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Cheney is the Real Victim

By TChris, Section Dick Cheney
Posted on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 09:59:56 AM EST
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by TChris

How ridiculous is this? The vice president shoots his hunting partner in the face (not to mention the heart), and when the poor guy gets out of the hospital, he apologizes to the vice president for getting shot.

"Gosh, Dick, I'm so sorry my face got in the way of your buckshot. Did you get the quail anyway?"

As a reality check, this story recounts the various discrepancies in the factual accounts of the shooting and its aftermath that eventually made their way to the public.

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    Cheney is the Real Victim | 30 comments (30 topical)
    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#1)
    by Molly Bloom on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 10:06:21 AM EST
    I hope Whittington was well paid for his effort

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 10:06:23 AM EST
    The first thing I thought when I saw that was What is this guy on? The second thing I thought was: "Cheney's payroll."

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#3)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 10:28:03 AM EST
    he apologizes to the vice president for getting shot.
    It does sound ridiculous, unless you take into account that he's a gentleman. He didn't announce to his hunting partners where he was, and he knows he should have. No, that doesn't mean it's his fault, but he knows he had a part in the whole thing. He doesn't look to blame others for anything bad that happens to him. He doesn't look at life as though it's a win-lose dog-fight nor does he keep a life-long score board. He knows how much crap his friend took over the whole thing. He's a gentleman, old-school, a considerate human being. I wish this country had more like him...maybe even just one politician like him.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 10:37:02 AM EST
    He didn't announce to his hunting partners where he was, and he knows he should have. Oh, we're back to that claim, are we? I'll give you this: assuming that Whittington hasn't been leaned on either financially or politically, Whittington is - unlike Cheney - a genuinely nice guy: or just possibly, a far more subtle one. His behavior does point up how badly Cheney behaved from beginning to end. It does sound ridiculous, unless you take into account that he's a gentleman. And evidently, by your own definition, Cheney isn't. He knows how much crap his friend took over the whole thing. Uh? Cheney actually managed to avoid most of the official crap he should have taken by using the Secret Service to evade meeting with the local law enforcement on the day Cheney shot Whittington, and then having Armstrong leak the "official" story in which Whittington was "peppered", and it was his fault to the local press. The unofficial crap Cheney took wasn't so much for shooting Whittington - if he'd been a gentleman and owned up on Saturday night, rather than using official resources to run a cover-up, the whole thing would have been a two-day story - but with the stupid and arrogant way Cheney behaved, declining to so much as apologize to Whittington for shooting him, or even wholeheartedly accept the blame.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#5)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 10:38:01 AM EST
    ...and when someone screws-up he doesn't excoriate that person for it. He understands how badly the other feels about their screw-up an tries to lessen their "pain." But we certainly shouldn't promote that kind of thinking, without it a whole pile of lawyers wouldn't have anything to do.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#6)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 10:39:16 AM EST
    Jesur, I couldn't agree with you more about Cheney. In comparison to Whittington, he's a POS.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 10:45:11 AM EST
    suo: Jesur, I couldn't agree with you more about Cheney. In comparison to Whittington, he's a POS. Oh, I think that doesn't do Whittington justice. After all, in comparison to practically anyone, Cheney's a POS. Odd to see you acknowledging that, after all the energy you put into defending Cheney earlier in the week...

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#8)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 11:02:09 AM EST
    after all the energy you put into defending Cheney earlier in the week
    Jesur, many people have made a similar comment to me here. Many folks here fail to understand the difference between defending something/someone, and objectively pointing out the facts. It's the whole, "If you're not with me, then you're agin me." fallacy. "If you're not my savior, then you're my oppressor." For me, anyone can have any opinion you want but they should at least accept the facts. Accepting the facts certainly doesn't have to change your opinion, but at least you can then have a conversation that's not based on fallacies.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 11:19:52 AM EST
    Many folks here fail to understand the difference between defending something/someone, and objectively pointing out the facts. I think what you fail to understand is that there is a difference between "objectively pointing out the facts" and blindly assuming that every word that Armstrong, Cheney, and McLellan said about the shooting must have been the exact truth. In particular, as I recall, you argued that we ought to assume that Cheney is a naive little flower who just didn't understand how bad it was going to look that he had the Secret Service turn law enforcement away the evening of the shooting, and wouldn't have anyone make a public statement until after consulting with Karl Rove. Now, you are entitled to your assessment of Cheney's character, and your belief that Cheney, Armstrong, and McClellan were all telling the absolute truth. But that's just your opinion, voiced in defense of Cheney. It has nothing to do with the facts.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 11:28:03 AM EST
    Over at TheQuailHunter.com I just had the first guest post. Feel free to sign up and post new entries. As discussed earlier there, in the past Dick Cheney seems to have used ear protection when hunting, and it makes sense that his doctors would suggest he always wear ear protection given his medical condition. So, was he wearing ear protection when Whittington "should" have announced his presence? Should the Secret Service have announced Whittington's presence to Cheney? Weren't they standing by watching him? If they weren't, were they doing their job?

