It is news because he is the Vice-President, but it is not news that should have lasted this long or been reported on that much.

Hmmm, it seems to me that the brother of a former president once drove off a bridge and killed a woman while drunk. Wasn’t there something about the man not reporting the accident in a timely manner? I’m sure that was all just a big misunderstanding and just conservatives making a mountain out of a molehill.

Deb,

In this case, not only was no one killed, but the local law enforcement authorities were notified in a timely manner. They determined that no law was broken. The only folks not immediately notified were members of the White House press corps. That’s what they were upset about.

No equivalence here.

Joe,

Come now, what would the media do without hyped up news "stories"???

You mean the Vice President of the United States shot someone in the head? I have been busy, and had not heard of this! Thank you, NLT, for keeping me updated!

When I first read your post, Joe, I thought that there must be some mistake, but now I have checked the web, and found that there IS no mistake. The Vice President of the United States shot someone in the head!

I will do my best not to add to the hysteria. Especially since I have learned (right on the heels of the news that Dick Cheney shot a lawyer in the head) that this apparently happens all the time. It happens so often that we probably should not refer to it as a "shooting," but rather as a "peppering." Kids pepper each other all the time.

Now, when my son recently took a hunter safety course, he was apparently told to try NOT to shoot his friends at all -- much less in the facial region. He was told that hunter safety was important -- even if the other hunter is an old lawyer.

So, I will tell my boys to continue to respect human life -- despite Dick Cheney’s example. And I will try not to make light of this terrible episode, or to contribute further to the hysteria. I will concentrate on serious matters, like getting a blow-up of Jack Abramoff’s bearded countenance at an intimate meeting with George and Karl, for my scrap book.

Some days, its fun to be a Democrat!

The victim of Cheney’s shooting skills has suffered a heart attack as a result of the accident. Knippy, tell his wife to move on.

Oh, I see. So, it’s all about repetition of the word "peppered." That sounds so trivial, hell, almost benign! You might want to use it for the next report of some Iraqi family getting blown up or gunned down - "they were inadvertently over-peppered!"

Mr. Knippenberg, your story of the student brothers peppering each other more than once (maybe it’s time to find new hunting partners?) could come right out of some hillbilly parody on Saturday Night Live. I hope the student was exaggerating. Did this student suffer from intermittent pangs when the shot pellets (peppercorns?) would rub against his aorta, or if he’d raise his hand to blame Clinton for yet another current scandal (perhaps the Abramoff debacle)??

I’m not a big fan of the hypothetical comparative hypocrisy game, but I wonder what the press reaction - and the reaciton on the right - would have been in 1996 if Al Gore had shot someone while hunting (all but domestic) quail and the White House tried to blame the victim. Think that there would have been calls for impeachment of him, too? Just wondering.

Peppered is the correct term for it is birdshot.

Again it is news, but it shouldn’t have legs and it won’t have legs.

Accidents happen. You can argue that he shouldn’t have shot, but then again, it appears that the one shot was more in the wrong that the V.P.

No one is saying for the wife to move except for you.

What I am and others are saying is that the media uproar over this is over the top. Seriously, the amount of vitriol from the press is overkill.

What we are seeing before our eyes is the that the press, in general, is reverting to its normal form of yellow generalism. The notion that news folks should be unbiased and objective may have been noble, but that has not been the practice of the industry since its inception.

Maybe I am wrong, but that is the way it appears to me.

If the poor man dies, it is a tragedy of sorts, and everyone should lay off.

Otherwise, it’s hilarious. I’m somehow not surprised that the VP is not such a great shot. And it’s the ultimate excuse: "I’ll be in Austin tomorrow unless I’m accidentially shot by Dick Cheney." Nobody really thinks he did it on purpose, and nobody really believes he has any business out there hunting. I read somewhere that Haliburton demanded that he take up some kind of business hobby, and he chose hunting over golf. A reasonable choice given how boring and pointless business golf is, but maybe now one that should be reconsidered.

