Free Republic

VICE PRESIDENT Dick Cheney knew where to go when he finally decided to tell his story about the accidental shooting of a hunting buddy. Cheney went to Fox News, where he was guided gently through the events by interviewer Brit Hume. Cheney has not submitted himself to open-ended news conference questioning in more than three years -- and it's clear that he did not regard the aftermath of a Texas shooting as cause for him to face a White House press corps that is openly agitated about his efforts to control the story.

Dick Cheney has been compared to Aaron Burr, the other vice president who shot a guy. But during his interview with Brit Hume, Cheney seemed like an officer in King Louis XVI's court -- proud of a blase disdain for the people he serves. His demeanor was of a disrespectful elitist who doesn't regret concealing the shooting of a friend. He looked non-contrite. The sneer. The chill. The Cheney-Hume volley was soft and sympathetic, like a defense attorney asking a client about basic details. Hume asked few follow-ups. He posed a good-old-boy question, "I take it you missed the bird?"...

The Washington Post is reporting that the Sarita, Texas sherriff's department has closed its investigation of Vice President Dick Cheney. The sheriff's report supports Cheney's account of what is, according to the wacko left, the biggest story since Watergate. The Post is also reporting that President Bush is "very satisfied" with Cheney's explanation.According to a Rasmussen poll, 57% of Americans believe that the hunting accident was "just one of those very embarrassing things that happens to all of us." I find that interesting because, as any listener to Sean Hannity "man on the street" interviews, at least 20% of the American population...

The irregular heartbeat suffered Tuesday by the 78-year-old lawyer shot by Vice President Dick Cheney — apparently caused by a birdshot pellet lodged in or next to his heart — likely will not require surgery or long-term medication, a Ben Taub trauma surgeon said. "We see a shotgun wound almost once a week here," said Dr. Kenneth Mattox, chief of staff at Ben Taub General Hospital, one of Houston's leading trauma centers. "For a bullet the size of a birdshot pellet to create atrial fibrillation would be a little unusual. I'm not saying it didn't happen. Theoretically, it could happen."...

Sitting in armchairs waiting for handouts not the best way to get scoops Members of the elite White House press corps this week have acted more like animals that have been kept in captivity for so long that they can’t find news unless it is forced down their open gullets at a daily press briefing. The Cheney hunting accident story embarrassingly revealed this fact, which probably explains the greater-than-normal anger and outrage of White House correspondents over the last few days. “Why weren’t we told?” has been the refrain, not “How did we miss that story?” The White House press...

by Mark Finkelstein February 15, 2006 - 22:50 I suppose that quoting Al Franken for evidence of liberal media bias is, if you'll excuse the expression, like shooting fish in a barrel. Nevertheless, perhaps it's useful for the archives to record one of Franken's remarks this evening in the course of his appearance on MSNBC's 'Scarborough Country.' Commenting on Vice President Cheney's failure to follow Harry Whittington to the hospital, Franken stated: "It's inconceivable that you don't go to the hospital unless there's a reason you don't go to the hospital. If you had been drinking, you wouldn't go to...

Despite last weekend's hunting accident involving Vice President Dick Cheney, Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker will go ahead with a $500-per-person pheasant hunt fundraiser on Saturday. "I just can't cancel an event that's had invitations out for three weeks," said Walker's campaign manager Bruce Pfaff. "I need money in the bank, no matter whether I do it this weekend or a month from now." Pfaff said he "only briefly" thought about the correlation between the vice president's incident and this event in deciding to proceed with the event, which Walker will attend. He noted that such fundraisers are fairly common...

MIDI - STAYIN' ALIVE Well, see that look that is in reporters' eyes...they are hoping that he soon will die If Whittington should breathe no more...they will all be thrilled down to the core For now he's all right, he's all right...but they are checking day and night If on his screen there's no more blip...the liberals are all gonna flip For his death they're praying, they want no more delaying But he's staying alive, Harry's alive They all want the story and want it to be gory But he's staying alive, Harry's alive Ah ha ha ha....stayin' alive...Harry's...

Transcript: Interview of Vice President Cheney by Brit Hume, Fox News 2/15/2006 6:00:00 PM To: National Desk Contact: White House Press Office, 202-456-2580 WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a transcript of an interview of Vice President Dick Cheney by Brit Hume of Fox News: Vice President's Ceremonial Office Eisenhower Executive Office Building 2:01 P.M. EST Q: Mr. Vice President, how is Mr. Whittington? THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, the good news is he's doing very well today. I talked to him yesterday after they discovered the heart problem, but it appears now to have been pretty well...