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 11:29:55 AM EST
    The following is an advance transcript of Cheney's next mea culpa interview with Brit Hume: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/cerabino/entries/2006/02/16/cheney_comes_cl.html

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#12)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 11:36:18 AM EST
    Jesur, I tried, apparently I can't talk to you. Nothing you just wrote is what I said, nor is it what I meant. You made it up whole-cloth. I argued none of that. In fact, what you just wrote is almost word-for-word precisely what you projected onto me - because, of course, if I point out that there is no factual basis that could prove that Cheney was trying to escape a breathalizer test, well then, I must be defending Cheney. I'm not doing this again, see you Monday.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 12:12:04 PM EST
    because, of course, if I point out that there is no factual basis that could prove that Cheney was trying to escape a breathalizer test Except that Cheney did escape a breathalyzer test, after shooting a guy and claiming it was an accident partly caused by his victim's stupid behavior. Your defense that Cheney just didn't understand how bad it would look that he wasn't willing to meet with law enforcement the day of the shooting, and that it never occurred to him that anyone would think he'd been drinking, I summarized as your belief that Cheney is an innocent little flower. Face it, SUO: you're not being objective over Cheney. You may be able to see that he didn't behave well next to Whittington, but you're still trying to defend him.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#14)
    by Sailor on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 02:34:12 PM EST
    BigMediaBlog
    For some reason I seem to remember that he was banned because his posts do nothing except promote his blogs Yet another instance where I was wrong.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#15)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 03:38:33 PM EST
    et al - Here are some numbers you won't like.
    February 16, 2006--Twenty-seven percent (27%) of Americans believe that the recent hunting accident involving Dick Cheney raises serious questions about his ability to serve as Vice President. Twice as many, 57%, say it was "just one of those very embarrassing things that happens to all of us."
    Aint it awful? ;-)

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 04:06:03 PM EST
    From Texas Parks and Wildlife, Some numbers that Cheney doesn't like: In Texas, in Calender year 2005, there were only 30 hunting accidents. 1,082,593 hunting licenses were sold. That gives a rate of 2.8 accidents per 100,000 licenses.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#17)
    by Sailor on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 04:07:34 PM EST
    dick was on drugs. dick drank alcohol. dick shot a man in the face. dick drank more alcohol. Some poster keeps celebrating dick's actions. What a dick.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#18)
    by desertswine on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 04:08:31 PM EST
    In other news: Poland apologized to Germany for letting itself get invaded thereby starting World War II

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#19)
    by jimcee on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 09:41:56 PM EST
    In regards to the debate about how far Mr Whittington was from Cheney when he was struck by the blast I would suggest first visiting INFOWARS.COM and viewing the video presentation there. I would then suggest visiting riehlworld.com and reading the research he has done there. Both writers are honest about thier politics, one is anti-Cheney and the other pro-Cheney. I'm sure it won't change anyone's mind that has already been made up but it will at least make you appear to understand something about sport shooting. I'm not defending Cheney because I can't defend the Darth Vader of the current administration. But of course I'm sure I'll be accused of that just the same. But they are both worth the time if your interested. As far as the booze/drugs allegations? Since there is no way to prove it then it probably is time to move on but if you must go on the black helicoptors are waiting on the helipad for you...

