Little noticed was what Cheney said to Whittington just before shooting him, as quoted in the Corpus Christi paper:
"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."
Also disgusting is the fact that these weren't wild quail. They were pen-raised quail, which is controversial even among hunters -- 500 of them were suddenly released before the ten brave marksmen in Cheney's hunting party. 417 of them were shot and killed.
I loved the comments from the ranch owner in one article I read - basically, she went to great lengths to portray the victim as having caused the entire accident, while the Dick behaved just as he should have, according to her.
"She [the rancher] said Whittington had just shot a quail and dropped back to retrieve it. He was hit upon rejoining the group and "apparently came up unannounced" as Cheney prepared to fire."
How does this makes sense? For one, "coming up unannounced" is how you approach a fellow hunter, from what I've been reading on the Web today. You approach from behind, not into a gun. You are also supposed to keep the gun pointed down, except for when it's in the air to shoot the birds in the air. For another, if he had "just" shot his gun and retrieved the quail, every bird in the area would have flown away -- so what did Cheney think he was shooting at? Shooting birds on the ground is poaching and illegal. He can't be trusted with a bird gun, but he's a heartbeat away from the nuke button?
I read somewhere that shooting birds on the ground was illegal and considered poaching, but you're right, on a ranch...
Anyway this morning, we have headlines like "Cheney Cited For Breaking Hunting Law."
Doesn't discharging a firearm during commission of a crime automatically make it a federal crime? Thought I heard that a while back. And if I shot a man while hunting in violation of the law and then went to dinner and didn't report the incident until after the media found out about it a day later, do you think they would give me a "citation."
Said another way: the reason is now obvious why they were trying to cover it up: the guy was shot very bad. He's had a heart attack now and may have another one. It's disgraceful that they won't admit how severe it is. The fact that Cheney has said nothing is cowardly and pathetic. It's because he knows the guy's life is in jeopardy.
Going on 3 DAYS now after the Vice President SHOT a man -- IN THE HEART -- the man is back in intensive care, his life is on the line, and the VP has STILL not publicly commented on the incident. Cowardly and pathetic indeed.
Just IMAGINE if Al Gore had done that. He'd have been executed by now.
At what range was Harry Whittington hit? The official story is that the blast from the vice president's shotgun hit Whittington at a distance of 30 yards. Hunters at the Vaughn Building are skeptical. The hunt took place on a cold, windy afternoon. Whittington and his fellow hunters were probably wearing warm clothing—say, a jacket and a flannel shirt. Cheney was using a 28-gauge shotgun, a smaller-diameter firearm with pellets smaller than BBs. Whittington's friends question whether the pellets could have penetrated his layers of clothing and skin at that range. Yet two pellets lodged against his larynx, another was in his liver, and another migrated into the heart muscle, causing the heart attack. The pattern of wounds was between the lower chest and the forehead, a pretty tight zone for shot of 30 yards. If the range was considerably less than 30 yards, then it is likely that Whittington's injuries were worse than the initial statement by Katharine Armstrong indicated. (The blast "knocked him silly," but "he was fine.")
18 comments:
Maybe if he'd served his country in Vietnam he would have learned to shoot.
'06 campaign slogan: We will never shoot you in the face (and probably won't domestically spy on you).
I'm so glad rich lobbyists are now getting shot for Cheney's avarice rather than poor schmoes who just want to go to college.
Little noticed was what Cheney said to Whittington just before shooting him, as quoted in the Corpus Christi paper:
"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."
Also disgusting is the fact that these weren't wild quail. They were pen-raised quail, which is controversial even among hunters -- 500 of them were suddenly released before the ten brave marksmen in Cheney's hunting party. 417 of them were shot and killed.
I loved the comments from the ranch owner in one article I read - basically, she went to great lengths to portray the victim as having caused the entire accident, while the Dick behaved just as he should have, according to her.
A human standing on the ground in a bright orange vest. There's a lot of soldiers out there who must be relieved he got five deferments.
