Cheney ordeal blown outta porportion?

is it just me or does it seem like Cheney's hunting accident being blown out of porportion.

i mean come on it was an accident

why are people suggesting he should be removed from office or he needs to step down or w/e.

Cheney shooting a man on accident has nothing to do with his job as VP.

so why all the fuss. is there nothing better for news stations to cover?

It had nothing to do with the accident. The media was upset that Cheney did not hand over a news story to them. A local reporter got the scoop and that upset the major media. Then to add insult to injury, Britt Hume and FOX News got the 1st interview.

Oh yes, cayse we all know how common it is for a Vice President to go on a shooting spree, why I'm sure every Vice President just wakes up one morning, drinks a 12 pack, then goes around shooting people. Why Cheney doing this is being made into a big deal no one can figure out. Oh sure he couldn't shoot anyone in Vietnam, got 5 defferments(sp?) but now he can shoot all the 78 year old men he can find.

ALso, what I love is on Fox News.

"This isn't a big deal! The VP of America shooting people left and right is not news! Now onto the news, a guy who shot two people is in a plane, it lands, now he gets in a car, now they are going to the court house, his crime was shooting two people, but forget about the VP shooting people thats not news but the normal Joe Schmoe shooting people is. In fact it's big enough news to interrupt normal broadcast to watch the car drive to the court house."

I feel it's totally overrated I mean I can see it happening I've had a family member get hit with buckshot it hurt but nothing serious. It's not like he was going to kill the guy he's alive n' all.


Slow news day imo.

it's just funny cause its the VP and he's got roboheart and he shot an old man lol cause I mean damn I never shot anyone what a noob.

other than that whats the big deal?

Originally posted by DevinS
Oh yes, cayse we all know how common it is for a Vice President to go on a shooting spree, why I'm sure every Vice President just wakes up one morning, drinks a 12 pack, then goes around shooting people. Why Cheney doing this is being made into a big deal no one can figure out. Oh sure he couldn't shoot anyone in Vietnam, got 5 defferments(sp?) but now he can shoot all the 78 year old men he can find.

ALso, what I love is on Fox News.

"This isn't a big deal! The VP of America shooting people left and right is not news! Now onto the news, a guy who shot two people is in a plane, it lands, now he gets in a car, now they are going to the court house, his crime was shooting two people, but forget about the VP shooting people thats not news but the normal Joe Schmoe shooting people is. In fact it's big enough news to interrupt normal broadcast to watch the car drive to the court house."

So its a "shooting spree" according to you? You seem to be blowing it out of proportion. It was an accident! Its not like he was aiming for the guy, Cheney didnt know they guy was there. I take it youve never been quaile or dove hunting. In that case you would know the grass can get pretty high in those fields, enough to cover a man from view. But I guess if an accident qualifies as a shooting spree in your eyes then theres no use trying to explain this then. I hope this is an attempt at sarcasm, if it is I missed it.

I think partison politics should be put aside the guilt that Cheney must be feeling is punishment enough. If no laws were broken people should move on from this incident and focus on other aspects of the Bush Admin.

Originally posted by Carseller4
It had nothing to do with the accident. The media was upset that Cheney did not hand over a news story to them. A local reporter got the scoop and that upset the major media. Then to add insult to injury, Britt Hume and FOX News got the 1st interview.

You shoot someone- go home and go to sleep. See if there is not a knock at your door in the middle of the night and a sleep deprived investigator yawning and slapping cuffs on you, BECAUSE ITS STANDARD PROCEDURE TO INVESTIGATE. Dont feel like going to the station? Tell the investigator you're too sleepy, too important for such nonsense and you will take care of it in the morning.

Now as you get hauled off you are simply complying with the laws of the United states and the jurisdiction which you reside. It doesnt matter who you are. I dont care if you are God. It applies to everyone.

Cheney is an arrogant sob. His "team" of doctors took care of his friend. He had PLENTY of time to go thru the proper channels to let people (WHO PAY HIS SALARY) know there had been an accident.