Pete, I’m not sure you’ve got your sources but I ran a LexisNexis search and found a 1991 New York Times article mentioning Cheney’s elk hunting in Wyoming. BTW, 1991 predates Halliburton. I also saw a October 2005 Chicago Tribune article regarding the death of Mr. Armstrong (he was the owner of the ranch in South Texas where the recent accident occurred) and it stated that Dick Cheney had known the Armstrong family for approximately 30 years and they hunted there many times in the past.

Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska and raised in Casper, Wyoming. Hunting is rather popular in Wyoming (it was probably more so in the 1950’s and 1960’s). Heck, I even think the guys in Brokeback Mountain did a bit a hunting.

INVESTIGATE MSNBC

Go to Google News and type in the following:

there may be a beer or two in there

Note that the subheader mentions the beer allegation as portrayed when the story was first posted. Now click the link and read the story.

MSNBC has an OBLIGATION to report the NEWS.

Claims of beer at this hunt serve to provide one very compelling explanation for the Secret Service preventing the local Sheriff from interviewing Cheney until the following morning (Obstruction of Justice).

Who instructed that this information be removed from MSNBC’s web site?

We need that persons name and we need their actions exposed. Did they receive instructions from anyone in the Bush Administration? The Justice Department? Who is the webmaster that actually scrubbed the information? What is this person’s name? What is their story?

This action has become part of a conspiracy to withold evidence of a crime from the authorities.

MSNBC has inserted itself into a story, not about a shooting...but a COVERUP.

INVESTIGATE THE CO-CONSPIRATORS.

Seriously, the amount of vitriol from the press is overkill.
-------------------------------

I have to say, I find the tone of your article and other comments pretty cavalier.

Clinton lied about a consenual blow job and people went on about it for YEARS, heck some don’t appear to be over it even now:-)

When the VP shoots someone with a shotgun, and then 20 hours elapse before the story comes out and we hear that police with relevant jurisdiction were "turned away", it all strikes me as VERY newsworthy.

Your take on this is bizarre, at the very least.

This is an unfortunate incident, but it occurred during a perfectly legal form of recreation. It wouldn’t surprise me if a beer or two was involved...but a beer or two does not make you legally drunk. We should feel sorry that any of this happened and be concerned about the man in question...but it really shouldn’t be a "gotcha" opportunity for Libs and the press. Unfortunately...

we need to face it...any blood in the water is enough for these sharks. They have no sense of propriety, no sense of honor, and no sense of decency. They will take this incident and make it emblematic of the "bloodthirsty" nature of the GOP, or the Bush White House, etc. It will be used to associate Bush and Co. with drunken, murderous rednecks. It will be used to exemplify how trigger-happy and reckless Bush and Co. have become. Just prepare for it...we are living in an age when honest accidents are just more grist for the hate-mill.

Oh, come on Dain! Aren’t you bothered in the least that local law enforcement authorities were denied access to the scene and the involved persons for more than ten hours? Now I’m starting to think that you’ve been "peppered" one too many times yourself!

Dain is right. Why should anyone take advantage of a momentary weakness -- an honest mistake -- just a little buckshot between friends? Certainly, Republicans are above using a mistake by their oppositions for their own benefit.

In that spirit,I want to report that there were two shootings in my city yesterday, and neither one of them involved a White House Official.

In fact, since the Cheney "peppering," I don’t think that anyone from the White House has been known to shoot anyone else! That’s like, two days without a shooting! Hysterical lefties.

Fung, you said "some days it is fun being a Democrat". If the past couple of days are fun, I will surely let you Democrats have your fun. I’ll have fun with election days like the ones in 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002 & 2004 and days like when Alito & Roberts get confirmed.

Go ahead, Jmont and Fung, dehumanize Cheney...it’s what you’re used to, and it’s what you enjoy. Have you even once thought how he feels about this? This is a terrible thing to happen to a man with a weak heart...I for one am concerned about him.

As for the delay, you vultures circle the Bush White House day and night. This defensive reaction surprises you? Doesn’t surprise me at all.

Cheney only needs to apologize to the man he shot and the man’s family, not to the world via an interview. MOVE ALONG, NOTHING TO SEE, please. Like Johnny Weir and his serving attitude - perhaps he forgets that he representing the USA when he disses conservatives, telling us we "should be scared" of him. Princess - wouldn’t stay at the Olympic village because there was no one to handle his bags. I find myself rooting for the amazing Russian skater...I’m surprised that interview last night prior to the men’s short program hasn’t trumped Cheney’s hunting incident. But then again, Weir is a darling and people don’t like Cheney.

