Posted
by Patrick Quinn
February 13, 2006 at 9:29 a.m.
Vice Presidential gunplay
The 78-year-old attorney shot by the Vice President in a weekend hunting accident is apparently going to be OK.If the White House can restrain itself from its usual inveterate meddling, this probably won't produce a whole lot of fallout. Mr. Cheney is in my estimation a wholly contemptible person and a laughable caricature of a public servant, but there is nothing in this incident that bears on his office. What is required here is that the county sheriff be permitted to conduct a normal investigation and the local district attorney be permitted to come to an independent conclusion. Given that the victim is recovering, that conclusion will vy likely be that the Vice President ought to lose his Texas hunting license for life. Other states might follow suit (although certainly not Wyoming, which defers in all ways to its King's Man), but that's probably as far as this will or should go.On the other hand I expect there will be hell to pay on the Protection Detail; hunting accidents are a lot less explainable when there are five or six armed people standing there whose only function is to make sure no one points a gun at someone else. The Secret Service does not publicize changes in personnel attached to the Protection Detail and usually doesn't publicize internal disciplinary action (the JFK case is the only exception I can recall), so I wouldn't expect to hear much about this, but I'm confident someone is getting a rocket in their inbox, and p'haps the dreaded transfer to Omaha.The ministorm over the 24 delay in making the shooting public is much ado about very little. It would have been politically wise for the White House to release the story before anyone else and attempt to exert some control over it, but most law enforcement agencies wait 24 hours to report almost everything. It is likely that news of any other accidental shooting involving hunters would be handled in the same manner this one was handled.I note that reports assert that Mr. Cheney was hunting quail w/ a 28-gauge shotgun. Hats off. I grew up in a culture where anything smaller than a 12-gauge was dismissed as a "ladies aid," but my step-grandfather, the best bird shot I've ever known, would disagree. (He once went goose hunting w/ a 20-gauge to make a point to his grandsons about accuracy, and of course he was the only hunter to bag a bird that day.) Mr. Cheney was presumably hunting quail w/ a 28-gauge because he can--most hunters cannot. Had he been using a 12-gauge, this story would have a different ending.I don't like the man one bit and think there are a half-dozen good reasons to toss him in prison, but this incident isn't one of them.
Comments
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OhioJayhawk (anonymous) says…
Upon glancing at the subhead for this latest entry to Quinn's illustrious blog, I momentarily thought it said "Are Quayle even in season in February?" In my twisted little mind, it suggested some kind of perverse Vice Presidential version of the old Richard Connell short story, "The Most Dangerous Game."
Think of it: Current and former Veeps armed to the teeth and hunting each other. Nelson Rockefeller stalking Harry Truman. Al Gore being tracked relentlessly by Dick Nixon ("Be vewwy, vewwy quiet...I'm hunting Wiberals"). Hubert Humphrey -- the Happy Warrior -- drawing a bead on LBJ and slowly, ever so slowly, squeezing the trigger.
Wow, this could be a cool new video game! Scuse me...gotta run to the copyright office.
Yours from snowy Cleveland...PJ
quinno (Patrick Quinn) says…
Ah, "The Most Dangerous Game." Long thought to be part of the inspiration for the Zodiac.
--
I don' wanna hear 'bout no snow, buster. I got plenty snow.
lazz (anonymous) says…
"the county sheriff be permitted to conduct a normal investigation" ??
"local district attorney be permitted to come to an independent conclusion" ???
"conclusion will vy likely be that the Vice President ought to lose his Texas hunting license for life. ... opther states might follow suit" ???
goodgawdallmightly, quinno, which alternate universe did you wake up in this morning? Our Vice President shot a man in the face on Saturday and Sunday he was winging it home ... if any of you boys and girls feel confident you'd be afforded the same courtesy after shooting a Texan in Texas, well, okiedokiethen.
I don't recall reading anything about any sheriff's investigation or DA's involvement. As far as I can tell, Cheney shot a man in the face and left town.
Oh wait, he's above the law, I forgot ...
Just wait and see how long it takes for this gentleman to land a spot in the president's cabinet. Secretary of the Interior, with our luck ...
davidryan (David Ryan) says…
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/0...
"CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer reports Texas authorities are complaining that the Secret Service barred them from speaking to Cheney after the incident. Kenedy County Texas Sheriffs Lt. Juan Guzman said deputies first learned of the shooting when an ambulance was called."
lazz (anonymous) says…
I don't think an ambulance "was called," Dave. It was the ambulance always on standby wherever a member of the president or vice-presidential detail is out in public. P'haps they called a replacement for the original ambulance, but the ambulance that took this gentleman to the first hospital before his lifeflight was already at the scene at the time of the shooting.
