Jay Rosen has the most interesting take on the the Cheney episode:
The way I look at it, Cheney took the opportunity to show the White House press corps that it is not the natural conduit to the nation-at-large; and it has no special place in the information chain. Cheney does not grant legitimacy to the large news organizations with brand names who think of themselves as proxies for the public and its right to know. Nor does he think the press should know where he is, what he’s doing, or who he’s doing it with.
***But Cheney figures he told the country “what happened.” What he did not do is tell the national press, which he does not trust to inform the country anyway. Making sense yet? Ranch owner Katharine Armstrong is someone he trusts. He treated the shooting as a private matter between private persons on private land that should be disclosed at the property owner’s discretion to the townsfolk (who understand hunting accidents, and who know the Armstrongs) via their local newspaper, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
“I thought that made good sense because you can get as accurate a story as possible from somebody who knew and understood hunting,” he told Britt Hume of Fox News.
From the Caller-Times it got to the Web, then the AP and CNN. And there you are: The American people were informed of the basic facts (though not at the speed journalists want) and Cheney did not have to meet questions from the press, an institution without power or standing in his world. “I thought that was the right call,” Cheney said yesterday on Fox. “I still do.” (He also said the furor among reporters is just jealousy at being scooped by the Caller-Times.)
Press thinkers, Dick Cheney did not make a mistake. He followed procedure— his procedure. As Bill Plante, White House reporter for CBS News said at Public Eye, “No other vice president in the White Houses I’ve covered has had the ability to write his own rules the way this one has. He operates in his own sphere, with the apparent acceptance of the president.”
In other news, the case is closed according to Texas officials:
The report, written by Chief Deputy Gilbert San Miguel Jr., quotes Cheney and Whittington as saying the shooting was an accident. They said no one was drinking alcohol during the hunt, according to the report. Interviewed in his hospital room in Corpus Christi, Whittington expressed concern only that the incident would hurt hunting’s image in Texas, the report said.
“Mr. Whittington did speak of the incident and explained foremost that there was no alcohol during the hunt and everyone was wearing the proper hunting attire of blaze orange,” the report said. “Mr. Whittington again reiterated that this incident was just an accident.”
Looks like this one is over.
Otto Man
Yeah, that’s an, um, interesting take. And it just so happens to be exactly the take that the White House is pushing. What a coincidence!
I’m more convinced by E. J. Dionne’s take:
They went with the local paper because they thought it would be easier to spin, and not out of any sense of sticking up for the little guy.
And as Dionne notes, the Corpus Christi reporters highlighted the unusual 18-hour delay in their original report. I guess they’re part of the media conspiracy against Poor Ol’ Dick too.
gratefulcub
Ha ha ha.
We are talking about a press that can make a 3 month story out of a bride running off to Vegas.
Here we have the VPOTUS shooting a man in the face. The stories they have told have had to be ‘revised’ continually. Meaning, some of the stories weren’t true.
Now, there is the question of: who is this woman, that Dick Cheney gave an ambassadorship to, that was standing next to him? Where is she, who is she, why was she with him, where’s Lynn?
Are those relevant questions? Not so much to me. I want to know more about the NSA and Cheney declassifying intel for political purposes (doesn’t matter if he had legal authority or not, he declassified intel for politics). But, I don’t make the rules about what America cares about (McClellan thinks he does, “The american people don’t think this is a story, they have moved on.”).
As long as there are juicy and unresolved details that he refuses to explain, it isn’t over. Doesn’t matter if it should be or not.
Oh yeah, and there is also the fact that everyone now realizes this guy is like no VEEP ever, and no one knows for sure how much power he has. Is THAT a story?
Blue Neponset
Somehow I am not comforted by the fact that Jay Rosen thinks the VP is so petty he decided an accidental shooting incident was the perfect opportunity to stick it to the national media. Also, if that was the best way to tell the American people that the Vice President shot someone then Cheney really is incompetent.
Vladi G
So far the only Cheney statement that I believe is the one where he said that nobody believes anything he says.
Richard 23
I thought it stopped being a “private matter between private persons on private land” once Cheney shot his friend in the face with a shotgun. But that’s just me.
DecidedFenceSitter
[Snark] So shooting someone in the face with a shotgun is a private matter, but who you fuck is a public matter? [/Snark]
p.lukasiak
The Bush/Cheney regime is spiralling into disaster — this story “may be over” but its impact will be felt for quite a bit longer, and the credibility of the regime sinks lower and lower, and more and more people realize that these guys will lie about everything.
Doug
That Cheney is afraid of facing the national media doesn’t strike me as particularly interesting. That’s been his M.O. for years. Afraid of Iraq, afraid of terrorists, afraid of the national press. Probably just a little jittery when the septuagenarian came sneaking up on him.
Davebo
It’s all over here. Nothing to see. Move on people.
gratefulcub
What kind of State of the Shooting bump will they get in the polls?
HH
The case is never closed for the left… see the multiple WMD intel investigations and investigations into Joe Wilson’s credibility which all say the same thing… and now they will continue to venture into Vince Foster territory, denying reality…
MMM
this is BS….
OCSteve
But the left wants this to be an incident to bring the man down – they want it so bad – it has to be true right? I’ve never seen so many medical, legal, and ballistics ‘experts’ come to so many conclusions with so few facts as I have in this case.
He must have been drinking – because they want it to be true.
He must have been closer than 30 yds. – because they want it to be true.
There must be a cover up – because they want it to be true.
You know what? I want to win PowerBall – but I don’t start buying up mansions and yachts before I wait to see if my number won.
And the cries of foul from the MSM… Tough shit. ‘Freedom of the press’ does not mean that people at the center of the story have an obligation to hand you the news on your schedule.
It was an accident pure and simple. But some folks want it to be so much more – so it just has to be…
Lines
Hey OCSteve, I double dare you to take a watermelon, a hunting vest, a jacket and light shirt, wrap it all up and shoot it from 30 yards with a 28 guage shotgun #7 1/2 and tell me I’m wrong. You stupid git! The facts on the peneterability of a 28 guage pellet into a human body are pretty easy to figure out, but you think the left is making shit up?
Give it up, OCSteve, you’re just a partisan asshole looking to score cheap points on people that are too weak on knowledge of the topic to challenge facts you only get from Rush Bimbo.
The Other Steve
It’s over. But the damage is done.
Cheney and Bush have lost credibility in the eyes of Sportsmen with their initial attempt to blame the guy who got shot.
They’ve lost credibility in the eyes of moderates with their pathetic attempt to try to claim this isn’t a story.
So it’s done, and they’ve probably stemmed the flow of blood, but it sure hasn’t helped them.
Barbar
Only latte-drinking liberal elites think that guys might mix beer and hunting. Real Americans in the heartland know much better, and understand that Cheney/Bush/the administration is evasive with the press only because the press is rotten to the core with anti-American liberalism, and not because they ever do anything wrong.