HE MADE IT WORSE BY NOT SAYING ANYTHING AND WAITING TILL HE WAS DAMMNED GOOD AND READY....(Arrogance)*

OR could it be he needed to hide the fact that he was drunk as a skunk?

I wouldnt have thought of this if he complied immediately with the authorities. He planted the seed of suspicion on this one.

Would he have done the same thing if it had been a hit and run and HE was driving???

It was only blown out of proportion if you are a follower of Rush Limbaugh and that breed. To the rest of us, he asked for it out of *arrogance*

Anyone who's ever read just about any of my posts, knows that I am no fan of the current Administration. However, I also like to think that I'm a little more than somewhat fair, and think through a situation before bashing.

Now, (I still can't believe that anything in defense of Cheney is oozing out my fingertips to my keyboard.....) I heard him say a couple of days ago, that he was in shock when he saw that not only had his friend fallen and was covered in blood, and he didn't know immediately the severity of his injuries, but he also had to absord the realization that he, himself had done it!

Now, I hear him, along with most of the rest of them spew more BS from their mouths than any semblance of truth - most of the time. However, this time, I believed Cheney when he said that his friend was hurt, bleeding and he had done it! What a shock it all was, and in the midst of that, the first thing on his mind just didn't happen to be to notify the press.

I mean, don't those guys have the press counstantly hounding them anyway? I hear that when he goes off on his hunting expiditions, and I'm not saying that all of them are legit, but that he does occosionally go for recreational purposes, and rarely - if ever does he bring any members of the press with him. And can you blame him for that? Regardless of how you feel about him?

Besides, if the man who was shot (I forget his name at the moment) had some sort of information or something like that that the Whitehouse didn't want out, and had any reason to have the man have a hunting accident so he couldn't talk, I don't think that they would have Cheney himself be the shooter, and especially not with birdshot!

Perhaps the delay in alerting the press was simply human. He was already probably devastated, then to immediately have to face the country, it's scrutiny and questions.............. how would other people if in a similar situation handle it?

Me, CyberKat, NOT THRILLED with Bush or anyone in his administration, says that it was an ACCIDENT. Open and shut case. I just hope that the wounded man pulls through O.K. The press is just sulking because they think that it is their right to know every little thing that goes on in the lives of the people in the Whilehouse. Well, it is them making the big deal because their noses are out of joint.

(I just re-read this. I seem to have stated a couple of things more as if fact, when in reality, I know nothing more than anyone else not directly involved. So.....please take everything I wrote in this post to be my opinion only).

Thanks,

CyberKat

//ed for spelling//

[edit on 2/18/2006 by CyberKat]

Dick Cheney: One in a Million

In 2005, only ONE hunting accident in the entire state of Texas involved alcohol. One accident, one million licenses. Yep, that makes Dick Cheney - who drank the day he shot Harry Whittington - one in a million. And just why are alcohol-related hunting accidents so rare? Conservative Tucker Carlson explains:

I think Cheney gets to do pretty much whatever he wants, which is why he got to have a beer at lunch on a hunt. I've been on dozens of hunts, there's no beer served as lunch. You can't drink a beer if you shoot, period. Doesn't matter if you're shooting five hours after, you're not allowed to do it. This is the only time I've ever heard of it, and I think he gets to do it because he's the Vice President. So no, I don't think his doctor's going to tell him to not have a beer.

Or, as the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department puts it simply in the report I linked above:

Alcohol and hunting don't mix.

Dick Cheney managed to have a one-in-a-million accident because he refused to play by the rules. I am not surprised in the least: This shooting accident is simply a metaphor for how Cheney and the entire administration have always operated.

It is real hubris for a man with two DUI's, three heart attacks, and his age and health condition to drink a beer and go shooting anyway, much less as such a public figure with so much responsibility. But the way this was mishandled...

Just more of the same from those guys.

dgtempe and RANT, like I said, I do try to be fair. And I still stand by my opinion of the situation. However, you two also have some valid points that should not be overlooked.

Still, though, I sometimes wonder.....Is Dick Cheney really that powerful? Or have the American people simply given him that power - or illusion of it because of being intimidated by his wealth and his gall?