No, of course no police were called, neither were they welcome.
And neither will these officers ever see the VP again. He's a ghost. Undisclosed location, here we go again ...
lazz (anonymous) says…
From the CBS story Dave links to --
Whittington "came up from behind the vice president and the other hunter and didn't signal them or indicate to them or announce himself," said Armstrong, who was in the car.
"The vice president didn't see him," she said. "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."
SO ...... The Vice President shot a man who was walking up behind him? Doesn't sound like standard hunting practices to me, swinging around snap firing behind you ... Sounds to me like Whittington was doing the right thing, approaching the hunting party from the rear. A shotgunner in a large party is never supposed to swing his or her barrel anywhere CLOSE to 180 degrees ... and where were the Secret Service agents, if this man was behind Cheney and was the only one shot?
THis is weird.
Well, I'm certain a full and prompt investigation will answer all of our questions.
Right?
by the way, clink on the link David supplied ... that photograph might well have been taken soon after the shooting, while the VP watched this man scream in bloody agony ...
lazz (anonymous) says…
my bullshit meters are zooming off the charts ... here's the update just posted by the Corpus Christi newspaper. (Cops? Why? Not like anybody robbed a bank. Wouldn't even 'a occurred to us to call the cops. Anybody drinking? Nope. Nobody. Not a drop. Nosiree. We promise. Scouts honor.)
A man is shot in the face and it never crossed their minds to phone the police. Unbelievable. As in, not believable.
February 13, 2006
The Kenedy County Sheriff's Department did not investigate the accidental shooting of prominent Texas lawyer Harry Whittington by Vice President Dick Cheney until the next morning.
Cheney, Whittington and U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein Pam Willeford were hunting quail on the Northwest part of the 50,000-acre Armstrong Ranch Saturday afternoon, when Cheney, firing at a covey of quail, sprayed Whittington with shotgun pellets.
Katharine Armstrong, one of the owners of the ranch, said the priority was to address Whittington's injuries, and thus it didn't occur to the family to contact the authorities.
"The sheriff came the next morning and took a statement." Armstrong said. "It did not even occur to me. It was not like somebody had robbed a filling station. It was not like a criminal thing."
None in the hunting party was drinking alcohol, Armstrong said.
"No, zero, zippo and I don't drink at all," she said. "No one was drinking."
davidryan (David Ryan) says…
Wait. Were they hunting in a car?
lazz (anonymous) says…
I think the owner of the ranch was trailing the party in a car. Total speculation here, but p'haps that's where the secret service would have been, too.
Also, I read another piece in the local paper; everyone had said the vic had "walked away from the hunting party and had not announced himself when he returned." Well, not exactly, He was 30 yards away retrieving a downed bird when another covey busted up and the VP banged away. No, this guy wasn't approaching unannounced, he just got his ass shot off. There was a mention by the ranch owner that, oh by the way, "the sun might have been in his eyes."
This thing stinks. I'm not saying I think the VP did it intentionally, and I still can't figure out where he actually talked to the cops or not before leaving Sunday afternoon, but the whole thing stinks. A man was shot in the face from 30 yards by the VP and they're all treating it like a goddamn joke.
quinn (Patrick Quinn) says…
Yeah, they were car-hunting, but at a combined age of 197, well, that's hardly a shock.
My qualification on the above was "If the White House can restrain itself from its usual inveterate meddling," which clearly they have not. And I was unaware that the VP just blew off the whole thing, though I can't say I'm shocked.
At any rate, if there remained any doubt that this administration is above the law, this matter should settle it. Kenedy County may bitch a bit, but they'll roll over and do what they're told, like good little Americans.
lazz (anonymous) says…
As Quinn says, it's a good thing it's a 28--gauge. Had this been a 12G, or maybe even a 20G, Mr. Austin Republican Businessman wouldn't have a face. Blasted at 30 yards ... um, that's no joke, kiddies.
And I gotta be honest, I've done a bit of hunting and collecting, and I don't know that I've even heard of a 28-gauge.
Sounds like the kind of gun you'd give to a child who is learning too hunt. Or, perhaps a loony old politican who doesn't know what the hell he's doing.
I wonder if this might not be the first time ... and nobody will let him use a big-boy gun anymore ...
quinn (Patrick Quinn) says…
No no no, a 28-gauge is an entirely respectable weapon, and intended for use such as this--birds (lawyers) at close range.
