Thread: Cheney shoots man on Texas quail hunting trip

Bias ?? What Media Bias ??

February 15, 2006
What Condition My Condition Was In[/b]

From a story filed by ABC News on the Cheney hunting accident, I noticed this status report on Harry Whittington’s condition.

Whittington, 78, suffered a mild heart attack Tuesday after a birdshot in his chest traveled to his heart, Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial officials said. He is still in the hospital's intensive care unit. A hospital spokesman said that was "strictly due to personal privacy issues," and that he was sitting up, eating regular food, and planning on doing some of his legal work today.

Now, let me say up front that getting shot is a serious matter, especially if you’re a 78–year old man. I’m not trivializing this. What concerns me is the disparate information coming from Mr. Whittington’s doctors and the media. The doctors, who know better than anyone involved in this matter, are painting as accurate a picture as they possibly can concerning the health status of Whittington. Yet, the media reports create the impression that Whittington is still in the path of death. As a result, the pot stirring continues, and speculation and what-if scenarios continue to grow hour-by-hour.

Just this morning I heard a sound bite from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who characterized Harry Whittington as a “very sick man”. How does this square with what Whittington’s doctors are saying about Whittington? I don’t want to get into a “what is the meaning of sick” debate here. I’m simply illustrating a serious gap in tone. What if Whittington was to appear today on video, “sitting up, eating regular food, and doing legal work”? Would anyone really think they’re looking at a “very sick man”?

I predict that we’ll see something exactly like this within the next 48 hours. Some brief video clip or sound-bite from Whittington will be released, probably with him smiling, laughing, and shrugging his shoulders over this whole thing. And then what can we expect, a story about Harry Whittington’s miraculous recovery? News about how a 78–year old man beat back a visit from Mr. Death? A honest account of Whittington’s real condition as opposed to the hyped drama?

Nope, we won’t hear, see or read anything of the sort. The New York Times will probably file a story which floats yet another conspiracy theory – like, this:

“Was the man identified as Harry Whittington in video released today really Harry Whittington, or a stand-in hired by the White House?”

http://www.punditguy.com/2006/02/harry_whittingt.html

Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha !

coming from a card carrying memeber of the ABB Club - that is the best joke I have heard all day !

Thanks for the laugh

Originally Posted by excuseme

Excerpts from an article written by John Nichols at The Nation:
#

Vice President Dick Cheney, who was forced to leave Yale University because his penchant for late-night beer drinking exceeded his devotion to his studies, and who is one of the small number of Americans who can count two drunk driving busts on his driving record, may have been doing more than hunting quail on the day that he shot a Texas lawyer in the face.

....

As with her over-the-top efforts to blame Whittington, the victim, for getting in the way of Cheney's birdshot blast, Armstrong's line on liquor smells a little more like an attempt to cover for the vice president than full disclosure.

Excerpts from the updated version:
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In a recorded, on-the-record phone call with NBC News, Armstrong said that beer may have been available at lunch that day. "If someone wants to help themselves to a beer," she said, "they may, but I did not see anyone do that," Armstrong says. She says she was not sure if there were beers in the coolers but wasn't ready to rule it out: "There may be a beer or two in there, but remember not everyone in the party was shooting," she told NBC News.

Armstrong added that she did not believe that Cheney or anyone else shooting in the hunting party had alcohol on Saturday before the hunting accident.

NBC News called the vice president’s office for comment four times Tuesday and Wednesday and asked whether the vice president or anyone in the hunting party had consumed any alcohol on Saturday prior to the accident. In an e-mail statement Wednesday to NBC News, the vice president’s press secretary referred NBC News to the Kenedy County Sheriff’s Department report on the incident. Later in the day on Fox News, Brit Hume stated that Cheney told him during a taped interview that he had had "a beer at lunch" before the hunting incident.
#

Hamsher's reaction at firedoglake to the update: "Big whopping kudos to readers who spotted the MSNBC scrub of Katharine Armstrong's "beer" comments yesterday, and also to everyone who contacted MSNBC about it. I have no doubt that the only reason Dick admitted to drinking a beer before shooting an old man in the face came because of that particular dust-up; he's not one particularly given to candor."