What if he's just an overgrown boy with way too much money, wanting to play war games. You know, he never wanted to play for keeps in Viet Nam.

Just a thought or two.....

//ed for misspelling "RANT"//

[edit on 2/18/2006 by CyberKat]

Most of us who are continuing to ask questions are just trying to find out the truth, something the man isn't known for. There are several suspicious circumstances around this event.

Inconsistancies abound:

It wasn't reported immediately (but the next day)

First there was NO alcohol, (hidden in the media, captured by Google) then there was beer, then NO drinkers were hunting, then they had beer at lunch.

The ranch owner reported it the following day without talking to Cheney (by her admission).
Cheney said they had agreed she would report it.

Cheney said he turned counter clockwise and shot.
Cheney said Whittington was to his right (figure that one out!)

Cheney says he was 30 yards away, yet the pattern of bbs indicates he was more like 15-18 feet!

There are pictures of the ranch. The "grass" is 2 feet high at the most. This is the southwest, not Idaho.

People aren't making a big deal about this because he's the VP, necessarily, although for the first couple days it was kind of funny. It's because it's obviously a cover up of some sort and we just want to know the truth. We're entitled to that, you know...

Check out Loam's evaluation of the events. Pretty interesting. There are too many threads about it on the board, that's for sure, but I still don't feel like I know what happened. Or why. It may have been an accident, but the circumstances are questionable at LEAST.

[edit on 18-2-2006 by Benevolent Heretic]

The man had BB shot in the right side of his face and neck. At least that's what I remember seeing. So which way did Cheney have to turn to get that shot?

[edit on 18-2-2006 by jsobecky]

Originally posted by jsobecky
The man had BB shot in the right side of his face and neck. So which way did Cheney have to turn to get that shot?

It depends. Were they facing the same way? Was Whittington on Cheney's right (as he claims) or on his left (as he claims)?

For those who have not seen the image...

In any event, NOTHING was normal about this situation....the facts don't add up...the behavior of all concerned was odd...and Cheney delayed even telling the President about it. WHY WOULD THAT BE???

The number one political rule of any administration is that if you have something to hide, KEEP POTUS IN A POSITION OF PLAUSABLE DENIABILITY.

If there was nothing to hide, then Cheney would not have covered the "risk" that Bush might later be questioned about his communications with Cheney concerning the event. For me, that is the oddest behavior of all.... I wont even get into the TWO contradictory stories Cheney told...

Finally, I don't understand the willingness of so many people to accept differing treatment for a political leader, when they themselves would not be granted such "understanding"....

Is this how you want your nation of laws to function?

Here is an interesting article released TODAY:

VP Accident Tale Filled With Discrepancies

If we are smart, we will NOT let this story die.

[edit on 18-2-2006 by loam]

Originally posted by DevinS
shooting spree

ONE old man walked into the line of fire in heavy tall grass
during a hunting trip with many in the hunting party.
That's NOT a shooting spree.

wakes up one morning, drinks a 12 pack

Wasn't it afternoon time? He didn't drink a 12 pack.
Do you even know how much he drank and
how long it was between the beer and the hunting?

goes around shooting people.

He didn't 'go around' ... he went hunting.
He didn't go 'shooting people' ... ONE oldster
walked into a place he shouldn't have been
and walked into the VP's birdshot.
One person .. not 'people'.

The more exaggerated crap you post at this site
DEVIN, the less people will be listening to ANYTHING
you have to say. You are doing it on other threads
as well. I certainly hope you don't believe anything
you have posted because if you do then it's
obvious you aren't living in reality.

Now .. for RANT.... I hadn't heard about any alcohol
before you posted it. Do you know how much alcohol
the VP was supposedly drinking that day and at what
time he drank it. Was it a beer at lunch and then out
shooting at dinner time? Or was it drink 3 beers at
lunch and go out hunting with one in his hand?
Amount of alcohol and the time from the consumption
to the hunting accident are key. He's a hefty fella
and not a lightweight drinker. Do you have any
of this info. I'm curious. After you posted, I looked on
the internet and couldn't find anything. Thanks.



