Cheney shoots Quail Hunter

[Gene Honda Civic]

They want him to be drunk so bad they can taste it.

Here's the deal Kap, He almost certainly wasn't drunk. He almost certainly thought the victim was a small bird.

 

I don't think he was drunk. I also think the press' (specifically the White House press corps) general reaction is just sour grapes from being "scooped."

 

The problem is, Cheney & Co. didn't report it, making it seem like they thought if it didn't get reported, it didn't happen -- sort of like not showing pictures of caskets coming back from Iraq -- but it did happen. And it was left to a civilian witness to report the incident to the press. Even though it seems like everything is on the up-and-up, the slow and meandering path the news took to reach the masses gives the press, and the general public, the room to make such accusations as Cheney being drunk and cover-ups.

 

I ran into a tree with my car when I was 17 on Christmas eve. It was a block from my house. There was no property damage, save a few pieces of bark missing from the tree. Took the car to the body shop on Christmas Eve, who unbeknown to me called the police reporting my car had been in an accident... Then Christmas afternoon, I've got two officers at my front door asking me to come down to spend the afternoon at the station house discussing my accident. They grilled me about drinking and driving, which I wasn't doing, but I had no real way of proving otherwise. I left myself open to the questioning by not reporting a 1-car accident that featured no property damage. -- I ended up having to pay a fine, and got issued a ticket for leaving the scene of an accident.

 

I realize that Cheney & Co. notified the proper authorities, but by not going the extra step and alerting the press they left the door open to all types of criticism. Is it right? probably not. But there's a way to avoid it, and that's to avoid all appearances of impropriety.

[Rex Kickass]

I hate to do this, because now I'm switching the topic back to Clinton.  *sigh*  - but it's an easy target.

 

What about the whole Vince Foster mess?  How long was it before that story broke?

 

What about Monica?  The only reason that kept going as long as it did is because the press secretary went out there and lied for months about what really happened.

 

So now on this issue, incidentally, the sheriff was called pretty quickly, and the report's filed, yet OMG the MEDIA didn't know.  STFU already.

 

It's all about perspective.  And as usual, the press corps want a piece of ass because they were 'scooped'.  f*** them.

 

I'm sorry, who killed Vince Foster? Last time I checked - even if you agree or disagree with the conspiracy theories, it wasn't Bill Clinton pulling the trigger.

 

I don't care one way or the other what happened in that Quail patch. I'm reasonably certain it was an accident and that happens. But the White House owes the American people the respect enough to admit that it happened, not wait 24 hours until the ranch owner tips off the local paper and then hope that the AP doesn't pick up on it. Why? Because it breeds suspicion when the AP does pick up on it. Not just from people who are blindly anti-Bush or Cheney, but from just about anyone and everyone.

 

I understand it's an embarrassing situation, but the Vice President DID shoot someone. If the White House wants to crow about our President's resting heart rate, they oughta be honest about incidents like these.

[Texsox]

I hate to do this, because now I'm switching the topic back to Clinton.  *sigh*  - but it's an easy target.

 

What about the whole Vince Foster mess?  How long was it before that story broke?

 

What about Monica?  The only reason that kept going as long as it did is because the press secretary went out there and lied for months about what really happened.

 

So now on this issue, incidentally, the sheriff was called pretty quickly, and the report's filed, yet OMG the MEDIA didn't know.  STFU already.

 

It's all about perspective.  And as usual, the press corps want a piece of ass because they were 'scooped'.  f*** them.

 

Back to Clinton? I won't even go there.

 

Monica was because the press secretary lied? No way Kap. It was because the President lied under oath about the bj *and* the GOP decided they would continue to dig up anything they could find and try for an impeachment when the President lied about a BJ.

 

Is it news when the VP of the United States shoots someone? Give me a definition of news that wouldn't include that. And as usual the politicians* in question want this hidden and the public ignorant of the facts. f*** them.

 

*politicians ~ professionals in both parties.

[Flash Tizzle]

Vultures within the media won't be very happy when Cheney refuses to elaborate upon this issue. He'll enter an 'undisclosed location' for several weeks while the press corps soils themselves. Won't be any different than his usual routine.

 

I find it funny that these drunk allegations have begun. If it were true, and there were witnesses present (which is obvious), what's preventing one from leaking information? Or even Whittingson himself? He's an old man, and may have reservations about lying. If you accept such a possibility, now you're entering the realm of absurd conspiracy theories.

