"Just barely penetrated the skin." Oh, yeah. The only bigger lie I've heard this century is, "We'll be greeted as liberators in Iraq."

Is there anything The Dick will not lie about or try to cover up?

The records are starting to be released on other critical matters (link here).

So Elmer Cheney says the guy was thirty yards away? I'm beginning to think he was thirty feet away. And whats with the pellets entering his heart? Was the guy bare chested on a winter evening in Texas? I highly doubt it. I use to hunt, and believe me no one likes a hunter who hunts from a vehicle. It's chicken shit. I think booze was involved, or else Elmer would have not have waited 18 hours to report it. Maybe he meant to kill the old dude. Inquiring minds want to know Elmer. :confused:

God. Maybe it WASN'T an accident.

They have to get a new vice president, anyway, so that when we impeach * it won't be President Pelosi.

"in reviewing the video, it's plain to see that Mr. Wittington has not suffered a heart attack, but instead, the effects of a large wet burrito dinner"

Signed,
Dr. Frist

Swaggs! That's Vice Fuhrer Fudd, to you. Show some respect.

Uh, oh, I better not make that mistake again Agent 99, or I'll be heading to Gitmo. Wait, whose that knocking on my door!

Buckshot, birdshot has small pellets that are difficult if not impossible to remove completely.

These small pellets will move around in the body causing infection and blockages. And IED or grenade fragments cause the same problem and reoccur for years.

It really makes me mad at the posts (on other sites) that make this accident seem trivial.

I wonder why Mr. Whittington hasn't been taken to Walter Reed Hospital where they are used to treating severe gunshot wounds.

For Texaslady: I suspect he hasn't been moved to Walter Reed because they're still pretending it isn't that serious. Either that, or he's not in shape to travel now. One way or the other, this has blown up in their faces, big time.

Lies usually do, sooner or later. With this crowd, though, it's taken five years.

Okay, so first we have Whittington walking up BEHIND Cheney and forgetting to "notify him", so he was "peppered from 30 yds" when Cheney swung to fire.

Now the story is that Whittington was going to retrieve a downed bird - which means he walked IN FRONT OF the line of hunters who were walking along flushing up birds - and some of the birdshot penetrated his clothes and skin and lodged in his HEART??

The thing is, the latter story would have made more sense - and if it had been the TRUTH, they'd have put it out there first.

Curiouser and curiouser....

is the WH's version of the old "let me down easy" joke?

The Bachelor And His Cat

A bachelor who lived at home with his mother and pet cat went on a trip to Europe. Before he left he told his best friend to inform him of any emergencies.

A few days after his departure, his cat climbed up on the roof, fell off and was killed. His friend immediately wired him with the message: "Your cat died!"

In a few hours he was back home, having cut short his trip in grief and anger at his friend, whom he told "Why didn't you break the news to me gradually? You know how close I was to my cat! You could have sent a message 'Your cat climbed up on the roof today', and the next day you could've written, 'Your cat fell off the roof' and let me down slowly that he died."

After a quick memorial service, the bachelor left again to continue his trip. A few days later he returned to his hotel and there was a message waiting for him from his friend. It read, "Your mother climbed up on the roof today."

So when are we going to be informed that Whittington has climbed up on the roof?

RLM, elegant pun.

Yep KestrelBrightEyes, there hosed big time on this. It all went down hill as soon they decided to wait 18 hours to report it. How can they justify that? This is just yet another shining example of the incompetence of these buffoons.

He taut he taw a puddy tat

Why haven't we seen any pictures or video of this guy since he was shot? (Prior to his heart attack of course).

Seems like if his injuries were as minor as they were saying, and if he was making jokes with people and wanting to leave the hospital, they (Whittington and Cheney) would want to invite a Faux News crew into his room, give a quick "friendly" interview, to let the nation know Whittington is fine, and it was all his own fault for stepping in front of Cheney.

It wasn't 30 yards, it was 30 feet. In one of the quotes from Armstrong she says something like "He was about 30 feet away or 9 meters". Google it. 30 feet!! The smoking gun has the accident report and it shows the pattern being about a foot in diameter and centered on the upper right chest area, overlaping the face and neck.

If this man dies and Cheney gets away with murder, Imma be P****D!!!!

This guy Cheney was aiming for his damn lawyer...

Kick him out, out with the bastard.

In other news, Pennsylvania wins injunction against state voting machines.

For gods sake pennsylvania, just go with the Vote Pad!!!! You have the resources right in front of you, and the AutoMark ballot system. Go with the vote pad states!!!!

Doug E.

Remember back in the 90's when we were told that Boris Yeltzin had caught a cold - and it turned out to be a major heart attack?

Maybe a "minor heart attack" is now the US version of the Russian "cold".

Re: Speculation about the reasons for a "cover up"....since the local law authorities were told to come back in the morning to speak with the Veep, no doubt one of the first questions which would be asked is regarding the consumption of alcohol before the incident....sounds like "come back in the morning" is ample time for any sobering up which may need to be done...and a perfect reason why the Veep would not care to do an immediate interview according to the law.

Maybe Cheney thought this guy was going to lambast him in the press when he came around, so eventually we'll find a suicide note next to this guy's bed.

I like the way I'm seeing the word "mild" heart attack everywhere. Try every possible way to play down every possible thing, in the MSM. Watch how many times you see and hear the word "mild".

He got "mildly" peppered, he then had a "mild" heart attack, then he "mildly" fucking DROPPED DEAD! (We'll be reading soon...)

Clueless as I am about guns, I said early on that it had to be more like 30 FEET to have put someone in the hospital like that.

Cheney would have to have been falling-down drunk, or just walking around without the safety on and finger on the trigger, to blow it that badly... IF it was accidental... IF they were even out hunting when it happened....

YOU CAN'T TRUST THING ONE ANY OF THEM SAY.

Long string of epithets offline to follow.

I must've had a premonition: from my Comment #38 in the previous shooting thread -

"Oh yes, I do have one bit of interesting medical info, picked up (if I recall correctly) at firedoglake. An MD wrote there that birdshot taken in the neck is very dangerous, because it's so small that it can enter the circulatory system and cause blockages elsewhere in the body. The contributor told of a young man who had to have his foot amputated for this reason - he'd taken birdshot to the neck some time previous to this."

Maybe the TRIAL LAWYER was going to write a book about funeral-gate for Georgie W Girl, damn trial lawyers
(oh thats right, only the wealthy are allowed access to them, my mistake)

Big Dan-

"...then he 'mildly' fucking DROPPED DEAD!". You beat me to the punch. I was going to write essentially the same words. I certainly hope the guy recovers but I can only imagine how they will try to spin and minimize things or blame the victim if he dies. The AP article about the heart attack says Whittington had "a silent heart attack, an asymptomatic heart attack. He's not had a heart attack in the traditional sense". And if he dies, I'm sure it won't be a death in the traditional sense!

