Sunday, February 12, 2006
Nice Shot...Dick!
Ready, aim...stupidity.
Cheney accidentally shoots hunting companion
By JoAnne Allen Sun Feb 12, 7:44 PM ET
I have been in semi-retirement, but I felt compelled to share this with you. The story I pulled right from MSNBC, and added my own commentary in blue text. Enjoy.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally wounded a companion with shotgun pellets on a weekend quail hunt in Texas, his office said on Sunday.
Cheney's companion, Austin lawyer Harry Whittington, 78, was listed in stable condition after being brought in on Saturday night, said Yvonne Wheeler, a spokeswoman for the Christus Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas.
“We were surprised, because lawyer season isn’t open for another month yet,” said Yvonne.
Cheney's office said Whittington had been sprayed by birdshot while hunting at the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas, about 200 miles south of San Antonio.
Cheney’s office finds that news like this is best delivered in a way that downplays the whole tricky responsibility angle.
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.
Smells like a “hunter-gate” scandal. Vice President...Quail...draw your own conclusion. Or, just fill in a Ted Kennedy joke if you like.
Katharine Armstrong, whose family owns the ranch, was a member of the hunting party and witnessed the accident.
Katherine added, “Harry does have a rather quail-ish look to him. You know--small eyes and whatnot. I considered shooting him.”
She said Cheney, an experienced hunter, did not realize Whittington had rejoined the group without announcing himself, which is proper protocol among hunters.
Naturally, Cheney blasted him, which is standard practice when proper protocol is overlooked.
"They had no idea he was there," Armstrong said.
"A bird flew up, the vice president followed it through around to his right and shot, and unfortunately, unbeknownst to anybody, Harry was there and he got peppered pretty good with a spray of 28-gauge pellets," Armstrong said in a telephone interview.
"He was turning, facing the vice president, but turning to the right, and it sprayed him across the right side of his face, his shoulder, his chest and along the rib cage area," she said.
“Dick was pretty drunk, so it took about three shots...”
Armstrong said Cheney's medical team attended to Whittington before he was taken to the hospital.
She described Cheney as "an excellent, conscientious shot."
"The person who is not doing the shooting at the point is just as responsible and, should be, as the person actually shooting," Armstrong said.
“The person looking down the barrel and pulling the trigger is basically a bystander, watching someone get badly shot from really close range.”
Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said the vice president had been with Whittington at the hospital on Sunday.
"The vice president visited with Harry Whittington at the hospital and was pleased to see he is doing fine and in good spirits," McBride said.
Harry basically never has to work again, and the Bush administration will be providing him with Air Force One, 40 wives, and 40 virgins not to sue.
Cheney has been a frequent visitor to the Armstrong Ranch and in October spoke at the funeral of family patriarch Tobin Armstrong.
Cheney fatally shot Tobin in the neck, as well as two hunting guides and stabbed a Springer Spaniel during a pheasant hunt in September.
Armstrong's wife, Anne, served as U.S. ambassador to Britain and as an adviser to presidents Nixon, Reagan and George Bush.
The 50,000-acre ranch was settled in 1882 by his grandfather, John Armstrong III, a Texas Ranger known for capturing outlaw John Wesley Hardin.
Hardin, coincidentally, also shot people. Only, that was on purpose...
Whittington serves on the Texas state Funeral Services Commission and the state Office of Patient Protection and is a former member of the board of the Texas Department of Corrections.
Somewhere tonight, Michael Moore is singing.
Guns don’t kill people, politicians do.
Cheney accidentally shoots hunting companion
By JoAnne Allen Sun Feb 12, 7:44 PM ET
I have been in semi-retirement, but I felt compelled to share this with you. The story I pulled right from MSNBC, and added my own commentary in blue text. Enjoy.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally wounded a companion with shotgun pellets on a weekend quail hunt in Texas, his office said on Sunday.
Cheney's companion, Austin lawyer Harry Whittington, 78, was listed in stable condition after being brought in on Saturday night, said Yvonne Wheeler, a spokeswoman for the Christus Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas.
“We were surprised, because lawyer season isn’t open for another month yet,” said Yvonne.
Cheney's office said Whittington had been sprayed by birdshot while hunting at the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas, about 200 miles south of San Antonio.
Cheney’s office finds that news like this is best delivered in a way that downplays the whole tricky responsibility angle.
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.
Smells like a “hunter-gate” scandal. Vice President...Quail...draw your own conclusion. Or, just fill in a Ted Kennedy joke if you like.
Katharine Armstrong, whose family owns the ranch, was a member of the hunting party and witnessed the accident.
Katherine added, “Harry does have a rather quail-ish look to him. You know--small eyes and whatnot. I considered shooting him.”
She said Cheney, an experienced hunter, did not realize Whittington had rejoined the group without announcing himself, which is proper protocol among hunters.
Naturally, Cheney blasted him, which is standard practice when proper protocol is overlooked.
"They had no idea he was there," Armstrong said.
"A bird flew up, the vice president followed it through around to his right and shot, and unfortunately, unbeknownst to anybody, Harry was there and he got peppered pretty good with a spray of 28-gauge pellets," Armstrong said in a telephone interview.
"He was turning, facing the vice president, but turning to the right, and it sprayed him across the right side of his face, his shoulder, his chest and along the rib cage area," she said.
“Dick was pretty drunk, so it took about three shots...”
Armstrong said Cheney's medical team attended to Whittington before he was taken to the hospital.
She described Cheney as "an excellent, conscientious shot."
"The person who is not doing the shooting at the point is just as responsible and, should be, as the person actually shooting," Armstrong said.
“The person looking down the barrel and pulling the trigger is basically a bystander, watching someone get badly shot from really close range.”
Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said the vice president had been with Whittington at the hospital on Sunday.
"The vice president visited with Harry Whittington at the hospital and was pleased to see he is doing fine and in good spirits," McBride said.
Harry basically never has to work again, and the Bush administration will be providing him with Air Force One, 40 wives, and 40 virgins not to sue.
Cheney has been a frequent visitor to the Armstrong Ranch and in October spoke at the funeral of family patriarch Tobin Armstrong.
Cheney fatally shot Tobin in the neck, as well as two hunting guides and stabbed a Springer Spaniel during a pheasant hunt in September.
Armstrong's wife, Anne, served as U.S. ambassador to Britain and as an adviser to presidents Nixon, Reagan and George Bush.
The 50,000-acre ranch was settled in 1882 by his grandfather, John Armstrong III, a Texas Ranger known for capturing outlaw John Wesley Hardin.
Hardin, coincidentally, also shot people. Only, that was on purpose...
Whittington serves on the Texas state Funeral Services Commission and the state Office of Patient Protection and is a former member of the board of the Texas Department of Corrections.
Somewhere tonight, Michael Moore is singing.
Guns don’t kill people, politicians do.