Many of you are right. Compared to Tom DeLay, new pictures of Abu Ghraib, Scooter Libby’s investigation, Karl Rove’s pending investigation, the apparent disintegration of Homeland security, Jack Abramoff’s buddies on deck, WMD-egg-on-face syndrome, the Vice President shooting an old lawyer in the face and heart, is pretty small potatoes.

What is funny (beyond the intrinsically humorous fact that a nasty, snarling, fat-cat, Halliburton swindling, go F yourself SOB has embarrassed himself and his President) is how you all rally around his droopy flagpole. Many of you have even blamed the victim -- a favorite right-wing tactic! You have suggested that "peppering" happens all the time -- another favorite frat boy trick, when the hazing fraternity is caught with its pants down, and the photos of the elephant train (strangely Abu Ghraib-like) make it into the paper.

So, yes, pchuck, thank you for "letting" us have some fun. Next time we want your permission, we’ll let you know. Maybe you should hold your breath until that happens.

"Have you even once thought how he feels about this? This is a terrible thing to happen to a man with a weak heart...I for one am concerned about him."

Dain?? Are you there? Is that you? You are sharing your feelings of concern for frail Dick Cheney? This is a new, unsettling development, like when my wife-beating good old boy neighbor cries at a Garth Brooks love ballad, or my other neighbor sheds a couple salty ones when his dog dies after spending its miserable life dodging kicks while tethered to a stake in the dirt by a 3-inch chain.

Are you sure you’re not becoming one of them ho-mo-sex-ials?

Looking at the title of this post, I have to wonder, is it Cheney or his mindless, sycophantic minions here at NoLeftTurns who are deranged? Surely, wanting to get some details about the incident in which the (Vice)-President shot someone in the face, neck and chest with a shotgun and didn’t immediately reveal all of the details to authorities, surely that is not deranged. I know the crew here would expect, in their ideal world, that the media would just shrug their shoulders and instead write a reflection on Dubya’s valiant military career, but that’s not reasonable. There was most certainly a "there" there, to put a twist on the defense you all have had to trot out with some regularity the last few years.

Actually Dain, your claim that the incident occurred during a "perfectly legal form of recreation" is questionable. Take a look at this incident report form and you can clearly see that the "Yes" box is checked by the form question "Game Law violated?" Cheney did not have the required game bird stamp, and thus violated P & W (Parks & Wildlife) Code 43.652, which states:

"a person may not hunt a migratory or upland game bird in this state unless the person possesses the appropriate migratory or upland game bird stamp, as applicable, issued to the person by the department"

So, even if this fellow who has two drunk driving convictions wasn’t imbibing at the time of this incident (which is all but impossible to know for certain due to the delay between the incident and actual contact with the police), he was still violating the law. So, let me guess, do the VP’s "inherent wartime powers" (or whatever elegant b.s. term you choose) make him exempt from abiding by this law, too, and therefore Cheney wasn’t really violating the law?

Also, Dain, I missed your response to my question in comment 15. Also, if you’d shot someone, wouldn’t you have accompanied him to the hospital? Cheney did not. Lastly, just to clarify, Dain, which man with a heart problem were you expressing sympathy for, Cheney the shooter, or Whittington, the man he shot?

Actually Dain, your claim that the incident occurred during a "perfectly legal form of recreation" is questionable. Take a look at this incident report form and you can clearly see that the "Yes" box is checked by the form question "Game Law violated?" Cheney did not have the required game bird stamp,

OHMYGOD!!! That SOB cheated the State of Texas out of $7. Dammit, let’s impeach the bastard! Get serious...he says he didn’t know about the stupid quail stamp, and I believe him. I know you won’t, but who cares?

Oh, come on Dain! Aren’t you bothered in the least that local law enforcement authorities were denied access to the scene and the involved persons for more than ten hours? Now I’m starting to think that you’ve been "peppered" one too many times yourself!