Hamsher also linked to blogger digby, who linked to a CNN article which also referred to the Vice President's consumption of alcohol last Saturday: "Armstrong had previously told CNN that she never saw Cheney or Whittington "drink at all on the day of the shooting until after the accident occurred, when the vice president fixed himself a cocktail back at the house.""

"Small Number" - I find this comparison laughable. How many times do you hear on the news about drunk drivers. Also, how many years ago was it that Cheney left college? I used to be able to drink a sailor under the table in my younger partying days....does not mean that I still can or do. I grew up.

"Over the top efforts to blame Whittington" - Yeah...I have seen her on the news ranting and raving that it was the "old man's" fault. She simply stated that the man forgot hunting protocal and basically walked into the line of fire. I have seen no Over The Top efforts on her part. She just explained what she witnessed.

"Beer may have been available" - Because she did not see Cheney drinking then she has to be lying.

" he's not one particularly given to candor" - Are we talking about the same man here? He just doesn't play the media's game.

"admitted to drinking a beer" - A beer does not compare to being drunk or being impared. Also, a beer at lunch? And the accident happened late afternoon? I do believe the buzz would have worn off a lot sooner than that...especially if the references to Cheney being a drunk were fact.

"she never saw Cheney or Whittington "drink at all on the day of the shooting" - Once again...I guess this means she is lying and trying to cover up.

"the vice president fixed himself a cocktail back at the house" - Heck, if I had just accidently shot my friend I think I would probably be having several "cocktails"

And let's not forget!! Armstrong is the daughter of the owner of Haliburton....lmao

Jolie from the reports I read you posted when exactly will the VP get his medal for shooting someone who forgot to announce they were there? And will the fact that the VP was hunting without the required 7.00 stamp required by law in that state make it more difficult for him to receive such an award?

Sheriff: Dick Cheney Won't Face Charges
19 minutes ago

SARITA, Texas - The sheriff's department closed its investigation Thursday into Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of a hunting partner and said no charges will be filed.

The Kenedy County Sheriff's Department issued a report that supports Cheney's account of the weekend accident that wounded 78-year-old lawyer Harry Whittington. Whittington, interviewed in the hospital, also assured investigators no one was drinking at the time and everyone was wearing bright orange safety gear.

Sheriff's dispatcher Diana Mata, speaking for the department, said the case is closed and no charges will be filed. She said Sheriff Ramon Salinas III, a Democrat, would have no comment on the report.

Texas authorities have been saying all along that the shooting appeared to be an accident.

Whittington was hit with shotgun pellets in the face and chest Saturday while hunting quail with Cheney on a ranch in South Texas. He is in a Corpus Christi hospital in stable condition after suffering a mild heart attack caused by a pellet that traveled to his heart.

Gilberto San Miguel Jr., an investigator with the Sheriff's Department, interviewed Cheney at the ranch a day after the shooting. San Miguel reported that the vice president shook his hand and "told me he was there to cooperate in any way with the interview."

The vice president said the sun was setting when Whittington fired at some quail and went to find his downed birds, according to the report.

Cheney said he walked about 100 yards and met up with the hunting guide. He said a bird flew behind him, and he followed it in a counterclockwise direction, not realizing Whittington had walked up behind him to rejoin the group. He said Whittington was about 30 yards away, on lower ground, when Cheney fired his shotgun.

"Mr. Cheney told me if Mr. Whittington was on the same ground level, the injuries might have been lower on Mr. Whittington's body," the investigator reported.

The investigator, accompanied by another officer, briefly interviewed Whittington at his hospital room on Monday. "I asked Mr. Whittington if we could record our conversation and Mr. Whittington requested not to be recorded due to his voice being raspy," San Miguel wrote.

