OK, so it was only an accident, but it's still funny.

Yeah - as funny as a heart attack. Oops!

I just read the headline to my boyfriend who replied, "Was it his boss?"

I wonder why it took 24 hours before the story broke? Maybe it took that long for them to get their stories straight. Maybe next time he should go hunting with Dubya.
MSNBC- Cheney shoots hunting buddy

24 hours give them time to come up with all sorts of creative excuses swim. They have had 6 years to be able to refine this to a "t". wink

I agree, MIB, this IS funny. "Whom did he shoot and when did he shoot him?"

Even though the "victim" is a lawyer, I doubt if any suits will come out of this. "A gentlemen's shooting trip," and all. wink

"Thank 'goodness'" Scalia wasn't along for this one! :cool:

Shades of Bobby Knight.

Does anybody else find it creepy that the two big republicans on the board find this "funny"? The Vice-President of the country shoots somebody and it's "funny".

Which two "big Republicans" find it funny? PF hasn't even been in here yet.

Can't wait to see the Daily Show tomorrow. Actually, I think the humor of this might have a long shelf life...Remember when then president GHW Bush was caught on film barfing at a state dinner in Japan? That image never really faded. I have a feeling that Cheney pummeling his hunting buddy with shot gun shell pellets, while not caught on tape, will be a lasting image, and symbol of the Administration's ineptitiude...

[ February 12, 2006, 08:09 PM: Message edited by: buccoman ]

Maybe Cheney was hallucinating and thought he saw Joseph Wilson out on the ranch.

I'm wondering what this guy knew that made Bush tell Cheney "Yeah, make it look like an accident"

Looks like Cheney got tired of someone else doing his dirty work. Scooter better watch out!

The victim was a fellow republican, friend and financial supporter of Dick Cheney. The accidental shooting was poor gunhandling on the part of the vice president, contrary to how they are trying to spin it. I would think that a competent hunter would not shoot a fellow hunter even with scattershot if he follows basic hunting safety practices and is experienced with a scatter shot.

This is what happens when you remind Cheney he's got a big lesbian for a daughter.

It was an incredibly stupid and sensless accident. I have been shooting for over three decades and never had anyone in my party injured like that - nor to my knowledeg did my Father or Grandfather. Cheney was unsafe and incompetent.
You don't shoot into the sun, or if you have a poor field of view. If you can't see your target, then you don't take the shot. That is basic hunter safety 101 no matter how you spin it.

You can tell a lot about people by how they behave in the outdoors. My grandfather used to say to watch people: 'As a man behaves with his guns and dogs, he will behave toward other people.'

Rob

The media has done a great job I would say of pointing out the "interesting" things that can happen wich Cheney goes hunting. Recall 4 years ago, when he took it upon himself to go hunting on a trip with Supreme Court Justice Scalia?? Very interesting indeed.....

You also do not come up from behind without announcing your presence.

This morning on WSCR, several longtime hunters explained that when people are hunting, each hunter always announces his presence when approaching from behind. Apparently this guy didn't, which is an obvious error on his part.

This might better explain why Mr. Cheney thinks someone is sneaking up on him. One is responsible for ones own mental health when handling a deadly weapon, regardless of how one is approached. There has been a recent increase in emotion-based murders in depressed economic neighborhoods because killers do not think first.

I just wonder how folks find time to be expert shooters... with all the extensive travel, royalty, multi businesses, boating, foamed runway landings....

Did i leave any out?

Just sayin.

But i thought ya'all been screaming that he's a pampered little bitch?????

You people are just way overboard.... You dont take yourselves this serious, do you? wait, dont answer that one.

All this really is is an accident, nothing more, nothing less.

OK guys help me understand this....MIB (and the sources for this story) said that the guy Cheney shot came up on him from behind without announcing himself....ummmm....okay....so what did Cheney do, shoot backwards ????

[ February 13, 2006, 09:36 AM: Message edited by: HotlantaTarheel ]

Overheard just before the shooting:

"Wabbit season!"
"Duck Season!"
"Wabbit Season!"
"Duck Season!"

~Adam

And why did the VP's office not make any official announcement of the incident until 24 hours later. They claim they were "deferring" to the owner of the ranch. WTF???

The VP shoots a man and wounds him severely enough to spend two nights in ICU, and this doesn't warrant some sort of acknowledgement?

Can you imagine the right-wing uproar if this had been VP Gore? eek!

The man was kept in ICU due to his age, not the specific injuries.

Then again, who really cares?

You people REALLY care about this? If you do, chalk that up to the "I really need to get a life outside of hating W"

Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't, but these people long ago lost any chance of me just giving them the benefit of the doubt.

I'm glad you know for sure though.