Pb
HH,
Let’s say that you’re right…
I’d love to. Are you talking about when the government concluded that there were no WMDs, or that the intel was wrong, or are you talking about the investigations that conveniently haven’t taken place yet about *who* might have caused the screw-up in the first place…
That he’s a stand-up guy and an American hero, whose wife lost her job and whose country had its national security endangered, all over a petty political grudge from his government? Yeah, I concur. Also, that’s remarkably similar to what happened with the WMD intelligence, too!
Heh. The case is never closed for the right…
HH: clueless moron, or incompetent troll? You be the judge!
Jorge
“Looks like this one is over.”
So, I believe that Republicans should pass a law stating that if you get into a car accident, you should be able to avoid taking a breathelizer or talking to the police for 18 hours. And then, your buddies in the car with you should have the final say about whether there was any drinking going on or not.
map
John:
Have you called the Corpus Christi Caller Times yet to let them know to get the word out to the rest of the world that this story is done?
Mr Furious
Nicely put, Jorge.
In a drunk driving scenario, refusal of a breathalizer is grounds for immediate arrest and an automatic suspension of a license as far as I know.
The “case is closed” but it’s not because an investigation was done and the evidence exonerates anyone. It’s because Cheney successfully thwarted any investigation, and got everyone involved on the same page. That is the only indisputable and undeniable “fact” of the case, John. Even if they are all telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, we are only left with their say-so on what happened. Color me unconvinced.
LITBMueller
I, for one, am GLAD that this story is over. It was continually interrupting the Neil Entwistle story, which is FAR more important…. ;)
StupidityRules
It’s good to know that you can shoot a man in the face, then deny access for the police to question the people involved or collect any evidence and this doesn’t lead to anything. I guess not only everything the President is legal, but also everything the VP does…
-> add a 9/11(tm) changed everything quote
OCSteve
Your ballistics test was already done:
Furthermore, it is done all the time when evaluating shot and choke choices – at 40 yds.
What does it matter if it was 30 yds. or 20? You shoot your friend; you immediately go see if he is all right. You don’t plant a flag where you were standing first so you can come back later and accurately measure the distance for the press conference. Later when you try to recreate what happened you estimate. People involved in accidents and witnesses are notorious for getting such details wrong.
So why assume that the given distance is part of some kind of coverup? How does the exact distance change what happened? He shot his friend – is it worse that he shot him from 20 yds. Rather than 30?
My point is that we have female liberals who have never handled a gun in their life who are now self-appointed CSI ballistics experts.
It’s a cover-up because of the delay. Well, as long as you ignore the fact that the SS called the sheriff that same night and were expecting him to come out. The sheriff chose to wait until the morning. But that doesn’t fit the pattern we want so ignore it.
StupidityRules
If I ever would run over someone I guess I only have to pay him enough so that he’ll be happy and then I won’t have to face any criminal charges.
Brian
Jay Cohen is right on the money. Cheney gets points in my book for catching the martini swilling press corps by surprise and not allowing them to frame the story. What they were left with was having to frame the story as something that it wasn’t. In short, having to manufacture a story, a tune that many here and elsewhere on the Left are happily dancing to.
What is obvious to anyone watching this story is that the press believes itself entitled to the gov’t following “the rules”. What rules, for crying out loud? And if there are “practices” that have been observed over the years, why can’t they NOT be observed in the case of a press that is clearly hostile to their every move? Who says they even have a right to office space and a press room in the White House? It’s surely not in the Constitution, but they sure act like it is.
Good for Cheny….good for ANYONE…..who lets the press elite know their place. I’m sick and tired of the arrogance.
Jorge
I just came across this on the wires :)
Otto Man
Good one, Doug J!
The press are the elitists, and the multimillionaire political powerhouse is the common man besieged by them. And it’s the press who are arrogant, and not the guy who thinks it’s nobody’s business that he shot a man in the face — not even the local police.
You’ve really got the right-wing insanity down pat. Nice spoof.
Jorge
Ocsteve –
Um, a sheriff’s deputy went out to the ranch the night of the shooting and was turned away by the secret service.
neil
Looks like this one is over.
WHITTINGTON [from his hospital bed]: It is?
neil
Press thinkers, Dick Cheney did not make a mistake. He followed procedure— his procedure.
Might that have been a mistake, though?
Lines
Sorry, OCSteve, but for penetration to have reached the lining of the heart the distance DOES matter.
I’m telling you that there is no possibility that a 28 guage 7 1/2 at 20 yards or 30 yards will reach the heart through 2 or 3 layers of heavy-ish clothing. A 28 guage is designed for close quarters, a shorter barrel and a full choke still would leave little energy for the momentum required to penetrate through the chest cavity to lodge against the lining of the heart.
So how about Ms. Armstrong’s lies about being an eyewitness, but having to run from the car thinking that Cheney had a heart attack, which is it?
Why are you so willing to accept the lies on this story and let it be washed down the memory hole, but you can probably recollect 20 facts about Silverwaregate that would make Rush Limbaugh stand back in awe?
Mac Buckets
No, it’s a cover-up because Cheney is Satan incarnate, and all good people hate his gun-totin’ guts! Everyone who says that Cheney wasn’t on a meth bender and swearing to kill Whittington is lying to cover up. The sheriff also lied to cover up something, I’m sure. That reporter who did the ballistics test? Lying to cover up. Intrepid White House reporters (the only people we can really trust to tell us what is true) will no doubt uncover two or three shallow graves out in that field where Cheney buried the other people he shot that day who didn’t survive like Whittington.
Oh, and the reason this hunting accident is important to the nation is because Cheney might come for you next.
Pooh
I’m surprised the banner for the FNC interview wasn’t Mission Accomplished!
Mac Buckets
Why should the police be contacted for a hunting accident? Seriously, I don’t get that one. I went on a fishing trip where a kid put a hook in someone’s face — we never thought to call the cops about it, because no crime had been committed.
Pooh
If this isn’t a joke, it’s the single stupidest talking point I’ve seen. I mean ever. Darrell would be ashamed to spout that one.
Stormy70
But, but, but….Halliburton!!!! Ackkk! B-b-b-bush!
Game over.
Slide
Brian:
Yeah, he really showed the media something. lol Lets see… he showed them so much that Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan thinks Cheney should resign. Dick Morris speculates that alcohol might have been involved. Marlin Fitzwater said he was appalled by the whole handling of this.” comments that were echoed by Ari Fleischer.
Yep Brian, that Cheney sure did show the press something..lol
Otto Man
That’s the best you’ve got? You’re sure you don’t want to compare shooting a man in the face, neck, and chest and triggering a heart attack to something else? Stubbing your toe?
I’m not positive about the Texas law, but in most states any shooting victim brought into a hospital must be reported to local law enforcement.