Well I hate to say that "I told everybody so..." but, well, I did. I am not sure if my post got up yesterday, but I will reiterate a couple things that I said. I pointed out that if everybody was in the proper formation for dove hunting which I have to believe that Whittington knew, then the "accident" discussed was impossible. I also pointed out that it would have been impossible for Cheney not to know what he was going to hit, because he would have to be "pretty damn close" to drive lightweight birdshot through a hunting vest (generally full of spare shells across the chest and very well padded). I also pointed out that since quail are not hunted in the dark like ducks or turkeys, that they are walked up, it is highly unusual for a hunter to shoot BEHIND THE LINE OF FIRE which is where Armstrong said that Whittington was.

Now we find out that shot lodged in the guys heart. I am sorry, but there is no way that he was "30 feet away." I bet the next thing that we find out was that he had powder burns I think that there is something really weird about this whole situation. Hunting accidents are RARE in Texas, because not only do we require training, but most of us have been hunting since childhood and we are generally habituated to safe hunting. We heard our dads, moms and the rest of both extended and nuclear families telling us the same things over and over. "unload your gun before crossing a fence," break open your shotgun if you don't know where another hunter is and yell your position so that he/she knows where you are, it's better to lose a couple of birds than to lose another hunter," "stay in line when bird hunting," "keep enough distances in the hunting line to avoid shot penetration," "retrieve downed birds together or send the dog" and so on.

The other thing that I pointed out is that to hit Whittington in the face and chest meant that Cheney was firing down if Whittington was bent over as Armstrong claimed. It he wasn't bent over then Cheney had to have been able to see him at the distance required to PENETRATE into the heart with birdshot.

I DON'T BUY THIS ENTIRE STORY. I have been hunting too long in Texas to believe any of it.

I can't wait until the next shell drops.

Oh and one other thing...if Cheney was shooting DOWN at a covey on the ground, that's viewed as highly unsporting and illegal. If he were shooting down, then Whittington had to be bending down at an angle which would have more than likely caused entry into the side of the chest away from the heart. I don't think that there is an anatomist in the world that could recreate a shooting accident in this position where the shot ended up in the heart.

I think that Armstrong reported it, because it scared her and she did not want to be considered a murder suspect.

Josh Marshall points up some interesting (and particularly crass) juxtapositions in the AP's reporting of this story here.

My friends father was in a a hunting accident in almost the same circumstances. You people are so pathetic.

How many of you hope he dies?

All of you libs hope he does for your own political gain. Dont bother telling me Im wrong, we all know you would never admit it. But its true, deep down, you hope he dies.

Once again, one and all, the birdshot did not penetrate to the heart! It travelled there via the blood vessels, which are particularly clustered and vulnerable in the neck!!!

Gina, or maybe the bird moved when he picked it up, so
Cheney thought he'd finish it off

And Medium Right, for goodness' sake, the very opposite is true!!!

To Gina : The pellets didn't hit him in the heart one of the pellets remaining in his body traveled and lodged in the heart artery.

This is what Peg C had explained in an earlier post.

Also, when metal fragments aren't totally removed blockages and infections continually cause medical problems. I had family members who survived the initial grenade but had near fatal problems over and over for years.

Hey medium wrong, you almost have it right.

Thanks, TexasLady.

Gina #26 and #27 --- The shot didn't necessarily PENETRATE the heart, it would have circulated to the heart from a penetrated vein in his neck.

Medium Rare: It feels like he shot ME!

To Medium Right : That is the most absolute ridiculous statement I have heard. Where are you coming from? Anyone getting shot and left with metal fragments in their body will suffer for the rest of their life.

Many of us just are appalled at one more sign of calleousness these people have toward each other and those they are employed by. THAT WOULD BE THE AMERICAN PUBLIC

Each day this Administration shows lack of concern for all, allowing an Arab Company to lease our Ports, allowing our airlines to even think of being bought out by other nations.

Staunch Republicans need to know this Administration are selling you out just like they are selling us out.

I'm a bit confused. The reports, including the "Texas Parks and Wildlife Hunting Accident and Incident Report Form" available at thesmokinggun.com say that Whittington was hit in the right side of his face, neck and chest, yet the diagram of the pattern of injuries in the same "Texas Parks and Wildlife Hunting Accident and Incident Report Form" seems to show the injuries on the left side of the body. Left-sided injuries would also seem more compatible with the pellets directly entering his heart. If the pellets "travelled" to the heart (presumably by entering a vein traveling to the heart?) they would enter the right side of the heart and be pumped into the pulmonary circulation rather than blocking the vessels from the left side of the heart that supply oxygenated blood to the heart (lack of which would cause the more common kind of heart attack) and the rest of the body.

Can any of you experts on shotgun pellet injuries help me make sense of this?

Steve: The report you linked shows the wound/s to be on the LEFT side of the victim's body. It's on your right when you look, but on the victim's left.

Ignore Medium Right, he/she is just projecting again.

I do hope, however, that Willington has a trusted family member staying in the room with him at all times. There's no telling how far this administration would go if they became afraid he'd say something they don't want him to say.

Re: Shot entering the heart - thanks for clarifying that. I know birdshot is smaller than a bb, but didn't realize it could travel that way.

But the "he came up behind me" and "30 yds" part of the story still doesn't fly.

Re: Sportsmanlike hunting - When Cheney goes hunting, he gets out of the car to shoot, and he likes to shoot pen-raised game that's been released so he can shoot them. How sporting is that? He's not a sportsman, he's a poseur.

Anybody know what he does with the game he kills? Bet he doesn't even clean his own birds.

If he DOES die, are the Rs finally going to STFU about Chappaquiddick?

Doubtful

Agent99, Comment #39-

That is exactly my point. The diagram in the report SHOWS the injuries on the left side of the victim's body but the DESCRIPTION of the wounds in the same report (and all news media I have read) STATES that the injuries were caused by a "Shotgun wound to the right side of face, neck and chest". One or the other of these are wrong and, in either case, the mechanism of the heart attack is not readily explained by pellets "travelling to the heart" if you understand cardiovascular anatomy.

I'm beating the MSM to the punch...I got the spin if this guy croaks:

"HE WAS 78 YEARS OLD, AND HE WAS GOING TO DIE ANYWAY, SOON"

...agent99 said on 2/14/2006 @ 1:31pm PT...
" Steve: The report you linked shows the wound/s to be on the LEFT side of the victim's body. It's on your right when you look, but on the victim's left."

It's as though Whittington was on Cheney's left, perhaps slightly behind, but also facing toward Cheney. So, when Cheney swings his gun left and fires he hits Whittington on the right side on the upper chest, shoulder and neck area. From that position it would be amazing if Whittington didn't get a pellet in the eye. Note that when I say on the right I mean from the shooter's perspective. It was Whittington's upper left side.

However, if the shot hit Whittington more from the side then his face would've been safer, but it wouldn't have hit him so much in the chest.

Can anyone spin this?

Cheney shot a guy in the face!