 

Let me try to cover several right here stemming from Cheney's hunting excursion:

 

-The Bush administration has threatened anyone from coming forward which could collaborate drunk story. (Include some nonsense rivaling Enemy of the State)

 

-Any major event within the immediate future at home or abroad will be a distraction. Similar to Republican's alledging Kosovo bombings were to avert attention from Monica.

 

-EXPECT A TERROR ATTACK SOON.

 

EDIT: I'm sure someone will say, "why should he care about lying--he's a lawyer," so I'll preempt that. Point is, you can't be sure--if you're Cheney,etc.--he wouldnt tell the truth.

Edited February 15, 2006 by Flash Tizzle

[Texsox]

By the way, who does the press publish for? Each other or the public? When someone sends f*** you to the press, they are saying f*** you to their readers and viewers, which I believe is everyone here. So we could have a situation where the Demheads say STFU about Monica and the GOPerheads say STFU about the Veep in an accidental shooting. When we allow the STFUs to continue, we voluntarily give away one of our freedoms, that of an open and free press.

[Flash Tizzle]

By the way, who does the press publish for? Each other or the public?

 

They publish for editors, a paycheck, and their egos. Sure, there may be well intentioned press members who genuinely care about upholding constitutional rights, but not many. It's a highly competitive business. For that, I believe their own intentions are looked out for over any of their audience. If you can't do the job, someone will simply come in and take it right under you.

[kapkomet]

By the way, who does the press publish for? Each other or the public? When someone sends f*** you to the press, they are saying f*** you to their readers and viewers, which I believe is everyone here. So we could have a situation where the Demheads say STFU about Monica and the GOPerheads say STFU about the Veep in an accidental shooting. When we allow the STFUs to continue, we voluntarily give away one of our freedoms, that of an open and free press.

Yea, I give a STFU and a "f*** you" to the press. LOUDLY. You know why? Because these f***s, none of them, have any integrity anymore. NONE. They're a bunch of spoon fed, hypcritical f***balls who all try to scoop each other but don't want to work for it. On top of that, they all have their own agendas to "get that break". I have no respect for these asswipes.

 

And let me be clear, I mean "old" AND "new" media. If ANY of these slimeballs had ANY integrity, maybe I wouldn't feel this way. In hearing the snippets of news on my traffic station, I'm completely disgusted by ALL of these assholes and how they are handling this story, and it's not just this one, it's every story.

[Balta1701]

I find it funny that these drunk allegations have begun. If it were true, and there were witnesses present (which is obvious), what's preventing one from leaking information? Or even Whittingson himself?

Dude, the witnesses, and the wounded guy, already watched Cheney shoot 1 guy, why in the world would they want to piss him off again?!

[Texsox]

They publish for editors, a paycheck, and their egos. Sure, there may be well intentioned press members who genuinely care about upholding constitutional rights, but not many. It's a highly competitive business. For that, I believe their own intentions are looked out for over any of their audience. If you can't do the job, someone will simply come in and take it right under you.

 

Eventually someone has to read, view, or listen to the information. Money has to exchange hands.

 

So what happens after the politicians complete their destruction of a free press? What happens when we only listen to commentators like Rush or Frankin?

[Flash Tizzle]

So what happens after the politicians complete their destruction of a free press? What happens when we only listen to commentators like Rush or Frankin?

 

That'll never happen. Politicians and the media need each other.

[Texsox]

LMAO. Let's look at two events

 

Bill Clinton accepts a blow job, and we invest hundreds of millions of dollars and a special prosecutor, and hold impeachment proceedings. Vince Fosters name comes up.

 

The Veep shoots a man, and the press should STFU

No need to investigate, trust the government on this one. Nothing here, look the other way. Nothing serious.

 

gotta love us Americans.

[KipWellsFan]

The downturn in Mr. Whittington's health significantly changed the tone of the White House reaction to the hunting accident. In Texas, Carlos Valdez, the district attorney in Kleberg County, said a fatality would immediately spur a new report from the local sheriff and, most likely, a grand jury investigation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/15/politics...artner=homepage

[bmags]

Yea, I give a STFU and a "f*** you" to the press.  LOUDLY.  You know why?  Because these f***s, none of them, have any integrity anymore.  NONE.  They're a bunch of spoon fed, hypcritical f***balls who all try to scoop each other but don't want to work for it.  On top of that, they all have their own agendas to "get that break".  I have no respect for these asswipes. 

 

And let me be clear, I mean "old" AND "new" media.  If ANY of these slimeballs had ANY integrity, maybe I wouldn't feel this way.  In hearing the snippets of news on my traffic station, I'm completely disgusted by ALL of these assholes and how they are handling this story, and it's not just this one, it's every story.