Am I bothered by the attempt to manage the situation to minimize the damage to the White House. In a word...NO.

Dain, which man with a heart problem were you expressing sympathy for, Cheney the shooter, or Whittington, the man he shot?

Both.

What is funny (beyond the intrinsically humorous fact that a nasty, snarling, fat-cat, Halliburton swindling, go F yourself SOB has embarrassed himself and his President) is how you all rally around his droopy flagpole. Many of you have even blamed the victim -- a favorite right-wing tactic! You have suggested that "peppering" happens all the time -- another favorite frat boy trick, when the hazing fraternity is caught with its pants down, and the photos of the elephant train (strangely Abu Ghraib-like) make it into the paper

Fung, I’m glad that occasionally the worms in your head dribble out of your mouth like this. For a man who rants and raves about rightwing authoritarianism, you make a good case for a leftwing version. I doubt a neo-Nazi rant on Jews could rival the venom you occasionally spew out. What a hypocrite you are...I suppose you don’t see that so long as people can de-humanize one another in this fashion that there will be no true peace. I’ve never seen true tolerance on the Left...just refocused bigotry. You make me ill.

I just read this from the AP:

"Law enforcement officials have ruled out alcohol as a factor, but have not explained how they determined it was not involved."

You ARE becoming delicate, these days, aren’t you? Getting the vapors because your hero the Vice President pleads ignorance of the law? Because he "had a beer with lunch" and then "peppered" his lawyer buddy? Because we’re making fun of him? I thought you had thicker skin than that!

Okay, everybody... be nice to Dain! He’s having a visit from his "friend!"

Ah, a sexist as well as a bigot. Why am I not surprised?

Dain- Where do you get your equations? Being angry = being authoritarian? Making fun of you = being a sexist? Noting consistent right-wing tactics = bigotry? I have worms in my head, but your noodle is working with top efficiency! Why don’t you defend someone who needs and deserves defending, instead of Dick Cheney?

What did you mean by "his ’friend’?" Come on, that’s sexist. And bigotry? We’ve been over this before...you hate white folks, particularly those who stand up for their rights and refuse to be manipulated by phony white guilt.

As far as anger is concerned, I suspect that authoritarianism is a form of anger...anger that the world doesn’t behave properly, anger at those who don’t meet a person’s expectations, anger at being threatened (real or imagined). That’s you, buddy. I feel sorry for you...almost.

This is evidence of the observation that we speak different languages. You suggest that I hate white people because I hate suppression and discrimination against non-whites. That may make sense for someone with about four functional neurons, but the rest of us can see through that kind of deflection in about four seconds. Anyone who speaks out for the elderly must hate the young. If I speak out against corporal punishment, then I must hate adults. What you are doing is called ’splitting," and children do it until they turn five or six. If Mom tells her kid not to pull the dog’s tail, then Mom must love the dog more than the kid. As I said, that makes sense to a four-year old, but most of us have developed since then.

Now, explain to me, if you would, the principle behind your charge that I am a sexist?

And finally, authoritarianism is NOT a form of anger. The two are completely orthogonal. It is possible to be both, and it is entirely possible to be one and not the other. One is a transitory state, and the other is closer to a belief system.

I just read that Cheney’s victim has just publicly apologized to Cheney and his family! What a world! What did they do, threaten to out his wife? Too bad that kid who was beaten to death in the Florida boot camp died before he was able to apologize to his murderers.

Ding Ding!! And Fung scores a knockout!!!

Well, obviously DH is easily impressed, and has NO idea how to "score" an exchange. Stick with the DU, buddy...you aren’t quite up to this blog.

As for sexist language, have you never encountered men dismissing women’s (often understandable) anger be reference to their period? Being visited by a "friend" is a common way of referencing menstruation, duh. Are you saying that’s not what you meant...sure, right. Care to explain what you actually meant?

As for anger and authoritarianism being orthogonal (ooh, statistical word...back off, man, he’s a scientist), BS. As if psychobabblists really knew anything about how deep-seated anger manifests itself in political orientations. Sell it to freshmen, dude.

