Stop him, before he shoots again …
Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a man during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, his spokeswoman said Sunday.
Harry Whittington, 78, was “alert and doing fine” after Cheney sprayed him with shotgun pellets on Saturday while the two were hunting at the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas, said property owner Katharine Armstrong.
Armstrong said Whittington was mostly injured on his right side, with the pellets hitting his cheek, neck and chest, and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
Maybe Dick the Dick thought Mr. Whittington was a Muslim oil-producing nation.
The Talking Dog notes that the Dickster was so rattled he forgot to blame Democrats. Wow.
See also: Jane Hamsher and James Wolcott.
Update: Steve M knows what really happened.
Can’t imagine how you could shoot a man while hunting quail. Tsk.
Lynne– No no no, they were hunting QUAYLE. Easily misunderstood homonym.
Over on dKos they are still chortling over Howard Dean referring comparing Cheney to Aaron Burr on TV this morning. The comparison was as a VP who may have committed treason, and preceded the news of the buckshot incident.
I am very glad the old fellow that the Dick shot is going to be OK, but I can’t stop laughing. This makes the true comparison, to C. Montgomery Burns, all the richer. I’m remembering that hunting-humans segment in “Treehouse of Horror XVI.” Lord.
Shooting your first man can be a rattling experience but it get’s easier the more you do it. Once Cheney gets a little more salt on his hide he’ll be ready to do a MacDonalds. I love it.. the old coot went postal.
Hey! It’s an honest mistake….
The man yelled “DUCK!!” and Cheney fired.
Holy Guacamole!
Any word from the NRA?
Vice President Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion Mr. Wittington, a millionaire attorney during a weekend quail hunting trip near Corpus Christi or Ausitn, Texas. I hope Mr. Wittington was not blinded by Mr. Cheney when he was sprayed in the face, hitting his cheek, neck and chest and with shotgun pellets. Purportedly, “his eyes were open. It didn’t get in his eyes or anything like that.”
Interesting, Mr. Cheney is chummy with millionaire attorneys, yet Bush and Cheney are advocates for the obstruction of “junk” lawsuits. Is Wittington’s soon-to-be lawsuit against Cheney to be called a junk lawsuit the reason Cheney failed to report the incident immediately to the local police for investigation. Why wasn’t he arrested for questionning? The VP advised his office not to disclose the incident until nearly 24 hours after it happened.
The quails are better off for this mishap. Dan Quayle was never so lucky, can you spell potatoe?
Wittington was “in the line of fire”. Funny can Wittington fly?
Whittington knows something about death as then-Gov. George W. Bush named him to the Texas Funeral Service Commission.
His eyes were open. It didn’t get in his eyes or anything like that.”
With an ambulance always on call, Cheney shoud have called the ambulance for the ducks, pheasants and quaile he regularly kills, for fun, kinda like Iraqi children and other torturees.
Laughably Mrs. Armstrong said Cheney is “a very safe sportsman.”
Give us all a break you fascist!
Frank in Miami contributed to this report.
Draft dodger Dick should have adjusted his priorities when Uncle Sugar came calling. A little basic training might have familiarized him with basic firearms safety. And he might have gotten a chance to shoot at someone who was shooting back. However, I do not think that being a sportsman is high on his agenda.
Just remember guns don’t kill people, vice presidents do.
How come every posted picture of Dick Cheney shows him snarling? Is it a conspiracy to type cast him, or is that just his true nature showing through?
“Twas brillig and the slithy toves,
did gyre and gimble in the wabe
All mimsy were the borogroves,
and the mome raths outgrabe.”
That’s a wonderful image.
Last I heard the White House spin was that the man shot did not follow proper protocal and identify himself. It’s a typical Bush bunch response – Blame the Victim! I think it happened this way. Cheney turns. Either the sun is in his eyes or his pacemaker skips a beat depriving oxygen to the brain. He’s confused. In his mind he sees a man in a turban. The enemy! Eager to start a new confict his itchy trigger finger twitches. What would the NRA do he briefly thinks. Wham!!!!!!!!! Another dirty terrorist dead! Wait! No! It’s his 78 year old friend. What do I do? He starts to think like Ted Kennedy the night his car drove off the bridge. How can I keep this hush – hush. Is this covered by executive privilege? GOP pundits and spin makers are consulted. BLAME THE VICTIM is the reply.! The press spin is that it was the 78 year old’s fault. The incident is not reported until the next day. Off the hook again.! Dick was only trying to defend our nation from terrorists! Someone please wave the flag for Dick!
Left by Johnny B. on February 12th, 2006
# 5 mention Wittington was on the Texas Funeral COmmision…brought back memory that way back, there was an investigation regarding Bush and the funeral industry down there, never did hear how that was rectified….was an investigation ongoing even once he ascended the WH…guess it too got shot down and whatever.
