More on Cheney's Heart (Or Lack Thereof)

Remember the Huffington Post entry I noted where Cheney snuck into a hospital and his folks said it was "orthopedic" in nature?

Gosh, I'm not sure how to break this to you since it's just so difficult to imagine the Bushies telling a little fib (Downing Street Memo), but...

The New York Daily News is reporting today that the gist of Huffington's scoop is true, that the veep went to a Vail, Colo., hospital over the weekend, checked in under a fake name, and got his bum ticker checked out with an EKG.

But a well-connected Lowdown spy told me that Cheney - whose knees were hurting from climbing stairs - received an EKG after medical personnel noted that his breathing was labored.

"That's pretty common at this high altitude," said the spy, a Vail resident, noting that the EKG was normal. "We're at 8,500 feet, and the air is pretty thin, which is hard if you're not used to it."

The spy told me hospital records indicated that the veep, surrounded by heavy security, was logged in as "Dr. Hoffman" (the name of his physician in Washington) and stayed for 2 hours and 41 minutes.

Cheney's flack insisted: "The vice president had an appointment with a renowned orthopedist in Vail to evaluate an old football injury."

Why do I feel like someone is pulling my leg?

So kudos to Lloyd Grove, but this has to appear in a gossip column? When is the national news media going to pick up on this case of dishonesty involving an issue that's of the utmost national importance -- the heartbeat of the man who (all W. jokes aside for one fleeting moment) at least constitutionally is a heartbeat away from the presidency?

Yeah. The health of the prez and VP is always an issue. Why has this been hidden (too)?