saturday, in which he shot and wounded a 78-year-old lawyer while on a hunting trip in Texas.

Officials have said that Mr. Cheney did not leave the scene after he shot the lawyer, but stayed with him while he received medical treatment.

The curious timing of the committee vote was not lost on the bill's sponsor, Senator George H. Winner Jr., an upstate Republican who is one of the senators calling it Cheney's Law. "It's some circumstances," he said.

The bill would make it a felony to leave the scene of an accident involving a serious physical injury. Senator Winner said that the bill was inspired by a 2001 hunting accident in Steuben County, in which the victim was left to die.

Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, a Westchester Democrat, said that he would introduce the bill in the State Assembly.

State Senator Thomas K. Duane, a Manhattan Democrat, marveled that the vice president's hunting accident could serve as a catalyst to change the law in New York. "We must have him come for the bill signing," he said.

Will Dick Cheney begin inspiring Republicans to pass good legislation? Now that would be remarkable.