I can’t feel sorry for any adult who spends leisure time with war criminals.
Mr. Whittington is also involved in a bitter dispute with the City of Austin over an eminent domain case..
“The city condemned a downtown block Whittington’s family owned in order to build a $10.5 million parking garage. Last month, the Texas Supreme Court denied the city’s request to hear an appeal, reaffirming a prior ruling in Whittington’s favor.
The Whittington family, which has owned the block on Red River between Fourth and Fifth streets since 1980, wanted to develop the lot into apartments or shops.”
quotes from the Austin American Statesman.
Maybe ol’ Dick is picking up some extra money doing some wetwork for the COA(City of Austin) ?
Is Mr. Whittington a private lawyer?I wonder if Cheney is/was shopping for a personal lawyer???……..one other thing comes to mind….Do cheney and Bush hunt together???2 nuts with guns is almost to much to think about.
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Absolute proof that Cheney is a member of the gang that can’t shoot straight….we have truely been Bushwhacked
I was not aware that Quail season in Texas extended into February!
It was the “friendly fire” I suppose. Anyhow, in Texas they shot first, and ask questions later….. And criminals (war criminals?) don’t
even bother asking….
It was the “friendly fire” I suppose. Anyhow, in Texas they shot first, and ask questions later….. And criminals (war criminals?) don’t
even bother asking….
Casey
Just a case of collateral damage…nothing more
At least it wasn’t a federally protected bird, he would be in jail by now. Of course, he is good friends with chunky Scalia. Does anyone remember when Bush was Governor of TX and he shot the state bird which was protected? I’m sure any record of the incident has been purged by now.
I feel sorry for the victim, a 78 yr old gent might have some life changing complications from being shot at close range.It puts a real damper on his golden years. Hopefully, Cheney won’t insist on having the old boy mounted if he passes on.
Hell hath no fury like a wounded lawyer, might get a little “interesting” for the sneermeister….
Jeez – couldn’t somebody have told old Mr. Whittington that this wasn’t the time or place to express his dissenting views about the Iraq war!… and the wiretapping program and the environment and the new budget and Katrina and …………………
I’ll be looking forward to some interesting cartoons in the next few days, and a Cheney joke or two, maybe the S.S. will give Cheney a new code name?
Something fishy about this story. They kept a lid on the story for 24 hours. Were they afraid that grandpa would die and there would be a homicide charge. Just wondering…
maybe the S.S. will give Cheney a new code name?
Hawkeye?
I wonder if he even had a licencse. Maybe they had to wait to get them since the stores were probably close when he shot the man.
Hopefully, Cheney won’t insist on having the old boy mounted if he passes on.
Is that in a trophy sense or a necrophilia sense?
Docles- (re comment no 27)
I read in today’s Austin Statesman that Cheney “supposedly” was hunting legally with a hunting license he got in Nov 2005. I also read that the person who oversees hunting licenses in TX is none other than the Mrs. Armstrong who owns the Armstrong Ranch where Dick the Dick was hunting! I think the reason for delay was to get their story together. Also, why was Cheney with Whittington in the first place? Whittington has a case against the City of Austin involving Emiment Doman. You can read about this in the Austin paper also.
Why is the vice president engaging in an activity where some dumbass who violates the rules of gun safety might shoot him dead?
We have a group of men with shotguns within killing range of the vice president. Who is to say that Cheney is the only one in the group who doesn’t practice gun safety when hunting, or that the shot could have been fatal?
Typical Cheney: blame the victim, delay to secrete and spin the facts, defer to private interests in the face of public concerns.
Vice pres. Dick Cheney’s accidental shooting of his hunting buddy. In Texas. A lawer, Mr. Wittington. Was not reported until after 24hrs? Just like the Phame investigation, was concealed for 24hrs. allowing the W/House to delete E-mail files, from their computers? Very strange in deed. Every one else must report an accident or crime right away, not 24hrs. later, or be charged with obstruction of justice.
Henry….hahaha…do u really believe [they] think the rule of law applies to [them]? [They] were just waiting to see if Witt was going to survive and if not figure out how he tripped and shot himself.
The whitehouse has just released a medical bulliten evidencing the recent disclosure of dubious dick’s colorblindness. His physical inability to distinguish brown, black or yellow is sufficient grounds for Gonzoles to aquit.
Cheney IS a Boojum, you know.
Check out this funny cartoon video.
Go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com. It’s about half-way down the page and titled, “Cheney’s Got a Gun” and it’s by Roy Sekoff. It shows Dick the Dick hunting with Supreme Scalia in LA. It’s a hoot!
What enraged “Shooter” Cheney? Probably Mr. Whittington charged him his standard fee, $1200.00 per hour!