HH
“HH: clueless moron, or incompetent troll? You be the judge!”
Nice to be called that by a total illiterate…
Otto Man
Nice to see Stormy bringing her usual debating skills to this one.
Boy, I have no response to that kind of informed and reasoned argument.
Nikki
“There’s three ways to do things: the right way, the wrong way, and the Max Power way.”
“Isn’t that the wrong way?”
“Yeah, but faster!”
Paul L.
Looks like Mr. Whittington is about to lose his poor victim status with the Press/Left.
Cheney Shooting Victim to Give Brief Statement
Check
Whittington has deep ties to GOP
Prediction/Question
Laura
Cheney goes “hunting” on a 50,000 acre ranch, where wealthy “hunters” drive their cars around, hop out and shoot at little birds for pleasure, using guns that cost about the same as my Subaru. He shoots a guy, but instead of calling his boss (who happens to be the president of the United States), or telling the press and the American public, he cuts a deal so he doesn’t have to talk to the sheriff until the next day, and then he and his party have a nice dinner on the ranch. His excuse for not going to the press is that he wanted to get the information out correctly, but his hostess lied about no alcohol served and she claimed to have been witness to the mishap and blamed the victim, then later claimed she thought the secret service were running because Cheney had heart problems, so we still don’t know what the hell really happened. Yep, it’s the press’ arrogance and elitism we need to worry about.
Otto Man
Nice one, Nicky. And sadly appropriate.
Jorge
Seriously. In MacBuckets world, all you have to do to kill your spouse is to take them camping then shoot them with a hunting rifle. Or hit crush their skull with a baseball bat in the backyard and say “I was playing baseball and she walked right into the bat.”
HH
Oh right, the NRA crowd is so peeved at Bush and Cheney that they’ll give their full support to the likes of this from now on…
Mac Buckets
If you’re not even positive, Otto, then why all the dismissive posturing? Either the police were required to have been called or they were not (anyway, it seems that the sheriff was called). Maybe someone has an answer out there, although I suspect no one is really concerned about answers here.
Jorge
If I can link to a DKos or Thinkprogress post that says otherwise does that mean I’m right?
John
On the off chance you are serious…
A hunting accident does not need to be reported. A gunshot accident does have to be reported. Texas state law requires notification of the police for all gunshot accidents. Failure to do so is a felony.
Otto Man
You’re not positive either, and dismissive posturing works for you.
Or is it only allowed if I use your patented brand of ChimpyMcHitlerBurton! type of hyperbole?
Slide
McBuckets:
You can always count on MacBuckets to say something very very stupid, but this really tops the cake. So we shouldn’t call the police when someone gets shot in the face by a shotgun and is put in intensive care for a week with shot fragments embedded in his heart? lol. We’ll just ASSUME its an accident? Who makes that decision? The shooter? What a fucking moron.
Hey, I was in law enforcement for over 20 years. ALL shooting gets investigated. Everone that comes up what appears to be a shooting is requird by law to report it to the police (doctors, nurses, etc). An investigation will ALWAYS be conducted IMMEDIATELY to DETERMINE if it was an accident or not. It is OUTRAGEOUS that the local law enforcement authorities didn’t demand to speak with the shooter as soon after they were notified as possible. Law Enforcement 101.
Even hunting accidents can have criminal culpability. A hunting accident in which the shooter was intoxicated and did not follow accepted hunting protecol may be subjec to a criminal charge involving a ‘reckless” state of mind, or criminal negligenct state of mind. Happens all the time.
Using MacBuckets stupd concept, someone driving that gets into an accident seriously injuring someone else shouldn’t be investigated because it was just an “accident” right? The driver didn’t intentionally try to injure someone. but we do IMMEDiATELY investigate. Why? To determine if the driver was intoxicated and if he followed the rules of the road. Accident or not.
The Bush apologists will stop at nothing to defend this bunch of incompetent that are currently running our country into the ground.
tb
Last time I checked Cheney was a public servant, and therefore has an obligation to be straight with the American people. If he shoots someone in the face, I’m sorry, but we goddamn well have the right to some details about just what the hell happened.
Mac Buckets
Great analogy, Jorge…except that no one died, and there were eye-witnesses who knew there was no intent on Cheney’s part. Besides that, just brilliant!
Jorge
Do you think if Kerry gets drunk and shoots one his campaign contributors the die-hard NRA crowd will believe he is a true hunter? Cause Kerry might just do it.
Jorge
You mean Cheney’s mistress who fled the country, the ranch owner who liead about being an eye witness or the guy being shot at?
Because if you remeber swiftboat logic, the person that is actually being shot at is incapable of knowing the circumstances about the event and whether it is friendly fire or not. I’m just trying to keep the logic straight- cause in summer of 2004 Bush supporters were saying that if you were being shot at then you wouldn’t actually be able to know what was going on.
Jorge
Plus Mac – Your point was that if it a “hunting accident” then the cops don’t need to be informed. By that logic, the people involved in the shooting get to make the determination and not the cops. Therefore, eyewitnesses are irrelevant. It’s on the honor system.
jaime
I always wondered what kind of dipshits would come out of the woodword to protect Bush at all costs if he shot a man in the face point blank on national T.V.
I guess I kind of got my answer. It must be comforting to have a king.
Otto Man
What Cheney did fits the definition of assault, according to the Texas criminal code:
Slide
Bucket head:
According to the Texas Health and Safety Code, Section 161.041. MANDATORY REPORTING OF GUNSHOT WOUNDS:
Probably a similiar law in all 50 states.
Slide
As an education to the morons like MacBuckets, an investigation is conducted to determine that that shooter did not act recklessly or with criminal negligence even if it is clear it was not an intentional shooting. Here is Texas’ definition of those two mental culpable states (each state is a little different)
Now if you don’t investigate in a timely manner (as soon as possible) it makes it quite difficult to determine someone’s mental state at the time of the shooting. Being DRUNK can be part of being reckless and anyone that has gotten a DUI knows. Oh, Cheney got TWO of them didn’t he? Seems like doing dangerous things while drunk is not a stretch for big DICK is it now?
Mac Buckets
Your witless insults aside (as always), I’m not talking about whether it would’ve been a good idea to call the police. I’m asking whether it’s required by law.
So what determines whether the cops are required to be called immediately? How the person got hurt? How severe the injury was? Show me a statute, and I’ll believe you that it was required to bring in the police. I seriously don’t know.
So some friends of mine and I are out four-wheeling and two guys get tangled up, resulting in a wreck and an injury to one of them. We’ve got to call the cops immediately? If that’s the case, I’ll bet this is one of the most-broken laws in rural America.
Slide
bucket brain I posted the statute above.
Otto Man
It doesn’t matter. Cheney, like Bush, is above the law.
Laws are for the common people.