I'm fond of the Aaron Burr analogy.
Perhaps a duel with Bush I's VP could be arranged (quail pun intended!)
From CNN:
"She [the rancher] said Whittington had just shot a quail and dropped back to retrieve it. He was hit upon rejoining the group and "apparently came up unannounced" as Cheney prepared to fire."
How does this makes sense? For one, "coming up unannounced" is how you approach a fellow hunter, from what I've been reading on the Web today. You approach from behind, not into a gun. You are also supposed to keep the gun pointed down, except for when it's in the air to shoot the birds in the air. For another, if he had "just" shot his gun and retrieved the quail, every bird in the area would have flown away -- so what did Cheney think he was shooting at? Shooting birds on the ground is poaching and illegal. He can't be trusted with a bird gun, but he's a heartbeat away from the nuke button?
OK, I'm done for the day with this. Sheez.
I don't think you can poach a pen-raised kwale Grendel. ContraDICKtion in terms. That's like saying it's illegal to fish for goldfish.
Did you see the quote from the press office that said, quote, the VP fired "and by God, [Whittington] got peppered pretty good."
Peppered pretty good? Try: he was shot in the face with a motherfucking shotgun.
I read somewhere that shooting birds on the ground was illegal and considered poaching, but you're right, on a ranch...
Anyway this morning, we have headlines like "Cheney Cited For Breaking Hunting Law."
Doesn't discharging a firearm during commission of a crime automatically make it a federal crime? Thought I heard that a while back. And if I shot a man while hunting in violation of the law and then went to dinner and didn't report the incident until after the media found out about it a day later, do you think they would give me a "citation."
Again, devil's advocate. If it was your friend, and your friend didn't want to press charges...
And updating my previous post--
"Peppered Pretty Good" now = Birdshot in Heart. Nice spinning, Blight House.
Said another way: the reason is now obvious why they were trying to cover it up: the guy was shot very bad. He's had a heart attack now and may have another one. It's disgraceful that they won't admit how severe it is. The fact that Cheney has said nothing is cowardly and pathetic. It's because he knows the guy's life is in jeopardy.
I think the cover-up was that they weren't hunting quail. They were skeet-shooting Gitmo detainees a la History of the World.
"I love my people. Pull!"
Going on 3 DAYS now after the Vice President SHOT a man -- IN THE HEART -- the man is back in intensive care, his life is on the line, and the VP has STILL not publicly commented on the incident. Cowardly and pathetic indeed.
Just IMAGINE if Al Gore had done that. He'd have been executed by now.
Interesting question from :
At what range was Harry Whittington hit? The official story is that the blast from the vice president's shotgun hit Whittington at a distance of 30 yards. Hunters at the Vaughn Building are skeptical. The hunt took place on a cold, windy afternoon. Whittington and his fellow hunters were probably wearing warm clothing—say, a jacket and a flannel shirt. Cheney was using a 28-gauge shotgun, a smaller-diameter firearm with pellets smaller than BBs. Whittington's friends question whether the pellets could have penetrated his layers of clothing and skin at that range. Yet two pellets lodged against his larynx, another was in his liver, and another migrated into the heart muscle, causing the heart attack. The pattern of wounds was between the lower chest and the forehead, a pretty tight zone for shot of 30 yards. If the range was considerably less than 30 yards, then it is likely that Whittington's injuries were worse than the initial statement by Katharine Armstrong indicated. (The blast "knocked him silly," but "he was fine.")
And an interesting comment from someone on DailyKOS:
What were two older men doing on a hunting trip with two younger women, not their wives?
How many men do you know who go on hunting trips with women not their wives unless they're having an affair?
And why was Pamela Williford not listed on the accident report as a witness when she was standing right next to Dick?
Dick didn't go public with this b/c he didn't want Lynne to know he was playing hide the quail with Pamela.
I read today that DC is going to finally speak on the matter... on Fox News. Does that even count?
Not entirely subtle, but the pic is great.
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