:rolly :rolly :rolly

[whitesoxfan101]

LMAO. Let's look at two events

 

Bill Clinton accepts a blow job, and we invest hundreds of millions of dollars and a special prosecutor, and hold impeachment proceedings. Vince Fosters name comes up.

 

The Veep shoots a man, and the press should STFU   

No need to investigate, trust the government on this one. Nothing here, look the other way. Nothing serious.

 

  gotta love us Americans.

 

Well said.

[YASNY]

LMAO. Let's look at two events

 

Bill Clinton accepts a blow job, and we invest hundreds of millions of dollars and a special prosecutor, and hold impeachment proceedings. Vince Fosters name comes up.

 

The Veep shoots a man, and the press should STFU   

No need to investigate, trust the government on this one. Nothing here, look the other way. Nothing serious.

 

  gotta love us Americans.

 

Just in case you are forgetting, this was damn hunting accident. This s*** happens all over the country all the time. f***ing Al Gore was in Saudi Arabia batmouthing the US for abusive treatment of Arabs and this damn Cheney s*** is all the media can think about. Let's let an ex-vp go overseas and inflame even more Arabs against America and Americans so they'll run to Iraq and join the insugency, with minscule press coverage. But let Cheney have an accident and the f***ing media is swarming like vultures. There's an example disgusting for you.

[Texsox]

Just in case you are forgetting, this was damn hunting accident.  This s*** happens all over the country all the time.  f***ing Al Gore was in Saudi Arabia batmouthing the US for abusive treatment of Arabs and this damn Cheney s*** is all the media can think about.  Let's let an ex-vp go overseas and inflame even more Arabs against America and Americans so they'll run to Iraq and join the insugency, with minscule press coverage.  But let Cheney have an accident and the f***ing media is swarming like vultures.  There's an example disgusting for you.

 

LMAO still. In case you forgot the other was a damn blow job between two adults. That s***s happens even more frequently, and it turned out to be the most expensive in history.

 

Would you have so quicky accepted the hunting accident explaination if it was Ted Kennedy? John Kerry? Al Gore? But the American public should just accept the hunting accident story. Because the government never lies So that's the new rule, we always accept the WH story when someone gets shot

 

What is amazing is if the lawyer had given Chaney a blow job instead of getting shot, that's news and a special prosecutor would be assigned.

 

Gotta love conservatives, they will defend anything their party does, just like Cub fans.

[YASNY]

I just don't see a hunting accident as an inconceivable event. You've finally made me see why we are having a difference of opinion here. You think there are shenanigans going on here and I think it was a simple accident. But then, there has been a constant get Bush and/or Cheney attitude throughout the left side of the political spectrum for quite some time. It's to the point where if anything happens, you just know what's coming. The left sure isn't shy about throwing accusations around, yet when I defend against them I get compared to a Cub fan. That's low, even for you.

[kapkomet]

LMAO. Let's look at two events

 

Bill Clinton accepts a blow job, and we invest hundreds of millions of dollars and a special prosecutor, and hold impeachment proceedings. Vince Fosters name comes up.

 

The Veep shoots a man, and the press should STFU   

No need to investigate, trust the government on this one. Nothing here, look the other way. Nothing serious.

 

  gotta love us Americans.

You're twisting my point, as usual. The media is a bunch of lazy bastards who have vendettas against people who 'wrong' them. I don't care who, what party affiliation, what the circumstances are, it's true.

[BigSqwert]

I just don't see a hunting accident as an inconceivable event. 

 

You make it sound like these types of accidents occur all the time.

 

Here's a snippet from a mediainfo article:

Doug Pike, an outdoors reporter at the Houston Chronicle who, like many such writers has been drafted to work the story, reports that the accident is rare. He said his reporting since Sunday found that Texas had only 2.7 hunting accidents per 100,000 hunting licenses sold in 2005. "That is the lowest since 1966 when they started keeping records," he said. "It is uncommon."

 

 

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/articl...t_id=1001995914

 

 

BTW: Odds of being struck by lightning: 576,000 to 1

Edited February 15, 2006 by BigSqwert

[YASNY]

This is rapidly declining from a discussion to petty sniping. I'm done with it.

[Controlled Chaos]

The media's Cheney hunt

Feb 15, 2006

by Brent Bozell

 

Once it was clear that the man sprinkled with birdshot would survive, Vice President Cheney's hunting accident was widely expected to become a late-night comedian's bonanza, a frenzy like Wal-Mart shoppers scrambling for $29 DVD players.