Jorge
Goodness, just because a law is frequently broken does not make it any less illegal. You know, like torture and wiretapping with out a warrent. :)
Mac Buckets
Thanks for the cite, Slide, although I would argue that not knowing Texas legal codes doesn’t make one a moron. I guess it proves the old saying: Ask an a-hole a question, get an a-hole answer.
Darrell
All the Texas Penal code requires, at least the portion you rest your hair-brained assertions on, is that the physician report to the police. In many cases, hunters get sprayed and never go to the doctor. No report necessary
And even after a physician reports it, it’s up to the local police to determine what level of “investigation” they want to pursue. An investigation could be a phone call: “hey Joe, what happened?”, answered by “he was accidentally shot, he’ll be fine”. Unless other evidence surfaces, that could be it.
But as everyone on the left knows, Cheney intentionally shot Whittington because he threatened to expose Cheney’s affair with ambassador Pamela Willeford. If there is any doubt as to whether the leftists posting on this site are unhinged loons, just re-read this thread
Slide
a gunshot wound is quite different than another type of injury your moron. I would venture to say that most injuries in a motor vehicle or fishing incident are “accidental”. I would also assume that most gunshot wounds are not. There is a high degree of probability that someone that got shot, got shot intentionally. The necessity for a timely and thorough investigation into all shootings is something that everyone recognizes. Unless of course you are a blazing moronic Bush apologist.
I imagine Texas had a tad more intentional shootings last year.
Darrell
case in point
Pooh
Yes, he was mean when he posted it, therefore the statute doesn’t count. If the police investigated, Mama Alito would cry, and that would give aid and comfort to the porno hounds who we have to fight over here so our boys can make torture-pr0n over there. Whittington’s illness is in its last throws anyway. Why am I objectively pro-quail?
Steve
I find it amazing that conservatives believe it would be in their favor to dissuade the national media from their practice of getting the news spoon-fed to them by Republican politicians.
Not a single scandal ever broke in the WH press room, unless you count that Jeff Gannon guy. If you want to give up on controlling the flow of information to the media, and leave them to actually go out there and do investigative reporting, you very well might create a better press corps but that doesn’t mean it will be to your political advantage.
Pooh
Ooh, the Senator is here. Perhaps he can tell us what happense when they merely wing someone while on a lobbyist funded CoDel to Happy Times Fun-Shootin Ranch.
Faux News
The former, not the latter.
Jorge
As my three year old says, “uuuuhhhh burrrnnnn.”
jaime
A 4 wheeling accident is not the same as shooting someone in the face. Are you completely stupid or pulling a Hannity so the little inconveniences don’t have to be addressed because you refuse to recognize them.
Otto Man
I don’t think those options are mutually exclusive. Certainly not in Hannity’s case.
The Other Steve
Well it looks like the righties are once again trying to underplay the story so as to not look bad, but in the attempt are making themselves appear incredibly stupid.
Let’s get a few things straight, so we can move on to what’s important.
– A hunting accident which sends a person to the hospital has to be reported, yes even in Texas. This was confirmed for me the other night by someone from the Texas Wildlife dept interviewed on television.
– Me calling it the ‘Texas wildlife dept’ when the name is in fact ‘Texas parks and wildlife dept’ does not make me a liar. Nor would it if I called it the Texas DNR, because around these parts that’s what we call the agency responsible for parks and wildlife, the Dept of Natural Resources.
– I don’t care how far away Cheney was with the gun when he shot. 10 yards, 20, 30… more. It’s not relevant.
– While I certainly understand that Cheney hates the media, given that they have this nasty tendency to keep pointing out when he’s lying, I also don’t have a problem with him going to local paper and not the national media. There’s nothing wrong with that, and yes I do think the national media is a bit upset because they aren’t being considered “important”. Well good, maybe they’ll stop treating this administration with kid’s gloves and dig into the real stories.
– What I do have a problem with is waiting 18 hours, and then not letting the Sheriff’s dept question him at the time of the shooting, but making them wait a day as well.
– It is not unreasonable to speculate that Cheney was drinking. After all, he was unwilling to talk to anyone at the time of the shooting, and as well as know, and as pointed out by Jorge’s story about Afleck and Damon… when some celebrity denies access to police for 18 hours you can pretty much bet it’s because they were drunk. They’ll have an interesting cover story, but you know they were drunk. Especially when they have a history of being drunk, such as Afleck does… or also Dick Cheney.
– Coming out and claiming it was the victim’s fault for not announcing himself is bullshit. This just proves that Cheney isn’t a veteran hunter, but a hack.
I’m willing to correct any of you asshats who are trying to underplay this, or over play this.
I hope Cheney has learned something from this, and next time he’s out hunting he’s more careful.
jaime
You know no one has made that claim. It’s better to knock down a fake argument with all of your might than attempt to deal with the real questions. With the thoughts you’d be thinkin’ you could be another Lincoln.
aguywhothinksjohnissometimeswiseandothertimesanass
If it was just a freak accident, there was no crime and the incident is not that important. If Cheney was drunk or acting in some other type of reckless manner, he is guilty of assault.
That is the issue and that is why the 18 hour delay and conflicting stories are relevant. Is the vice president a felon or not?
Mac Buckets
Ask Slide, the guy who made the analogy.
Otto Man
Slide raised the comparison of driving, while you’re the one who changed it to a 4-wheeling accident.
Slide
MacBuckets
I made the analogy? lol… righ bucket brain.
jaime
Slide raised the comparison of driving, while you’re the one who changed it to a 4-wheeling accident.
Let’s give Mac the benefit of the doubt. ATV’s and Cars both have 4 wheels. Mac isn’t completely dishonest.
Mac Buckets
And it was reported to the sheriff, right?
Cheney never said any such thing — only Katherine Armstrong said anything about it that I heard.
Nonsense. If you were drunk and a politician, you’d wait for five or six hours until you were sober, and then you’d get in front of every camera you could bring in to show that you weren’t drunk (anymore).
Mac Buckets
Do you push 4-wheelers where you’re from? Dude, you’re trying too hard.
Mac Buckets
You must be drunk. Short-term memory loss:
aguywhothinksjohnissometimeswiseandothertimesanass
Mac and slide just chill. How about if it was a dune buggy and it happened in the Dominican Republic? Does that analogy work better? Would you have to call the polizia?
Slide
Is it me or is the right wing getting dumber and dumber by the day? I know they have NO GOOD NEWS to talk about. Iraq is a total disaster that even the “we’re making progress” lines get snickers whenever it is tried. Democracy in the mideast is a booming success with Hamas winning a landslide election. Medicare prescription plan is another Bush flop. Katrina report by REPUBLICANS is blistering. Polls are in the crapper. Abramhoff. Wiretapping. Plame leak. 24 year old drop outs telling veteran scientists what they can and cannot say. It just goes on and on..