You guys are really into this, but if theres a grassy knoll
nearby, FAGEDABOUDIT

Okay, I'm still reading reports like this one, at IPS:

The victim, Harry Whittington, another Texas Republican heavyweight and Cheney chum, was reportedly walking through tall grass toward Cheney from behind when a nearby quail took flight. The vice president picked out the bird, wheeled his gun around behind him to follow it, and pulled the trigger, striking Whittington with birdshot in the face, neck, and chest.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32158

A hunter who "wheels around" like that to follow a bird should have his/her guns taken away - that's just stupid and careless - and can be fatal.

John J, #16: I've googled my heart out, and there's NO mention of 30 feet or 9 meters. Either you're reporting something that has been lifted off the internet, or you're reading biblical references.

Steve: Your language at #38 was confusing. Since I don't remember other reports stating it was right side, I'm going to suppose the cop who typed up the report forgot to flip his POV to the victim's POV. Plus, other reports would probably be based on that report, perpetuating the error.

Well. And, leave us not forget, the cops didn't even get to SEE the victim, or the perp, and wrote that report from what they were told. So we can't really rely on it at all.

Cheney and Whittington were probably drinking all afternoon with the two younger women in the car.

The two "hunters" probably staggered out the car to flush out some birds in the bush, and started firing away. I can envision Cheney not knowing where the hell he was, much less seeing someone near him.

Why else would the Secret Service prevent the local sherrif from questioning Cheney, if not for the VP being drunk?

I think Lou is closer to the truth than any of the MSM reports, it fits Cheneys MO perfectly

I just read a statement on "BlogsforBush.com" from veep's office that Whittington is going to have to undergo a heart catheterization now due to "complications." A pretty serious procedure, no?

I just can't believe they're blaming the accident on the poor guy who got shot. It's not the accident that bothers me, it's the irresponsible behavior after...

Agent 99. After my post I did the same thing. It was there yesterday and today its gone. I found one article that google still had with the 30 feet 9 meter reference but the article text was changed to 90 feet 30 yards. To me it seems the media is settling on 30 yards, it sounds less stupid than 30 feet. But look at the pattern and the penetration, this was a close range shot and the story has changed in the past 40 hours.

#29

You're right man!

Where's all the outrage on the left about the lawyers that SADDAM HUSSEIN shot???

I just read a statement on "BlogsforBush.com" from veep's office that Whittington is going to have to undergo a heart catheterization now due to "complications." A pretty serious procedure, no? And the VP was informed THIS MORNING!

I just can't believe they're blaming the accident on the poor guy who got shot. It's not the accident that bothers me, it's the irresponsible behavior after...

-----------------------
February 14, 2006

Statement by the Office of the Vice President
By Matt Margolis at 03:01 PM ET

This came in about 20 minutes ago:

The Vice President was told when he arrived at the White House this morning that doctors had decided, based on overnight monitoring, to perform a cardiac catheterization on Mr. Whittington.

The Vice President's chief of staff passed him a note at about 12:30pm ET to inform him that Mr. Whittington's doctors would brief in Texas about 1:00pm ET on complications in Mr. Whittington's condition. The Vice President was on Capitol Hill when he received this information.

When the Vice President returned to the White House, he was able to watch part of the press conference. At about 1:30pm ET, the Vice President called Mr. Whittington and spoke to him. The Vice President wished Mr. Whittington well and asked if there was anything he needed. The Vice President said that he stood ready to assist. Mr. Whittington's spirits were good, but obviously his situation deserves the careful monitoring that his doctors are providing.

The Vice President said that his thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Whittington and his family.

On my way home, on PBS, they said Cheney called the hospital and asked Whittington if he needed anything, and Whittington said, "Yeah...I need Cheney to STOP SHOOTING ME IN THE FACE!!!"

John J: Well, really, it CAN'T have been 30 yards and done that much damage. If Vice Fuhrer Fudd had been shooting at quail with a shotgun that could inflict those kind of wounds at the distance they are reporting, any quail he might have hit would have been vaporized. By 90 feet, bird shot is dispersed in a much wider pattern, and hard to believe even an old man would be in the ICU for that.

Medium Right...Go Fuck yourself.

"The Left" didn't shoot a man in the face.

"The Left" didn't lie and cover-up from the moment it happened.

"The Left" wasn't sitting around eating dinner, while a man that was shot in the face underwent treatment.

"The Left" didn't get special treatment from local police.

I'm sure "The Right" is pleased as punch that Mary Jo Kopechne died. How many Chappaquiddick jokes have you chuckled at, asshole.

You know, I feel worse about the 2,000 plus American soldiers that died and the 100,000 Iraqi "collateral damage", than one of Cheney's good ole' huntin' buddies. Hey, I hope the guy doesn't die, don't get me wrong. But Cheney put A LOT of innocent people to death, and this guy's probably not gonna die.

They kill 50 f***ing people at a wedding party in Iraq! By accident!

Agent99, Comment #48-

The reports I read here, here and in an earlier AP story all said the shotgun wounds were right-sided. You may be correct that they were left-sided, as the diagram shows and that the person "who typed up the report forgot to flip his POV to the victim's POV" and that the media subsequently ran with the "right-sided" description. The articles that I am now reading are more pricise in explaining the cause of the heart attack. This updated AP article explains that:

"The shot was either touching or embedded in the heart muscle near the top chambers, called the atria, they said. Two things resulted: It caused inflammation that pushed on the heart in a way to temporarily block blood flow, what the doctors called a 'silent heart attack.' This is not a traditional heart attack where an artery is blocked. They said Whittington's arteries, in fact, were healthy. It irritated the atria, caused an irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation, which is not immediately life-threatening. But it must be treated because long-term it can spur blood clots to form. Most cases can be corrected with medication."

So, the heart attack was ultimately caused by the DIRECT effects of a pellet that lodged near the heart at the time of the shooting and subsequently caused inflammation that irritated the pacemaking area of the heart that controls the heartbeat. It DID NOT travel any great distance (and certainly not thru the vasculature) after the shooting. This suggests that the injuries were almost certainly to the left side of the body and the penetration was far more than "superficial" as was earlier written in the media reports. It would also make it likely that the victim was pretty close to Cheney at the time of the shooting.

I am not advancing any conspiracy theories here, just showing evidence that there has been a tremendous effort on the part of Cheney and his entourage, the Administration, the Armstrongs and MSM to minimize the causes and severity of the injuries sustained by Mr. Whittington.

99 Thanks for not getting shitty about the google thing, this is the first time I've personally noticed something dissapearing overnight from search engines. I'm trying to find Armstrongs original statement. That will clear things up but I don't think I'll be able to find it.

Either way Cheney was very close and shot the man in the chest, neck and face. Fucking asshole

Well gee, Whittington was only PEPPERED with birdshot, and was in VERY STABLE condition.

From smokinggun.com this an excerpt from the County Sheriff's press release: "In an interview with deputies, Whittington "COLLABORATED Vice President Cheney's statement," according to the release, which concluded, "This was no more than a hunting accident." (3 pages)" (Emphasis added.)

