http://www.suntimes.com/output/sweet/cs ... eet24.html

Cheney's travel checklist: Fox, Diet Sprite

March 24, 2006

When an uproar developed after Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a friend hunting, he gave Fox News the exclusive interview to explain what happened.

Now it turns out that Cheney really likes the news at Fox -- so much so that when he travels, the television at his hotel room needs to be turned on to Fox when he arrives.

This and more comes from a typed memo obtained by the Smoking Gun Web site, which specializes in digging up original documents.

Vice presidential spokesman Jennifer Mayfield confirmed that the memo, titled "Vice Presidential Downtime Requirements,'' was accurate. Cheney travels a lot, Mayfield said, and volunteers who help him need some guidance.

Here's what you need in a room for a Cheney stay:

*Queen or king bed.

*Temperature 68 degrees. All lights turned on.

*TV turned on to Fox News.

*Decaf coffee, brewed prior to arrival.

*Four to six bottles of bottled water. If Lynne Cheney along, two bottles of Calistoga or Perrier.

*Diet Caffeine Free Sprite, four cans.

*And a handwritten addition for newspapers: the New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and local papers.

Lynn Sweet