Althouse: Dick Cheney shoots a man!

February 12, 2006

Dick Cheney shoots a man!

A 78-year old guy!

51 comments:

Wade Garrett said...: This is a sad story.

Didn't Bob Barr do the same thing, just a couple of years ago? And these are the people who tell us that licensing people to use guns is the first step towards totalitariansim. Whatever.

What has Cheney done RIGHT, exactly, in the past five years?; 2/12/06, 3:58 PM
Anonymous said...: Reflexes got the better of me
And what is to be must be.
Every day the bucket goes to the well,
But one day the bottom will drop out,
Yes, one day the bottom will drop out.; 2/12/06, 4:07 PM
michael farris said...: I'd be very careful if I were W ... and _very_ polite.; 2/12/06, 4:12 PM
chuck b. said...: It's a little sad, but the guy's going to be fine, so it's incredibly funny. I'm not sure if this would really be irony--except in Alanis Morissette's dictionary--but whatever form of humor this little incident falls under, it's a winner.; 2/12/06, 4:24 PM
Anonymous said...: Shouldn't this be in the 2nd Amendment thread?

One thing we do know for sure now is that Cheney's pacemaker is doing one hell of a job.; 2/12/06, 4:26 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: I think you should link to your shooting lawyers--twice--post.; 2/12/06, 5:09 PM
Anonymous said...: Bob Geiger -- Dick Cheney’s Top 10 Excuses For Shooting Fellow Hunter

From the home office in blue-state New York, here’s Vice President Dick Cheney’s top 10 excuses for shooting fellow hunter Harry Whittington on Saturday:

...

9. Pushed over edge by Dixie Chicks and Streisand blasting on pick-up truck stereo

...

7. Thought he saw Michael Moore on other side of tree line

...

3. Whittington’s repeated ribbing that Bush is actually the “real president”

...

And the number one excuse given by Dick Cheney for almost blowing away hunting companion Harry Whittington…

1. Because he’s a wartime vice president, damn it

Via the divine Jane on the shores of firedoglake; 2/12/06, 5:19 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Art: Sorry. I don't want to talk about that here.

Ruth Anne: What post was that?; 2/12/06, 5:29 PM
Maxine Weiss said...: This is the Republican presidental candidate for 2008?

Don't think I'd trust him not to accidently set off the "football", or whatever that thing the President carries around.

"Ooops, Sorry!"

Peace, Maxine; 2/12/06, 5:35 PM
Anonymous said...: Imagine if this had happened when Cheney and Rehnquist had gone hunting. Now that'd be a crazy story.; 2/12/06, 5:36 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: Professor Althouse: You remember the one where the clerk at Hilldale tried to impress you by making a bad lawyer joke. Shooting lawyers. Twice. Or some such. You talked about lawyer jokes in general and how no other profession is so gleefully maligned.

But, of course, my memory might be off. Just getting over a 24 hour bug.; 2/12/06, 5:40 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: Here it is.

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2005/10/you-meet-someone-and-first-thing-he.html; 2/12/06, 5:43 PM
chuck b. said...: I wonder what would happen if I accidentally shot someone during a hunting accident. Was Cheney treated differently than I would expect to be? If so, why?

It's nice he had 24 hours to get his story straight before reporting to the media. Lucky him.; 2/12/06, 6:02 PM
chuck b. said...: And I love this: "It was just one of those things that unfortunately happens quite often when hunting," said Kathryn Garcia, who broke the news for the Caller-Times. Link.

Happens quite often when hunting? Really?; 2/12/06, 6:08 PM
Anonymous said...: Shame about those five deferments of Cheney's. This accident may not have happened if he had gone through basic training, but of course, he had other priorities.; 2/12/06, 6:32 PM
Palladian said...: This person was not shot with a bullet. They were hunting quail, so likely that they guy got hit with bird shot. Depending on how close one is to the shooter, it probably wouldn't be fatal to get hit with some shot, but certainly painful (and considering that the guy was 78, possibly causing a heart attack from the shock). An object lesson on why gun safety is important.; 2/12/06, 6:36 PM
vnjagvet said...: Chuck B:

What makes you think if this happened to you, you would not have been treated exactly the same way?