But, unless I am wrong, you are not a woman! So, how am I being sexist, by referring to YOUR "friend"? Why didn’t you call me a homophobe when I suggested that you were a latent homosexual? Because you know that I am picking on both your hypocricy AND your intolerance for anyone but white, straight males.

And, speaking of scoring points: That BS salvo really shook my world!

You were obviously comparing me to a woman, a gender you obviously find inferior. You’re the one who did this, not me.

I notice you don’t cite any studies that statistically differentiate anger from authoritarianism. Where’s your proof that they are "orthogonal?"

I also find it (sadly) amusing that if you are on the Right and dehumanize someone you are a racist, sexist, homophobic authoritarian, but if you are on the Left you are a good citizen and moral human being. You should know enough sociobiology to know that the emotions are identical, and the ability of people on the Left to do this (at the drop of a hat) suggests that the Left doesn’t have the moral high ground after all. It’s just repackaged hatefulness.

Krauthammer said that the Cheney shooting incident was "hardly an affair of the state." But Clinton being fellated WAS?

Also, I see that former Republican senator Alan Simpson, an Ashbrook guest less than a week ago, had perhaps the most asinine quote regarding the incident:

"This is a hunting accident, created by the victim. Dick Cheney didn’t do anything. He’s a master hunter."

A master, eh? Scary.

Chris, dallying with interns WHILE ON THE JOB is a lot different than an honest accident while on vacation. Besides, Clinton lied about it in front of millions of people (and the grand jury)...he was a liar and a rake. He was also the POTUS, and doing this on the job and lying about it said something about his character and moral fitness for the job.

What Cheney did says nothing about his fitness or character. It was an accident, and this kind of thing happens every hunting season.

But you Leftoids just keep harping about it...no problem. This will hurt you much more than Cheney or Bush.

But you Leftoids just keep harping about it...no problem. This will hurt you much more than Cheney or Bush.

Of course, it is rarely the "master hunter" who gets hurt. More often, it is the prey. But, you keep on worrying about the guy with his finger on the trigger.....

As for your strange argument about emotions. I don’t need a study to support my statement that an emotion is not a social attitude, nor a belief system. And I don’t know what you mean by suggesting that "dehumanizing" someone is an emotion. Or, that anger = anger! What is that relevant to? Are you suggesting that anger over discrimination is just the same as anger because Dick Cheney has been picked on by the Left? So what? It is possible that there is a physiological "profile" for anger that would look the same in you as it would in me. The difference is that yours is triggered by events that you think will threaten white guys, and mine is triggered by events that include someone other than myself.

Fung, you have your head buried in the sand. You are angry about discrimination...why? Because you have an absolute morality in your brain, JUST LIKE THE AUTHORITARIANS! And you are angry because the world refuses to obey YOUR rules, JUST LIKE THE AUTHORITARIANS! And you are willing to use force (in this case, the government’s monopoly on coercion) to force people not to discriminate, JUST LIKE THE AUTHORITARIANS! In short, you are a Left-wing authoritarian, as are so many of your brethren.

No study? Not surprised...you tend to shoot from the hip quite often. Luckily I’m here to call you on it.

It’s really so amusing that Leftists never seem to see that they are just as "evil" as the people they stero-type. Indeed, this is the major psychic payoff for being liberal -- a holier-than-thou attitude that bolsters a weak self-esteem.

Or, maybe all that psycho-bull is just that, bull. Maybe liberals are just too stupid (or too emotionally overcome) to understand how things really work.

To start this off, I am not a big fan of Dick Cheney or this Administration. But to see this man get ripped to shreds over an accident is totally uncalled for. No one is more troubled about it the Cheney. This was his friend he injured so that has to make it all the more troubling for him.

Fung, to quote a t-shirt that Curt Shilling was wearing over the weekend: "I’m trying to see things from your point of view but I can’t stick my head that far up my ass."

t-shiirt

Dear 39-41. I just don’t know what to say. Such carefully crafted arguments! I am obviously out of my league:

"psycho-bull"

"This was his friend he injured so that has to make it all the more troubling for him."

"I can’t stick my head that far up my ass."

"Because you have an absolute morality in your brain,"

You geniuses win. I give.

We accept your concession.