Unwittingly, the Sheriff accidently got it right. Whittington (assuming he could speak) didn't CORROBORATE Cheney's story of what occurred, but COLLABORATED in it!

For all we know they were fighting naked over the "Swiss Miss" in a motel in Waco when she blasted him with Cheney's shotgun, and blackmailed Cheney into taking the rap. It's WIDE open. Nobody we can trust on any angle of the story.

This is the America we have from decades of fascist maneuvering.

I say it again: It feels like he shot ME.

John J: No brob, brother. I figger we have plenty of people getting shitty about stuff out there without adding to it unduly, and I have had stuff disappear on me before. It gives you the willies. If we let these jerks using our constitution for toilet paper have their way, WE can disappear on each other with as much trace... that is to say, NO trace.

Okay. Don't forget. In just about exactly a half hour from now, Bob Kincaid's going to be on the air for three great hours. If you have ANY country in you at all, you'll love him.

http://www.whiterosesociety.org/Kincaid.html

Check this out:

Text for this photo:

12 Gauge Gun - 28 ga insert
20 yds - 3/4 oz. #9 Shot - Skeet Choke
1224 fps - 74% pellet count 30 in. circle

"Our first test was to build an insert tube to shoot a 28 gauge shell thru a 12 gauge gun. This combination was as about as over bored as we thought could ever work. When the first shots were fired at the patterning board, we could not believe what we saw. The patterns were every bit as good as you would expect to achieve out of a 28 gauge gun."

Full Site

While this is from a modified 12ga gun using a 28 ga shell - note that the report states the pattern is as good (in other words tight) as if shot from an actual 28 ga gun.

This is a 30 inch circle at 20 yards.

How does cheney shoot a 12 inch circle at 30 yards???

Also he had to be aiming perfectly level to the ground which does not seem correct to the flight characteristics of the quail as given here by many hunters.

Not to mention the little detail in the report at smoking gun that the victim was wearing an orange vest and cap. The quail I remember are various shades of brown and tan.

The whole car shooting thing reminds me of one morning when I was living in the country in Wisconsin and was awoken sunday morning to the sound of shotgun blasts and looked out to see a man in his best sunday-go-to-meeting attire loading the quail which lived at the end of my driveway into the trunk of his car!

Total Jackass!

Ironically, I posted that I hope Whittington doesn't die, BEFORE I read MediumWong's post saying we all hope he dies. In your face, MediumPenis!

Bluebear2
Some of us have hunted with shotguns before,
with a full choke, it would have to be 10 feet to 20 feet
to get a 12 inch shot pattern
I figure he bumped the trigger before he even had the gun up into position
I had some close calls hunting quail before, the action is so fast and if anybody is trigger happy, well we know the rest of what could happen
Its better hunting quail alone with a dog than with other people around you

Here's and advertisement for Spred-R 28 ga. shotgun shells which claim to be the best for upland (quail) shooting since they produce a rapidly expanding pattern making it easier to hit the birds at close range. 15 yards in the ad!

It would seem that the object in hunting quail is to have a large pattern as opposed to a tight pattern.

The 30 yard statement just doesn't make sense.

Yeah, hes probably got a big ol wad bruise right in the middle of that pattern too

Thanks Florida # 70

I did some skeet shooting as a kid and I remembered that the pattern opens up rather quickly, and even with a full choke the pattern is much larger at 30 yards.

Your explanation would explain the horizontal trajectory if he were raising the gun to shoot at a bird flying overhead.

The quail I am familiar with stay low and try to run away as you approach. They only take to the air when they feel cornered which typicaly is within about 10 to 15 feet of you. I have been startled half to death on more than one occasion
while hiking or cross country skiing when they burst out in front of me.

If they were pheasant hunting with a dog the 30 yards would be a reasonable distance since the dog would be out there flushing them out. But quail would stay under cover if you were only walking toward them.

Yeah, that thing I posted yesterday here
Explains some of my theory
He's trigger happy IMO

Cheney has done so much bad shit and damage to this country and the world. Why don't we the people let him get away with his personal shooting at the Bushit Coral and nail him for ALL his other actions? Impeachment and jail for the Bushit administration!

What do you know about Bush inserting into his 2007 Budget Bill to set up private retirement accounts starting in 2010 using $700 Billion in Social Security funds over 7 years to pay for them?

This would have never happened if Teddy never drove off the Chappi Bridge .. .. .. So it must be the Dems fault .. .. ..

The Diversion of Diversions .. .. .. .. .. -

Here's a voting question for you: How come Cheney votes in TX as a resident, but hunts there as a non-resident?

Sure there's a cover up. I see two good possibilities; possibly both combined:

- Dick puts back a few drinks, goes shooting, screws up, and needs to hide out to sober up before he talks to Sheriff.

- Cheney was given the message from Bush via Whittington that his resignation was requested, in light of the upcoming Plame fallout. Dick sends Bush a message.

No matter what, its obvious that the Bush and Cheney "teams" aren't coordinating very well, most likely because they aren't getting along any more.

Wouldn't that be nice.

Apparently they were pretty liqueured up. The Ambassador to Switzerland bet the Vice President that he couldn't shoot the bottle out of the Commissioner of Funeral Services hand while he was taking a swig. The rest is history.

Now if only that Mrs Armstrong hadn't broken National Security by leaking to the press the details.

Detective Columbo out of retirement on Mike Malloy Radio Show Good Shtick!

It seems that there's a possibility that this incident, which I believe to be completely accidental (though thoroughly negligent and irresponsible, and very poorly handled - I am not without sin, so I am not casting the first stone), could lead to a resignation of The Vice-President. I think anyone would agree that it's at least a possibility.

It brought to mind Al Capone being shut down by income tax evasion.

Our country is in a code yellow from the Homeland Security Department. Since we are at this increased security level, could someone please tell me where the secret service men were (who normally are supposed to be protecting the VP at all times during a code yellow)? They were there to talk to the Sheriff afterward, and tell him it was an accident. So, obviously, they were there during the shooting. Now, please, think about this......

Since each of them should be an expert marksman, wouldn't you think they would warn Cheney that he was about to hit a human being, not a bird? Or maybe even divert the shotgun position a hair? This is just too unbelievable to me.

The secret service men sat back and watched Cheney accidentally shoot someone! A human being on the ground, not a bird in the air. If the secret service personnel could not see that, I have to really consider the level of security being given to the nation's top officials! Way to unbelievable.......

Big Nest Egg + Beak + Chichen Neck \ Influence of Alcohol = One Big Fucking Quail

Grizzly (#76), I concur.

For Sharon: The Secret Service let Jeff Gannon, a male prostitute with only daily credentials as a reporter, wander around the White House at will in violation of their regulations. He checked in several times without ever checking out. This has never been explained.