Tell me all of you right wing morons that still support this weak, incompetent, venal president. what ARE you proud of? What has this adminstration done that you can point to that makes you get all warm and fuzzy? lol..please… I am most curious?
jaime
Mac 4 wheelers can be driven by ten year olds. Also, no license is required to drive them. I’m sure you knew that.
According to his latest version of the story, Armstrong made the statment with Dick Cheney’s blessing. That was the way he wanted the story handled. She was the one to detail the accounts of the accident. And the account OK’d by Cheney was that it was Whittington’s fault for getting shot.
Otto Man
Christ, you’re pathetic. You took the driving comparison and downplayed it to the four-wheeling accident. I’ve been in one of those on a back road, and we got up, dusted ourselves, and laughed it off. Are you telling me the same thing could be true of a car accident on the highway?
Seriously, can we get some smart conservatives in here?
Richard 23
That would make it around midnight that Cheney would be out “in front of every camera.” That would seem almost as weird as waiting 18 hours.
That and Cheney downed at least one cocktail after the incident. Maybe he had several, necessitating the further delay before chatting with the police.
The cocktail(s) after the incident were probably for plausible deniability and steadying the nerves (or maybe he was cold).
As has been said before, after a drunken accident, get thee to a bar and down some drinks fast in front of witnessess so it’s impossible to know if you were intoxicated at the time of the accident.
OCSteve
The sheriff’s report, page 4:
So I guess the sheriff is in on it.
I don’t assume everyone involved in this is lying. I assume it was an accident. If you are going to co-opt the secret service into a cover up I am sure they could do a better job than this. Wouldn’t they have the distance exactly right for the weapon and wounds? Surely they wouldn’t leave any loose edges for experts to pick at. Why have the veep pulling the trigger at all? Surely someone there would have stepped up to take the fall. If you’re going cover up go large…
aguywhothinksjohnissometimeswiseandothertimesanass
At least I don’t have to worry about the DEATH TAX anymore and just in time for the coming Armegedon.
Mr Furious
The only “loony’ in the thread who said anything of the sort is you, Darrell.
Otto Man
And, of course, his speechwriter, Sen. John Cornyn.
Slide
and his spiritual advisor, Pat Robertson
OCSteve
Final point to the opposition party… Careful what you wish for. What happens if you do get Cheny’s head on a platter?
DeadEye steps down. Bush replaces him with the next anointed GOP presidential candidate who then gets 2 plus years as VP. Now in 08, instead of running your candidate against a Republican Senator or Governor – you’re running against the white house incumbent. That would be a huge advantage.
Hell, maybe this is all a Rovian plot…
jaime
#1 Everyone assumes it was an accident. Don’t invent our arguments for us.
#2 This cover-up was the best that they could do in the time they had. You would think Nixon would have destroyed all his tapes during Watergate, but he didn’t. A bad cover-up is not an indication of a lack of one.
#3 When “sticking to a story” it’s best to have it as close to the truth as possible. You’ll notice all of the principals involved have refused any real grilling. “The Other Woman” has fallen off the face of the earth. The owner of the Ranch was not an actual eye witness at all, but close enough for an air of truthiness, Cheney took 4 days before allowing Britt Hume to be graced by his presence. And Whittington himself doesn’t remember the accident refused to be taped and didn’t take any questions.
Darrell
Many of you kooks on the left have been asserting Cheney was having an affair with the ambassador. Even suggested on this very thread among other places
Jorge
And who appointed Armstrong to be the press spokesperson for the event?
StupidityRules
OCSteve said:
Running for president after having been Bush’s VP would be like swimming with cement shoes.
Davebo
Aerosmith Remix…
Cheney’s got a gun
Davebo
A huge advantage? Yes. To the incumbent party? With this administration’s track record? Hardly.
aguywhothinksjohnissometimeswiseandothertimesanass
Why is believing that maybe Cheney would like to have sex with another woman a looney opinion? Isn’t the idea that he or anyone would like to have sex with Lynne the real crazy conspiracy?
jaime
Quote of the week:
“My family and I are deeply sorry for all Vice President Cheney and his family had to deal with this week. …We hope he will continue to come to Texas and seek the relaxation he deserves.”
-Harry Whittington
Talk about taking one for the team. I’m sorry you had to deal with the pain and hassle of shooting me in the face? This is all just…odd.
Mr Furious
Nope. Slide made a good point. And that analogy presupposes (to me) that the accident occured on public roads, involved licensed drivers operating registered and insured vehicles, and a clear set of traffic statutes ready to be applied. Also, one driver likely causes the accident and is rules at-fault, and one is completely blameless except for the misfortune of being out on the road.
Full Buckets took that and turned it into two yokels of any age that know each other and choose to, together, engage in risky behavior, that may or may not have or need licenses, that may or may not be driving registered and insured 4WD trucks or simply ATVs, off-road, with no indication of the seriousness of the accident or injuries. Yeah, it’s possible that if that accident occurs in the forest, nobody may hear it or need to know. But it is nothing like the scenario mentioned by slide.
aguywhothinksjohnissometimeswiseandothertimesanass
Jaimie: I could see someone saying something like “No hard feelings, it could have happened to anyone” but that statement is just odd.
Mr Furious
Jesus, if these righties are going to go all the way, how about the drunk driver who cracks into somebody and speeds off. The eighteen hours that Cheney took would allow the driver to not only sober, up, but even get the body work done on his car… “What accident?”
Pb
OCSteve,
I’m all for experimentation–and the last experiment I heard of concluded… probably 15-18 feet. Not that I trust Alex Jones, but the nice thing about experiments is that others who are interested in the truth can try to reproduce them as well…
Darrell
Such a rational and coherent analogy
Mr Furious
Oh, and John’s prediction about some loose cannon pol “overplaying his hand” on the Cheney incident just came true…
jaime
No. You’re suggesting that liberals are seriously saying Cheney shot Whittington because of this ‘affair’. You know for a fact no one suggested that. You also know for a fact that the only other person with Cheney has not been questioned and Lynne has not uttered a word to her husband’s defense which is unusual for her.
You take an honest point of contention (Cheney’s missing lady friend) and then lie and add a fake accusation (liberals are accusing Cheney of murder) so you can spare yourself the hard work of making any sense.
Mr Furious
Just expanding on some of the fine work done by you righties, Darrell.
HH
Applying the logic used this week by so many on the left, clearly the comments made by many of them were done in a drunken stupor and/or to cover up an affair. Also, they must beat their wives. There is simply no other plausible explanation. Wow, this lefty logic is fun!
aguywhothinksjohnissometimeswiseandothertimesanass
Why is the distance relevant? The closer he was, the more stupid and reckless Cheney becomes.
Jorge
Ocsteve –
That is an interesting report. It definitely clarifies a few things –
1. No police officer talked to Cheney the evening of the events. The officer, Captain Kirk (snicker), was not allowed on the premises.
