http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060214/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheney_hunting_accident_53 WASHINGTON - The White House has decided that the best way to deal with Vice President Dick Cheney's shooting accident is to joke about it. President Bush's spokesman quipped Tuesday that the burnt orange school colors of the University of Texas championship football team that was visiting the White House shouldn't be confused for hunter's safety wear. "The orange that they're wearing is not because they're concerned that the vice president may be there," joked White House press secretary Scott McClellan, following the lead of late-night television comedians. "That's why I'm wearing it." The president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, took a similar jab after slapping an orange sticker on his chest from the Florida Farm Bureau that read, "No Farmers, No Food." "I'm a little concerned that Dick Cheney is going to walk in," the governor cracked during an appearance in Tampa Monday. Cheney, an experienced hunter, has not been joking or saying anything publicly at all about the accident Saturday, when he accidentally sprayed a hunting partner with shotgun pellets when aiming for a quail. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department issued a report Monday that found the main factor contributing to the accident was a "hunter's judgment factor." No other secondary factors were found to have played a role. The department gave Cheney and the victim, prominent Republican attorney Harry Whittington, warning citations for breaking Texas hunting law by failing to buy a $7 stamp allowing them to shoot upland game birds. A department spokesman said warnings are being issued in most cases because the stamp requirement only went into effect five months ago and many hunters weren't aware of it. Cheney's office said Monday night in a statement that Cheney had a $125 nonresident hunting license and has sent a $7 check to cover the cost of the stamp. "The staff asked for all permits needed, but was not informed of the $7 upland game bird stamp requirement," the statement said. The state's report said Whittington was retrieving a downed bird and stepped out of the hunting line he was sharing with Cheney. "Another covey was flushed and Cheney swung on a bird and fired, striking Whittington in the face, neck and chest at approximately 30 yards," the report said. Whittington remained in stable condition Tuesday at Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial. He was moved from intensive care to a "step-down unit" Monday after doctors decided to leave several birdshot pellets lodged in his skin rather than try to remove them. The hospital planned a news conference for 1 p.m. EST Tuesday. Katharine Armstrong, owner of the ranch where the shooting occurred, said it happened toward the end of the hunt, when it was still sunny but as darkness was encroaching and they were preparing to go inside. She said Whittington made a mistake by not announcing that he had walked up to rejoin the hunting line, and Cheney didn't see him as he tried to down a bird. Armstrong said she saw Cheney's security detail running toward the scene. "The first thing that crossed my mind was he had a heart problem," she told The Associated Press. She said Cheney stayed "close but cool" while the agents and medical personnel treated Whittington, then took him by ambulance to the hospital. Later, the hunting group sat down for dinner while Whittington was being treated, receiving updates from a family member at the hospital. Armstrong described Cheney's demeanor during dinner as "very worried" about Whittington. Pamela Willeford, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, another member of the hunting party, told The Dallas Morning News for a story in Tuesday's editions that she and Cheney didn't realize Whittington had picked up a bird and caught up with them. Willeford said she has hunted with Cheney before and would again. "He's a great shot. He's very safety conscious. This is something that unfortunately was a bad accident and when you're with a group like that, he's safe or safer than all the rest of us," she said. But the accident raised questions about Cheney's adherence to hunting safety practices and the White House's failure to disclose the accident in a timely way. Several hunting safety experts interviewed agreed it would have been a good idea for Whittington to announce himself. But every expert stressed that the shooter is responsible for avoiding other people. Bush was told about Cheney's involvement in the accident shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday — about an hour after it occurred — but the White House did not disclose the accident until Sunday afternoon, and then only in response to press questions. Facing a press corps upset that news had been withheld, press secretary Scott McClellan said, "I think you can always look back at these issues and look at how to do a better job." and then.... link 13 minutes ago CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The 78-year-old lawyer who was shot by Vice President Dick Cheney in a hunting accident has some birdshot lodged in his heart and he had a "minor heart attack," a hospital official said Tuesday. Peter Banko, the hospital administrator at Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial, said Harry Whittington had the heart attack early Tuesday while being evaluated. He said there was an irregularity in the heartbeat caused by a birdshot pellet, and doctors performed a cardiac catheterization. Whittington expressed a desire to leave the hospital, but Banko said he would probably stay for another week. Whittington, a prominent Republican attorney from Austin, was accidentally sprayed with shotgun pellets when Cheney was aiming for a quail Saturday. Whittington had initially been placed in intensive care. He had been moved to a "step-down unit" Monday after doctors decided to leave several birdshot pellets lodged in his skin rather than try to remove them. A Texas Parks and Wildlife Department report said Whittington was retrieving a downed bird and stepped out of the hunting line he was sharing with Cheney. "Another covey was flushed and Cheney swung on a bird and fired, striking Whittington in the face, neck and chest at approximately 30 yards," the report said. The wildlife department issued a report Monday that found the main factor contributing to the accident was a "hunter's judgment factor." No other secondary factors were found to have played a role.
there is no such thing as a "minor heart attack"; as there is no such thing as being "peppered" with buckshot. i hope he pulls through ok.
