Michelle Malkin believes the Democrats will "will exploit this accident to smear Cheney as incapable of being trusted, weak of mind, etc."

Nah. The Dems will use this as a joke. Just like the president choking on a pretzel.

However, BushCo. will continue to "exploit" the victims of 9/11.

What the dems SHOULD focus on this week is the criminal negligence involved with the president & Michael Chertoff during Hurricane Katrina. The president KNEW...

I was watching the early news on the local NBC affiliate, and the NBC news ticker read that Cheney shot the guy with buckshot. I wonder whether whoever wrote it was just ignorant, or if it was done intentionally to make it sound worse.

Maybe old Dick thought the guy was Joe Wilson haha

Birdshot? Local news here said Cheney "sprayed" the other guy, didn't mention gauge. On Malkin: When conservative commentators attack Dems over things they haven't even said, and probably wouldn't say due to extreme poor taste - does that strike anybody on the right as ... over the top? Hyperventilating? Rabid??!

"smear as incapable of being trusted, weak of mind etc..."

Good heavens no, I think it's a national disgrace - poor Mr Cheney has to get his own dinner! He's the VP for crying out loud, someone should at least tell him about supermarkets - he could then buy as many quail as he wants and this would in my opinion at least save him some considerable time. Is he forced to grow his own beans and broccoli too do you think? That man is one of your highest elected politicians, you should pay him enough that he doesn't have to live of the land. You should have some sort of whip round so Dick can get himself some decent food. Tsk bloody septics.

As a BTW on the original piece,

'Harry Whittington, 78, was "alert and doing fine"'

If I was Harry I wouldn't be boasting about how alert I was just after I'd stood between an armed VP and his dinner. I think

"Harry Whittington, 78, is a dozy sod..."

would be far more appropriate.

Thanks for the humor WB, which brings the negative point made of buckshot into play. Never let it be said that Ole Dick isn't a sport, Harry was lucky this time. Lets' see; they were wearing orange vests, so's ole Dick color (colour)blind or he's exercising executive privilege.

Amusing NYTimes story:

Bush Did Not Learn for Several Hours That Cheney Shot Hunter

I though this was a little too ... too much like "Bush Did Not Learn About Levee Break" or "Bush Knew about x..." Let's leave the big headlines for the big stories. Besides, it was an accident... right?

Brit;

Ever shoot quail or dove, ever shot trap or Skeet?

You limey political slaggs huddled in your protective little umbrella, ignoring reality.

Bill

In the spirit of bipartisanship may I suggest the Vice President take Sen's Hillary, Kennedy, Schumer, Boxer, Reid and many others on his next hunting trip?

STOP I want to thank you and your fellow KosTard freaks for help making me rich. See, I can't call you much of a freak since everyone over there writes the same irrational, insane shit. Unless it is you writing under 1,000 different names. I doubt that because there is a never ending supply of paranoid, delusional losers on the left.

See, I own alot of stock in Alcoa (A is for American). You tin foil hat wearing freaks make it impossible to keep on the shelf.

In the meantime, here are some helpful instructions.

If you read the White House press briefing transcript, you might notice that the press corps' primary objection is that Cheney's office let the informaiton out through some (gasp) civilian (gasp gasp) private citizen! Instead, of course, they think that Cheney should have IMMEDIATELY alerted the media himself.

They don't know anything about hunting, don't know the difference between buckshot (not used) and birdshot (what Mr. Whittington was hit by), don't comprehend that hunters get shot and shoot each other rather frequently, and think there's something sinister going on whenever guns are involved.

I dunno. Would YOU have told them first?

Hi Bill,

I'm very much a city boy so no the delights of huntin' shootin' and fishin' are rather lost on me. I have used a rifle at a range, some years ago as this would be illegal now.

Re your use of "slags", if your immitating east London slang I'm impressed (although it may mean you've watched the Long Good Friday and Lock Stock too many times) - I avoid using it on this site, but you may have picked up the septics reference.

On living huddled under a protective umbrella - probably guilty as charged but cetainly no more than any other person on this site and as for ignoring reality it's very much a matter of perspective.

Back to the original topic - what wasn't posted here, but certainly counts in defence of Mr Cheney is that Harry Wittington is/was a lawyer, so every cloud... Also are we sure this was a quail hunt, not a Quayle hunt, it can be tough in politics - see here for an artists impression.

why wait so long to report the accident? It just makes him look guilty of trying to hide something.

He was!

Kerrys' an avid hunter so take her comments as the gospel, or would that be law?

unbelievable. Russ actually can make intrigue out of a commonplace hunting mishap. Watching too much C.O.P.S t.v. are we? Like the White house Press. While Rome burns....

by the way sweetj, there wasn't a delay in reporting this, just a delay in the WHITE HOUSE PRESS getting this non-story.

I think the W corp has made more of an attempt to make this a non-story than the media has in making it for what it is.

It's a hunting accident. The vice-president was negligent. He was hunting without proper/complete license. It should have been reported by the person responsible. If you think this is incorrect, try it for yourself and see how far you get with law enforcement.