 

As "Today" replayed the comedian clips on Tuesday, NBC's Matt Lauer asked, "Had a feeling that was coming, didn't you?" Katie Couric replied: "Well, I mean when you heard the story you just knew they were gonna go crazy with it, so they did."

 

With apologies to the Cheney friend who received the pellet facial, the incident was funny. Now we learn the vice president received a warning citation from a Texas Ranger for not buying a $7 hunting stamp in advance. As a friend e-mailed me, "Where else can you shoot a lawyer in the face with a shotgun and get off with just a warning?"

 

 

What really shocked people was the way our Cheney-hating press corps went crazy with it. The Big Three networks aired 34 stories in the first 48 hours of evening and morning newscasts.

 

They treated this not as a mishap, and then a punchline, but as a brewing national scandal. The 18-hour delay in alerting the media! The failure to pay a $7 hunting stamp! "Questions remain"! "White House under fire"! "Growing political fallout"! The focus of the story quickly shifted from an embarrassed Cheney to the shamelessly egotistical press corps.

 

Look no further for a poster boy for egotism than NBC White House reporter David Gregory, who was captured in an untelevised morning "gaggle" in the briefing room Monday morning yelling at Bush spokesman Scott McClellan. First, he accused the spokesman of "ducking and weaving," leading McClellan to quip that he should emote later, when the cameras were on.

 

"Don't accuse me of trying to pose to the cameras!'' Gregory shot back. "Don't be a jerk to me personally when I'm asking you a serious question!'' McClellan said, "You don't have to yell," and Gregory replied, "I will yell! If you want to use that podium to try to take shots at me personally, which I don't appreciate, then I will raise my voice, because that's wrong!''

 

In how many ways is this a joke? These reporters take shots at McClellan and the rest of the administration on a daily basis, in the briefing room, and in their news coverage. Some of those shots are quite personal. But how dare the president's spokesman lecture them! The incivility of it all!

 

Then came the televised briefing on Monday afternoon. It's been a while since the cable networks aired one live, but it's not every day that the vice president caps his friend, so they made an exception. In retrospect, I bet they wish they hadn't.

 

These reporters looked like a "Saturday Night Live" skit with the goofy questions they asked. They started with huffing and puffing about their own territorial prerogatives, that the survival of America is hanging by a thread, and that thread is the press, which must be updated minute by minute.

 

Terence Hunt of the Associated Press insisted, "Isn't there a public disclosure requirement that should have kicked in immediately?" (Quick answer: There is no "requirement," period.) Gregory protested, "The vice president of the United States accidentally shoots a man and he feels that it's appropriate for a ranch owner who witnessed this to tell the local Corpus Christi newspaper, and not the White House press corps at large, or notify the public in a national way?" Several questioners fussed over how it was not "appropriate" for a "private citizen" to alert the media.

 

The outrage was palpable. How dare the Corpus Christi Caller-Times get the scoop before we did! We are the national news media, and we must not be overlooked on a major breaking story on quail hunting. The divas were denied, and they were cranky.

 

From there, it just got sillier and sillier, with questions like: "Is it proper for the vice president to offer his resignation, or has he offered his resignation?" And: "Scott, under Texas law, is this kind of accidental shooting a possible criminal offense?" By this time, you just wanted to buy McClellan a beer.

 

Meanwhile, over the weekend, former vice president Al Gore went to Saudi Arabia and denounced the U.S. government for committing "terrible abuses" against Arabs after 9/11, that Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions. Gore made no mention of the "terrible abuses" the Saudi tyrants commit, perhaps because it would be unseemly to insult his host on his home turf. So instead he used his host's home turf to insult his own country. No one asked about that at the White House. Most media outlets had no time or space for it. They were too busy covering the far more important Dick Cheney Quail Shooting Scandal.

[southsider2k5]

You make it sound like these types of accidents occur all the time. 

 

Here's a snippet from a mediainfo article:

Doug Pike, an outdoors reporter at the Houston Chronicle who, like many such writers has been drafted to work the story, reports that the accident is rare. He said his reporting since Sunday found that Texas had only 2.7 hunting accidents per 100,000 hunting licenses sold in 2005. "That is the lowest since 1966 when they started keeping records," he said. "It is uncommon."

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/articl...t_id=1001995914

BTW:  Odds of being struck by lightning: 576,000 to 1

 

So what you are saying is that you have about 18 times the chance of having a hunting accident as you do for getting hit by lightning? You are also factoring in accidents that are reported. How many people do you think report this kind of thing, especially if they are in a situation where they might not have been up to date on their stamps, poaching, etc? I think this is an area that would be way underreported, common or not.

