Patterico's Pontifications

2/12/2006

Cheney Shoots Hunter in Accident

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 11:10 pm



I’m just glad Vice President Cheney didn’t shoot Justice Scalia.

40 Responses to “Cheney Shoots Hunter in Accident”

  1. Well, even as a life-long liberal, I have come to realize that guns don’t shoot people.

    Apparently, Dick Cheney shoots people.

    (On a more serious note, thank God, the guy appears to be stable.)

    Tom (f35e9a)

  2. I’d love to be a fly on the wall at the next meeting of Cheney’s Secret Service detail…

    Kevin Murphy (6a7945)

  3. Administration picks out a target, aims, ignores contrary indications, disregards collateral damage to its own interests. Wrong target, intended prey escapes, costly damage to reputation and friends ensues.

    nosh (d8da01)

  4. Cheney says the shooting was based on false information. Thought the guy was a member of Al Quida..

    Charlie (8ea405)

  5. Thank goodness he didn’t accidentally kill the guy.

    Not only would that just plain suck, we’d be reading conspiracy theories about it for the rest of our lives.

    Dwilkers (a1687a)

  6. Well, duhhh! The guy he shot is an attorney! Lawyers are always in season in Texas.

    Dana (3e4784)

  7. Good one, Dana. Yours too, Kevin Murphy #2. If the man dies, does involuntary manslaughter qualify as a high crime or misdemeanor? Would it even be involuntary manslaughter, Patterico? Is the test ordinary negligence or something more like recklessness or “wanton and wilful”?

    nk (5e5670)

  8. There are ten ways Dick Cheney can kill you.

    Justice Frankfurter (2dcd84)

  9. Fortunately, Harry Whittington wasn’t seriously injured. Hunting accidents are very dangerous and easily prevented. There’s no way Whittington should have been either in range, or in the line of fire.

    Proper safety procedures obviously weren’t followed. The question now is why the Secret Service allowed the Vice President to participate in an unsafe hunt.

    Black Jack (d8da01)

  10. “There’s no way Whittington should have been either in range, or in the line of fire.”

    He was behind the VP.

    actus (ebc508)

  11. actus, have you ever been quail hunting?

    Black Jack (d8da01)

  12. New information is coming out. It appears Whittington was much more seriously injured than initially reported. Some sort of heart attack associated with birdshot in the muscle tissue surrounding the heart. Reports are sketchy.

    I’d guess Whittington was much closer to the VP than the 30 yards, or so, originally reported. Birdshot from a 28 gauge shotgun at 30 yards is a danger to the eyes, but it couldn’t get through several layers of field clothing and penetrate the chest at that distance.

    Keep your powder dry. Things are going to get a bit crazy now.

    Black Jack (d8da01)

  13. Media Piranhas and democrats go after VP Cheney.
    ————————————————–

    The bloodlust was so thick in the room that you could almost cut it with a knife. White House spokesman Scott Mc Clellan was veritably shred to pieces by the “piranhas “of the press corps. Some of the observers watched aghast as poor Mc Clellan was viciously set upon by the ravenous liberal predators mercilessly, and were
    concerned that he might even loose his marbles, pull a gun out and start shooting them all down while frantically screaming: “ Oh my God! I can’t take it any more, I just can’t!!!” which would have been a terrible National tragedy, since while they would take him away in a strait jacket, finding someone to replace him to take such abuse would be nearly impossible putting an end to White House Briefings! Though looking on the positive side, his having thinned the ranks of the “piranhas” would have been very beneficial to the ecology of Washington!

    The sight of the feeding frenzy was horrifying! The “piranhas” were venomously indignant that they were not immediately informed of an accident in which VP Cheney was involved while indulging in a personal recreational activity, in his own personal time. Imagine that!

    They claimed the failure as a vivid example of “how the administration misleads the American people,” and cited a prior incident in which Cheney’s Office failed to notify the press that the VP “had suffered a paper-cut while handling some documents, that required the medical application of a band-aid.”

    The whole hooplah, of course, is about why on a Saturday afternoon, and early Sunday morning, the whole Nation was not placed in a “State of Alert,” a curfew imposed upon those people planning to go out and enjoy their Saturday night, and Sunday Services were not interrupted the following morning, on account of the Press not having been “immediately informed” that while hunting in Texas VP Cheney had accidentally shot a fellow hunter, Harry Whittington, a personal friend of Cheney and of the family, whom Cheney accidentally sprayed with bird-shot when Mr. Whittington inadvertently failed to follow safety protocols for hunting. Of course, taking Mr. Whittington to the Hospital and attending to his wounds was secondary, and VP Cheney’s first and foremost responsibility was to have informed the Press, which he failed to do!!!

