I had thought that maybe I would write about Vice President Dick Cheney shooting a guy. But then I thought, `` Wait, that's a cheap, easy and obvious attempt to draw some sick humor from a potential tragedy.'' Perfect.

But then I thought, no. Cheney shot a lawyer so it's basically a victimless crime, and there's always the Winter Olympics to write about. Or not. My daughter and I were watching the biathlon compe tition and she asked me, `` Daddy, why are they shoot ing?'' And it took me several minutes to come up with an answer.

But if they put Dick Cheney on that squad, I promise you America would be glued to its television screens. (`` Yes, Keith, the Swedish contestant has an almost insurmountable lead at this point and -- Oh, no! He's been accidentally shot by Dick Cheney.'' )

But, since he isn't, Olympic fever is not exactly sweeping the nation. There are George Foreman infomercials that are getting higher ratings.

So since everyone this Pres idents Day has been writing about their close encounters of an executive kind, I will tell you about mine. Every administration, Republican or Democrat, eventually comes to hate and distrust the Washington press corps and tries to go around them. Why? Think of the news conference after the Cheney incident where the White House reporters treated spokesman Scott McClellan like a clown punching bag when he tried to change the subject. `` I'd like to move on from there.'' (WHAM!) `` I think we should move on to a different topic.'' (POW!) `` I'd like to talk about the people's business now.'' (SPLAT!)

So the editor of the small weekly paper where I was working 26 years ago got a note from the White House press office asking if he would like to send a reporter to an `` out-of-town press day'' in Washington. Since I was THE reporter, I got to go.

At the time Jimmy Carter was facing a challenge for renomination from Sen. Ted Kennedy who, on the day we visited, had made some dis paraging remarks about Carter's leadership. At lunch, the only other representative from a New England paper told me, `` Hey, we're going to be the first reporters to get a response from Carter. We're from Massachusetts so we gotta ask.''

Finally, we file into the Cabinet Room for the meeting with Carter and when it's my Massachusetts colleague's turn, he asks something like, `` How does Amy like school?''

So I have a choice. Do I act like I'm grateful for the oppor tunity to be here or go out of my way to annoy the most powerful man in the world.

Well, it wasn't that far out of my way.

Carter, who had been flash ing that famous smile thought most of the event, shot me a look that very clearly said, `` I'm seriously considering reinstituting the draft right now and you have a very low number.''

But at the end, he shook my hand and wished me well.

I figure I'm just lucky I did n't ask Dick Cheney.

TOM REILLY is a Sun Chronicle news editor who would like to remind anyone from the NSA reading this column that he is way over draft age now. He can be reached at 508-236-0332 or at treilly(at)(at)thesunchronicle.com. But they already know that.