The unfortunate event occurred in 2006. He lived 17 more years and died at the age of 95.
I blogged about the event at the time, mainly because Cheney was getting criticized for not going on camera and apologizing. A Republican defended Cheney, saying Cheney keeps his personal feelings to himself and doesn't care what the public thinks.
I said:
Doesn't care that he shot a man in the face? No... Cheney doesn't care if people criticize him. The suggestion is only that there's a political need to go on TV and emote so that people see you're not a machine. TV demands emotion. Tell us how you feel, reporters demand of people in pain, who often enough snap back "How do you think I feel?" Cheney accidentally shot an old man. How do you think he feels? Why do you need him to go on television and say what you already know? Because it would be so weird and awkward for gruff old Dick to do that?
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I was a great admirer of Cheney but he seems to have gone Gore over Trump. I know Trump criticized the Iraq War but Cheney used to be a real conservative. Now, his best friends are Democrats who live to spend money we don't have. As for getting shot while bird hunting. I understand the guy got to the wrong place. I've had close calls hunting, as well.
"A Republican defended Cheney, saying Cheney keeps his personal feelings to himself and doesn't care what the public thinks."I don't think he really cares" what the public thinks of him."
One of the reasons I've always kind of liked Cheney. If more people adopted this attitude we'd be in a better place. Do what you think is right and don't worry what other people think of it.
I've meant for awhile now to read Richard Feynman's book "Why Do You Care What Other People Think?". I was reminded again of this by yesterday's dining alone post. I think e-book's the right format for this one.
"typified the breed of Texan known as the good ol’ boy."
NYT-speak for "an awful, awful fascist and probably a transphobe".
95? Cause and effect.
We want politicans who aren't controlled by the mob, and blow like a weather vane in the wind. But that's completely different from what Cheney was. An arrogant, close-minded Man who did what he thought best no matter what the voters wanted or thought.
Cheney lied about Trump, he lied about WMD's and Iraq and he lied about Reagan in 76. But that's just "good ol' Dick" being gruff and honest. Cheney was deeply involved in the Ford Campaign which lost. He was deeply involved in every disaster of the Bush-II presidency and he egged Bush-I on to break his "no new taxes pledge" because "who cares what the public thinks?"
I wouldn't mind these "I don't care what the public thinks" types IF they were honest during the campaign and told us their true beliefs, instead of covering them up or even lying about them. Y'know who else "doesn't care what the public thinks?" Mitt Romney.
It's "What Do You Care What Other People Think". And yes, you should absolutely read it.
In the interest of accuracy, I'll just point out that Whittington is the only man shot in the face by Dick Cheney that we know of.
Using the Jan 6 Capitol Police standard, he was "killed by Cheney."
I thought one of the best debate moments was when Cheney debated Senator Edwards, and said "As VP, I am in the Senate quite a bit. When you came out on the stage tonight, this is the first time I have ever seen you in person."
Almost as good as Bentson's "John Kennedy was a friend of mine. You are no John Kennedy."
A man shot in the face at 80 quietly quits at 95. Cause and effect.
... 78 quietly quits at 95. RIP
As anyone who bothers to read my scrawlings knows, I frequently declare my noble TV independence. To those few, those happy few, I must say that chapter is closed. Almost 17 years without a television or any means to decode a television signal ended in 2021. We have a TV in the house, but I swear to gawdamighty I never partake of its demonical neural stimulants. Whenever electrons arouse its iniquitous innards, I retreat. I raise the drawbridge and drop the portcullis and the garrison girds for war. Aroint thee, vile oscillation!
Yeah, TV really sucks, especially the commercials, but TV news sucks even harder with more enthusiasm. As deceptive as advertising inherently is, the ads never lie in any demonstrable manner, that's far too dangerous. Hovering lawyers will descend on lying advertisers and pick their bones clean. No, the adroit advertiser whispers, Lie to yourself, my little chickadee. And like the somnambulist we coo in reply, Yes, my master. I will drop $6,500 equivalent dollars on the near-useless 128k Macintosh and I will be as accurate as Jim Plunkett, as swift as Marcus Allen Yes, yes...
But no fear restains TV news, the lies are unmitigated by trials and judgments. In the distant past, when the press was literally ink on paper, newsmen had a certain grimy nobility, at least some of them. They all wanted to be Shakespeare or Dostoyevsky. Today, they're a collection of the porkiest hams to ever strut and fret an hour upon a stage, very skilled at telling tales to idiots.
For a politician what other people think is important to you. If you don’t do the political dance it looks like you have contempt for your voters.
I know the first adjective what comes to mind when I think of Cheney- it ends in -ous…
You shouldn’t hunt birds with people who might shoot you in the face. I’ve left hunts where I thought there was a chance the people I’d be hunting with might shoot me in the face…
I've meant for awhile now to read Richard Feynman's book "Why Do You Care What Other People Think?".
Don’t wait another day.
I can't imagine Cheney didn't apoligize to Harry Whittington. Cheney had no obligation to apologize to America in the media.
So will the Dems now impeach Cheney and seek to have him criminally charged, or is he one of the "good" Republicans now?
I always thought George W Bush missed a trick when placed in a tricky position commenting on VP candidate Sarah Palin, who he apparently didn't like much. "Well from what I can see, if she shoots someone on a hunting trip, that one's staying down."
If the man was a friend, it was unfortunate.
If an enemy, it was terrible aim...