The 24 hour delay in reporting the incident was to make sure that no one could ascertain Mr. Cheney’s blood alcohol level at the time of the shooting. Of course, it was Mr. Whittington’s fault. Why not! It is always someone else’s fault. He was probably behind a bush peeing not behind Mr. Cheney. Of couse, as a shooter, Mr. Cheney had an obligation to know where everyone in his party was. But, maybe he couldn’t count straight.
Saturday Night Live will have a ball with this story…hahahaha
Scott McClellan, White House Press Secretary – Did anyone watch him today at the Press briefing? He was struggling and getting “testy”.
Why isn’t the press corps more prepared? They need to read blogs to get better questions.
Scott was selling the issue of Mrs. Armstrong being the designated person to report to her “friend” with the Corpus Christi newspaper because she was the eye witness. HELLO! She was sitting in a car watching. She would not have been able to hear what was said and who knows how much she could observe. You know that Bush was advised about the shooting because Whittington is his friend. Whittington is a big Republican in TX. Bush appointed him as head of The Texas Funeral Commission in 1999 while Governor of TX. Mr. Whittington replaced a female who had been head of the Commission until she was fired for investigating the own of a funeral home who was Bush’s friend.
The time delay was to get their “script” together.
After watching the WH new briefing on Chaney who knows what really happened. Where they drinking beforing hunting, what time did the sheirff get the call. Did they make coffee to sobber Chaney up. Good thing he ordered the staff to help the old 78 year old hunter if he would of killed him he might order them to bury him right there on the spot. And, they wonder why we doubt the honesty of the WH. An if the SS cannot notify people faster than the did then it seems it was a cover up on their part also. Take the chain saws and guns away from Bush and Chaney to protect the safety of our leaders.
There was a third hunter who remains unidentified..I wonder if Bush was the third hunter, and maybe he blasted money bags in the face… and Cheney is taking the rap.
The Reddhedd has renamed Cheney “Dead-Eye Dick.”
http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/2006_02_12_firedoglake_archive.html#113985176383965724
Docles, comment 41, probably has it correct as did some other people who made comments. The “Dick” probably was drinking. What else could explain his not going to the hospital with the victim Saturday night and not being more forthcoming? Think about it–why do people delay reporting incidences? It’s to get their “script” together. Cheney was concerned about a blood test or breath test for alcohol! Of course, he decided to have a woman to come forward and report the situation. Mrs. Armstrong is a Republican who is a very good friend of another Texan–Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson. In fact, Ms Armstrong helped get Kay elected.
They should just put Cheney in a pair of “pink” panties. He is not a real hunter!
Comment No 42 from Swami–I understand from a Texas newspaper story that the 3 hunters were: Dick Cheney, Harry Whittington of Austin, TX ( and very good friend of Pres. Bush )and a female who is Ambassador to Switzerland. I forget her name but her picture was in the Texas paper where I read about the shooting.
I forget if ithe paper was the Austin Statesman, Houston Chronicle or the Corpus Christi Caller-Times but it was definitely in one of these mentioned newspapers.
The Question should be Who is Geochem, the company that really owns the Armstrong Ranch? For years petro/chemical companies have used hunting camps in Texas to influence execs and politicos
Allan Thomas
Mrs. Armstrong also sits on the board of directors of Halliburton.
It seems A crime was committed by accident or not? It was not reported until 24hrs. later? Of cost this is texas and they do things different there? If I shot some one on the farm in texas, I will wait 24hrs. To report the accidental shooting. Or tell the sheriff, to come back in the morning when I am back to my self. Also note there was no permit to shoot birds or people for that matter?
Quail hunting! F*ing quail hunting!! There are young boys dying in Iraq! Why isn’t this man spending every waking moment trying to end that problem and get those boys home!
As long as the American people accept the fact that this administration is having a good old time while they bring the rest of us under threat of attack, or send us to fight in a foreign land, we enslave ourselves. By accepting their behavior we accept our role as their servants – their cannon fodder.
That is not America. America is the land of the people, not of the government. The Constitution of the United States of America begins “We the People…”. Assert your value as an American citizen. Show our “leaders” how to behave since they have forgotten what is important.
No fun until the war is done. No cocktail parties, no lavish banquets, no golf, no quail hunting for as long as our boys are fighting and dying in Iraq. It’s shameful. These young men are giving their lives, and yet these politicians who put them there will not give up one single thing to bring them home. Make it their priority. Show them your disgust at their behavior.
I am a republican and even i find this distrubing and funny. Not all Republicans are gun weilding wackos OK? I just find this utterly hillarious. Even if all i could see is black and white i can tell the diffrence between a lawer and a quail. I hope you democrats realise that some republicans can see the truth and have a sense of humor.
Sticks and Stones may break my bones but Dick Cheney will never shoot me.