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#20)
    by glanton on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 10:22:22 PM EST
    Look, I haven't said anything against Cheney in all of this because obviously it was an accident, albeit a pretty stupid one--stupid for Whittington to wind up in range unannounced, stupid for Cheney to not be sure before he fired. And it makes me sick how the television media has given this Administration a virtual pass on everything policy related, from its assault on civil liberties to its imperialism, but then they jump all over this. It's like the Trent Lott thing. Of all the things Lott deserved/deserves to be publically humiliated over, I'm sorry, but a remark at a birthday party don't quite cut it. But then, that's the kind of junk that sells in America. Perhaps its a testament to the quality of a public that sits glued for days on end, breathless over the current Missing White Female. This is a materialistic, selfish, shallow, tabloid culture. We get what we deserve. But then, Jim observes the following, perhaps as his silly little way to show how 'smart' he thinks Americans are:
    just one of those very embarrassing things that happens to all of us.
    Wow. That people would actually sign on to that speaks so very loudly about them. Is accidentally shooting someone really 'one of those things'? What a great spectacle this has turned out to be. There may not be a lot of integrity left to this nation, but there's a hell of a lot to laugh at.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Feb 18, 2006 at 10:36:41 PM EST
    Chron.com reported that "Katharine Armstrong, the ranch's co-owner who witnessed the shooting, was upset with the way the press handled the shooting. Armstrong said. "These are people of the highest integrity -- and the media put them through a meat grinder."" Scooter Libby has been talking to a grand jury about Mr. Cheney's integrity for weeks now. Armstrong's definition of integrity must be different than mine.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 19, 2006 at 02:56:11 AM EST
    jimcee: As far as the booze/drugs allegations? Since there is no way to prove it then it probably is time to move on There was a way to prove it. The deputy who attempted to interview Cheney the same day he shot Whittington could have proved that Cheney was sober - assuming Cheney was sober. Because Cheney avoided meeting with the deputy, there is now no way for Cheney to prove he was sober when he shot Whittington. glanton: Look, I haven't said anything against Cheney in all of this because obviously it was an accident, albeit a pretty stupid one--stupid for Whittington to wind up in range unannounced, stupid for Cheney to not be sure before he fired. You know, this really was a very successful spin campaign, wasn't it? Whittington wasn't in range of Cheney: even according to Cheney's/Armstrong's story, he was behind Cheney, out of the line of fire. Yet Cheney and Rove have managed to spin the story to make it look as if Whittington was at fault. And it makes me sick how the television media has given this Administration a virtual pass on everything policy related, from its assault on civil liberties to its imperialism, but then they jump all over this. It's like the Trent Lott thing. Of all the things Lott deserved/deserves to be publically humiliated over, I'm sorry, but a remark at a birthday party don't quite cut it. Actually, the remark at the birthday party said a lot about Trent Lott. It said that Lott perceives all the rights gained by the civil rights movement - everything that's changed in the US for black people since the 1950s - to be a bad thing. Something he wishes had never happened. It condensed the most evil part of the Republican party and Trent Lott's politics into one, clearly understandable situation. Just as Cheney's shooting Whittington, and getting away with it, condenses the Cheney administration's attitude into one, easily understandable situation.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#23)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 19, 2006 at 07:13:21 AM EST
    I think it was just so crude that Monica Lewinsky never apologized to Bill [yeah right].

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#24)
    by Aaron on Sun Feb 19, 2006 at 07:20:49 AM EST
    ["The vice president did everything right," Katharine Armstrong, the ranch owner approved by Cheney to disclose the accident, said Monday. Whittington, 78, should have shouted that he was rejoining the hunting group after drifting off to retrieve a downed bird. "The mistake exposed him to getting shot," she said. "It's incumbent on him. He did not do that." ] I have to wonder about that statement, as a onetime bird hunter myself, I'm pretty sure it's not a good idea or standard hunting practice to shout. Shouting has a very specific effect on wild fowl, everything from, pheasants, wild turkey, quail, ducks, geese all tend to get spooked when they hear anything including a human shout. I can understand the necessity of letting others know where you are, especially if your downrange where you have the probability of being in the line of fire. And I have personally found myself in a situation that I thought required some vocalization on my part as the shooter. While wild turkey hunting in heavy brush. I wasn't sure if the bird I was stalking was actually a turkey or a person using a turkey caller. Not wanting to take a chance of firing on a human being, I shouted thinking I was going to hear a response from another hunter. When none came and everything went silent I realized it was an actual turkey. But I would definitely rather go home with no turkey then wind up killing someone with a load of Magnum #4 shot. That's the price you pay for being a responsible and safe hunter. In all situations, the shooter has the responsibility. But again under most circumstances you won't be doing much shouting while you're bird hunting, because if you do so you won't be bagging any birds. Being under the influence of alcohol, drugs, fatigue, emotional state etc. does not excuse you from the responsibility you take when you pick up a firearm. Firearms are deadly tools which fire high velocity projectiles. No one should ever pick one up unless they understand and acknowledge that responsibility. When I was young boy learning to shoot, whenever I fired a shot, my father made a point of asking me, "Do you know where that bullet went" and I was required to answer. If I couldn't answer satisfactorily, I was literally sent to find the spent round. Spending some long afternoons hunting for spent bullets has the unique effect of making you think long and hard before every shot. This lesson was intended to impress upon me the importance of being certain of where my projectile ended up. My father wanted me to understand that if I hadn't run through all the possibilities in my mind and come to a reasonable certainty, I had no business pulling that trigger.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#25)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 19, 2006 at 07:24:30 AM EST
    Besides, this poor Whittington fellow who Cheney shot is a big-time lawyer, so he must know that he needs to apologize if he wants to sue. The green face with the red blotches said it all for me. Royalty has its privileges. Cheney should be impeached for shooting the guy. Suppose Bill Clinton had done it? Did everyone in the whole country finish their cool-aid yet?

