Man shot by VP Cheney speaks out for first time

[Donald L.]

Man shot by VP Cheney speaks out for first time (http://blogs.chron.com/newswatch/2010/10/man_shot_by_vp_cheney_speaks_o.html)


Still, the injuries were more dire than previously disclosed. Whittington suffered a collapsed lung. He underwent invasive exploratory surgery, as doctors probed his vital organs for signs of damage. The load from Cheney's gun came close to, but didn't damage, the carotid artery in his neck ...


And another interesting thing of note: Cheney apparently never apologized

[salwon]

Didn't he apologize for getting in the way?

[Eric T Cheng]

Wow, Cheney is such a dick.

[Murbella]

Cheney probably sent him a bill for ammo used.

[bago]

Cheney is so heartless that he literally has no pulse.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2012398536_pulse20.html

[hong]

Wow, Cheney is such a dick.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4368718417_b69a06d500.jpg

[kerzain]

The lack of an apology doesn't surprise me, apologies lead to lost court cases.

[Morberis]

The lack of an apology doesn't surprise me, apologies lead to lost court cases.

The lack of apologies may also lead to avoidable court cases (http://consumerist.com/2008/05/doctors-are-learning-that-im-sorry-may-prevent-lawsuits.html).

[Abilio Carvalho]

I *never* get tired of this video and the series after. I rewatch it regularly:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-february-13-2006/headlines---cheney-s-got-a-gun
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-february-13-2006/dead-eye-dick
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-february-13-2006/decisive-shooter

[Andrew Mayer]

If we can stick a pin into a moment when the press completely failed, this was it.

[ydejin]

If we can stick a pin into a moment when the press completely failed, this was it.

Other than the fact that it would have further embarrassed Cheney (although it's not clear to me that Cheney is embarrassable), I really don't see this incident as a particularly important. Yes, it points out that Cheney is a dick. But unless you think this was done deliberately, I can't imagine charges would have been filed. Nor should they have been IMO.

There were many other points where the press completely failed and it made a big difference. Most notably in the run-up to Iraq.

I guess I don't understand your comment or why you think this was a big deal that the press should have spent more time on.

[bago]

Other than the fact that the currently heartless Cheney shot a man in the face, almost killed him, and made the guy apologize to the VP, like we're some kind of third world country.

[Timex]

Other than the fact that the currently heartless Cheney shot a man in the face, almost killed him, and made the guy apologize to the VP, like we're some kind of third world country.

I don't believe Cheney had anything to do with the guy apologizing.

Did anyone read the actual washington post article, rather than just the blog post that quoted a paragraph of a 5 page article?

[Andrew Mayer]

I don't believe Cheney had anything to do with the guy apologizing.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/bernice_alexis/Puppet-Laugh.gif

[MatthewF]

Didn't he apologize both for getting in the way of the shot and also any damage it had done to Cheney's reputation?

[kerzain]

He shouldn't qualify his apology.

[bago]

I don't believe Cheney had anything to do with the guy apologizing.



Besides shooting him in the face.

[Murbella]

Didn't he apologize both for getting in the way of the shot and also any damage it had done to Cheney's reputation?
And wasting Cheney's ammo.

[Timex]

Didn't he apologize both for getting in the way of the shot and also any damage it had done to Cheney's reputation?

I think he only apologized for the fact that Cheney was getting dragged through the mud in the media. The guy seems like a pretty low-key gentleman, so it makes sense that this kind of thing would be something he'd do. I don't think he apologized for being shot.

This is why I don't think this guy was "told to apologize" by Cheney, and since no one seems to have any evidence to support such a claim, I think I'll stick with that. It kind of belittles this guy to suggest such a thing, that instead of acting on his principles and honor, he was just converted into some kind of Lackey.

Seems like some folks are clinging to the belief that folks like Cheney are actually sith lords with magical powers, or perhaps the illuminati.

[Major Malphunktion]

Full Article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/13/AR2010101307173.html?sid%3DST2010101307297)

Some quotes: No one in the vice president's entourage said a word about it publicly until the next morning, when Katharine Armstrong, the daughter of the ranch's owner, spoke with a reporter from a local newspaper. Armstrong blamed Whittington for blundering into Cheney's line of fire, a comment that White House spokesman Scott McClellan repeated later that day.

When he was released a week later, a battered and exhausted Whittington did the apologizing: "My family and I are deeply sorry for all that Vice President Cheney and his family have had to go through this past week."