2. The Sheriff then called a member of the hunting party but not an eyewitness– an ex-sheriff Ramiro Medellin – who told him it was an accident and that was good enough for the sheriff.
3. A field sobriety or BAC test was not administered.
4. What everyone agrees to – which is that Cheney did not mean to shoot anyone – is true.
Yes, I feel very confident that Cheney was not drunk or impaired when he shot this man accidentally.
aguywhothinksjohnissometimeswiseandothertimesanass
HH, You are an ass.
Jorge
As Billy Graham put it, I won’t even have lunch alone in a public restaurant with a woman who is not my wife.
Do the politicians have a rule kind of like the gangsters in “Goodfellas” – Vacations are for wives, hinting trips are for girlfriends.
jaime
No these are honest questions raised out of Dick Cheney’s refusal to talk straight to the American people. He has a history of being a proven liar. Those who are not skeptical of anything this man says are sycophants of the worst kind. His flat out disdain for the public is repaid with undying devotion. Why?
Rusty Shackleford
The White House couldn’t blame the Democrats or Liberals for this story so they blame the press. What a bunch of horsesh1t.
Armstrong’s story is different then Cheney’s. Facts have been scrubbed and then reappear – like the drinking.
The Republicans want this story to go away – but Americans in general want to know what the hell is going on. This story is symbolic of all the bullsh1t we’ve been fed. WMD’s are a slam-dunk (maybe not), nobody could’ve predicted the levies would break (they did), the White House had nothing to do with the leaking of Valerie Plame’s identify (they did). And on and on and on.
Congenital liars.
There is a double standard in this country that is obvious. If a Democratic VP had shot a man after drinking, didn’t report the story for almost a day and was at a secluded ranch with a woman that wasn’t his wife Republicans would be screaming bloody murder. The self-flaggelation on FOX News alone would make us all puke.
Darrell
Was Cheney hunting “alone” with the ambassador? No? Well, you loons certainly have a point then
Otto Man
Our points may seem loony, but at least they’re our own.
Why don’t you go see if Cornyn has said anything on this matter that you can plagiarize?
Darrell
I don’t think you lefties realize how whacked, how irrational and unhinged you truly are
Brian
Whittington got released from the hospital today, stating that he’s sorry to see that the Cheney family has had to go through the scrutiny it has this week. If Cheney’s gone on the record, the victim is fine and has no issues with Cheney, and the police report clears the case, then this is over. It will stay alive only through the hairpulling of the elite media who are pissed to no end that they were out of the loop on this, and the leftists and the few conservatives who think some sacred right-to-know about a private matter has been breached.
The fourth estate hates Cheney. This has been true for a very long time. You can candy this up all you want to make it taste palatable as some citizen-interest story, but it stands only as a power play between the media and a powerful vice-president that they cannot tolerate. They want any “gotcha” they can get on Cheney. To add fuel to it, he carries a gun and is a Republican. Why should Cheney put himself in front of this firing squad? I wouldn’t.
This week, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court handed down a ruling against the Baltimore Sun. The Governor of Maryland didn’t want to deal with the Sun, and the paper didn’t like it, so they took him to court. The Sun lost. If Cheney wants to talk to some small-circulation paper to get the word out, fine. He doesn’t have to go to the NYT as a first resort. The fact that he didn’t though, is what this is all about.
jaime
Wait, one of the 20% of this country that LIKES Dick Cheney is calling me unhinged? One of the 20% of the country that thinks Iraq is going great, irrational. I hope you have a number to a good suicide hotline this November.
Brian
If so, then don’t perpetuate it. If you felt that Clinton’s behavior was a “personal matter”, then Cheney’s should be as well. Leave it alone. Fuck off.
Mr Furious
Not a good week to be a famous macho-man out hunting… [story link]
LITBMueller
Or, something like that. :)
Mr Furious
Monica didn’t end up in the ICU with something lodged in her heart after Clinton “shot” her.
[sorry folks, it was too easy]
jaime
Cheney’s approval rating is NINETEEN PERCENT. Everyone hates Cheney except bootlicking fanatics like you. This may be “over” but Deadeye Dick is a national joke.
As to the “elite media” Fox doesn’t count? The highest rated cable news channel is the underdog? The little guy? Like John Stewart said…”You’re the Empire”
aguywhothinksjohnissometimeswiseandothertimesanass
The fact that the wives and the ambassador our silent while rumors are floating around says something. Why doesn’t Lynne Cheney defend her man?
As someone who drinks from time to time and who had a DUI 15 years in his past, the 18 hour delay and the “I only had one beer” defense smells of booze to me.
LITBMueller
Does this extend to felatio over pizza and cigars between the President and an intern? And the fact the President lied about so he wouldn’t get caught by his wife?
Just asking…
jaime
Cheney almost killed a man and you compare that to consensual sex? You’re sick.
Mac Buckets
And until you show me how the law is different between a four-wheeling accident and a car accident, the comparison stands. Christ, I’ve never seen such willful ignorance and lack of intellectual clarity as I’ve seen on this board today.
Where are the lefty first-stringers today? Why must they leave us with the scrubs?
Mac Buckets
By the way, Cheney’s daughter is still a lesbian.
jaime
Why? When someone pulls out a statute and a link to it, you’re just going to move the goal posts and make them find another statute.
ATV’s are regulated but unlicensed vehicles which can be…What the hell. You know exactly the difference. You get it, but you’re king needs to be defendant and that overrides your common sense.
aguywhothinksjohnissometimeswiseandothertimesanass
That was a very cheap shot MacBuckets. How dare you out Mary Cheney as a lesbian. What kind of a man are you?
Mac Buckets
Yes, I intentionally made my analogy more apt with regards to the Cheney situation than Slide’s car-wreck thing. See how that works?
Side-note: A tried-and-true way to tell if someone is a lightweight is whether they make a “hilarious” spoof of your screenname. “Full Buckets” might be the lamest one yet.
Pb
Whaddaya want, we aren’t gonna call ya “Big Mac”… :)
jaime
“Big Mac” Well, Mark McGwire is a steroid taking loser and liar. Maybe it is appropriate.
Mac Buckets
Like I did with Slide, above? Ohhhh, no, wait, I thanked him and accepted the statute at face value. Nice attempt at deflection, though.
Of course, I know the difference regarding licences, but you know that’s not the question. I don’t think it’s evident that the licence or lack of same has anything to do with any assumed legal responsibility to call the police after injuring someone with the vehicle. That’s an assumption you haven’t backed up yet, although it mat be true.
aguywhothinksjohnissometimeswiseandothertimesanass
MacBuckets, MacSuckets, GoFuckets, MacBucketO’Shit, DoyouwantfrieswiththatMacBucket?