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#26)
    by Sailor on Sun Feb 19, 2006 at 07:45:43 AM EST
    It is not speculation that dick drank before and after the shooting, he said so himself. It is also not speculation that dick is on many drugs, his health dictates it. The exact drugs? Yeah, speculation, but no one with as many heart attacks, high cholesterol, blood clots, an ICD, gout and arthritis and the best health care in the world would NOT be on drugs. His office has said as much: January 9th, 2006
    Doctors attributed Cheney's shortness of breath to fluid retention related to medication the vice president was taking for a foot problem.

    The drug that Cheney had been taking for his foot problem wasn't identified. He was given a diuretic to curb the fluid retention. Diuretics decrease fluid retention by increasing the production of urine.
    Why people continue to defend combining drugs, alcohol and guns is unfathomable.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#27)
    by Edger on Sun Feb 19, 2006 at 09:16:08 AM EST
    Sailor: Why people continue to defend combining drugs, alcohol and guns is unfathomable. They twist and turn and spin in the wind to defend and excuse Cheney and everything he represents since he is one of the puppetmasters behind "dear leader". If it had been anyone else, you or me for example, they'd be screaming hysterically to see the shooter dragged away in handcuffs, given a quick "fair" trial, and thrown into a dungeon for 20 or 30 years. No moral relativism among Cheney supporters, no sir.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#28)
    by kdog on Sun Feb 19, 2006 at 09:39:33 AM EST
    Personally, I think he apologized to help his party. Whittington knows the accident has made Cheney, and hence the GOP, look bad, and he's trying to put the issue to bed, for the good of the party he financially supports. Whittington does seem like a decent guy...I probably disagree with most everything politically, but he did oppose the execution of the mentally retarded in Texas and the Texas policy of using prisoners to train bloodhounds. I wish him a full recovery. For his own good, I hope he picks hunting partners with a little more respect for human life in the future. Cheney's politics are cavalier with human life, maybe it carries over to his hobbies.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#29)
    by glanton on Sun Feb 19, 2006 at 12:31:00 PM EST
    Jesur: I am not falling victim to spin or Talking Points by saying that this was an incidence of shared stupidity. Illustration: In the many years I spent in the restaurant business, cooking in industrial kitchens, there was what's known as the "behind you" rule. If I'm tossing around a sautee pan filled with grease and food, and you enter my area for whatever reason, and don't alert me to your presence, and I turn with the pan, and you get burned, you're just as responsible as I am for the accident that occurs. Some would say moreso. In this case nobody did anything on purpose. It was just stupidity. What happened to Whittington is similar, though much more serious, and Cheney pulling the trigger after turning bears more responsibility than I would turning with an already dangerous sautee pan. But be all that as it may, my larger point is, that the character of the American telvision media and the character of the people at large have once again reflected poorly. Of all the terrible things Dick Cheney has done to this nation, and done them totally on purpose, this thing is what gets the public eye. That's what's sickening. And the same with Lott. The man has been a blight on the U.S. Senate for years and years, and gets almost no light thrown upon him for that, until his birthday party remark. Americans are shallow and materialistic and so that's why they demans of their media. A pox upon all our houses.

    Re: Cheney is the Real Victim (none / 0) (#30)
    by glanton on Mon Feb 20, 2006 at 12:46:37 PM EST
    Jesur, Okay, I cede to your knowledge of hunting. I myself have none. Maybe the cooking example was a bad one. So then, that makes this entire thing Cheney's fault, 100%. I can dig it. But then, where do we go from there? Does anyone anywhere actually maintain that the man shot his friend on purpose? Obviously not. But the lies tethered into the Iraq War, are known as lies, and purposeful ones. Nobody ever called the Patriot Act an accident. It's on purpose. Nobody ever called the anti-women's rights agenda an accident. It's on purpose. The collusion with Big Insurance and Big Pharm--are those accidents? No. Morethan 40 million Americans go without basic health care, and that's on purpose too. But yet the television media focuses on none of this. Why? Because the people won't buy it because it isn't as easy to grasp as an ice cream cone. Ergo, we get what we deserve. Put another way, if Americans are so incapable of abstract thought of any kind, that the only thing they will be able to understand is a blowjmob or someone shooting someone else, then we are a stupid populace and deserve the Bush Administration. Period.

    Cheney is the Real Victim | 30 comments (30 topical)