Had it been a 12-gauge, we'd never have heard a thing about the whole business... that, or they would've painted the victim as a terrorist. Even as it is, Mr. Cheney is likely to receive the Medal of Freedom for this courageous episode.
lazz (anonymous) says…
by the way, what the hell is the Vice President doing out there shooting birds anyway? What the hell are we paying Halliburton for?
davidryan (David Ryan) says…
From Editor & Publisher:
One of the few journalists involved in the story who was not surprised at the delay in reporting is Caller-Times reporter Jaime Powell, who broke the story after the ranch owner Armstrong, one of her longtime sources, called her Sunday morning. Powell, who also hunts, said she has been sprayed with the type of pellets that injured Whittington, although not at such close range.
Because such accidents "happen frequently," according to Powell, she was not surprised that it would not be reported sooner. "It just happens," she said.
But Doug Pike, an outdoors reporter at the Houston Chronicle who, like many such writers has been drafted to work the story, reports that the accident is rare. He said his reporting since Sunday found that Texas had only 2.7 hunting accidents per 100,000 hunting licenses sold in 2005. "That is the lowest since 1966 when they started keeping records," he said. "It is uncommon."
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/ean...
lazz (anonymous) says…
by the way, Dave, in reference to your earlier question, it now does appear that they WERE car-hunting, in a way ... they got out of the car to shoot the birds. ultra-white-trash style of hunting, really low class, and probably against the law, if they weren't on private property.
And anyone who says such accidents "happen frequently," please raise your hands so I don't go hunting with you.
What a joke. Bunch of insane boobs who should have both their hunting licenses and Wal-Mart frequent shopper cards revoked.
oh yeah, can we dispense with the verb "spray"? One is sprayed with water; one is "shot" with a gun. Any attempt to downplay the seriousness of this is gross neglegence, and a coverup. It's just that simple.
Here's another way of looking at this: Had he not "sprayed" a Republican contributor but instead shot a Repubican contributor's dog, he would probably no longer be vice president.
noaconstrictor (Noah Larsen) says…
This is the furtherest I've ever seen the Bush administration (or any administration for that matter) go to distract the media from the real issues of the day. Man these guys are good.
gccs14r (anonymous) says…
Cheney has since been found to have not purchased a hunting license.
morganalefay (anonymous) says…
OK then. What's the penalty for shooting a guy "by mistake" especially if you don't have a hunting license - for birds or lawyers?
Whatever it is, Cheney should be penalized like anyone else who "accidentally" shoots a hunting buddy when said person has no license to be out there "hunting" anyway. I'm not a lawyer so I don't know. There's got to be some kind of penalty.
glockenspiel (anonymous) says…
You really do have to have your head up you arse to shoot some one while hunting.
scary_manilow (anonymous) says…
Whittington is apparently some millionaire lawyer in Texas, right? I wonder how long till someone trie sto tie him to Abramoff... Let the conspiratorial rants begin.
sjwilson (anonymous) says…
i think maybe they wuz havin' a little spat on brokedick mountain, if ya know what i mean.
rednekbuddha (Kelly Powell) says…
cheney thought the dude was one of the hobos they had released on the ranch to hunt....Quail my ass.
quinno (Patrick Quinn) says…
It is being reported that Mr. Whittington suffered a "minor" heart attack and has been moved back into intensive care; this after "some" of the birdshot pellets migrated to his heart.
The clock is running on how long before some moronic local down there assures the whole world that all of this is perfectly normal, happens alla time, people get shot in the face while hunting 'bout every day and usually have six or eight heart attacks afterwards, nothin' to see here, folks....
It's just Texas.
cwrist (Chris Wristen) says…
It's sad that Whittington suffered a minor heart attack because a piece of shot got to his heart after being shot by Dick Cheney, and I do hope he recovers quickly and fully. But, I got to thinking after reading the report, what if the heart attack turns out to be more serious? If Whittington were to die as a result of this, could Cheney be charged with involuntary manslaughter?
noaconstrictor (Noah Larsen) says…
As the administration make light of the situation with a bevy of jokes about the color orange, there was one very entertaining exchange between reporters and McClellan as captured in the Washington Post by columnist Dana Milbank:
[quote]
The New York Times's Elisabeth Bumiller tried to sort out the shooting timeline. "Why didn't the vice president call the president?" she pressed. "I don't get it."
"Karl [Rove] spoke with the vice president."
"He's not the president."
[NBC's Kelly] O'Donnell tried a different tack on the lack of a phone call between Bush and Cheney. "Should we interpret that there's any strain in the relationship?
"No," McClellan said with a forced laugh, "you shouldn't."
The irrepressible Ken Herman of Cox News challenged: "Why don't they go hunting together?"