[edit on 2/18/2006 by FlyersFan]

Originally posted by FlyersFan
ONE old man walked into the line of fire in heavy tall grass

You can hardly accuse people of exaggeration after posting that... :shk:
Have you been to Texas? I'm sure they'd be glad to have "heavy, tall grass" there!



Eyeballing Armstrong Ranch

Do you even know how much he drank and
how long it was between the beer and the hunting?

Cheney says he had a beer at lunch. Yep. That's what Cheney says.

The more exaggerated crap you post at this site
... the less people will be listening to ANYTHING
you have to say.

Exactly.

Until this thread, I didn't know about Cheney's previous DUIs. Thanks, Rant!

More on Cheney's DUIs

Even though these incidents are very old, I do have to ask the question how drunk does one need to be in order to get TWO DUIs in the least populated state in the US, WYOMING, and during the 1960s when no one thought driving under the influence was a problem???

I guess he must be one of the unluckiest guys on the political scene...

[edit on 18-2-2006 by loam]

Well Benevolent already said it FlyersFan, but..

"Wasn't it afternoon time? He didn't drink a 12 pack.
Do you even know how much he drank and
how long it was between the beer and the hunting?"

"Now .. for RANT.... I hadn't heard about any alcohol
before you posted it. Do you know how much alcohol
the VP was supposedly drinking that day and at what
time he drank it. Was it a beer at lunch and then out
shooting at dinner time?"

First you criticize me for saying he drank a 12 pack, then later you admit you never heard of Cheney drinking. For all we know he could have been at a Texas LongHorn Kegger the night before, chugged a 6 pack to counter act the hangover, then went out with a 40 in his hand. We don't know because he ran away and hid out until he sobered up. He says a beer then went shooting, but really, are we going to take his word? Wait that's all we have since he hid out until he sobered up... He could have, as said, been at a kegger, chugged a 6 pack to blah blah blah. We don't know since he made sure his alcohol level had dropped when he came out of his bunker.

Also, anytime a VP shoots someone it is a shooting spree, especially for a guy who couldn't seem to lift a smaller, lighter gun, for Vietnam. He's all ready to shoot 78 year old men but CHarlie? No, they shoot back. Or like on Bob and Tom, "Too bad Newgent(sp?) wasn't there, I bet he would have rolled back, aimed, and shot back!"

Also, there are SOOOOO many things wrong with this, they say 90 feet, but evidence/science, something this administration hates, proves maybe 20 feet at most. Second, THERE IS NO TALL GRASS!!!!!!!!!!!!! People have shown pictures on CNN, ATS, MYSPACE, EVERYWHERE!!! There is no tall grass!!!!

Also, what was he doing aiming so high? These birds had their wings clipped! THEY CAN'T FLY!!!! Therefore he would have shot the guy in the shin, not the face. They were pen raised, wings clipped, and kept in a cage, no need to turn 180 degress pointing the gun at least 5 and a half feet in the air to shoot a grounded animal that was so tame you could hold a hand out with food on it and they just walk up to eat it.

It's like me going to the shooting range with some friends after a party the night before where my g/f wins Keg Queen, then having a chugging contest on the way to the shooting range, getting a DUI from a cop before I get there, then going to the range, taking my pistol out and turning around to shoot my friends. Now, VP does this, he is allowed to hide out until he sobers up, me? I'd be in jail, right with my best friend who accidently shot a guy in the face with a shotgun. Only dif. was his victim used his cell phone to call 911 for an ambulence then walked on it when it got there. It was an accident, the victim wasn't even held overnight, and yet my friend is still in jail for it while the VP isn't.

[edit on 18-2-2006 by DevinS]

Originally posted by Big_BIRD
is it just me or does it seem like Cheney's hunting accident being blown out of porportion.

It made the front page for, several days, of nearly all papers I read. Nothing was ever really newsworthy in any of the articles; ironically, imo, the jokes and political cartoons that stemmed from the accident were more intriguing than the articles.

Hunting accidents happen, most never get reported unless there is a serious injury.

mg