[mreye]

You are correct, I believe you said liberals.

No it wasn't, as I have stated, the conservatives on the board immediatly used is as an opportunity to slam liberals and Democrats by predicting their behavior.

 

Not all Conservatives, Tex.

[mreye]

Gotta love conservatives, they will defend anything their party does, just like Cub fans. 

More generalizations. Take it easy, Tex.

[kapkomet]

The media's Cheney hunt

Feb 15, 2006

by Brent Bozell

 

Once it was clear that the man sprinkled with birdshot would survive, Vice President Cheney's hunting accident was widely expected to become a late-night comedian's bonanza, a frenzy like Wal-Mart shoppers scrambling for $29 DVD players.

 

As "Today" replayed the comedian clips on Tuesday, NBC's Matt Lauer asked, "Had a feeling that was coming, didn't you?" Katie Couric replied: "Well, I mean when you heard the story you just knew they were gonna go crazy with it, so they did."

 

With apologies to the Cheney friend who received the pellet facial, the incident was funny. Now we learn the vice president received a warning citation from a Texas Ranger for not buying a $7 hunting stamp in advance. As a friend e-mailed me, "Where else can you shoot a lawyer in the face with a shotgun and get off with just a warning?"

What really shocked people was the way our Cheney-hating press corps went crazy with it. The Big Three networks aired 34 stories in the first 48 hours of evening and morning newscasts.

 

They treated this not as a mishap, and then a punchline, but as a brewing national scandal. The 18-hour delay in alerting the media! The failure to pay a $7 hunting stamp! "Questions remain"! "White House under fire"! "Growing political fallout"! The focus of the story quickly shifted from an embarrassed Cheney to the shamelessly egotistical press corps.

 

Look no further for a poster boy for egotism than NBC White House reporter David Gregory, who was captured in an untelevised morning "gaggle" in the briefing room Monday morning yelling at Bush spokesman Scott McClellan. First, he accused the spokesman of "ducking and weaving," leading McClellan to quip that he should emote later, when the cameras were on.

 

"Don't accuse me of trying to pose to the cameras!'' Gregory shot back. "Don't be a jerk to me personally when I'm asking you a serious question!'' McClellan said, "You don't have to yell," and Gregory replied, "I will yell! If you want to use that podium to try to take shots at me personally, which I don't appreciate, then I will raise my voice, because that's wrong!''

 

In how many ways is this a joke? These reporters take shots at McClellan and the rest of the administration on a daily basis, in the briefing room, and in their news coverage. Some of those shots are quite personal. But how dare the president's spokesman lecture them! The incivility of it all!

 

Then came the televised briefing on Monday afternoon. It's been a while since the cable networks aired one live, but it's not every day that the vice president caps his friend, so they made an exception. In retrospect, I bet they wish they hadn't.

 

These reporters looked like a "Saturday Night Live" skit with the goofy questions they asked. They started with huffing and puffing about their own territorial prerogatives, that the survival of America is hanging by a thread, and that thread is the press, which must be updated minute by minute.

 

Terence Hunt of the Associated Press insisted, "Isn't there a public disclosure requirement that should have kicked in immediately?" (Quick answer: There is no "requirement," period.) Gregory protested, "The vice president of the United States accidentally shoots a man and he feels that it's appropriate for a ranch owner who witnessed this to tell the local Corpus Christi newspaper, and not the White House press corps at large, or notify the public in a national way?" Several questioners fussed over how it was not "appropriate" for a "private citizen" to alert the media.

 

The outrage was palpable. How dare the Corpus Christi Caller-Times get the scoop before we did! We are the national news media, and we must not be overlooked on a major breaking story on quail hunting. The divas were denied, and they were cranky.

 

From there, it just got sillier and sillier, with questions like: "Is it proper for the vice president to offer his resignation, or has he offered his resignation?" And: "Scott, under Texas law, is this kind of accidental shooting a possible criminal offense?" By this time, you just wanted to buy McClellan a beer.

 

Meanwhile, over the weekend, former vice president Al Gore went to Saudi Arabia and denounced the U.S. government for committing "terrible abuses" against Arabs after 9/11, that Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions. Gore made no mention of the "terrible abuses" the Saudi tyrants commit, perhaps because it would be unseemly to insult his host on his home turf. So instead he used his host's home turf to insult his own country. No one asked about that at the White House. Most media outlets had no time or space for it. They were too busy covering the far more important Dick Cheney Quail Shooting Scandal.

Absolutely.Dead.On