Posted on 02/13/2006 2:04:02 PM PST by presidio9
- The first shooting involving a vice president since the time of Aaron Burr has lit up the blogosphere with political jokesters lampooning Vice President Dick Cheney's weekend hunting accident as "Quailgate."
"You know who's doing a 'there but for the grace of God go I'? Scalia," wrote comedian Al Franken on his Web site, referring to Cheney's longtime duck-hunting friend, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
The Internet sprouted with offerings of "Dick Cheney hunts people" T-shirts and comments about calling the vice president "Deadeye Dick." There also was a version of the vice-presidential seal featuring a shotgun-wielding Elmer Fudd in hunting gear, with the inscription: "Be vewy vewy quiet, we're hunting I-wackies."
"Guns don't shoot people. The vice president shoots people," read one posting. The site Davezilla.com lampooned the difference between a hunter in a bright orange vest, and a quail.
Sarah and Jim Brady, founders of a leading gun-control group, blasted the vice president for his staunch support of guns.
"Now I understand why Dick Cheney keeps asking me to go hunting with him," Jim Brady said in a statement. "I had a friend once who accidentally shot pellets into his dog - and I thought he was an idiot."
"I've thought Cheney was scary for a long time," added his wife Sarah, who campaigned against the vice president in the last election because of Cheney's record opposing gun-control measures when he served in Congress. "Now I know I was right to be nervous."
Animal-rights groups suggested that Cheney give up bird hunting. "We don't quite understand his obsession with shooting animals, and we'd advise him to pursue a less violent form of relaxation and get on with the important business of leading the country," said Wayne Pacelli, president of the Humane Society of the United States.
On the Internet, some commentators were quick to point out the shooting incident was the first involving a vice president since Aaron Burr, vice president to Thomas Jefferson, shot Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in an 1804 duel in Weehawken, N.J. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, updated its article on the Burr-Hamilton duel this weekend, adding the sentence: "In 2006, Richard Cheney, while on a hunting trip in Texas, became the second vice president to shoot a person while in office."
Some political pundits forecast political fallout from the injuries sustained by 78-year-old Harry Whittington, who walked into shooting range behind Cheney during the quail hunt Saturday and was hospitalized with pellets in his face.
"I'm very thankful Whittington is doing fine," said commentator Michelle Malkin. "Unfortunately, this is very bad news for the White House - and not just because of the inevitable late-night jokes that will inundate the airwaves over the next week. The Dems will exploit this accident to smear Cheney as incapable of being trusted, weak of mind, etc. The resignation rumors will fly again. And the biography of a man who has served this country so well and so honorably for so many years will be overshadowed by a single, ill-fated hunting mishap."
"It's not like he drove off a bridge and left a woman to drown in his car," commented Matt Margolis on Blogs for Bush.
Political commentators on Web sites opposed to the Bush-Cheney administration lost little time getting into the fray. "Guns don't hurt people," said one blogger on DailyKos, a left-of-center Web site, mocking the National Rifle Association. "Megalomaniacal insane ... vice-presidents hurt people."
Another blogger speculated that Cheney had never had to take mandatory classes in hunter safety because he managed to get five deferments, a reference to Cheney's success in avoiding the military draft during the Vietnam War.
At Political Cortex, deeper efforts to cover up the incident were discerned:
"So, what we have is an event shrouded in secrecy for almost 24 hours which, when disclosed, was accompanied by a fawning statement by a Bush apparatchik exonerating Cheney from any and all blame and/or liability. Thus, this appears to be yet another example of the Bush administration attempting to manipulate the press and perhaps hide the truth. What really happened on that ranch yesterday? Who the heck knows? What we do know is that, regardless of what actually happened, the administration spin-doctors immediately jumped in and crafted a story that put Cheney in the best possible light. And the 'traditional media' reported that story without any skepticism whatsoever."
Cheyney is aleady a lightning rod, this didn't do any damage. What? Was he going to win over Jon Stewart any day now?
The victim wasn't a personal friend. It looked like this was the first time they'd met.
...Cheney is the 3rd VP to shoot somebody.
1) Aaron Burr, under Jefferson, shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel
2) Richard Johnson under somebody...shot a famous Indian Chief.
Sorry about my short term memory...what was I saying?
Huuummm, I thought Jim Brady could only say "ACCCKKK< ARRRGGGHUL". He must've made a miraculous recovery since I last saw him.
Teddy doesn't shoot, does he? That's a redneck exercise, or so I thought.
If it were Teddy doing the shooting, that's the angle I'd want to explore.
"Be vewy vewy quiet. I'm hunting wascawwy Wepubwicans!"
Not to get too technical, but Mary Jo didn't drown, she suffocated in the air pocket of the car as she waited for help to arrive.
Then I was misinformed. I did understand correctly that Mr. Whittington is a longtime Republican, though, yes?
When Harry got off the cart he said "Dick I'm behind ya". The Veep must have heard "I'm Adam Clymer".
I have an intense need to steal that and make it a tagline in some form!
Actually, there isn't. It was a quail dressed up as Whittington and Cheney took a preemptive shot before he could fly away.
This quote could be used as a case-study for why liberal radio is a failure. Frankin's joke has to be explained by the reporter because no one in his audience is well-enough informed to get it on their own.
"First thing, we kill all the lawyers."
I was asked about this first thing this morning at work (my coworkers know I'm a conservative). I said the guy he shot was a lawyer, so I wasn't getting too excited over the incident. :-)
She doesn't have brain damage. She's just a @#%&.
Just heard on the local FOX news channel
...Cheney is the 3rd VP to shoot somebody.
1) Aaron Burr, under Jefferson, shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel
The single most tragic shooting in U.S. history. President Hamilton would have been a gold standard benchmark for the ages.
Hell if I know.
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