VP Cheney accidentally shoots someone while hunting

[Stephanie]

Letterman had a field day on Monday night too. Too bad it was at the expense of Mrs. Cheney and their daughter. Very poor taste.

I don't stay up late to see these shows, though I like Letterman and Leno.

I agree that the family should not even be dragged into this.

[x-y-no]

I thought Letterman was in pretty poor taste too.

Jon Stewart, on the other hand, was hilarious.

[Skywatch_NC]

Mr. Whittington has been released from the hospital...as of 1 pm CT!

Eric

[gtalum]

That's good news.

[HurryKane]

He looks...colorful.

[Stephanie]

Wow! I'll bet that really hurts.

I'm glad to see that he's out of the hospital.

[Miss Mary]

Even though he's bruised and has scars from the shooting, I didn't expect Mr. Whittington to look this good. I certainly didn't want to wear street clothing after I got out of the hospital! I didn't even want to stand, let alone get dressed up. He's wearing a suit, as if he's going to Easter Sunday Mass or to a trial. So I was impressed when I saw his picture.

I'm just mostly glad he'll recover from this. What a week it was!

Mary

[arkess7]

Glad to hear hes OK!

Come on yall! yea letterman shouldnt have dragged his wife and daughter into it.......but gimmie a break.......it was funny.....and how many other people rag Bush and his family........its a given .......when something happens to our heads of the country, people are gona rag them.

[TexasStooge]

I'v ejust been sent this via e-mail.

Cheney leads effort to attack lawyers

KINGSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- the Bush Administration literally fired the first shot in its groundbreaking "No Lawyer Left Standing" initiative. Vice-President Cheney, hunting on a private lawyer ranch near Kingsville, Texas, bagged an impressive buck (Harry Whittington, UT Law '50).

Under the new program, hunters may take one in-house lawyer or three outside lawyers daily. There is no limit for trial lawyers. "We've just got to thin the herd," said the Vice-President. "We've tried tort reform and caps on damages, but people are still suing." Cheney added, "It's easy and fun. In Texas, you can shoot in almost any direction and hit a lawyer."

[Skywatch_NC]

I'v ejust been sent this via e-mail.

Cheney leads effort to attack lawyers

KINGSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- the Bush Administration literally fired the first shot in its groundbreaking "No Lawyer Left Standing" initiative. Vice-President Cheney, hunting on a private lawyer ranch near Kingsville, Texas, bagged an impressive buck (Harry Whittington, UT Law '50).

Under the new program, hunters may take one in-house lawyer or three outside lawyers daily. There is no limit for trial lawyers. "We've just got to thin the herd," said the Vice-President. "We've tried tort reform and caps on damages, but people are still suing." Cheney added, "It's easy and fun. In Texas, you can shoot in almost any direction and hit a lawyer."

Michael,

What's the source of this email article? Sounds like something more that Leno/Letterman would come up with.

Eric

[GalvestonDuck]

I think it's a joke.

[beachbum_al]

I know the press is having hey day with this story but on the serious side of the story Cheney should had known what he was shooting at. You always know your target and know what is beyound your target to make a safe shot. I hope people realize that this could had been more serious than what it turned out to be. Instead we could be talking about the man the VP killed.

I am sorry but my son was killed because a hunter did not know his target and made a grave decision which has cost my family and his family heart ache. I guess this is why I am just a bit touchy about this.

[Stephanie]

I'm sorry to hear about your son beachbum!

[george_r_1961]

I know the press is having hey day with this story but on the serious side of the story Cheney should had known what he was shooting at. You always know your target and know what is beyound your target to make a safe shot. I hope people realize that this could had been more serious than what it turned out to be. Instead we could be talking about the man the VP killed.

I am sorry but my son was killed because a hunter did not know his target and made a grave decision which has cost my family and his family heart ache. I guess this is why I am just a bit touchy about this.

Im very sorry to hear that. I do not feel the incident with the VP is a laughing matter. The VP feels horrible about it as well; I do not think its an act. This shows that even good people can make horrible mistakes.

[BEER980]

Now the SS reports he was drunk when he shot him.

[Skywatch_NC]

Now the SS reports he was drunk when he shot him.

What/who is/are the SS?

Also, I wonder how they would be able to confirm that he was actually drunk without having given him a sobriety test at the scene?

[vbhoutex]

SS is secret service

[Skywatch_NC]

SS is secret service

Thank you

[Skywatch_NC]

Now the SS reports he was drunk when he shot him.

Link please

[BEER980]

This hit the news yesterday and is on several sites, though the main stream media will ignore it for awhile. Due to past problems on the board I don't do links anymore. YMMV and 100% accuracy is not guaranteed.

Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Dick Cheney when he shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington on a hunting outing two weeks ago say Cheney was "clearly inebriated" at the time of the shooting.
Agents observed several members of the hunting party, including the Vice President, consuming alcohol before and during the hunting expedition, the report notes, and Cheney exhibited "visible signs" of impairment, including slurred speech and erratic actions.

According to those who have talked with the agents and others present at the outing, Cheney was drunk when he gunned down his friend and the day-and-a-half delay in allowing Texas law enforcement officials on the ranch where the shooting occurred gave all members of the hunting party time to sober up.

We talked with a number of administration officials who are privy to inside information on the Vice President's shooting "accident" and all admit Secret Service agents and others say they saw Cheney consume far more than the "one beer' he claimed he drank at lunch earlier that day.

"This was a South Texas hunt," says one White House aide. "Of course there was drinking. There's always drinking. Lots of it."

One agent at the scene has been placed on administrative leave and another requested reassignment this week. A memo reportedly written by one agent has been destroyed, sources said Wednesday afternoon.

Cheney has a long history of alcohol abuse, including two convictions of driving under the influence when he was younger. Doctors tell me that someone like Cheney, who is taking blood thinners because of his history of heart attacks, could get legally drunk now after consuming just one drink.

If Cheney was legally drunk at the time of the shooting, he could be guilty of a felony under Texas law and the shooting, ruled an accident by a compliant Kenedy County Sheriff, would be a prosecutable offense.

But we will never know for sure because the owners of the Armstrong Ranch, where the shooting occurred, barred the sheriff's department from the property on the day of the shooting and Kenedy County Sheriff Ramon Salinas III agreed to wait until the next day to send deputies in to talk to those involved.

Sheriff's Captain Charles Kirk says he went to the Armstrong Ranch immediately after the shooting was reported on Saturday, February 11 but both he and a game warden were not allowed on the 50,000-acre property. He called Salinas who told him to forget about it and return to the station.

"I told him don't worry about it. I'll make a call," Salinas said. The sheriff claims he called another deputy who moonlights at the Armstrong ranch, said he was told it was "just an accident" and made the decision to wait until Sunday to investigate.

"We've known these people for years. They are honest and wouldn't call us, telling us a lie," Salinas said.

Like all elected officials in Kenedy County, Salinas owes his job to the backing and financial support of Katherine Armstrong, owner of the ranch and the county's largest employer.

"The Armstrongs rule Kenedy County like a fiefdom," says a former employee.

Secret Service officials also took possession of all tests on Whittington's blood at the hospitals where he was treated for his wounds. When asked if a blood alcohol test had been performed on Whittington, the doctors who treated him at Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial in Corpus Christi or the hospital in Kingsville refused to answer. One admits privately he was ordered by the Secret Service to "never discuss the case with the press."

It's a sure bet that is a private doctor who treated the victim of Cheney's reckless and drunken actions can't talk to the public then any evidence that shows the Vice President drunk as a skunk will never see the light of day