    Naturally this smacks of “cover-up” and many Democrats are outraged about the incident, and are calling for investigations into the matter by an “Independent Senate Panel Committee,”
    a “Federal Grand Jury Investigation,” the FBI, the CIA, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco (some accuse VP Cheney of having been smoking at the time of the accident) and Firearms, the Department of Game and Wildlife, the Texas Rangers, the Corpus Christi Police Department, Interpol, and the ever-eminent Inspector Clouseau!!!

    After the incident Mr. Whittington was taken to Corpus Christi Hospital were he was treated and was out of danger and recuperating in stable condition, and where several Democrats: Senators Kerry, Kennedy, Pelosi, Reid, Durbin, Feinstein and others, were alleged to have been seen trying to snuff Mr. Whittington in his bed with a pillow, before Hospital Security ran them off, so that then VP Cheney could appropriately be charged with “manslaughter, and they may once more call to have him “impeached.”

    Upon having failed in the above attempt, Democrats proceeded to point out that VP Cheney’s Hunting License lacked some stamps, which means that he was “hunting illegally,” and called for his immediate resignation for having violated the Law!!!

    While all this ruckus is going on though, polls show that most Americans in the Heartland were amused by the “antics” of the Democrats on the Hill and their pet “piranhas,” and one of those interviewed was even of the opinion that since it is not a life-threatening wound, though painful, and most of all “highly embarrassing,” it might be a good thing if some of these Democratic demagogues got some bird-shot in their butts; that way they could “nit pick” the pellets out of their arses the way they do anything constructive done by the Administration!

    Althor 🙂

    Althor (d8da01)

  14. Why was the entire Press Corp sitting in Washington while the VP was in Texas?

    Aren’t the pretentious preening parrots infesting our media supposed to cover VP Cheney’s travels as part of their job? How do they expect to keep us informed if they don’t know what’s going on, and won’t stir themselves to find out?

    Black Jack (d8da01)

  15. I believe the white house press corps’ job is to follow the president.

    Adam (40d1a3)

  16. Suppose Whittington succumbs. We have a killing, admittedly accidental. But negligence can be presumed and inferred, because hunting partners simply don’t get shot unless there is negligence on the part of the shooter. No intent, no malice, but a negligent killing. Couple that with an unlawful act — the failure to have the proper license.

    Don’t we have manslaughter???

    nosh (d8da01)

  17. Adam, permit me to doubt:

    If what you say is so, why is the angry press mob so bent out of shape over an event that falls outside their purview?

    Black Jack (d8da01)

  18. a negligent killing. Couple that with an unlawful act. Don’t we have manslaughter???

    The lack of a current hunting licence is not the unlawful act required to raise a killing from simple (civil) neglignce to involuntary manslaughter.

    Consigliere (3f8ad8)

  19. P.C. 192 (b) — Involuntary Manslaughter — in the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to a felony…

    Seems like hunting without a proper license is an unlawful act but not a felony.

    … or in the commission of a lawful act which might produce death, in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and circumspection.

    Hunting is certainly an act which might — often does — produce death. And shooting one’s partner is obviously and res ipsa loquitur a shot fired without due caution and circumspection.

    So again, should Whittington die, looks like Cheney could be guilty of invol manslaughter (at least by California codes) on either theory.

    nosh (d8da01)

  20. With any luck, Cheney’ll be able to convince people that this illegal hunting trip/involuntary manslaughter was “vital to national security.” If he could manage to infringe on American civil liberties as well, it’d be even better: that way, nobody would notice but the liberal wackos.


    In the meantime, let’s keep Whittington in our thoughts and prayers.

    Tom (fefa50)

  21. That’s not how it works, nosh.

    What you’re thinking of is closer to Misdemeanor Manslaughter (the readheaded cousin to Felony Murder) and the unlawful act must be the direct cause of death.

    Thus, if discharging the firearm was illegal, then you’d start having something (it usually needs to be a misdemeanor, infractions, like not having a stamp on the hunting license, almost certainly do not count). But not here.

    Also, this is by far the most retarded press frenzy in recent memory.

    Angry Clam (a7c6b1)

  22. …this is by far the most retarded press frenzy in recent memory. – Clam

    I’d agree with you on that and, at first, I believe it was. But now we learn that the man had a mild heart attack and has buckshot lodged near his heart? Yeah he was “sprayed” or “peppered” all right – damn near killed the guy it sounds like.

    Psyberian (1cf529)

  23. Psyberian, everyone’s entitled to his own opinion, but no one is entitled to his own facts. No one, not even a gun nut like **** Cheney, hunts quail with buckshot.

    Xrlq (839872)

  24. Well excuse me, X. Birdshot then. Or would it be called humanshot in this instance?

    Clam, if you were thinking about all the talk about the 24 hours before the incident was reported, I agree. Cheney just probably needed a little time to sober up, that’s all.

