Smoking Gun has the Texas Warden's report. And a press release from the Kenedy County Sheriff saying there was no alchohol or misconduct involved and that Whittington's and Cheney's statements matched. The Sheriff's office is "fully satisfied" this was an accident.

Did Whittington fall on his sword for Cheney?

And the details about the 24 hour delay in reporting keep getting murkier. From Hardball tonight: Bush knew at 8pm Saturday, after being told by Andrew Card. McClellan not until 6 am Sunday. Bush didn't speak to Cheney until today. Cheney was present at Bush's press conference on Kofi Annan, but left the room before reporters could ask him questions. Former Wyoming senator and Cheney friend Alan Simpson was on doing his best to spin for his buddy. He made no sense. He also blamed Whittington.

Reddhedd at Firedoglake has more on the Texas statutes.

Paul Begala, another hunter with 30 years experience, weighs in at the TPM Cafe and says Cheney's story doesn't hold.

A reader writes in:

Do you find it odd that 2 men are out hunting with 2 women that are not their wives? Maybe this is the reason for the WH cover up?

The four in the hunting party were: Cheney, Whittington, the divorced Katharine Armstrong and as Raw Story wrote earlier, Pamela Willeford, the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland.

Before you say it's sleazy to ask this, think about what the press would be reporting if it were John Kerry instead of Dick Cheney.

Check out what this lawyer reader who has been a bird hunter of 30 years' experience sent me in an e-mail on the improbability of Ms. Armstrong's version (pdf) of Cheney's shooting accident from a mathematical point of view. A snippet:

I conclude the target was within 10 or 15 yards, at most, of Dick and possibly as close as 5 yards. My reasons for saying this are algebraic.

...So, my best estimate is as follows: Dick nearly blew this guy's head off.

Conclusion: "I don't think I'd hunt anything with Dick."

Jon Podhoretz at The Corner gets this right:

It seems beyond question that the vice president is going to have to go before the cameras, explain what happened, and show genuine remorse for his actions, however inadvertent. It's a difficult challenge for someone as reticent as Dick Cheney. But unless he does so, and makes a good showing of it, he will be damaged goods for the remainder of the Bush presidency.

Keep the pressure on. Katharine Armstrong may have been an eye-witness, but she's no substitute for hearing from the man himself, both as to his account of the shooting and his explanation for the delay in notifying the press. The response of Cheney's office so far, that the Veep believed Armstrong should make the announcement because the incident occurred on her ranch strains credulity.

Raw Story has the transcript of this morning's press conference which is not up yet on the White House website. Crooks and Liars has the video.

As to how the report of the shooting became public:

MR. MCCLELLAN: Well, I think you can always look at -- you can always look back at these issues and look at how to do a better job.

Q Well, but let's not -- it's not really a hindsight issue here. I mean, the vice president made a decision about how the public should be notified. It basically is at odds with the standard practice of how the president's own press operation in this White House notifies the public, isn't that right?

MR. MCCLELLAN: Well, again, this was handled by the vice president's office. The vice president thought that Mrs. Armstrong should be the first one to give that information out since she was an eye-witness --

Update: Think Progress reports:

CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer reports Texas authorities are complaining that the Secret Service barred them from speaking to Cheney after the incident. Kenedy County Texas Sheriffs Lt. Juan Guzman said deputies first learned of the shooting when an ambulance was called. The Secret Service is looking into how the case was handled at the scene, Maer added.

The Sheriff of Kenedy County, Texas reports that reports of the shooting are being gathered, but investigations are not mandated in absence of a fatality:

The secretary for Kenedy County Sheriff Ramon Salinas the third, Sandra Guzman, said today that reports on the incident are pending. District Attorney Carlos Valdez says the matter hasn't been referred to his office, which prosecutes criminal cases in Kenedy, Klebert and Nueces counties. He says his office would become involved only if an investigative agency finds a hint of criminal wrongdoing or a dispute about the facts.

....Texas Parks and Wildlife spokesman Tom Harvey would not provide specifics on the information gathered. He says hunting parties aren't required to report accidents. The state penal code requires people to report fatalities, and law-enforcement would investigate those.

It sounds like the reports are gathered for statistical purposes only.

Update: 78 year-old shooting accident victim Harry Whittington is out of surgery.

A friend who has talked to family members said that Mr. Whittington was hit by about 50 birdshot pellets. He underwent surgery Sunday morning to remove some of the pellets, and doctors have told his family that the shot apparently did not damage any major organs.

[Harry's daughter] got to see her father Sunday afternoon after the surgery. Of her father's face, she said, "It looks like chicken pox, kind of." She said that he was sitting up telling jokes. "He is so lucky, it's a miracle," she said.

The Dallas News says, " It's not the first time the vice president's hunts have resulted in controversy." And President Bush once had his own shooting mistake: [Corrected, it was Bush not Cheney who made the following hunting mistake.]

In 1994, when he was running for governor against then-incumbent Ann Richards, Mr. Bush went dove hunting for the cameras in Hockley, northwest of Houston, and shot what he thought was a dove. The one bird he did hit turned out to be the protected killdeer. He reported the incident to the local game warden and paid a $130 fine.

Whittington is in the intensive care unit.

Hunting accidents are rare in Texas, primarily because hunters have to take mandatory hunting education classes, if they are born after 1971. Hunting accidents by older hunters are on the rise, however -- possibly because they are not required to take the classes. Has Cheney ever taken one?

The New York Times, in a single editorial, lays out the reasons Americans can't trust the man they elected President:

• Illegal Spying on Americans
• Secret Prisons and Guantanamo
• The War in Iraq

It's time for Bush to can the "trust me" card. As the Times points out:

We can't think of a president who has gone to the American people more often than George W. Bush has to ask them to forget about things like democracy, judicial process and the balance of powers -- and just trust him. We also can't think of a president who has deserved that trust less.

by TChris

Despite Karl Rove's threats, some Republicans are finding the courage to criticize the president's illegal, warrantless eavesdropping on American citizens.

[Representative Heather Wilson] whose subcommittee oversees the National Security Agency broke ranks with the White House on Tuesday and called for a full Congressional inquiry into the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program.

Will Rove swift-boat Wilson with accusations that she's soft on terror? As "a former Air Force officer who is the only female veteran currently in Congress," she isn't an easy target. Perhaps she'll provide cover for other Republicans who believe that a president (even if Republican) isn't above the law.

Rev. Joseph Lowery gave an impassioned eulogy at Coretta Scott's funeral today. You can watch it here.

Four U.S. presidents were in attendance at the funeral, including President Bush. Among Reverand Lowery's statements was this one, which was greeted with thunderous applause and a standing ovation:

We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there. [Standing Ovation] But Coretta knew and we know that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war billions more but no more for the poor.

Crooks and Liars has the video to the very funny exchange between Sen. Dick Durbin and a blogger-reporter today.

Atrios has the transcript:

by TChris

Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed counted on the support of the religious right in his campaign to become lieutenant governor of Georgia. He may still command some loyalty, but conservatives who were once willing to throw some cash his way seem to be put off by his connection to Jack Abramoff.

Reed's little-known rival for the Republican nomination, fellow conservative Casey Cagle, is outpacing him in fundraising, and a recent poll shows Cagle could be as strong a candidate as Reed against a Democrat.