The investigator asked for an affidavit, and Whittington said he would provide one when he returned home to his office in Austin. Doctors have said Whittington will probably remain hospitalized until next week.

Before a nurse asked the officers to "hurry up so Mr. Whittington could rest," Whittington "explained foremost there was no alcohol during the hunt and everyone was wearing the proper hunting attire of blaze orange," San Miguel reported.

Whittington said the shooting "was just an accident," and he was concerned all the media attention would give hunting in Texas a bad image, the report said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060216/...MzBHNlYwM3MDM-




Bush Satisfied With Cheney's Account
By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
22 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush is satisfied with Vice President Dick Cheney's account of his Texas hunting accident, a White House spokesman said Thursday, and Texas authorities said they had closed their investigation into the accident without filing any charges.

The Kenedy County Sheriff's Department released its report from Chief Deputy Gilberto San Miguel Jr., which said he interviewed Cheney the morning after Saturday's accident. Cheney explained that he did not see hunting companion Harry Whittington come up behind him and accidentally sprayed him with birdshot in the face and upper body while aiming at a quail, the report said.

Cheney told the story publicly Wednesday in an interview with Fox News Channel — his only public statement on the accident that occurred Saturday on a private Texas ranch.

Cheney described it as "one of the worst days of my life" and rejected the notion that Whittington bears any responsibility. "I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend," Cheney said.

Cheney also defended his decision to keep the shooting from the public until a day after it happened, allowing the ranch owner to tell a local newspaper about it instead of making an official announcement from the White House.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan declined to say Thursday whether the president felt the accident should have been revealed earlier.

"I think that the vice president clearly explained the rationale behind that," McClellan said, avoiding a direct response to questions about the timeliness of public disclosure.

"The president's satisfied with what the vice president said yesterday," McClellan said Thursday. "I think the American people are looking at this and saying, enough already," he added.

Cheney's decision to wait a day to announce the accident created a major public relations problem for the White House, with some Republicans even suggesting that it made the situation worse by suggesting the possibility of some sort of cover-up.

San Miguel wrote that his boss, Kenedy County Sheriff Ramon Salinas, called him about 6:30 p.m. CST Saturday, within an hour of the shooting, to say that he should report to the Armstrong Ranch Sunday morning at 8 a.m. to receive more information on a hunting accident there. It is not clear whether San Miguel knew he was going to interview the vice president.

San Miguel said he also got written affidavits from four other members of the hunting party, visited the scene of the accident and interviewed Whittington in the hospital. He said Whittington repeatedly said the shooting was just an accident, that there was no alcohol during the hunt and that he was concerned the case would bring a bad image to hunting in Texas.

San Miguel signed the report with a closed status on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The sheriff's department refused interview requests Thursday, and a dispatcher who answered the phone Thursday said no charges had been filed in the investigation.

Secret Service agents who were with Cheney did not file an incident report about the shooting because other law enforcement agencies were conducting the investigation, said Jim Mackin, the agency's deputy assistant director.

He also said it was the Kenedy County sheriff who decided not to interview Cheney on Saturday, but to wait until Sunday morning. "If they had said we're coming out now (Saturday evening), we would have facilitated it," Mackin said.

Mackin said a local officer had come to the ranch gate Saturday night to offer help after about the ambulance responding there, but left when officers at the gate said they were unaware of any emergency. The Secret Service says early reports that agents turned away deputies wanting to interview Cheney were wrong.

Cheney said he had had a beer at lunch that day but nobody was drinking when they went back out to hunt a couple hours later. Law enforcement officials have ruled out alcohol as a factor, but have not explained how they determined it was not involved.

Whittington remained in stable condition Thursday at a Texas hospital, two days after doctors said one of the shotgun pellets traveled to his heart and he had what they called "a mild heart attack."

___

Associated Press writers Kelley Shannon in Austin, Texas, and Lynn Brezosky in Corpus Christi contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060216/...MzBHNlYwM3MDM-


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On the Net:

White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov

Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com



Sometimes an accident is just an accident and a cigar is just a cigar.