I suppose we may never learn the truth now with all this confusion out there, Some say they saw the shooter Cheney in the window on the fifth floor of the school book depository. My own take on this is from the looks of the shot pattern coming from the front and knocking him backward that he shot from the grassy knoll. whadaya tink

The Zapruder film showed conclusively that the final shot that hit J.F.K. came from the grassy knoll.

Unfortunately, Zapruder is dead. Nobody was filming the quail hunt, so we have to depend on the word of those present for facts. It's fair to say none of them are objective seekers after the truth. Otherwise we'd know by now how far Cheney was from Whittington when he fired (not 30 yards); we'd know how much everyone had had to drink; we'd know why the Secret Service wouldn't let a sheriff's deputy interview Cheney (was the deputy a terrorist?); we'd know why they didn't release the story for 18 hours; we'd know why the wounds were described as minor when they were serious; and we'd know how Karl Rove knew who the shooter was and Andrew Card didn't, even though Card was supposedly the first White House staffer to receive the news.

Anonymous, I agree with your assessment of the cover up's intent. It was one idiot to the other, and I wouldn't be surprised if you were right on the money!! I'm just horrified because I'm a avid gun collector, and hunter, and do know that what has been released so far is pure crap. :crazy:

Hey, did y'all see the Rawstory article about the "beer quote" being scrubbed from the original news stories?

This is what was scrubbed:

Armstrong also told NBC News that she does not believe alcohol was involved in the accident. She says she believes no one that day was drinking, although she says there may have been beer available during a picnic lunch that preceded the incident. "There may be a beer or two in there," she said, "but remember not everyone in the party was shooting."

Now they're gonna tell us that there might have been "a beer or two" at the party (cause that's the way you buy beer for a party, right?), and any mention of that fact was taken out of stories at MSNBC and CBS, but there was no reason to believe alcohol may have been involved?

Uuuuuuh...yeah.

Move along, nothin to see here.

And yes, I know, this whole ruckus is about only ONE man Cheney injured with his stupid carelessness, versus all the other evil deeds he's committed - BUT, if it pushes him even one more inch closer to the political exit door, it's worth keeping it in the media spotlight.

Too bad they didn't find semen stains on the hunting vest, then we could IMPEACH the idiot.

First I totally bought the accident story....however, in light of the severity of the wound how could it be from 30 yards away? This is not "peppered".

The accident story or coming up on Cheney without his knowing it just doesn't pass the smell test.

Here's a better copy of the Accident Report. This link worked about 10 minutes ago, but now seems to be overloaded - takes forever to come up.
The front view shows the shot pattern on the victims left side, but the side views show it on his right side which is consistant with the written description.

Here's a link to a good article at Huffington Post about the conflicts that keep popping up in these stories about what happened:

Cheney's Chappaquiddick II: The Real Story Emerges

Okay, someone who understands more about this from a medical standpoint please answer this:

We've heard that the pellet that entered Mr. Willmington's heart traveled through his bloodstream and lodged there.

Is it possible for a pellet to travel to his LIVER the same way??

At least no one is arguing with the "Trigger Happy" part of the story...and it certainly describes Cheney rather well.

And I thought I read somewhere that the most transparent lie to law enforcement is, "only one or two officer..." "One or two" is not even a reasonable statement...it's a line. You wouldn't get pulled over for "one or two." And you certainly wouldn't shoot a buddy in the face at 30 feet over "one or two" either.

watch the "story" progress as the witnesses to the shooting experience their own accidents... by the time there's a grand jury there won't be anymore witnesses.

SWIZZCHEEZ: Get the "suicide notes" ready...they're probably already done, and they just have to fire them off in WORD...

NEWSFLASH

Cheney will be discussing the hunting incident this afternoon. This will be his first public statement on the matter. Guess what? The format will be an interview with Fox Network!

That should be a dilly. I can hear the first question from Sean Hannity now: "Mr. Vice President, have Democrats tried to make political hay over what was obviously an accident?" The second question might go like this: "Are you aware that certain people on the left are hoping for Mr. Whittington to die?"

Here would be my first question: "Given your known hostility to the media and acute sense of privacy and secrecy, what made you come forward in this particular case?"

"Armstrong also told NBC News that she does not believe alcohol was involved in the accident. She says she believes no one that day was drinking, although she says there may have been beer available during a picnic lunch that preceded the incident. "There may be a beer or two in there," she said, "but remember not everyone in the party was shooting."

Do these people think we're fucking idiots??? There was beer available, but no one was drinking??? Yeah, that happens...all the time! I know I've been to many-a-party where there was beer, and no one was drinking the beer. That's why there's beer there! Because no one was drinking it! YAY!!!!!!!!!!! WE'RE ALL STOOOOPID!!!!

Mr. Mills...it's part of the propoganda, that it's on FOX News. You're right, they will be Jeff Gannon-type questions.

Anybody got email addresses for members of the White House Press Corps - particularly any members with BALLS to ask the hard questions?

Anybody sent anything to MSNBC and CBS about their website scrubbing yet?

Cheney ‘Worried Sick’ Over Public Image Damage

(2006-02-15) — Vice President Dick Cheney has spent four sleepless nights, poring over popularity poll numbers, analyzing focus group data and crafting an emotional speech designed to turn last weekend’s accidental shooting of a hunting buddy from a PR nightmare into “a comeback-kid moment.”

“We’ve seen this all before,” said an unnamed former White House official who helped a previous president react to his own public relations challenges. “Right now, Dick Cheney is probably standing in front of his bathroom mirror to practice biting his lip, dropping his chin and making other dramatic facial expressions that simulate genuine remorse.”

The vice president’s grief, insiders said, is not over the shotgun wound suffered by his friend, Harry Whittington, but over his own failure to notify the White House press corps immediately after the incident.

In an ironic turnabout for the former “darling of the news media,” Mr. Cheney finds himself at odds with the very journalists who helped him craft his public persona as an affable and wise man of the people.

“The sad thing is that this whole tragedy could have been avoided if Dick Cheney had understood that his primary obligation is to the journalists who made him what he is today.”

In related news, the vice president’s spokesman denied that Mr. Cheney has asked President George Bush to divert attention from the quail hunting accident by “bombing something overseas.”

Big Dan,
You're right about the absurdity of "there was beer but nobody drank it" ...but go to that link Kestrel posted #95...it's more specific than that. Different things that Armstrong said don't add up.

JESUS! Things have gone way beyond Kafkaesque in this country. Our government is OUT OF CONTROL, literally.

LITERALLY!! FUCK!!! They do horrible, illegal, fucked-up, heinous things OVER & OVER & OVER & OVER and NOTHING HAPPENS!!!!!!!!!!! NOTHING!!!

Joan, Thats because they are all in bed together,drinking,screwing and laughing their asses off at us. Beause they have the power and we don't. Thats the message I get every day.Only half the American People even bother to vote. Half the people don't know or don't care to even find out the truth. Then there's all the brainwashed,falling in lockstep behind all of this corruption.It makes me so Mad,sad,and SICK OF ALL THE SHIT THAT IS DISHED OUT FROM THIS GOVERNMENT!