And what duty does anyone have to report this to "the media" sooner than 24 hours?; 2/12/06, 6:38 PM
Palladian said...: Lindsey, those quotes from the Bradys are disgusting. I do love how this incident provides the usual suspects (anti-gun people, AntiSemantic Leo, obnoxxo) a new way to say the same shit they've been saying for years.

I'm working on some ideas involving a Clinton version of this story, where he sprays his hunting partner with his shot and she's rushed to the dry cleaners. Tired, I know, like the Cheney jokes, but still irresistible.

Is that too crude? Have I "jumped the shark"? Classy!; 2/12/06, 6:44 PM
Pete said...: mary,

What from the story linked to allows you to infer this was a "hop out and shoot" kind of hunt. (Though possibly it was.)

Sometimes accidents happen, even with "responsible" hunters. Cheney's as vulnerable to an accident as any one else. Of course, being vice-president, more people notice.

And for the commenter above, for private citizens, there's no obligation whatsoever to notify the media (of anything, come to think of it.) There's nothing to indicate Cheney got special treatment from anyone but, since this wasn't a fatality, the victim seems to be doing fine, and this kind of thing isn't a rare occurrence, it's likely he did get special treatment, but I can't imagine what it was and, besides, so what? I suspect the VP gets better treatment than I do wherever he goes.

A mildly amusing anecdote at best. Yawn.; 2/12/06, 7:15 PM
Anonymous said...: "It's nice he had 24 hours to get his story straight before reporting to the media. Lucky him." *

*Mary Jo Kopechne could not be reached for comment.

As long as some are making this a political gotcha rather than an accident.; 2/12/06, 7:24 PM
Goatwhacker said...: I'm betting Whittington is somehow connected to Schlumberger, chief competitor of Halliburton ;-)

I do have to agree with mary that while Whittington probably screwed up by not announcing his presence, the ultimate responsibility belongs to the guy pulling the trigger, and I predict Cheney will say the same.; 2/12/06, 7:49 PM
Anonymous said...: Now that's funny, Paul! LOL.; 2/12/06, 7:50 PM
Robert said...: Mary, indeed it is the responsibility of a hunter to know the locations of the members of his party. The man who was shot, however, was not a member of the party. He saw them hunting and decided to approach. He didn't announce himself. (He probably didn't want to risk scaring off the game.)

It isn't really possible to tell from the published accounts whether Cheney did anything wrong or not. People saying he was obviously in the wrong, or that he obviously was not to blame, are actually just talking about what their prejudgment of Cheney is. At this point, there isn't any data of sufficient quality to reach a judgment.; 2/12/06, 8:26 PM
sonia said...: Maybe Dick should invite these guys on his next hunting trip?; 2/12/06, 9:08 PM
Steve Donohue said...: It really isn't an either/or thing, it's an and/both. It's always, in the end, the responsibility of the man firing the gun to make sure no one is in harms way. But it's just plain silly to not announce oneself, especially if not wearing the bright orange garb.

Actually, I anticipate some of the jokes that will come out of this could potentially be quite funny. Unfortunately, so many are going to treat this with so much stiff seriousness that the whole affair will be turned into another pro-Bush/anti-Bush bashfest. No harm, no foul, and so let us make merriment over the whole affair.; 2/12/06, 9:13 PM
Simon Kenton said...: Hunting birds, you get hit by pellets quite frequently - it's just kind of a stinging rain. The time that hurt somewhat was when my lawyer friend shot me with a .45.; 2/12/06, 9:21 PM
Sloanasaurus said...: W, that is the funniest post ever.....; 2/12/06, 10:15 PM
MadisonMan said...: From the first comment:

What has Cheney done RIGHT, exactly, in the past five years?

VPs typically don't have to do much of anything, I guess, but I can't think of anything positive he's done either.

I wonder if he'll give up hunting?; 2/12/06, 10:28 PM
Bas-O-Matic said...: How long, I wonder, before Cheney blames it on bad intelligence.

Now come on, Bush wasn;t even there.; 2/12/06, 10:58 PM
Anonymous said...: twm, I agree completely. It is absolutely shameful what the left will do with this.

Whoops, wait a second....