Insane, conservative-hating moonbats chime in with their vitriolic schadenfreude: Attorney on Ed Schultz' Show just said he researched TX law, and the reason the WH Drs are so involved in this Whittington case is that they're scared! TX law states "If a victim dies "WITHIN ONE YEAR" of a shooting incident, the shooter can be charged with involuntary manslaughter! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ STOP talking about Cheney! This whole Cheney story may be fascinating, etc....but, let's stop making such a big fuss over it. It's taking our time away from the war, the economy, medicare, social security, human rights, the tax cuts, etc!...

It may not be much, but the mainstream media appear dedicated to beating the Cheney hunting accident story into the ground. On CNN's American Morning today, anchor Miles O'Brien interviewed New York Daily News gossip columnist Lloyd Grove about it. O'Brien wanted to make sure viewers realized the delayed reporting on the misfortune is all part of a much bigger scheme: "And setting this all in the context of the issues that the Bush administration has been dealing with, the wiretapping issues, the CIA leak case, all of this I think raises some serious credibility issues among people." Naturally, Grove...

Well now we are after Cheney again. Amazing how the Democrats keep going from one to another, just hoping something will come out from under a rock. Can you just imagine how you would feel if you were in Cheney's shoes? His friend is in the hospital, had a silent heart attack from one of the bird shot that entered his body,

I'm waiting to hear from my NRA buddies to comment about one of their national heroes, Vice President Dick Cheney. What I particularly want to hear is their take on the contention from members of the vice president's hunting party that Harry Whittington, the 78-year-old lawyer shot by Cheney, was at fault because he didn't let anyone know where he was. "If that's the case, this will set hunting rules back 50 years," Rich Rygh, our chief photographer and a veteran hunter, insisted at one of our news meetings the other morning. "Anyone who knows about hunting knows it's the...

President Bush's top political aide, Karl Rove, pushed Vice President Dick Cheney to speak publicly about shooting a fellow hunter, sources tell CBS News. Rove worried the vice president's silence on the issue was becoming a political problem, CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod reports. Cheney is in a "state of meltdown" over shooting his friend and the political fallout it has caused, a source close to the Cheney has told CBS News. On Wednesday, he accepted full blame for the incident and defended the decision to not publicly disclose the accident until the following day. Cheney described...

IRONY CAN BE PRETTY IRONIC Colorado man who laughed Monday when he first read Vice President Dick Cheney had shot a hunting companion was himself injured just hours later when he was accidentally blasted by his girlfriend in his own hunting mishap. "I read that thing about the vice president and said to myself 'How can you shoot your friend with your gun?' And look what happened," said Josh Kayser of Lafayette, Colo. According to the Longmont Daily Times-Call, the 21-year-old man was on the trail of raccoons that had been preying on chickens on his family's property. As Kayser...

RUSH: The media no doubt very disappointed as a press conference is taking place down in Texas. The doctors are updating the condition of Harry Whittington, he is exhibiting no complications. They are keeping him in the ICU, the intensive care unit, they say, for privacy. If they had him in a regular room, media people could sneak in there, other patients. You've been to a hospital. They walk around, and anybody can get in these rooms. ICU is off limits. They say he is very near resuming work on his law practice. This, of course, is devastating news to...

I keep hearing Carl Cameron on Fox News say the birdshot that Cheney fired was 5mm. From the reports i have read the shot used was 7-1/2 here is a table of shot sizes and the metric conversion. 1"=25.4mm or 1mm=.03937" Carl Cameron says it was 5mm. 5 X(times) .03937= .19685" over twice as large as what it actually is .095"

Misleading question because it was released Sunday Morning to Corpus Christi newspaper, about 14 or 15 hours later.

A question for the White House press corps: Who the hell do you think you are? Seriously. Exactly how egomaniacal are you people? The question is spurred by your conduct the other day over this Dick Cheney matter. The vice president was involved in a hunting accident and all of a sudden it wasn’t about him or what happened, it was how you weren’t notified. Like the world revolves around you. And you started acting like idiots. Juvenile, arrogant, antagonistic idiots. It was a shameful spectacle that further alienated regular Americans and showed, in the view of many, your bias...

Should the White House have informed the media about the shooting on Saturday night when they found out?