Mr Furious
Point taken (even for a lightweight like me).
But, the difference is this. You and your buddies crack up “four-wheeling” in the woods, even if you’re each driving fully registered and insured Hummers, unless you are going to try and make an insurance claim, or you need extracation from a vehicle by the fire department, I suppose you can get waway with lying at the ER that the broken leg is from falling off a ladder, or even being honest since you weren’t breaking any laws when driving off the road.
This is not the same thing as a hunting accident. Gunshot wounds get reported, period. Because there needs to be a determination if a crime was committed. Even Dick Cheney himself would have to admit that he didn’t exactly go out of his way to facilitate that investigation in a timely fashion, so you shouldn’t try and do it for him.
They ran out the clock on all the physical and forensic evidence, and stalled long enough to get the stories straight (sort of, until they changed a few things…) How do you even know if Cheney fired the gun? GSR test a day later? Is that admissable or accurate? Verify whether or not he’d been drinking? Not anymore. Isolate witnesses to get separate statements? Not so much. Whittington isn’t even required to make a statement until he checks out of the hospital.
That’s an investigation? This whole thing was the very definition of a whitewash. Be honest enough to at least admit that, righties. The stories may all be true, but they were handled badly enough to introduce doubt at every single step. That’s Cheney’s fault, not the media’s aor anybosy else’s.
Mr Furious
Cripes.
Note to self: Use the preview and fix typos…
jaime
Macbuckets Earlier:
Macbuckets now:
I don’t see a thank you in there MacBuckets and it sure does look like you asking for another statute. Every king needs a loyal subject.
Richard 23
What if you shot your friend in the face with a shotgun and spilled your Hamms or Schmidt beer during a rollover in your offroad four wheeler without a license?
ec1009 fka aguywhothinksjohnissometimeswiseandothertimesanass
Richard 23: I would wait 18 hours before alerting the local media.
Slide
the bucket boy is really struggling today trying to make any king of cogent argument. Just watching him try to is quite entertaining.
Brian
Wrong, dickshine. It’s the issue of him being with another woman. Cheney didn’t almost kill a man. the guy just left the hospital. Does every person who enters a hospital also enter a “almost dead” list?
Anyone with the IQ of a cucumber can figure this stuff out. Why can’t you?
Slide
hmmm…. how many days in intensive care? a chunk of lead in his heart causing heart attack? yeah… nothing to see here move along…lol..
Brian
I consider the elites to be the major papers (NYT, WaPo, LAT) and the major networks. Some entity that’s only been around 10 years can’t be considered “elite” and more than Britney Spears’ music is considered “classic”. The elite thinking comes from certain priviledges and practices that have been in obervance for decades, and the networks and the major print media are the only ones who have enjoyed that.
Think about it though, maybe some at Fox were upset too, even though eventually they got the interview. They didn’t get notified by Cheney either. Kind of fucks up your little bitch-session, don’t it?
Mr Furious
No, but I bet most on the list of “Patients with gunshots to the face, heart attacks and 78 years old” can be cross-referenced with it.
jaime
Dick Cheney almost killed a man. Birdshot penetrated to his heart. He was in the ICU. How many of those pellets could have hit an artery?
He was shot and every doctor interviewed about this on every news show, including Bush’s former HHS director relayed the utter seriousness of this condition. The only people who feel otherwise are sycophant bootlickers and Dick Cheney who’s concern only made it to the stiff drink and Cozy quail dinner and not the hospital.
Of course I’m arguing with the kind of people that thought all Terri Schiavo needed was water and she’s be as right as rain and sending their kids to be arrested.
You know, the sick side of me would have liked to have seen what would have happened if these morons actually made it to her room and drowned her with a bottle of Sparkletts.
Brian
Heart attack? Says who? What doctor who saw the patient said he had a heart attack?
Stop being such a goddamn fool, will you?
HH
“No these are honest questions raised out of Dick Cheney’s refusal to talk straight to the American people. ”
“Raising questions” gives you the right to “question” about drunkenness and affairs without the first shred of evidence, aside from “Lawrence O’Donnell knows some lawyers.” Right.
And just a reminder, hunting accidents usually do not result in criminal charges. Perjury, however, does.
Oh I’m sorry I didn’t add the necessary left spin. “Shot a man (just to watch him die!)” is worse than mere consensual sex.
ec1009 fka aguywhothinksjohnissometimeswiseandothertimesanass
HH: You are still an ass.
ec1009 fka aguywhothinksjohnissometimeswiseandothertimesanass
Actually, hunting accidents are more likely to result in charges than purgery. Purgery is rarely prosecuted. Oh, HH you are still an ass.
ec1009
HH and MacBuckets, If Cheney drove a car off a bridge, left a girl to drown, and waited 12 hours to call the police would you defend him? If Cheney had sex with his intern and lied about it would you say it was a private matter. I think in both cases you would.
jaime
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137834092492
Brian, you are utterly worthless. I accept your retraction.
DougJ
Now that Whittington has finally apologized for getting shot, I hope we can move on.
DougJ
OC Steve, something tells me you’re not an expert on penetration.
Richard 23
jamie, way to ruin a thread. next time use an anchor tag.
And lol, Dougie!
ec1009
Will Cheney accept his apology?
Mac Buckets
Either you’re being disingenuous, or your’e just not that bright. That post of mine was before I saw his cite. And this was after:
See how that works, or should I use smaller words? That’s OK, jaime — every board needs a lightweight scrub.
jaime
I apologize for getting part of my response to you wrong.
jaime
DougJ, you should check out the caption on Drudge.
VERY GRATEFUL
Mac Buckets
It was, and there was no crime…would you like to suggest one?
I never said anything of the sort — I was just wondering if there was a legal requirement for Cheney to immediately call the cops…and so far, I’m getting a “no,” although the attending physician should’ve called them, which I guess they did.
Do you really think that the police are going to be notified and arrive in ten minutes or something? The law dosn’t even allow for that, as the hospital has the responsibilty of calling the police, and the hospital wouldn’t come into play for some time after the accident. Everyone would still have the necessary time to “get their stories straight,” if such a thing were even necessary.
Did his statement today alleviate your doubts of a crime being committed?
jaime
Mac, You turn this…
into this:
I’m guessing you played a lot of the Telephone game as a kid.
Pooh
There’s precedent here. Did Aaron Burr call the cops within hours of shooting a man. I’d go so far as to say neither he, not his ‘people’ ever picked up the phone. So really Oswald CobblePresident went above and beyond the call here.
Otto Man
Nice Penguin reference.
Pooh
As John Stewart said “MRAH peppered you pretty good there. MREAH!”
Steve
I’d be surprised if you have an obligation to report a gunshot accident yourself. The hospital has the obligation, sure.
