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Now it becomes legitimate to ask why the gravity of the situation was initially downplayed.

It wasn't. The situation was dealt with medically from the get go. The first Doc thought he should be treated and released. It was only later that the bird shot moved and caused a more serious medical problem.

I see conspiracy paranoia does not exist only on the left.....

But the first doc who made a statement was obviously as wrong as possible. Actually, the first doc, presumably one of my colleagues in emergency medicine, had him flown by helicopter from the small local hospital to the regional trauma center in Corpus Christi. He was in the trauma intensive care unit for three days, then moved back to the ICU almost immediately after he was moved out, when they realized he had a heart arrhythmia and found the heart attack. Obviously, it was a lot more serious from the start than the public statements were admitting.

"Now it becomes legitimate to ask why the gravity of the situation was initially downplayed."

" It wasn't."

Sure it was, although not directly.
Within the vacuum created by minimal response by Cheney and the Administration, apologist commentators stepped forward to declare that the story wasn't "newsworthy". And rather than admit that ultimate responsibility ALWAYS falls on He Who Pulls the Trigger, emphasis was placed on the victim's breach of quail hunting rules.

I see conspiracy paranoia does not exist only on the left.....

For the record, I don't believe that there is any conspiracy or coverup.
It was simply an accident that inevitably became a PR nightmare.
Cheney has been honest and truthful, but chose a PR strategy of minimal comment.
This action is/was no better and no worse than any other that the media is now saying that he should have taken.
It was a no-win situation for Cheney, no matter what he did.

Actually, at least he didn't make matters worse by blatantly covering anything up.
But the whacknuts will still make the allegations, and he's gonna have to run that gauntlet anyway.
C'est la vie.