    Psyberian (1cf529)

  25. LOL! It seems that a lot of Leftist Democrats have left their perch on Brokeback Mountain and have come flying like vultures to this site to “set the record right ‘a La Dean.’

    Now they “nit-pick” the fine points of how best to inflict the greatest damage possible to VP Cheney with as much dedication as if they were extracting pellets from a victim!

    As I previously stated, the only shame is that it wasn’t a Democratic senator of Kennedy’s ilk who accompanied Cheney.

    Ah! To finally see Kennedy screaming, hurling expletives, and whining with a REASON to do so…for once, with some bird-shot in his butt! Priceless!!!

    LMAO!

    Althor 🙂

    Althor (d8da01)

  26. Surprise Althor :), most of us leftists have been on this site longer than you!!! But your tone sure is cute though! How deftly you hit all the Freeper talking points in just a few sweet sentences! We all appreciate your contributions!!!

    Tom (eb6b88)

  27. “actus, have you ever been quail hunting?”

    I’d stay away from places where people quickly turn and shoot without looking.

    actus (6234ee)

  28. Well excuse me, X. Birdshot then. Or would it be called humanshot in this instance?

    It’s named after who it’s designed to be shot at, not who/what it ends up actually hitting. Anyone who deliberately uses birdshot against a human target is not playing with a full deck.

    And spare me the “well excuse me” nonsense. The difference between birdshot and buckshot is hardly a technicality; you might has well have called a Geo a Mack truck.

    Xrlq (e2795d)

  29. Not true at all, X.

    I keep my shotgun loaded with the following mix (six shell tube, all are 3″ shells):

    1 6 gauge target birdshot (bigger cloud, more likely to hurt/blind in an emergency fire situation)

    2 00 buckshot (this is to actually kill the person)

    1 slug round (never know when you need something serious)

    2 00 buckshot rounds (back to killing)

    That’s my shotgun self/home defense loadout. So, no, I don’t think it’s totally insane to decide to shoot someone with birdshot. Just very much not ideal.

    The Angry Clam (fa7fff)

  30. Clam: how do you select which shot to use? Or do you have to fire them in the order listed?

    Dana (3e4784)

  31. Althor wrote:

    As I previously stated, the only shame is that it wasn’t a Democratic senator of Kennedy’s ilk who accompanied Cheney.

    Ah! To finally see Kennedy screaming, hurling expletives, and whining with a REASON to do so…for once, with some bird-shot in his butt! Priceless!!!

    I was about to note that Mr Whittington wasn’t shot in the butt, but then reconsidered, given that Senator Kennedy is all butt.

    Dana (3e4784)

  32. You fire them in the order listed.

    It makes sense, too- the birdshot will be a larger cloud, making a hit essentially a certainty. It will hurt a hell of a lot, and, if you’re lucky, blind the person.

    The buckshot then finishes the job.

    The Angry Clam (fa7fff)

  33. In most states, firearms regulations usually limit a shotgun to only 3 rounds, and although more shells can be loaded, a “plug” is required to maintain the 3 round maximum. Get caught without a plug installed, at home or in the field, and you’re in trouble. If Texas rules differ, someone please say so.

    #27 actus is correct. VP Cheney never should have turned and fired. Basic firearms safety requires that shots only be permitted in firmly defined directions, and in a quail hunt the direction is to the front only. Anyone gets shot, the guy who pulled the trigger is the one responsible. No exceptions.

    Black Jack (d8da01)

  34. The plug is only for hunting in every state that I’ve been in. I have not encountered any regulations regarding it for general shotgun possession.

    The Angry Clam (fa7fff)

  35. OK, allow me to rephrase that:

    Anyone who deliberately uses only birdshot against a human target is not playing with a full deck.

    Xrlq (5ffe06)

  36. Xrlq, aren’t there situations where a less lethal load is preferable?

    James B. Shearer (fc887e)

  37. FAUX gave a sneak preview of Hume’s interview of Cheney.

    As I expected, a “my bad” followed by vague self-serving facts.

    “I shot and I saw Harry falling … I ran over and said, “Harry, I had no idea you were there.”

    Consigliere (3f8ad8)

  38. #36, yes, rocksalt, with or without a raw hide core, is the traditional light load used to discourage poachers. Shells are easy to adapt to a wide range of special purposes.

    Black Jack (d8da01)

  39. Cheney: Well, I saw him fall, basically. It had happened so fast.

    Predictable. Everything always happens so fast when you’re in the wrong.

    Consigliere (3f8ad8)

  40. Cheap Shot:

    So, after being struck by a shotgun blast, the injured Mr Whittington went down a little too quickly to satisfy your sense of what? Propriety, Decorum, Physics. Hummm.

    If the unfortunate event hadn’t happened so fast, the VP would have seen Whittington and held his fire. Or do you say otherwise?

    Black Jack (d8da01)


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