[end quote]
quinn (Patrick Quinn) says…
The VP could be _charged_ w/ manslaughter in the event a competent prosecutor or grand jury concluded that he materially contributed to the death of someone else, but obviously any such charge would be instantly quashed by the White House and anyway there's no one in Texas w/ the balls or the juice to make the attempt.
No rational person can possibly still believe that the VP or any member of this lawless administration will ever be _prosecuted_ for anything; on the list of his many, many high crimes and misdemeanors, this incident is a relatively small thing. Compared to the energy swindle, this is a triviality. (It was announced today that they're getting ready to "waive" the royalties energy companies are required by law to pay for the wealth they take from public lands, which is to say that Dick reached into our pocket--again--and picked us clean.)
All of this behavior is quite common in a monarchy, and Americans have made clear that a monarchy is what they prefer. Our great nation settled to the bridle pretty quickly. If Mr. Cheney wants to start shooting his hunting companions on a regular basis, well, we'll get used to that, too, and no doubt charming stories will circulate about the clever things he says as he shoots them. Our own Mad Duke.
sjwilson (anonymous) says…
my previous facetious post aside(tho, come to think of it, they may have been fighting over the third party, the female. what's her place in this story? what has she said to the press?)... but i digress...
appropo hunter orange yuks:
can any of you imagine yourself or your associates joking about an incident in which you SHOT someone who was ostensibly your friend?
and quinn is quite right, the more these cretins act as if they were above the law, the more the law itself and the body politic seem to allow them their little joke on the world. we are definitely in the mode of imperial decline as a nation if this administration, its' conduct and the electorate's tacit consent of said conduct are any indication.
somehow it resonates sadly on valentine's day. a day, at least acc. to some combination of history and legend, concocted by the church to commemorate the memory of a man clubbed, stoned, and beheaded by claudius(2, i think?). valentine had given succor to young couples wishing to be married, as marriage had been outlawed for young men by the romans. the reason? claudius had concluded that soldiers with attachments to a spouse were less inclined to rape and pillage for him, and were consequently no use to his mad purposes. sounds like something our current idiots might dream up.
morganalefay (anonymous) says…
I was somewhat surprised that my initial reaction to this most recent example of our lawless leaders was a lack of surprise. I don't think there's anything left that they could do that would surprise me. Maybe that's their strategy. If you only have one public infraction people get outraged and excited about it (remember Monica? Nixon?), but if you have numerous infractions people simply come to expect more, they may even get so weary of it all that they barely pay attention, which in turn leads to what may be interpreted as the tacit consent that sjwilson mentioned.
Lately I've been wondering why Bob Woodward hasn't jumped on some of this, especially where Iraq and all that wire-tapping is concerned. But maybe there's just too much. At least the whole Watergate thing was one item to focus public attention on. This administration is throwing so much at us in well-spaced intervals that it can get a little dizzying after a while.
Pretty clever, eh?
morganalefay (anonymous) says…
"stuff just happens"
I'm speechless.
"Hunting is an inherently dangerous activity and although we do our best or should, sometimes things just go wrong."
No guns, no hunting by lightly licensed people, no "accidents."
I would bet money that there would be far fewer "accidents" in this country if people who want to hunt had to go through the amazingly strict steps and exams that European hunters have to go through to get a hunting license. Suffice it to say that after about 50% of the people seeking a license at any given time fail the target shooting and the biology/botany/history of the hunt exams, about half of the remaining 50% fail the oral exam before a committee regarding laws, safety cautions and anything else the committee wants to ask. there's more, but I'll stop here.
No wonder I never heard about hunting "accidents" while I lived over there. Here it has become something that "just happens." How tragic! People simply accept it! Unbelievable.
quinn (Patrick Quinn) says…
What I find most suggestive is the fact that Texas has not taken Mr. Cheney's hunting license. Some enterprising boyo down thataway could run a check w/ Fish and Wildlife and learn pretty quickly how many hunters have inadvertently shot another hunter and how many of them were allowed to retain hunting privileges. I have not made any study of the matter, but in every instance I can remember, hunters who shoot people lose their hunting rights.
--
This incident, trivial though it is, has demonstrated again the complete supremacy of the executive branch. Its agents are free to do anything they like to whomever they like w/out fear of legal consequences.
That poor imbecile Scalia was gargling on earlier today about how he's an "originalist," which used to infuriate me but now just seems funny. These evil men have established a functional despotism right before our eyes, and pathetic dunces like Scalia think they're "originalists." What Mr. Scalia is is one wrong word away from being kicked to the curb as the irrelevancy he and his pathetic colleagues are; in the unlikely event the craven little toad fails to do exactly what he's told, he'll be "retired," and his vacuous fellow "Justices" w/ him.