The reason why car accidents resulting in injury have to be reported, why it’s a crime to leave the scene of an accident, etc. have a lot to do with the fact that you have no “right” to the public roads and thus you’re subject to a lot of extra conditions if you decide to use them. If something happens on your private property, I doubt the same obligation to call the cops applies.
skip
The press’s first interest is getting the story first, good or bad. Cheney alienating the press may make him feel empowered for now, but making enemies needlessly is a bad idea—something neither he nor the Whiet House seems to understand.
Kyle
But he’ll hit somebody else.
(This is from pretty far upthread, but what the hell.)
Brian
Jaime, that is not a quote from a doctor. It is a quote from a reporter. Since you don’t know this, “heart attack” is not even a medical term. The man did not have a “heart attack” any more than he had his face blown off.
You’re a fool of the first order. Some gotcha you presented there, dude.
Mac Buckets
Look, Jaime, either learn to read, or get over your Fatal Attraction with me (both wouldn’t be bad). I didn’t turn anything into anything — I just happened to mention both questions in the same post. I never claimed they had anything to do with each other — in fact, that was my whole point.
Steve
What is your problem here? Seriously, you’re practically foaming at the mouth.
Maybe you need to do a little better job of articulating why you are correct and everyone else is a fool, because I’m sure not following. Or maybe you should call for an investigation of the emergency room chief, because he’s obviously not a “real” doctor.
Brian
This is like talking to children…….
The good doctor you quoted ALSO said that it is not a heart attack in the traditional sense, in other words, not life threatening. The context in which it has been sued on rabidly left websited like this is that the guy was just a millimeter from kickin’ the bucket.
Sorry, man. Whittington didn’t die, even though it was your desired scenario. The man is out of the hospital, this issue is done.
This is for the major media, like the NSA issue was with Congress, a power play. They got scooped, they hate Cheney, so they raised a ruckus and you got caught up in it.
Let it go.
Steve
Right, so basically, all your spluttering vehemence about the guy not having a heart attack was wrong. I appreciate that you now want to make a different point though.
Otto Man
Damn, Brian’s been pwned.
Brian
You kids act like you made some point. You haven’t.
Even if the guy had a heart attack, in the traditional sense of course, not the school nurse’s office sense, it makes not one whit of difference on the real issue about this being about NOTHING.
jaime
Yeah. You are a willing bootlick apologist that would rather make themselves look utterly foolish than admit they were wrong.The man had a heart attack, asymptomatic or not, it was a hearrt attack.
You’re also a liar. You have absolutely no proof that liberals wanted Mr. Whittington dead. The only people expressing this are bootlick apologists who don’t understand the big deal of the Vice President of the United States Shooting a 78 year old man in the face…and neck…and heart. Congratulations you are one of the 19% of this country that don’t despise Dick Cheney.
Man, if you want a king, there are plenty of other countries to live where there subjects are thrilled to be graced with his majesty’s royal shotgun.
Bruce Moomaw
Well, one could dismiss Cheney’s behavior during Fuddgate as simply being his characteristic arrogance (as John suggests) — except that, as Mark Kleiman points out, he also refused to talk to sheriff’s deputies until the following morning. This may be just another mark of his megalomaniacal arrogance (the man seems to think he’s a Bond villain; I’m surprised he doesn’t contantly have a Persian cat on his lap) — or, as Kleiman suggests, it may be because he wanted time for his blood alcohol level to drop.
We’ll never know, of course. But this incident does provide additional confirmation that, should you ever meet him, it would be wise to keep your back to the wall at all times. (And I do NOT regard that fact as a laughing matter; the country has already paid for it, and will almost certainly do so again.)
Otto Man
I think you’re missing the point because you’re it. It’s been made pretty clear to everyone else that you don’t have a clue.
Noelie
You people on the left have to be plants. I mean really you can’t possibly be this stupid, clueless or koolaid drinking.
IT WAS A RUDDY ACCIDENT! More of one than the car ride a young woman took with Kennedy years ago, but I haven’t seen you folks get to hot under the collar about that one, because Kennedy has kept his incompetant arse in his job since then, without any of you asking questions of his moral judgement, thanks to idiots like you.
You are such flaming hypocrites.
Otto Man
Wow, another reference to Chappaquiddick. I’ll say this for conservatives, you sure to stick to your talking points with ruthless efficiency. Now that we’ve gone back to that incident, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before one of you pipes up with “but Robert Byrd was in the Klan in the ’40s!!!!”
Yes, this was an accident. Nice strawman. No one here is saying otherwise.
What’s troubling here isn’t the accident but the cover-up. This incident is all about the secrecy, the lies, and especially the contempt for law and the public’s right to know that the second highest ranking official in this country shot a man in the face. The incident is symptomatic of this administration’s general feeling that it’s above the law and doesn’t need to be accountable to the common people.
Whatever. Keep pushing this line. Bush’s approval ratings are in the 30s again, and Cheney’s will soon be plunging into single digits.
Richard 23
Noelie, we discussed Chappaquiddick at length in another thread back in 1969. Maybe you’re new here.
You aren’t Noelle Bush by chance, are you? If so, lay off the Xanex.
Assistant Village Idiot
Worked my way through the whole damn set of comments. Plenty of gratuitous insulting language on both sides — which is usual, I suppose. But also as usual, though there is “plenty” there is not an equal amount. Those criticizing the President and Vice President are nearly unable to comment without having to veer off into unnecessary added accusations. Even when they start with decent information, worthy of consideration, they just can’t stay off the stereotypical moonbat language.
This is what you Just Don’t Get. As soon as anyone descends into that, I, and others interested in finding several sides of an issue, just write off what you write before and after that. You immediately tell me that you are an unthinking, biased observer. 187 Responses thus far, and when you take out the ones that include some gratuitous insulting idiocy, almost nothing remains from the left side of this argument. Dick Cheney isn’t doing that to you. Limbaugh, or Hannity, or conservative trolls aren’t doing that to you. You are volunteering to look stupid all by yourselves.
There are lots of examples here of gratuitous insult from the side that think’s Cheney’s explanation may be defensible. I’ve been to right-leaning sites where I’ve made a similar complaint to this one.
Not very often, though.
Taking this comments section as a distinct data-set, the final tally says more than the VP’s critics would like.
Get a grip.
Darrell
Agreed. The coverup of Kennedy’s criminal negligence was unforgiveable. Negligence in not reporting the accident immediately took away any chance of survival that Mary Jo Kopechne had.
thanks to the wealth and power of the Kennedy clan and their contempt for law, the truth of what happened died with Mary Jo Kopechne
Otto Man
Thanks, Senator Cornyn!
JJ
Very Very Astute post (I should say this to Jay Rosen)!!
There is an answer coming to the decline of the news industry. Check it out:
http://www.makethenewsbetter.com/
Mike L.
You libs are farking morons.
He shot his friend, he’s sorry, its over.
You are so lame.