P.S.
He is, after all, a Dick...
This will be in Cheney's obit too.
Shot in the face
And Dick’s to blame
Cheney, you give huntin’ a bad name
A sneer of a smile is what you sell
You invited Harry, then shot him to Hell
There's no denying that shooting a hunting partner in the face is a klutz move. All in all though, he handled the immediate consequences better than Alec Baldwin.....I wonder if he now gets a reprieve from the left because of the activities of his sainted daughter? Prior to Trump, he used to be considered the epitome of evil, but you don't hear much call for him to be tried as a war criminal recently...In defense of Cheney: who knew that Saddam Hussein was about the most enlightened ruler the Iraqis could produce? I really thought something good might come from Saddam's overthrow.
Hunting birds with partners is perhaps the highest risk of getting shot. Shotguns swing around to follow the bird in flight or just taking off and your fellow hunter may be in path. I saw a near miss once. Gave up bird hunting. IMO hunting deer is much safer, even though you are using a high powered rifle. You are completely focused on the target for an extended period of time.
Archery hunting is the best by a long shot, so to speak.
I watched Cheney speak in person once, he was terrific. Then he became soft in the head.
Read Feynman's "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman" first
IMO hunting deer is much safer, even though you are using a high powered rifle. You are completely focused on the target for an extended period of time.
In Iowa, Deer season is shotgun, muzzle loader, or bow.
Shot gun season is group hunting. Drivers, or pushers, push the deer through a funnel like geography to 2 shooters. It comes with its own dangers. I never did it, all the people that invited me considered deer season their Marti Gras. Booze ran freely.
Exclusive video from lunchtime at the Cheney hunting lodge.
NSFW
I can't imagine Cheney didn't apoligize to Harry Whittington. Cheney had no obligation to apologize to America in the media.
I certainly can imagine Cheney not apologizing to Whittington or anyone else for anything, ever, however any discussion of the incident basically belongs between the two men, and them alone. The baying dogs of the Democrat Party and the newsmedia should go suck eggs.
All in all though, he handled the immediate consequences better than Alec Baldwin.
+ 1. Doubly so given that Baldwin is reported to have (1) blown off the safety briefing and (2) spent the makeup onsite safety session texting on his cellphone.
It's not Cheney's having shot a man in the face that should concern anyone, as that obviously was an accident, but all the people who were tortured under the Bush/Cheney torture regime, which was definitely not accidental, but policy. It's a shame neither he nor anyone else involved in the planning, implementation, planning and/or authorization of the torture regime was ever tried or thrown into prison cells for their crimes.
The man famous for being shot in the face by Dick Cheney...
A copy editor's wet dream.
Well, maybe they can arrest him now and charge him with murder.
"In Iowa, Deer season is shotgun, muzzle loader, or bow."
With hills, forest, and brush, PA has always permitted rifles for deer hunting. Across the border in New York, it only recently permitted rifles use. Prior to that, it was the same as Iowa. There was an unintended consequence to be able to use rifles in NY, used high-quality shotguns became significantly less expensive.
Wouldn't you need to be pretty close to kill a deer with buckshot? I suppose it makes it more sporting, but it doesn't seem kind to produce herds of wounded Bambi's Moms.
When I was working for a Beltway Bandit, I was impressed with Cheney for killing one of his longtime pet projects after the fall of the USSR. That I was sometimes working on it wasn't important, it would have been far too expensive. When in Congress, he'd tried to kill another modernization project I worked on, yet relented after our snow job study. But the whole thing was OBE (overtaken by events) soon after.
Grown ass men apologize to the person they injured when they make a mistake. They don’t apologize to crowds or anyone else. They don’t beg someone to accept their apology. And grown ass men certainly don’t apologize for things they shouldn’t apologize for - that’s far worse than never apologizing.
I can't find it, but I recall seeing a clip from a "roast" of Dick Cheney in which he commented on Hillary claiming to have been under fire in Bosnia.
He said something like--"Don't be so hard on Hillary; she just confused that with the time I asked her to go hunting with me."
That I recall, no one ever put "Dick" and "Whittington" together with his cat.
Dick_Whittington_and_His_Cat
In 2006 I was apparently a barely sentient news consumer so I didn't know to ask, "Shot in the face. What does that mean? Did the bullet enter the brain via a hole it created in the victim's forehead resulting in major brain damage? Or did the bullet tear the tip off his nose?"
Today I'm not surprised by such an omission, but it is still reporting malpractice.
"Ralph L said...
Wouldn't you need to be pretty close to kill a deer with buckshot?"
The don't use buckshot for deer. The use slugs. And usually rifled barrels.
Typingtalker, it was a shotgun blast (bird hunting) at a distance. Not pleasant, but if the shot miss eyes and arteries, not likely to be fatal.
usually rifled barrels
Someone was saying they use shotguns to kill deer in some states. Rifled shotguns?
Someone was saying they use shotguns to kill deer in some states. Rifled shotguns?
Shotguns with rifled barrels exist.
Stray birdshot hitting other hunters and bird-dogs is not an uncommon hunting accident when multiple hunters are in the field. The sudden rise and flight of gamebirds makes it difficult for shooters to check their background. They should, but often fail to.
This is a well-known and accepted risk when birdhunting.
Only "journalists" whose feet rarely leave concrete and asphalt and know nothing about hunting would make a big deal about this accident. And that's exactly who did.
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