While Rome burns.......? Who started the fire (_?_)

For all the experts replying, getting shot in the face with birdshot wasn't a friendly greeting and shouldn't be brushed off as a non story, yet at the same time it is an accident and the "we do no wrong" stance of the administration is the primary reason for the chatter. Imagine what would be said if Cheney had stepped up and acted in a professional manner?

For all the experts replying; getting shot in the face with birdshot wasn't a friendly greeting and shouldn't be brushed off as a non story, yet at the same time it is an accident and the "we do no wrong" stance of the administration is the primary reason for the chatter. Imagine what would be said if Cheney had stepped up and acted in a professional manner?

A heart-attack and birdshot lodged in the heart, still a non-story?

Russ, The White House Press Corps wasted over 20 minutes asking questions about it yesterday. I think there's more important stuff they could have been focusing on.

>>I think there's more important stuff they could have been focusing on.

Look at how much milage they got out of a blowjob.

yes, it is still a non-story. the press and you lefties would like to make more of it, but too bad. the Dr. said the man will live the rest of his life normally, with no effects from this accident. Mr. Cheney was not negligent. Mr. Whittington was guilty unfortunately of being somewhere he shouldn't have been. All of the truly important issues that could be talked about, and David Gregory et al can only hyperventilate over an accident. Egotists.

I wouldn't go so far as to say this guy is guilty of anything, it's not his fault for punching Cheney's birdshot with his head...The Vice President shot him in the face.

Nevertheless, it was an accident, and there is no negligence, no malignancy, and no criminality. Fortunelately there is also (so far) no permanent harm, but it is really irrelevant whether there is harm or not, except from a standpoint of sympathy.

Is there a story? Well it's certainly worth a mention as a lead in to the second segment, and it's certainly gossip/comedy material as it has been used...but it's no where near as big as the media have allready played it.

The moonbat angle is obvious with this one, but moonbats are never to be outdone. It's just too easy - 'Cheney meant to shoot him' for whatever wacko reason. Just too rational for them (yes, TOO rational!).

While the media is busy scoffing and huffing and missing everything important, instead focusing most on those issues that bruise it's own gigantic ego, the moonbats have found thier moonbatty talking point -

Cheney shot the guy on purpose all right, and he was in on it too. He volunteered to be shot in the face. All this was done to create a diversion story, to distract the media from the Plame leak case now that Libby claims to have something to say. Wag the dog.

Now THATS luna-chiroptera-cy.

Actually, MJ, Mr. Whittington IS clearly at fault, from all accounts that we have heard. Moving position without alerting one's fellow hunters is a no-no. Not a legal one, but a safety issue. Cheney didn't know he was there, turned and shot. Happens all the time.

And, WB, you were probably joking, but I do want you to understand that here in the US we often hunt for sport, not for food--rather like you fellows used to do with foxes (until the animal rights nuts wrecked the "sport of kings.")

By the way, I know it's all the rage (so to speak) on the angry left to read this as a conspiracy of distraction, wherein Mr. Whittington agreed to be shot so that the media would stop talking about the Libby story. But has anyone suggested that Mr. Whittington might want to hire extra security since the left would be deliriously happy if he happened to die? After all, not only would they have a vice president to impeach for killing someone--they could also go mess up yet ANOTHER funeral!

By the way, in a now-defunct thread, someone said:

"Justice Ryan is still a Supreme Court Justice, whether you agree with him or not. I don't see you on that bench, do I. Since he is a Supreme Court Justice, I think his opinion on legal matters carries a little more weight than yours does."

As a public service, and to spare the responder any further embarrassment, let me correct the record. There is no such person as "Justice Ryan." The "Ryan" referred to in that thread was former Illinois governor and current defendant George Ryan. While it is indeed true that I am not a Supreme Court justice, neither is George Ryan.

And on the current subject, it is astonishing that the media is focused like a laser on what legal ramifications they might be able to suggest should befall Vice President Cheney, up to and including being tried for attempted murder. Yet few people outside the Chicago area are being treated to the spectacle of former Governor Ryan on trial for bribery and corruption. This is not because he is a Democrat (which he is not; he is, in fact, one of the few members left of the Illinois Republican party, a situation which is largely his fault.) Rather, this is no doubt because Ryan is beloved of the national media for his courageous stance against the death penalty. During his tenure, he declared a moratorium on the use of capital punishment. Thus, he may someday join Tookie Williams as that rare breed: a nobel-prize nominee that is also a felon.

Why does the media have such a double-standard? Politicians they like (Ryan and Clinton) get a pass for everything they do. Politicians they don't like (Bush and Cheney) can't do anything right.

For example, today in the press, we have achieved a simultaneous contradictory smear. It is now both Bush's fault that not enough was done to prevent Katrina and help in its aftermath AND Bush's fault that there was massive fraud engaged in by the people that were being helped by the government to recover from the hurricane. The Bush administration both helped too little and gave too much.

Touchdown!

"Actually, MJ, Mr. Whittington IS clearly at fault, from all accounts that we have heard. Moving position without alerting one's fellow hunters is a no-no. Not a legal one, but a safety issue. Cheney didn't know he was there, turned and shot. Happens all the time."

Actually Mr. W. was negligent for not announcing his return to the party. The primary responsibility rests on the shooter. The cause of "hunter judgment factor" rests on C&W.

Russ,

Didn't I just say that?

No!