RSS
Using PayPal
What Is It with Cheney and Guns?
Share / Recommend - Comment - Print - Sunday, Feb 12, 06, 3:56PM
Hopefully, this will not become more of a tragedy than it is -- but news out that Vice President Cheney just accidentally shot someone on a hunting trip.
-- Steve Clemons
Ed Note: Hat tip to The Agonist.
In other news, Howard Dean compared Cheney to Aaron Burr, who also had a thing for guns.
Will Cheney challenge Dean to a duel?
Hey, I just read that George Allen called for an investigation into leaks from Cheney's office. That really surprises me. What do you think?
Just a flesh wound...
"There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept." - Ansel Adams
Just more proof that this is truly "the gang that couldn't shoot straight" - in every aspect.
The guy that old Deadeye Dick shot was an attorney. Hmmm, there are some relevant and missing details here. Antonin Scalia will have to rethink hunting trips with our Vice President Deadeye Dick Cheney. Here I thought that Sunday was to be a boring news day. This is rich beyond the wildest dreams of comedic avarice. Journalists in Washington had better watch their butts.
When I heard about this, I thought to myself, there's got to be a joke here. And a moment later it hit me - the uber joke on this incident:
Cheney shot someone? Perfectly understandable - he thought the guy had weapons of mass destruction.
Reminds one of Saddam's here, bombs away, or Saddam's there, bombs away - no matter the collateral damage.
What a trigger happy bunch: the lot
"Tragedy"? Get a grip.
Look, I love to hate Cheney as much as the next guy, but it was an accident. No doubt the comedians will be working this event for some days to come, but there is no substance here. And if there is any tragedy involved, it's that the other guy didn't fire in return...
Most of the time, there is no such thing as a hunting accident - shooting a member of your hunting is a negligent act that is routinely addressed by the criminal justice system. In the case of a quail hunt, the group sets up to shoot after pointing dogs have located a covey of quail, and each hunter has a specific lane in which he/she can shoot. Furthermore, the rule is that unless you can see sky behind the bird, don't shoot! The first rule of safe hunting is: "Be sure of your backstop." That is a standard part of every hunter safety course and that is a standard part of every discussion I have ever had with my hunting partners before a day of bird hunting with pointing dogs. Failure to follow these rules is inexcusable - reflective of bad sportsmanship.
Salmo >"...reflective of bad sportsmanship."
In other words, totally in character for Mr. Cheney
"Politics is just high school with guns and more money" - Frank Zappa
Everyone is missing the point.
Cheney shot someone 24 hours ago.
Think about that for a second...
It begs the question:
If he had killed the man... how long would it have taken to be reported?
This is a serious issue.
There is absolutely NO REASON why this story had to be HUSH HUSH for 24 hours.
None at all.
But Salmo, was that a hunting trip or a canned shooting excursion? If the latter, do the same rules apply, and if they do apply do they apply when the nation is at war or at least under the treat of a terrorist attack?
Salmo> Failure to follow these [hunting] rules is inexcusable - reflective of bad sportsmanship.
That's y Cheney got five draft deferments; he just doesn't follow the rules - any.
Was it a canned hunt? I do not know. I assumed that it was a wild bird hunt, but upon reflection that may not have been consistent with Cheney's past practice. Either way, "hunting accidents" are almost all the result of criminal negligence.
I feed a large covey of quail every morning on my front lawn. Each one weighs a bit less than eight ounces, and stands about 6 inches tall. The only problem I have with this morning ritual is trying to discern which creatures are the quail, and which creatures are the attorneys. It can get expensive if I feed the wrong species, so I have taught myself how to tell the difference. But to the untrained eye, I can see how one could easily mistake a 180 lb. attorney for an 8 ounce bird. I suggest, in the future, that Cheney's hunting hosts require that the birds wear day-glo orange vests, and perhaps they can avert any further accidents of this nature.
I bet the lawyer is a Democrat...
Cheney: "I tawt I taw a Democwat!"
after reviewing his wiretaps, he declares: "I DID!! I DID taw a Democwat!!!"
And I'll bet the Weepublican response to any jokes coming from this will once again be: "Ted Kennedy's car kills more people than ALL my guns!"
Regarding the VP Office's missing press release, I suppose Big Dick will leave it to the Iranians to notify the media once they're attacked.
I read the AP story last night. The delay in reporting was odd; odder still, the owner of the ranch made the report by calling a local reporter, no doubt because the ICU admission of Mr. Whittington, the victim, was going to be news one way or the other. The White House did not put out any official announcement about the incident.
The ranch owner is a big Republican donor as is the victim. The trip was a fundraising schmooze trip, funded by the taxpayers. The VP had a bevy of 'emergency medical personnel' in attendance who did the preliminary work on Mr. Whittington.
Isn't there real work that needs to be done in our government? And isn't it time we had some people who don't have one foot in the nursing home doing that work?
He shot a very rich Republican campaign contributor. Let Stewart and Colbert come up with the lines about how Cheney treats enemies and friends. Things were better with Bush'41 who had a Qualye as VP. Qualye couldn't spell, and Cheney can't shoot straight.
Compensating?
"Look, I love to hate Cheney as much as the next guy, but it was an accident."
I agree, and I'm anti-gun.
"No doubt the comedians will be working this event for some days to come, but there is no substance here."
Can't wait to hear their take on this.
I think we're in the final stages of the battle between Gabriel and Lucifer for Dick Cheney's soul. Sure, there has been plenty of evidence for the last thirty years that Lucifer was winning, but now that Cheney has actually shot someone it seems clear we've reached a critical moment. Mark my words, by summer we'll be hearing about Cheney using hypodermics to shoot arsenic into the White House Easter eggs and attempting to throttle Elaine Chao during a Cabinet meeting.
VP shoots someone. No big deal---happens every couple of hundred years. Nothing to see. Move along. LOLOL
Bush-defenders are pretty damn funny these days.
I'm not a hunter, but even I can see through a story line which blames the victim for coming up from behind Cheney---well, DUH, are you supposed to walk in front of a gun?
The official story is that Cheney turned 180 degrees and shot the guy in the face at close (30 yds) range. What kind of moron would turn and shoot without being sure what he was shooting at?
Oh yeah, Dick. Drunk too, probably.
The WarHawk finally sees his first taste of combat after five deferments.
How Ironic, it becomes a case of "friendly" fire.
The lack of notification of the shooting incident is positively Kennedyesque. Shades of Teddy letting that girl drown and then not telling anyone for hours. I guess at least Cheney got the guy some help, didn't run off and leave him. Maybe if Kennedy'd had the kind of medical detail that follows Cheney around, Mary Jo would be alive today.
By the way, the sort of "hunting" Cheney was doing required no real skill at all. It would be better called an elaborately prepared recreational bird massacre.
Are stamps required when hunting on private land? I'm not a gun fan but it seems that you ought to be able to do whatever you want to (and let your friends do it too) on your own land.
With that kind of marksmanship maybe it's just as well that Cheney doged the draft--probably saved the life of an American soldier.
Reader Comments (33) - post a comment