This just keeps getting weirder.

Looks like the "witness" - Armstrong - changed her story a bit after she spoke with ol' Karl "Spinmeister" Rove.

More inconsistencies here:

MAJOR HOLES IN CHENEY'S EXPLANATION OF HUNTING ACCIDENT

I hope Cheney is exposed for the trigger happy control freak madman that he is. The less he's out there the more he thinks he's in control. Puppeteers usually only like to take a bow at the end of the show. Else the illusion is lost.

Remember,

No alcohol means...plenty;
Far means....close;
Minor means...major;
Delay means...emergency;
Press conference means...coverup;

Oh, and I also understand that the "hosts" of such "ranches" are best known for their...discretion.

Last night on a news program - CBS I think, but am not sure - a doctor was questioned about the shot pellet in the heart and rather agitatedly explained that the chest cavity wall was very thin and a pellet could easily penetrate to the heart.

Sounds like a direct hit to me - not traveling through the circulitory system!

BlueBear - There are pellets lodged in his larnyx and liver too - can you say, "magic pellets"?

Excuse me, that should have been, "pellets lodged AGAINST his larnyx".

Just wanted to be clear.

Dearest 99 - I'll never ever forget your best line ever: "Oh, 86, you're worth two 43s any day!"

I can't imagine that Cheney would purposefully shoot someone in the face in order to divert attention away from all the other bad news coming out daily. However, Randi Rhodes has unabashedly been making such (presumably speculative) statements over and over on her radio program the last couple of days.

It is more than interesting to note that Secretary of Transporation, Norman Mineta, testified before the 911 Commission to an even more evil and heartless act by Cheney: allowing Flight 77 to crash into the Pentagon. Think I am kidding? Here is a description from Prison Planet that quotes Mineta, and in turn, quotes a young man (civilian? military?) in the presence of Cheney on September 11, 2001, as flight 77 was bearing down on the Pentagon:

[PRISON PLANET EXCERPT:]

Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta was in the Presidential Emergency Operating Center with Vice President Cheney as Flight 77 approached Washington, D.C. On May 23, 2003 in front of the
9/11 Commission, Secretary Mineta testified:

"During the time that the airplane was coming in to the Pentagon, there was a young man who would come in and say to the Vice President, 'The plane is 50 miles out ... The plane is 30 miles out.' And when it got down to 'the plane is 10 miles out,' the young man also said to the Vice President, 'Do the orders still stand?' And the Vice President turned
and whipped his neck around and said, 'Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?'"

As the plane was not shot down are we to take it that the orders were to let the plane find its target?

[END OF EXCERPT FROM PRISON PLANET]

THAT Cheney is capable of anything ... anything at all.

For Sandy D.: Except for one thing...it wasn't Flight 77 that hit the Pentagon.

The damage to the Pentagon was far too narrow to have been caused by a plane that size. This is one of those "unanswered questions about 9/11." It's not hard to imagine an unmanned missile crashing into the Pentagon without causing Cheney to blink; but the question still follows, "Where did Flight 77 end up?"

We might know some day. Then again, we might not.

Brit Hume just said that Cheney admitted he had a beer at lunch, hours before they went hunting.

Uh huh.

Maybe flight 77 wound up in the "North Woods"

http://www.whatreallyhap...ened.com/northwoods.html

#114 RLM
#116 Kestrelbrighteyes

I've seen "Loose Change 2" and check in with a number of the 911 blogs. I think it is possible that the passengers on flight #77 ended up in the ocean; or in Europe (some blogs assert that Barbara Olson [wife of Ted Olson, Bush Solicitor General] was arrested last October on the Polish/German border); or were all phantoms and it was a missle that hit the Pentagon (Northwoods is the template). But the point is the same: Cheney watched it happen despite time to interdict (either the plane or the missle) and 125 people died in the Pentagon (not including plane passengers, if any).

We might have a pretty good idea what really happened if the government would release all the surveillance tapes they confiscated from the Pentagon building and all the surrounding buildings.

We think it is so difficult to deal with suicidal terrorists because they don't value life like "we westerners do." Dealing with this executive branch is equally disconcerting.

The admission about having had a beer should trigger further investigation by the Sheriff .... who prematurely reported that alcohol was not involved. Drinking and shooting is reckless endangerment.

Below, is new information for me regarding the shooting facts. This is from epluribus media and it may be from Dick's story on Fox today. It sure undercuts a number of the other stories out there. It wasn't a ambulance that took Whittington to the hospital but a heliocopter. The shot was to the right side of the head, neck and chest (despite a Sheriff's drawing to the contrary?). And the description of the injuries sound very serious in contrast to Armstrong's "peppered" description. It shouldn't be hard for a news reporter to get the correct information. These are pretty basic facts.

But then, it is Cheney we are talking about. He has now given his take on "reality" and the facts will need to be fixed around that endpoint. Bottomline: I don't think these facts are very good for Cheney either.

[EXCERPT]
New from Brit Hume on Whittington's condition
Via Firedoglake:
"Struck on the right side of his face, his neck, and the right torso. Ran over to Whittington who was laying on his back, bleeding, could see where the shot had struck him. Fortunately, had medical team with him --- always have one wherever Cheney goes --- and his physician's assistant was there to administer treatment. Cheney spoke with Whittington, and Harry did not respond."

The guy was unconscious, and medivaced by helicopter. I think they thought he might die.

This puts the lie to the whole shooting aftermath segment of the story.

by Mogolori on Wed Feb 15, 2006 at 03:55:29 PM
EST

http://scoop.epluribusme...ory/2006/2/15/135354/170 (Sorry, the link creator isn't working.)

[END OF EXCERPT]

WHITTINGTON FOUGHT OFF EMINENT DOMAIN BETTER THAN CHENEY

SARAH COPPOLA, AMERICAN-STATESMAN, TX, JAN 28 - Six years ago, Austin condemned a downtown block Whittington's family owned to build a $10.5 million parking garage. Whittington's been fighting the city ever since. He racked up two legal victories last year, and on Friday racked up a third: The Texas Supreme Court denied the city's request to hear an appeal, which basically re-affirms a prior ruling in Whittington's favor.

The city law department, which has spent $387,000 on the case, doesn't plan to throw in the towel just yet. It can and will choose from two options, Austin's chief of litigation, Anne Morgan, said: Ask the state Supreme Court again to hear the case or argue the case in a county court trial, which Austin never had a chance to do.

Bring it on, says Whittington, who seems unfazed at having spent "hundreds of thousands of dollars" on his legal fees. He says his winning streak should give comfort to property owners unnerved by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in favor of city condemnations. "This," Whittington, 78, said of his lawsuit, "shows how the judicial system should work if you stay with it."

Whittington's family, which owned the block on Red River between Fourth and Fifth streets since 1980, wanted to develop the lot into apartments or shops. But the city had other ideas: building a 700-space garage for visitors to the nearby convention center and Sixth Street, and a $19.3 million chiller to cool nearby buildings.