OK, folks, I think I got enough information here to tell you about the contents of this fax that I got. Brace yourselves. This fax contains information that I have just been told will appear in a newsletter to Morgan Stanley sales personnel this afternoon... What it is is a bit of news which says... there's a Washington consulting firm that has scheduled the release of a report that will appear, it will be published, that claims that this shooting took place in an apartment owned by Lynn Cheney, and the body was then taken to the ranch.; 2/12/06, 10:59 PM
MadisonMan said...: And those comments are an indication of what the whole left is doing -- which is grabbing onto something that would not even be in the local news if it were not the VP.

Local man has heart attack isn't news either -- unless the man is the VP. I see little to distinguish the snarky comments from 'the left' regarding this incident from the snarky comments from 'the right' when John Kerry went hunting. They all seem to be poking fun at a political foe.

And robert: Mr. Whittington was indeed a member of the hunting party. He had felled a bird and retrieved it and was returning from an unexpected direction, apparently, to the VP's hunting party.; 2/12/06, 11:34 PM
knighterrant said...: "Accidental shootings happen in hunting all the time." - So, you hunters are shooting each other all the time? Sounds like a fun hobby.

When I play golf, I always know where the rest of the foursome is before I swing the club. I can't imagine anyone with a brain larger than a walnut not bothering to notice where his hunting partners were before pulling the trigger.; 2/13/06, 2:19 AM
Robert said...: News reports are now saying that the guy was a member of their hunting party, not someone who wandered into the field of fire as I had previously understood. That would in fact seem to make it Cheney's fault.; 2/13/06, 2:52 AM
vbspurs said...: Ooh! Lawyer jokes time!

(Which Ann hates, to boot)

Q: How many lawyers can a Vice-President shoot?

A: One, but he's working on it.

Cheers,
Victoria; 2/13/06, 4:49 AM
vbspurs said...: I smell an impostor. The real Dick Cheney would've dropped the guy.

*LOL*

And Rummy?

Cheers,
Victoria; 2/13/06, 4:51 AM
vbspurs said...: When I play golf, I always know where the rest of the foursome is before I swing the club. I can't imagine anyone with a brain larger than a walnut not bothering to notice where his hunting partners were before pulling the trigger.

It doesn't work that way in this sport.

I was raised in hunt country in England, which is also very much grouse and pheasant-shooting country.

People have mufflers on their ears, and though beaters were common back in the day, in modern times, hunters and shooters have set guidelines to announce their arrival in the shooting box.

This includes hand gestures, flags, and other very visible signs.

You obviously also do not approach someone from behind, without waiting for a lull in the shooting to occur.

If you fail to do so, you get what Mr. Whittington got Saturday.

It was nice of Dick Cheney to stay with him at his bedside, all Sunday.

When the future Edward VII accidentally shot his brother-in-law, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, in the eye, which needed a falsie afterwards, he used to help his brother-in-law clean his eyeballs. Rough.

To paraphrase the great Queen Latifah in Last Holiday:

"That's why they call it shooting, not crochet"

Cheers,
Victoria; 2/13/06, 4:58 AM
knox said...: phew, he's not going to live this one down any time soon!; 2/13/06, 7:11 AM
Peter Hoh said...: Thinking that the late-night guys will have a field day. I predict that one of them will use a line like this:

Reference to Wittington's Republican credentials and record of support for Bush. Here's the punch line: If that's how he treats his friends, I sure don't want to be on his list of enemies.; 2/13/06, 7:16 AM
Gaius Arbo said...: All these comments - and not one has posted the obvious!

"PHEASANTS? I thought you said PEASANTS!

Look, it's an accident. They do happen. There is no deep, nefarious plot, nor is the VP Satan incarnate.; 2/13/06, 7:55 AM
The Drill SGT said...: Dick screwed up, but stuff happens. A few more points not in this story.

1. he was using a 28 gauge shotgun. The type used by police military etc is 12 gauge. a 12 gauge is a lot bigger. Think as though a 12 gauge is a meat cleaver and a 28 gauge is a scalpel. much less shot in a 28 gauge shell.

2. they were shooting quail. that means "bird shot" very small (tiny) pellets, rather than 00 "buck shot" which again is what police would use

3. 30 yards would mean that the bird shot would sting and penetrate a very small amount, but unless it hit your eye, you'd only have the shock factor of a 78 y/o to worry about.