Hey, wait a minute!! Where was Dubya during this hunting trip? Does anyone know the whereabouts of our 43rd Quayle ...errrrr Bush? Maybe Dubya was the shooter and Cheney is taking the blame. What the hell is someone like Cheney, with one foot in the grave and another one on a banana peel, doing shooting a weapon that has a lot of kick to it. Doesn't he have heart problems? Wouldn't the kick of that weapon cause some problems with the old ticker or pacemaker? Hmmmm... the plots thickens!

And the fact that he was shot in the face! He wasn't in ICU until VP Rambo blasted him at point-blank range.

I always do.

Apparently not, KWG, but some hand-wringing sycophant can always chime in with some tsk-tsking of his/her own.

Don't worry; it's called a "sense of humor" and it won't hurt you. "Shoot," in your case, it'd probably help!

I'm glad that W has time to hang out at the ranch so often, and that Cheney has time to go quail hunting. I mean, it's not like there's anything going wrong with the country. By all means, keep vacationing....it's what they do.

Maybe if Cheney had not had those 5 deferments he would have learned how to handle a weapon?

Left out quite a lot actually.

Believe it or not I can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time too...

Just sayin.

Rob

My bad i need to keep up on the BS... i mean stories.

And with this incident, Cheney became the second Vice President to shoot a person while in office.

Well, the hospital spokesman seems to disagree.

Yep, it had absolutely nothing to do with the nature of his injuries.

And now we learn that the Secret Service barred local authorities from questioning Cheney.

Why so secretive???

I know he was 30 yards away, but still, that would have been a low flying bird.

I guess he'll up the donation next time Cheney offers to go hunting with him.

I still don't understand how Cheney shot someone "coming up from behind"...??????

I mean, I don't know much about hunting, but I would suspect that you don't aim at targets behind you.

From descriptions I have read, the only way I can figure it is the Cheney was following some of the birds in flight without realizing where his friend was, and fired before registering he was firing at someone. However you want to look at it, Cheney was at least partially at fault - even the NRA advises knowing what is between you and your target before firing (I would think that would be especially important when shooting birds, which tend to go in several directions).

All I could think of when I first heard this was "yet another reason not to go hunting." I am not a fan of sports where I have to pee outside anyway, and have long considered true hunting pretty boring (you tend to sit in one place and wait for game, or hike for miles looking for it). But I have to say this system of "hunting" - where ranch-raised, not wild, birds are released just so you can slaughter them like it's a live video game, is even less attractive.

I also think it is important to ask questions like, "why did the VP's office not report this?" (Can you imagine Aaron Burr just neglecting to mention he killed Hamilton?) and "will Cheney make himself available to law enforcement investigating the 'accident'?" Given the track record of the Bush administration, and especially Cheney, in terms of honesty, it is not surprising that people are not exactly trusting his version, or his friends' versions, of events.

Because they're the Secret Service! Duh!

Actually I saw one blog quip that those deferments may have been a blessing in disguise for the military, implying Cheney would essentially be untrainable in the handling of a WID (weapon of individual destruction), which gives one pause knowing that he is one heartbeat away from direct control of the the most massive WMD repository known to man.

"Hardball" was fascinating as usual today. This was the subject for 2/3 of the hour. Ron Reagan brought up a point that didn't even occur to me. One reason they may have tried to keep it hidden as long as possible, would be to avoid any more banter on the subject on the Sunday morning talk shows.

I'm not experienced at organizing online fundraising efforts so please help me establish a program where we can raise the money for three cell-phones. One for the President, one for the VP, and another for the Situation Room.

I wonder how our soldiers abroad will feel when they read that a single person shot another single person, inflicting non life-threatening injuries, and the White House had to deal with information trickling in overnight.

Should we have a bake sale?

I heard the theory put forth by Ron Reagan on 'Hardball' but it makes no sense.....even for this White House. Delaying getting the information out makes this look they have something to cover up which keeps alive the story of an accidental shooting. If they had gotten the information out in time for the Sunday chatfests, the story would have been over & done with by Sunday afternoon.

What makes no sense to me was Scott McClellan's claim that Cheney decided that Mrs. Armstrong (the ranch owner) was the proper person to alert the press and police about the shooting. Since when do private citizens inform the press about the activities of the Administration? Why not have the VP's press secretary handle this?

~Adam

He got infected from President Bush.

Not that it should surprise anyone, but in addition to shooting a friend in the face, Cheney actually was hunting without a upland game hunting stamp. Good thing he didn't have an assault rifle or machine gun at close hand!

From Editor & Publisher:

Do they mean "corroborated"?

[ February 13, 2006, 08:40 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

So you're going to go anal because a reporter uses the wrong word?

And I'm sure Cheney isn't the only person in America without the proper hunting paperwork.

Ah, I knew you'd find some way to defend one of your idols. Independent as Karl Rove....

Anyways, here's a fun game:

Cheney Hunt

Try to shoot the quail. Oops!