(found on UnderNews)

Happy Valentine's Day. Good news, good news today --- so far Dick Cheney has not shot anybody." --David Letterman

"The real question now is, is this a one-time thing, or will the vice president try to kill again." --David Letterman

"I'm surprised Dick Cheney loves to hunt so much. The five times the government tried to give him a gun, he got a deferment." --Jay Leno

"Kind of a sad study out today that single women over the age of 35 are more likely to be shot by the vice president than to find a husband." --Jimmy Kimmel

"Remember when the most embarrassing thing to happen to a vice-president was misspelling the word potato?" --Jimmy Kimmel

"Police are still investigating. They want to know why Cheney was unable to see the hunter at the time of the accident. And, they also want to know how Cheney wound up with his wallet." --Jimmy Kimmel

"The administration has been getting a lot of criticism for how they handled the situation. First, they didn't tell the media for almost a full day after it happed. The White House press corps was furious. They expect to be told when the vice president shoots a 78-year-old man in the face." --Jimmy Kimmel

#29... No, Medium Right, we don't want Whittington to die. We just want him to have a brief chat with Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates, and learn how Jesus really feels about Republicans, and then recover. Perhaps Saint Peter will even show Whittington a glimpse of the cage in Hell that's shared by cronies of Herod, and cronies of Hitler, and cronies of Bush.

A little dose of true religion will have Whittington spending the rest of his natural life touring the country, speaking out against the neocons, and exposing the inner secrets of the Cheney Cabal.

Will Cheney still be allowed to own a gun and get hunting permits after shooting a guy in the face? Will he be required to attend a gun safety course? What does the law say here?

On Wednesday, hospital officials said he had a normal heart rhythm again and was sitting up in a chair, eating regular food and planned to do some legal work in his hospital room. Doctors said they are highly optimistic he will recover.
-AP

For Dave: The "it wasn't Cheney's fault" fiction came from others in the Armstrong group who said it was "Harry's fault for not announcing himself," or "Harry's fault for coming up behind Cheney." As soon as Cheney and Karl Rove realized that gun owners and hunters all over the country (a big part of the Republicans' base) were outraged that somebody was making excuses for him when it was clearly his fault (it's always the shooter's fault when somebody gets shot), then Cheney decided to be interviewed and take the blame.

For me, the most outrageous aspect of this is one few people are talking about. A sheriff's deputy came out to investigate the incident. That is his job. The Secret Service refused to allow him to see Cheney or even talk to him. Thus, the Secret Service, which is supposed to protect our elected officials from harm (so decided after McKinley's assassination in 1901), actually protected the vice president from having to face questioning about a possible crime (criminal negligence, reckless endangerment, or even involuntary manslaughter).
They should not have this power.

DANGER!!! .. .. .. "DICK of DEATH" .. .. .. This Man is Loaded .. .. ..

RLM and Dave,
It seems that the victim was being blamed at first because that was the first spin. When that didn't wash, he comes out with the "I am to blame" which of course everybody already knew. The person with the gun is always to blame for shooting bystanders. I think they were waiting for the veep to sober up, therefore he couldn't be bothered with the sheriff. I think his friend will come out behind him once his face heals up, and lay all the "rumors" to rest. He is after all a friend of Cheney. I see Limbaugh is putting out the talking points to compare this to Kennedy (one of his favorite subjects). Something about "would you rather ride with Ted or hunt with Dick" (not an exact quote). My answer is neither. Dick is on the hotseat today and Kennedy is an old man. I am middle aged and I was a kid when Kennedy drove the car off the bridge. They both seem like Dweebs to me. Here's something from the AP-

“I've been in the business for a long time and never seen a situation quite like this," Cheney said. "We've had experiences where the president has been shot. We've never had a situation where the vice president shot somebody."

In the only other case of someone being shot by a vice president, Aaron Burr was indicted on murder charges in New York and New Jersey for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804, but he was never tried and finished out his term in office.

"Would you rather go hunting with
Dick Cheney or riding in a car over
a bridge with Ted Kennedy?" - Rush Limbaugh

Thats the quote.
Lets see, would I rather get shot in the face by an incompetent drunk who is running the country or drowned by an incompetent drunk with a senate seat? Hmm... decisions, decisions...

Another one of Rush Limbaugh's false choices, which somehow make sense to his anti-intellectual, redneck crowd.

Answer: "Rush, I don't want to do either. And who will ever be forced to make that choice? How does the fact that Teddy Kennedy was an irresponsible drinker and skirt-chaser in his early years and caused a girl's death relate to the fact that Dick Cheney shot somebody in the face at close range when he was supposed to be aiming at a quail?"

Cheney's got a gun!

Just one more .. .. .. Youthful Indiscretion .. .. .. Huh .. .. .. Dick of Death cheney

Cheney says "You can't blame anybody else": This reminds me of the saying "We will not tolerate any outrageous conspiracy theories" by Bush referring to the Sept. 11 attack on the WTC (which is in my opinion-based on scientific law/evidence a cover-up). It's a little obvious when they say something like this that they are trying to make a cover-up. WHY in the world would Cheney say "You can't blame anybody else" Who the heck would state something so seemingly obvious? and who was blaming anyone else? it sounds more like someone else shot him and Cheney is trying to make sure only he takes the blame. #1: Cheney had no hunting stamp to be hunting quail(that's a little odd based on the claims that they were hunting quail) #2: Why did it take SO freaking long to report that he had shot someone? That's a little out of place isn't it? I'm sure there's other parts of the story to bring question to the factual events that took place but we'll never hear the truth.

Hey, someone actually taped the Cheney shotting of Harry Whittington...Yea, I didn't believe it either:

http://collegeguru.blogs...ry-whittington-star.html

It's all Harry's fault - he should have known The Dick was loaded...

Lets see-

Cheney left the scene of an accident?
Group had been drinking?
Group consisted of .... 3 men and 3 WOMEN??????

assumpition-

Group waited 18 hrs for alcohol to wear off before reporting incident

Cheney (married) and crew may have been totally drunk and caught cavorting arround with woman in party?

------------------------------------------------------------

I know lots of hunters. They go into the forest with permits and hunt. I have never heard of clipping the wings of pen raised birds, so as to handicap them for slaughter. Its like shooting fish in a barrel. Is this just for the enjoyment of killing small animals? Is that really called "hunting" in Texas? They can't possibly consider this sport.

This is from the smoking gun. Apparently Cheney has a history of reckless drunken behavior.

Court and police records obtained by The Smoking Gun show that Cheney was convicted of drunk driving twice during an eight-month period in the early 1960s in his home state of Wyoming. The two convictions came when Cheney was 21 and 22 and resulted in fines and a brief suspension of his driver's license.

