Hair-Trigger Dick

shereads

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Another argument in favor of the right to arm bears:

Cheney Accidentally Shoots Fellow Hunter


The Associated Press
Sunday, February 12, 2006; 6:19 PM

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, spraying the fellow hunter in the face and chest with shotgun pellets.

Harry Whittington, a millionaire attorney from Austin, was "alert and doing fine" in a Corpus Christi hospital Sunday after he was shot by Cheney on a ranch in south Texas, said Katharine Armstrong, the property's owner.

He was in stable condition Sunday, said Yvonne Wheeler, spokeswoman for the Christus Spohn Health System in Corpus Christi.

Armstrong in an interview with The Associated Press said Whittington, 78, was mostly injured on his right side, with the pellets hitting his cheek, neck and chest during the incident which occurred late afternoon on Saturday.

She said emergency personnel traveling with Cheney tended to Whittington until the ambulance arrived.

Cheney's spokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride, said the vice president met with Whittington and his wife at the hospital on Sunday. Cheney "was pleased to see that he's doing fine and in good spirits," she said.

The shooting was first reported by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. The vice president's office did not disclose the accident until the day after it happened.

Armstrong said she was watching from a car while Cheney, Whittington and another hunter got out of the vehicle to shoot at a covey of quail.

Whittington shot a bird and went to look for it in the tall grass, while Cheney and the third hunter walked to another spot and discovered a second covey.

Whittington "came up from behind the vice president and the other hunter and didn't signal them or indicate to them or announce himself," Armstrong said.

"The vice president didn't see him," she continued. "The covey flushed and the vice president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by god, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good."

Whittington has been a private practice attorney in Austin since 1950 and has long been active in Texas Republican politics. He's been appointed to several state boards, including when then-Gov. George W. Bush named him to the Texas Funeral Service Commission.
 
Post columnist Joel Achenbach -

Deadeye Dick Cheney

* *As you know, quail hunting is what passes for military service in the upper ranks of the Bush Administration. Dick Cheney knows what it is like to fire a weapon in anger, particularly when the birds flush from the bracken unexpectedly. George W. Bush has flown airplanes, many of them folded from his personal stationery. Donald Rumsfeld has piloted boats and submarines through seemingly impenetrable mounds of suds. And so on.

* * Now, as you have surely heard by now, the Vice President today had a slight mishap while hunting, in that he committed the faux pas of pointing his shotgun in the direction of a friend of his. Also he pulled the trigger. Sort of, you know, shot the guy. In the face. "Peppered" him, in the quaint vernacular of the sport. The fellow is doing fine at the hospital. But right here's what's wrong with the mainstream media: The stories don't tell us whether Cheney managed, in the process, to bag the bird. Seems to me that our sense of the man's overall competence pivots on that crucial unreported factoid. Who cares about his friend, did he hit the target???

* * I find the story reassuring. Cheney is a man who doesn't just talk the talk. No, if he's going to send American soldiers into harm's way, where they might be shot at any moment by a deranged fanatic, he's also going to do the same thing to his close personal friends. He's giving his hunting buddies a taste of life in the Cheney Era, when you count yourself lucky just to get out alive.*
 
shereads said:
Another argument in favor of the right to arm bears:
Or for arming bears.

I have a personal stake in that.

Was Peter Benchly on that hunting trip?
 
impressive said:
I cannot WAIT to watch the next Daily Show.

Yes.

I know.

:D

I don't think Stewart will be back until Tuesday - is that right? I imagine he's taking some time to be with his newest baby. :)
 
From http://bobgeiger.blogspot.com/
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:

10. Sick and tired of Whittington’s “Hey, I’m having a heart attack” jokes

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

8. Ongoing dispute over whether it’s acceptable to torture quail before shooting them

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

6. Bombed out of his gourd on Wild Turkey and Lone Star Beer

5. Companion’s ill-advised decision to wear Moveon.org sweatshirt

4. Was trying to impress Jodie Foster

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

2. Targeting scope on rifle made by Halliburton

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

posted by Bob Geiger at 2/12/2006 05:28:00 PM
 
Why were they trying to shoot Quayle? He seems so harmless now that we've got W.
 
I was playing cards with the news on in the background and I just doubled over laughing hearing this... I know not funny but gooooood grief man learn to aim
 
It doesn't surprise me that Cheney shot someone, it surprises me that it wasn't a Democrat.
 
Belegon said:
It doesn't surprise me that Cheney shot someone, it surprises me that it wasn't a Democrat.

Damn it!

Another beer spew!!!!!!
 
Ok - OK - my husband just said -

"Why didn't the Dark Lord get one of his minions to shoot him instead?"
 
Belegon said:
It doesn't surprise me that Cheney shot someone, it surprises me that it wasn't a Democrat.

ROFL!
I feel bad for the 78 yr. old victim (at least insofar as I don't like to see anyone shot by accident. Or otherwise, really...)
But this is such rich comedic material!

Unfortunately, I can't get past "Dick Cheney accidently shot somebody" without cracking up.
 
We should all be grateful: Cheney fucked up again, but this time no one was killed and there was only one injury.
 
That's the only reason I believe it probably was an accident. ;)

(Only "probably" because the victim might have said something critical of Cheney, who is well-documented for expressing himself viciously and inappropriately when frustrated, and set him off.)
 
Rope64 said:
That's the only reason I believe it probably was an accident. ;)

(Only "probably" because the victim might have said something critical of Cheney, who is well-documented for expressing himself viciously and inappropriately when frustrated, and set him off.)

Yeah, but did he hit the bird?

...and why am I suddenly wanting to send Rummy out hunting with Dick now?
I mean, it wouldn't help to send George...besides, Laura is in Italy, so W. is probably hosting poker night anyway...
 
shereads said:
Harry Whittington, a millionaire attorney from Austin, was "alert and doing fine" in a Corpus Christi hospital Sunday after he was shot by Cheney on a ranch in south Texas, said Katharine Armstrong, the property's owner.

Was Cheney "alert and doing fine" prior to the shooting...and is there any truth to the rumor that Mr. Whittington was wearing his I :heart: Cindy Sheehan T-Shirt at the time of the shooting?
 
He probably had a slight jump in his heart rate, making him jittery and trembling.
 
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