4. quail hunting is close range, fast reaction shooting. fast little buggers....

5. the hunters should have been more aware of their relative positioning, but stuff happens.

Let's all be careful out there.

I doubt that either Dick or the victim will stop hunting because of this.; 2/13/06, 11:02 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Did any of the news stories indicate if the victim deserved it? Cause Cheyney can do no wrong in my book.; 2/13/06, 11:05 AM
john(classic) said...: This Ann's fault.

She was the one who put the idea in her readers' heads of sending "FLEE AT ONCE --ALL IS DISCOVERED" emails to all the top people in the Bush administration.

Surely it was not unexpected that a methodical person like Cheney would clean up loose ends on the way out?; 2/13/06, 11:50 AM
sonicfrog said...: But don't you see. All the criticism's about Bush losing OBL has finally lead to a solution. Cheney is in the final phase of a super secret military training program that will see him PERSONALY take out OBL! They needed to make sure he could actually hit a live body. And they'll just say Cheney went to Afghanistan to hunt quail.; 2/13/06, 12:13 PM
reader_iam said...: chuckb (etc.):

Editor & Publisher has a piece up that talks about the delay and quotes the local paper/reporter about what's typical for that area.

It seems that in Texas there IS a requirement to report shooting incidents. No one's clearly stated whether that happened or not.

It does appear that when contacted routinely, law enforcement officials did not mention or provide info on the shooting.

I've worked weekend cop beats before. It is VERY routine to check in with law enforcement officials a number of times, especially on Saturdays when thinks tend to get a bit "hot". If that paper, via one of its reporters, says that information on an incident like this would normally have been released as part of the info requested from law enforcement officials, then I think we have to consider the possibility it may be true.

That said--this story would indeed normally be only a cop brief or at least only a local-paper story, but because we're talking about V.P.
Cheney here, it's a "man-bites-dog" thing.; 2/13/06, 12:53 PM
reader_iam said...: Pete:

You're right: there's no obligation on the part of private citizens to inform the media of anything. But they may be required to report certain things to law enforcement (I'm gathering--but haven't verified for sure--that this is true in Texas).

In many (most?) states, private citizens--or at least newspapers--do have rights of access to police blotters and at least minimal information, though I don't know what time spans are attached, if any, generally speaking.

And in this case, of course, a private citizen DID go the media--though interestingly, via political reporter.; 2/13/06, 1:04 PM
Gordon Freece said...: I was shocked and saddened to come up empty when I searched this page for the word "Reno" and the phrase "just to watch him die".; 2/13/06, 1:23 PM
Beau said...: Aren't medicl personnel required by law to report gun shot wounds to the police?

Both the hospital and the medical people assigned to Cheney who worked on the guy would be required to make an official report.; 2/13/06, 3:06 PM
vbspurs said...: Both the hospital and the medical people assigned to Cheney who worked on the guy would be required to make an official report.

Although I have not done my 4th year ER rotation yet, I can tell you why they probably didn't have to.

The Vice President of the US is one of the few people in this country who actually goes around with law enforcement at his side, 24/7.

This it becomes a moot point, capiche?

You can be sure that Parkland Memorial physicians didn't report to the police about the shotgun wounds they treated on a certain John F. Kennedy, either.

Cheers,
Victoria; 2/13/06, 3:40 PM
vbspurs said...: Thus, not this...doh.; 2/13/06, 3:40 PM
chuck b. said...: Well, I wonder who's going to pay for 78-year-old guy's hospital care. He should pay out-of-pocket, no? Or do hunters carry strict liability insurance for their own hunting injuries? They should. Certainly, those arguing hunting can be a safe sport should be estopped from making that argument. Cheney is a seasoned, well-practiced practitioner. If he can't avoid sending someone to the hospital bleeding from the face, neck, and chest for an overnight stay there's no reason to think anyone else can either.; 2/13/06, 11:26 PM
chuck b. said...: Well, I don't want to check the statistics. If you want to argue that hunting is safe and cite the statistics that prove your point, I will happily read them and consider the argument.

Otherwise, I am disinclined toward thinking hunting is a particularly "safe" sport at this point in time.; 2/15/06, 10:24 AM