#134 Heeeeeeeeeee

Back then in Wyoming, it was called fire-water (was it a state then?) and he fell off his horse. How about the time he got sent to the corner in 2nd grade and in the fourth grade he spilled his milk in the lunch room. And that library book he never returned, What was the title?...How to make libs and the press look foolish... We should have known then he would never be a good VP. Wake up guys the world to laughing at you.

I'm a few years younger than Cheney and I have 0 citations for ANYTHING, including getting pie eyed and driving or shooting my hunting companions. Kennedy is an older story than Cheney in the 60's and Rush Limbaugh has been harping on it for ten years at least. Apparently if you are in politics there is no statute of limitations on asinine behavior.
Maybe you can answer my question about Texas hunting in #136. Yes, I am a gun owner. No I do not shoot little animals that have been crippled and kept in pens. Is that called hunting in Texas?

no jo you pay mc donalds or KFC or your shoe and purse makers to shoot them for you.

The veep makes considerably more (his gun was worth about $5000) than the average KFC or Micky D worker, or farmer who raises stock for this industry. They may not like it but hey, they need the 5 bucks an hour to feed their kids. Cheney isn't doing it because he is poor, uneducated or a new immigrant with few options. He is doing it because he LIKES killing things that have no sporting chance to survive. It shows what kind of man he is. I bet he kicks his dog too.

For Jo: Non-hunters can never win an argument with hunters. It's one of those subjects where one's cultural orientation supersedes common sense.

I live in the Northeast, but not in a hunting area. I can't fathom killing an innocent animal or bird. It isn't a sport, because sports are played on a level field with rules...and as long as the quail or the deer doesn't have a gun to shoot back with, it ain't a fair fight, McGee. And what did that creature ever do to deserve being shot in cold blood?

But that's an intellectual argument, not a cultural one. Some people just love to kill, and if a man grows up as the son and grandson of hunters who love to kill, he'll be that way himself...unless he has the guts to tell his old man off. A few men do, but most don't.

It's a right of passage for alpha males, a way to distinguish themselves from "wimps." Cheney represents for many red-state macho men a role model...a guy who hunts to kill, a guy who starts wars to kill (even though he's a chickenhawk who took five deferments), and most of all a guy who sneers at intellectuals.

I am not opposed to hunting. It is necessary to thin wild populations and the permit fee is used to maintain wilderness areas. Hunting is a sport that requires tracking and skill. Putting tame animals that have been clipped into a fenced area and then plucking them off in a slaughter is not "hunting". And it is not a sport. This is just using captive animals for target practice.

I have been to hunting camps like those and quite the opposite is true. Those quail, pheasants, grouse, chuckers, and ducks are raised for those hunts. After the hunt the guest sit down, barbeque and eat what they shoot. They are mostly folks that are from the city that don’t have the time to track and find the wild animals like the real hunters do, so these camps cater to guest who want to live out a fantasy or things they did with their grand-dads to put food on the table. You can conceder it history reenactment. Macho, alpha males, how do you explain all the girls and women that like to hunt, it’ nothing more than McDonalds taken to the next level. If you eat meat or own leather shoes you are paying someone to kill those animals for you.

Cheney ate 12 quail? Thats how many he killed that day. It probably would have been more if he hadn't taken out his companion. I seriously doubt he plucks and BBQ's these things himself. He just likes killing things.
Actually I am a vegetarian (for health reasons-bad genes). I don't wear leather shoes but really that is just kind of the luck of the draw. I wear canvas shoes at work (I am a nurse), and I teach step aerobics and spinning classes at a local gym (again the canvas shoes). I give my footsies a rest at home and just wear slippers. My running shoes are also non leather so I guess I don't fall into any of the above categories. I am a gun owner and I enjoy shooting targets. I have cans tied to a tree and actually I am a pretty fair shot. I have never shot a living thing. Wouldn't want to. Good thing I was a nurse in the Navy and not in combat or really I suppose I would not have been able to serve my country.
I think Darth Cheney is a jerk.

I try to imagine what it's like to shoot a bird out of the sky, or kill a deer. I have a pretty ripe imagination, but I just can't fathom knowing I'd deliberately destroyed a harmless living creature. If I needed it for food, that's different, based on Darwin. I'm not a wimp, either...one-time football and semi-pro baseball player, 6'3", 260.

According to A.P., Cheney told Lindsey Graham that hunting is relaxation, a way to relieve the stress of his job. Pretty ironic, if you ask me. He has caused the deaths of innocent human beings every day since 2003, 2,300 American soldiers have died in Iraq with another 17,000 wounded and maimed, and his chosen method for escaping the tension is to go kill defenseless animals and birds.

Sounds to me like cheney thought he was Tycoon Hunting . . . . .

Cheney's Canned Kill, and Other Hunting Excesses of the Bush Administration

By Wayne Pacelle

Vice President Dick Cheney went pheasant shooting in Pennsylvania in December 2003, but unlike most of his fellow hunters across America, he didn't have to spend hours or even days tramping the fields and hedgerows in hopes of bagging a brace of birds for the dinner table.

Upon his arrival at the exclusive Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier Township, gamekeepers released 500 pen-raised pheasants from nets for the benefit of him and his party. In a blaze of gunfire, the group—which included legendary Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach and U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), along with major fundraisers for Republican candidates—killed at least 417 of the birds. According to one gamekeeper who spoke to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Cheney was credited with shooting more than 70 of the pen-reared fowl.

After lunch, the group shot flocks of mallard ducks, also reared in pens and shot like so many live skeet. There's been no report on the number of mallards the hunting party killed, but it's likely that hundreds fell.

Rolling Rock is an exclusive private club for the wealthy with a world-class golf course and a closed membership list. It is also a "canned hunting" operation—a place where fee-paying hunters blast away at released animals, whether birds or mammals, who often have no reasonable chance to escape. Most are "no kill, no pay" operations where patrons only shells out funds for the animals they kill.

Bird-shooting operations offer pheasants, quail, partridges, and mallard ducks, often dizzying the birds and planting them in front of hunters or tossing them from towers toward waiting shotguns. There are, perhaps, more than 3,000 such operations in the United States, according to outdoor writer Ted Williams.

For canned hunts involving mammals, hunters can shoot animals native to given continents—everything from Addax to Zebra—within the confines of a fenced area, assuring the animals have no opportunity to escape. Time magazine estimates that 2,000 facilities offer native or exotic mammals for shooting within fenced enclosures.

Geez, No wonder Dick has a bad ticker. If he eats what he shoots his cholesterol levels should be off the charts!

I'm sending Cheney some donuts, cake & pie & fried chicken right away to help him feel better about getting caught almost killing a guy.

is this a wise choice of recreation for the vp of the planet's most powerful nation? what if the situation had been reversed and the 78 yr old had accidently shot and injured cheney? he might not have survived another heart attack. what if pam willeford had let one rip into cheney's face? whats the use of having all those ss men around, (at what expense) if you're going to allow armed hunters to be that close. if it WAS an accident on his part, then it could just as easily been an accident on their part. doesn't seem like a very smart endeavor in any case!!