And all the while the army of drooling slack-jawed sofa soldiers we refer to as "the American electorate" sits mesmerized by American Idol.
morganalefay (anonymous) says…
BTW: Who in their right mind would shoot an AK47 for what I can only assume was target practice? Or was it some kind of military thing??? That's an assault weapon of the worst order that has nothing to do with hunting, which is after all the topic of the blog.
morganalefay (anonymous) says…
"And all the while the army of drooling slack-jawed sofa soldiers we refer to as "the American electorate" sits mesmerized by American Idol."
Beautiful choice of words, quinno. Poetic even...You paint a beautifully grotesque picture of the "American" the rest of the world so justifiably criticizes.
quinn (Patrick Quinn) says…
This isn't a gun issue for me. Hunting accidents happen. What's interesting in this case is the way in which the hunting accident is being dealt w/ by the authorities. The VP wasn't _given_ a pass; he and his personal entourage of winged monkeys _took_ a pass, and were allowed to do so. Not acceptable in a democracy ruled by law, but vy common behavior in a despotic monarchy.
morganalefay (anonymous) says…
I know, I know...the gun thing is a whole different issue and I didn't mean to imply that it might be an issue for you, quinn. I just got distracted and slightly disturbed by Marion's post.
This incident with Cheney is just the most recent example of these people "taking their passes" and behaving like they're members of a despotic monarchy, as you said. It's nothing new. Just another example to support my general impressions of our "leaders."
I'm just surprised by the lack of public outrage about their behavior. Very disturbing. Or maybe this is "just something that happens" when you get involved in politics in this country. You just lose all sense of honor and integrity and become a power-hungry despot who is above the law. You sure don't get much media attention if you are an "honest politician" (or is that an oxymoron?). I don't see how anyone can reasonably doubt that politicians, especially those in the most powerful positions, really would prefer a dictatorship or a monarchy based on their demonstrated behavior.
clayhill70 (anonymous) says…
A fat cat hunting party with AK47's...be still my heart.
quinno (Patrick Quinn) says…
"Honest politician..."
hmmmm.... have to think about that one. I'm pretty sure Barry Goldwater and Bobby Kennedy were honest, but most of the current crew on both sides of the aisle can be had for $1.98 and a cheap hooker. They have attained their present positions because they kiss ass and do what they're told.
A glance at today's Media Notes from Howard Kurtz--
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/...
--suggests that the GOP faithful have stopped counting their stolen wealth long enough to actually express some dismay at the Mad Duke's refusal to publicly address this mess. I can't imagine why anyone is shocked--as Kurtz points out, it was announced last week that Mr. Cheney ordered the exposure of a CIA covert operative and no one batted an eye. It is nonetheless the case that Mr. Cheney is now the Democrats' best friend. Most of our cowlike fellow citizens don't give two shits about the stolen national wealth, the Plame exposure, the Padilla usurpation, the destruction of the Court--but they know that if they shoot a fellow hunter in Kenedy County, Texas they're facing more than s short interview w/ a deputy and a love note from the DA.
So long as this cretinous bagman is in a position of power, the grisly opera bouffe won't stop, and that's good news for Dems. The risk is here is not that the Mad Duke will go, but that he'll go too soon.
morganalefay (anonymous) says…
I remember reading somewhere not too long ago that Americans have come to accept corruption among politicians as the norm since Watergate. Before that, apparently the general assumption was that politicians were to be trusted and corruption was an exception. People are no longer fazed by corruption. They simply expect it, which gives these people the freedom to do as they please. So, it seems that it is really up to the public to say "Enough is enough. We won't tolerate this anymore."
quinno (Patrick Quinn) says…
It has been announced that the VP will subject himself to an "interview" w/ FOX News in about 90 minutes. That should be sufficient to clear up the whole mess, and he can get back to the serious business of kicking back $6 billion in public money to the swine at the oil companies who employ him.
"Corruption" is one thing. This administration has already committed the biggest theft in human history, so big it can be seen from space. These guys make Nixon look like George Washington, and John Dillinger look like a punk.
lazz (anonymous) says…
yeah, but they hunt lawyers for sport ... so what the hell ...
noaconstrictor (Noah Larsen) says…
So, I read today that the V.P. was "profoundly affected" by the shooting. I'm glad shooting his friend in the face finally got to him as he certainly doesn't seem to be affected by ripping off millions of Americans, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis and taking over two-thousand American lives. And then there's this:
http://nytimes.com/2006/02/16/politic...
noaconstrictor (Noah Larsen) says…
Here is an interesting take from the WSJ no less:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columni...