The media did make this thing bigger than it actually was, like normally. BUT, this is getting a bit scary for the guy since a pellet has made it's way into the heart. Hoep he's alright.
The doctor is accusing other doctors that handled him at first that they didn't bring to light the current problem of the pellet in his heart. She feels they wanted this thing to magnify. Strong words.
yeah foreal.. hope he pulls through... on another note.. this administration is a JOKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! THEY'RE LOSERRRRRRRSSSS
So now there is a conspiracy theory out there that a group of doctors would let a man possibly die, to make the VP look bad. Wow! That is one heck of a thing to say without some serious proof.
What's sad is that it probably wouldn't have blown up like this if they would have been honest and just came out with the news right away.
It is like batman said in the other thread, that their first reaction was one of coverup, and secrecy. It is sad that is the initial instinct that this group runs on. It is also strange that Cheney didn't even tell Bush at first. I mean how much respect does he have for his "boss" and our President? This was poorly handled indeed.
This is sounding more and more than someone just "getting grazed by a couple of buckshot." The guy spends 3 nights in ICU and now has a coronary? Cheney better be hoping this 78 year old man doesn't up and die on him. And now the WH is making jokes about it? weird
Thought this was interesting... (Thanks Westlaw) Breach of Duty of Care--Failure to See Others in the Line of Fire A third approach to establishing the defendant's breach of duty to the plaintiff in a hunting situation may be to show that the defendant hunter failed to observe other persons who were within the line of fire. See, e.g., Junker v Ziegler, 113 Ill 2d 332, 101 Ill Dec 627, 498 NE2d 1135 (1986) [defendant fired in direction of plaintiff while duck hunting]; Hooper v Mougin, 263 Md 630, 284 A2d 236 (1971) [defendant breached duty to plaintiffs when he fired several shots at flushed quail in direction of plaintiffs, hitting both, plaintiffs were in direct line ninety feet forward of defendant and in totally open field during shooting]; Hoover v Shipley, 70 Ohio App 3d 246, 590 NE2d 905 (1991) [plaintiff was shot and killed while in direct line of fire during "deer drive"]. See also Parker v Roszell, 617 SW2d 597 (Mo App 1981) [plaintiff entitled to new trial; plaintiff hunter was hit by stray shot from another hunter's rifle where defendant had looked directly in plaintiff's direction prior to firing at him]. The fact that the defendant was aware of the plaintiff's presence in the line of fire, the area into which the defendant was firing, is a factor that may support a finding of breach of duty. E.g., Junker, above [defendant was aware that plaintiff was located in front of him, in duck blind]; Hooper, above [defendant hunter knew that both plaintiffs were within line of fire when he fired series of shots]. Cf. Barnes v Haney, 189 So2d 779 (Ala 1966) [lack of knowledge or reason to believe that plaintiff is present may support finding of no breach of duty]. See § 13. However, it may not always be necessary to show that the defendant hunter was actually aware of the presence of the plaintiff to establish breach of duty on failure to observe plaintiff in the line of fire. See Boose v Digate, 107 Ill App 2d 418, 246 NE2d 50 (1969) [although unaware of plaintiff's presence, defendant was liable for firing from location at which hunting was not permitted]. The defendant's obligation to keep a proper lookout under the conditions then existing to see and be aware of what is within his or her view and to use reasonable care to avoid an accident is the basis for finding a breach of duty when the defendant fails to see others in the line of fire. E.g., Mikula v Duliba, 94 App Div 2d 503, 464 NYS2d 910 (1983) [degree of caution which defendant hunter must exercise varies with time, place, and conditions involved, and with risks reasonably to be apprehended; thus, plaintiff may be required to show that defendant could have seen him or her in order to establish breach of duty]. PRACTICE GUIDE The separate questions of whether the defendant hunter has breached the duty to exercise the appropriate degree of care under the circumstances of the hunt and whether the plaintiff has been guilty of contributory or comparative negligence frequently are found in the same case, sometimes being discussed together. See, e.g., Barnes v Haney, 189 So2d 779 (Ala 1966). Thus, although the circumstances of different shootings may be quite similar, the results may vary depending on how the parties' knowledge and conduct are viewed by the finder of fact considering duty and contributory negligence. Despite Cheney being a heartless b*stard (IMO), I doubt he would fire at a guy 30 feet away if he saw him the line of fire.
These are my thoughts exactly. This is very likely a tragic accident. I don't see why anyone would make it a political issue. The family of the poor guy that was shot has enough crap to deal with besides a national media feeding frenzy.
