Posted on 02/13/2006 8:58:59 PM PST by iPod Shuffle
Posted on Mon, Feb. 13, 2006
Cheney's companion at fault in shooting, White House says
By William Douglas
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - The White House blamed the 78-year-old man whom Vice President Dick Cheney shot during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas for the incident, as officials struggled Monday to explain why they waited nearly 24 hours before making the news public.
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan tried to absolve Cheney of blame for shooting wealthy Austin lawyer Harry Whittington, saying that hunting "protocol was not followed by Mr. Whittington when it came to notifying others that he was there. And so, you know, unfortunately, these types of hunting accidents happen from time to time."
Several hunting experts were skeptical of McClellan's explanation. They said Cheney might have violated a cardinal rule of hunting: Know your surroundings before you pull the trigger.
"Particularly identify the game that you are shooting and particularly identify your surroundings, that it's safe to shoot," said Mark Birkhauser, the incoming president of the International Hunter Education Association, a group of fish and wildlife agencies. "Every second, you're adjusting your personal information that it is a safe area to shoot or it's not a safe area to shoot."
Safe-hunting rules published by the National Rifle Association and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department echo Birkhauser's advice.
Cheney has a Texas non-resident hunting license, but he failed to get a $7 stamp that's required to hunt game birds, the vice president's office said in a statement Monday night. He has since sent a check to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to buy the stamp, the statement said.
Whittington was listed in stable condition Monday at a hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, with birdshot wounds to his face, neck and chest. The shooting occurred about 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Armstrong Ranch, a 50,000-acre spread in south Texas owned by friends of the president.
White House and Texas law enforcement officials haven't provided a detailed account of the incident. Katharine Armstrong, one of the ranch's owners, said Cheney, Whittington and another hunter got out of their vehicle to shoot a covey of quail. The third member of the hunting party was the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, Pamela Willeford, a Texan and a Bush family friend.
Whittington shot a bird and went to get it, breaking from Cheney and Willeford. Armstrong said Whittington then came up from behind without signaling, and as a covey flushed Cheney wheeled and fired his .28-gauge shotgun, hitting Whittington.
Whittington was tended at the scene by Cheney's medical detail before being taken to the hospital by ambulance.
Though the shooting happened Saturday afternoon, it didn't become public knowledge until Armstrong notified the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, her local paper, at midday Sunday. The White House then confirmed news media requests for verification.
The lag between the shooting and the reporting of it prompted questions about why a private citizen, not the government, was disclosing a shooting involving the vice president.
McClellan said Monday that Cheney's staff didn't immediately inform the media because the first priority was tending to Whittington's health.
McClellan said White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove told Bush around 8 p.m. Saturday that Cheney had shot Whittington, but McClellan said he himself didn't learn that Cheney was the shooter until around 6 a.m. Sunday. He said he urged Cheney's office to get the information out as quickly as possible. The news broke nationally about 3:45 p.m. EST Sunday.
Lee Anne McBride, Cheney's press secretary, talked Sunday about Whittington's condition and said the vice president had spoken with him and was pleased with his condition. But she referred most questions - from the names of everyone in the hunting party to what type of weapon Cheney had fired - to Armstrong.
"The vice president thought that Mrs. Armstrong should be the first one to go out there and provide that information to the public, which she did," McClellan said.
Cheney's office has a history of not sharing information with the public. Last month, it refused to specify the nature of a foot injury for which he was given medication that caused water retention and shortness of breath and sent him to the hospital.
"He's secretive by nature," said Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "It's a dumb thing for officials to do, especially someone as experienced as Cheney. Just imagine what Jon Stewart, Jay Leno and David Letterman are going to do to him for days. It's a self-inflicted wound."
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For more information about hunting safety, visit the National Rifle Association at www.nra.org, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department at www.tpwd.state.tx.us, and the International Hunter Education Association at www.ihea.com. For the first two sites, key in the search words "hunter safety" to access the rules.
That's why you don't pull the trigger when you are unaware of the location of every single member of your hunting party (of three in this case). Ever. I was taught that in sixth grade, in school, during our mandatory hunter safety course.
I was also taught never to shoot to the rear of the party; as you never know when someone will wander up behind you. Again, not ever. I wouldn't turn to shoot to the rear if I was hunting alone!
My BIL was hit 1/2 inch below his eye by someone not following the basic rules of safety. Oh, and to those who cast this off as "spray"....hardly. He apparently took a direct shot to the face & neck; he is after all still in the hospital in "stable" condition after spending some time in ICU.
Did it occur to anyone that the reason that they didn't tell the press earlier was to assess the severity of the injuries? Apparently, that took some time...
#8 shot size from a 28 gauge. This wouldn't even break a clay pigeon.
Not unless he was permanently killed, and that remained to be seen.
Well, nobody can be "all-knowing" all the time, but God. As humans we just do our best.
You learn the safety rules, you apply them rigorously, but following all the safety procedures to the best of your ability cannot guarantee that hunting accidents will never occur, nothing can ever prevent them 100%. This is precisely why the word "accident" exists in the English language. It describes the imperfect nature of the human condition and how tragic events in life occur even when people are exercising caution and prudence.
Anything we endeavor in this life can lead to some misfortunate event, no matter how disciplined or how safety minded we are.
Cheney's accident isn't really even a "story." If we ask for War on Terror coverage, you know all we will get is how poor we are doing there and how Bush and Cheney screwed it up.
Just our loving leftstream media trying to stir up contentions were there are now, again.
Cheney owes no apologies to anyone, except Whittington. I imagine both have dicussed it and apologized to each other.
Much ado about nothing, time to move on.
I've been hunting all my life. There's no excuse for EVER shooting anyone. Period.
That said, the other guy should probably have used a little more discretion.
McClellan sucks big time, he really has to go.
Ari would have said that this was a private hunting trip between two citizens and that both parties involved agree it was an unfortunate accident. End of story.
It was all a bunch of BS. Even still, the media couldn't help but continue to lick Clinton's brown loafers.
On another thread it was stated that the local Sheriff was notified within 10 minutes, and it also stated that the local Sheriff had confirmed that. Not sure of the source, has anyone else seen that reported?
Shotgungate!
Just what the owner of the ranch would want. The 48 hours gave the owner time to get the coffee and cookies ready.
We all know how much the press loves guns and those pesky hunters that kill poor little birds. It just like the press to exgaggerate the trivial when is pushes their buttons.
Huh? This had to have been a sppof. Then again, it is amazing how many people do not know the difference between a sling-shot, buckshot or birdshot.
If Dick was shooting a 28 ga, hunting quail, he'd have it loaded with #8 rounds.
Want to bet? I started trap shooting with that configuration when I was eleven years old. I did very well.
About 99.9% of the MSM ?
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