Oooops

[richlevy]

From here.

Cheney Accidentally Shoots Fellow Hunter

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, spraying the fellow hunter in the face and chest with shotgun pellets.Harry Whittington, a millionaire attorney from Austin, was "alert and doing fine" in a Corpus Christi hospital Sunday after he was shot by Cheney on a ranch in south Texas, said Katharine Armstrong, the property's owner.

He was described as in stable condition by Yvonne Wheeler, spokeswoman for the Christus Spohn Health System in Corpus Christi.

Well, that's one way for the GOP to take care of it's problem with lobbyists. The big question is whether or not Cheney will rush through tort reform before the guy wakes up and sues him.

[Aliantha]

I think it's terrible that someone got shot, but I just couldn't help laughing when I heard that it was big Dick that did the shooting.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

I think it's terrible that someone got shot, but I just couldn't help laughing when I heard that it was big Dick that did the shooting.

I guess we know the real reason for all of those deferments during Vietnam, the guy can't shoot straight. They were probably happy to let him stay home.

[Aliantha]

lol...maybe

[Beestie]

I think the guy was either a lobbyist or a contributor whose "support" fell juuuuuuuuuuuuust a little short this year.

[BigV]

In the face.

Ouch. "Peppered pretty good" I heard it described.

Beestie, you crack me up.

[Happy Monkey]

Imagine the media if it had been Kerry. He was ridiculed for even going hunting!

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

Imagine the media if it had been Kerry. He was ridiculed for even going hunting!

No, he was ridiculed for dressing up in a brand new camo outfit for an obvious photo-op to try to give the fraudulant impression that he goes hunting a lot and is gun-friendly.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3762770.stm

Cheney, OTOH, frequently goes hunting, and Whittington "...shot a bird and went to look for it in the tall grass, as his hunting companions walked to another spot where they found a second covey of quail. Mr. Whittington 'came up from behind the vice president and the other hunter and didn't signal them or indicate to them or announce himself,' Mrs. Armstrong told the A.P." -- NYT

Not good hunting safety...but he *was* actually *hunting*...not primping for cameras.

[Elspode]

Kerry's dressup was almost as humorous as Dubya's flight suit and "Mission Accomplished" drag show.

[richlevy]

I wonder if Justice Scalia will be as eager to rejoin Cheney on his hunting trips? Imagine the confirmation fight over the his replacement if Cheney had shot him.

As for this -

Cheney, OTOH, frequently goes hunting, and Whittington "...shot a bird and went to look for it in the tall grass, as his hunting companions walked to another spot where they found a second covey of quail. Mr. Whittington 'came up from behind the vice president and the other hunter and didn't signal them or indicate to them or announce himself,' Mrs. Armstrong told the A.P." -- NYT

it brings up the uncomforatable choice of startling someone with a loaded gun or not letting them know where you are. So when Cheney wheeled and shot, did he do it with his eyes closed?

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

No, he was ridiculed for dressing up in a brand new camo outfit for an obvious photo-op to try to give the fraudulant impression that he goes hunting a lot and is gun-friendly.

Perfect example. Now imagine that multiplied by shooting someone in the face.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by richlevy

...it brings up the uncomforatable choice of startling someone with a loaded gun or not letting them know where you are. So when Cheney wheeled and shot, did he do it with his eyes closed?

If you don't know how to let someone with a loaded gun know where you are without startling them, don't go hunting. I'd guess Whittington was trying not to spook the game, but ended up concealing his presence only from the rest of the party. Quite possible that the reason that the covey flushed was that Whittington walked right into them.

I wasn't there, but It sounds like Cheny "wheeled and fired" while tracking an airborne target. At that time he presumably wasn't scanning the brush for hunters stealthing around in the aformentioned tall grass, and apparently caught Whittington with the edge of his shotgun pattern.

[jinx]

Originally Posted by richlevy

So when Cheney wheeled and shot, did he do it with his eyes closed?

I wonder if he said "Go fuck yourself!"?

[NotAnAngel]

You have to wonder if the old Judge isnt far better off having just been "Sprinkled" by Dick... I have a sneaking suspicion had HE been the one doing the Whoopsie Sprinkling, he would be lying in a morgue looking like dead perforated tea bag. I think Dicks circle of hunting buddies just shrank.. I say he restricts his hunting to Crawford Texas from now on.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by Elspode

Kerry's dressup was almost as humorous as Dubya's flight suit and "Mission Accomplished" drag show.

If you fly in the cockpit of an S-3, you wear a Nomex flightsuit (and the other gear); it's required.

Damn, if I could catch a ride in an S-3, I would. Closest I've ever gotten is when my then brother-in-law (at the time a SAC navigator) bribed an Air Force instructor pilot with a bottle of cheer to give me (and my ex-, both of us pilots) an hour's time in a KC-135 simulator.