Guess they needed the 24 hours to get their story straight. ---------------- Slow Leak: How Cheney Stalled News Reports of Hunting Accident Word of the mishap took 20 hours to get out as the Vice President insisted on telling a local newspaper before everyone else, sources say The Vice President was the press strategist, and Karl Rove was the investigative reporter. Vice President Cheney overruled the advice of several members of the White House staff and insisted on sticking to a plan for releasing information about his hunting accident that resulted in a 20-hour, overnight delay in public confirmation of the startling incident, according to several Republican sources. "This is either a cover-up story or an incompetence story," said a top Republican who is close to the White House and has rarely been critical of the Administration in the past five years. "Karl was constrained, as was the entire communications operation, because the Vice President had arranged for how this was to come out." As described by the White House spokesman at a pair of rowdy briefings and in a follow-up e-mail to reporters, Cheney accidentally shot a 78-year-old hunting companion on a ranch near Corpus Christi on Saturday at about 5:30 p.m. local time, or 6:30 p.m. in Washington. A traveling aide to the Vice President gave what one official privately called a "heads up" to the staff at the White House Situation Room, who notified White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. He called President Bush around 7:30 p.m. "to inform him that there was a hunting accident" in the Vice President's group, a spokesman said, but Card "did not know the Vice President was involved at that time," according to an e-mail to White House reporters. Rove, a deputy chief of staff, later spoke to the ranch owner, who is a longtime friend, and discovered that the Vice President had acccidentally shot someone. Rove called Bush shortly before 8 p.m. to tell him, according to the e-mail. Press Secretary Scott McClellan was not told until 6 the next morning. At that time, he began "pushing to get the information out," according to an official who learned about the conversations from someone besides McClellan. But that did not happen right away. Cheney insisted on carrying out a strategy he had worked out with the ranch owner, Katharine Armstrong, in which she was to call a trusted reporter at the local paper, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, to disclose the news. Caller-Times Managing Editor Shane Fitzgerald told TIME that the newspaper had done its usual nightly checks with local law enforcement agents on Saturday and had been told nothing was going on. Armstrong started leaving messages at the newspaper at 8 a.m., reached a reporter by 11 a.m. and the newspaper posted its story on the Web at 1:48 p.m. local time Sunday. At 3:34 p.m. eastern time, The Associated Press finally flashed the news: "Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a man during a hunting trip in Texas." Fitzgerald said he is "mystified" about the chain of events and that the public should have been notified much earlier, even if the shooter had been some random guy. Even on Monday, the newspaper struggled to get a copy of the accident report. "I think it has become a bigger deal than Mr. Cheney and/or the White House anticipated," the editor said. That is perhaps the understatement of the day. McClellan endured two of his testiest briefings ever, with NBC's David Gregory saying at an off-camera morning briefing that the Administration neglected its duty to put out the information and that White House reporters "don't care if some ranch owner calls a local paper." McClellan accused Gregory of grandstanding: "Hold on. Cameras aren't on right now. You can do this later." That infuriated Gregory. "You don't have to yell," McClellan said. Gregory shot back: "I will yell. If you want to use that podium and try to take shots at me personally, which I don't appreciate, then I will raise my voice, because that's wrong." McClellan said: "Calm down, David." On Monday night, the Vice President's office said in its first written statement about the incident that although Cheney was carrying a $125 Texas non-resident season hunting license, he did not have the required $7 stamp for for hunting upland game birds. The statement said the Vice President had overpaid by buying a Federal stamp he already possessed. "The staff asked for all permits needed, but was not informed of the $7 upland game bird stamp requirement," the statement said. the check was sent Monday, the statement said. McClellan said during his on-camera afternoon briefing: "You can always look back at these issues and look at how to do a better job." But he made it clear that the Vice President had been calling the shots, and that McClellan's own approach had been different in the past. "I think it's always important to get information out as quickly as possible," he said. "I think of a similar incident when the President was in Gleneagles, Scotland, and he had a biking accident with a police officer there, and I quickly tried to give that information to the press through the pool reporter and provide that information to you all." Late-night comics had their predicted field day. "We can't get Bin Laden," David Letterman said on CBS, "but we nailed a 78-year-old attorney." The Vice President was at the White House yesterday, but did not meet reporters. He has no public events scheduled on Tuesday. So the staff will continue to be peppered with questions that only the boss can answer. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1159347,00.html?CNN=yes
Unless it was a Democrat Senator. Or a Democrat Congressman. Or Bill Clinton. Or Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald. Or Scooter Libby. etc. etc. etc. ad nauseum......
I agree. The only political issue here is the handling of the incident. The incident itself is surely an accident. Cheney was in the wrong, but that doesn't have a real effect on his ability to govern or not govern. However secrecy and dishonesty might have an effect.
Well . .. . Ask Jayson Williams what an ACCIDENT will do for you then add in the Secrecy and Dishonesty as well Dick CHeney - the Jason Williams of Politics Rocket RIver