Whittington says he wasn't aware that the White House initially blamed him for the accident (McClellan told reporters that Whittington failed to follow hunting "protocol" and announce his presence to Cheney). But he's not bothered to hear of it now. "Naturally, people want to make it appear that it's someone's fault," he shrugs. "I didn't care. Plain and simple, it was an accident. It could happen to anyone."

He acknowledged that his "apology" statement upon his release from the hospital could have confused the issue by suggesting he was admitting fault. "It really wasn't that," he says. "I didn't intend it that way. It was more of a sense of disappointment that it happened at all. I'm sure it must have been difficult for Mr. Cheney and his family. I still feel the same way."

[salwon]

I think he only apologized for the fact that Cheney was getting dragged through the mud in the media.

Damn liberal media, amirite?

[Andrew Mayer]

Seems like some folks are clinging to the belief that folks like Cheney are actually sith lords with magical powers, or perhaps the illuminati.

That's bullshit hyperbole.

He was involved in managing every aspect of the presidency. He is behind the scene strong-arming political leaders time and time again during those years.

Go read Richard Clark's account of the man on 9/11.

Pushing around an old man to provide damage control is standard operating procedure, and you don't need to be Palpatine to threaten someone. It helps to look like him though.

[Timex]

But do you have any evidence that he did that?

[Andrew Mayer]

But do you have any evidence that he did that?

21 hours from incident to first report, Police barred from interviews by Secret Service agents, no affidavit taken from the victim by police, etc. etc.

I'm sure we can dance round and round on this, but Cheney clearly used to Secret Service to quash normal procedures. At best you can say it was his usual reflexive authoritarian control to cover up the incident, but the apology was icing on the cake.

And if you have more questions on this, please use the google for yourself. I can't and won't go through your usual "but why, but why, but why" stuff when you can spend ten minutes to actually figure out what's going on.

Start with the account on Wikipedia. If that doesn't satisfy you, start digging.

[Timex]

I think I'll pass on scouring the internet for evidence that doesn't apparently exist, since even you haven't seen it.

I mean, what exactly was being used as leverage against this guy? Were they actually threatening to murder him or some other kind of crazy cloak and dagger stuff?

Hell, even now, the guy isn't suggesting that he was forced to make the apology... Does Cheney still hold some kind of manipulative power over everything? Seems pretty far fetched.

[ReptileHouse]

Jesus jumped up christ on a pogo stick, dude. You're the same guy who constantly argues from, "Well, it just makes sense that <fill in the blank>!" without any evidence whatsover. Then it gets turned around here and all of a sudden you won't even allow for the possibility of Cheney being a manipulative prick without irrefutable proof? Take your bullshit hypocrisy and go somewhere else. Your opinions are worthless uninformed trash this forum is better off without.

[Bill Dungsroman]

I think I'll pass on scouring the internet for evidence that doesn't apparently exist, since even you haven't seen it.

I mean, what exactly was being used as leverage against this guy? Were they actually threatening to murder him or some other kind of crazy cloak and dagger stuff?

Hell, even now, the guy isn't suggesting that he was forced to make the apology... Does Cheney still hold some kind of manipulative power over everything? Seems pretty far fetched.

Yes, utterly, for anyone emerging from a cave in the middle of the Himalayan mountain range after 12 years in seclusion.

[Anti-Bunny]

Take your bullshit hypocrisy and go somewhere else. Your opinions are worthless trash this forum is better off without.
Hunters shoot each other all the time (apparently a thousand times every year). Often while drinking. When it happens, it's not unexpected that they would cover for each other. I don't personally think alcohol and guns mix well, but it's pretty clear to me that these two knew what they were getting into. If you want to read something more sinister into this, like Cheney intended to murder him, you can go right ahead, but I think he'd be dead if that were the case.

[Timex]

Jesus jumped up christ on a pogo stick, dude. You're the same guy who constantly argues from, "Well, it just makes sense that <fill in the blank>!" without any evidence whatsover. Then it gets turned around here and all of a sudden you won't even allow for the possibility of Cheney being a manipulative prick without irrefutable proof? Take your bullshit hypocrisy and go somewhere else. Your opinions are worthless uninformed trash this forum is better off without.

Oh please. Aside from the fact that this non-argument can so easily be turned around, there remains the fact that there isn't any evidence being presented here other than the underlying assumption that Cheney is bad and thus bad things can be attributed to him. There isn't even any suggestion of how such a conspiracy would work.

Even if you accept that Cheney held some kind of power as VP and used it to keep this guy quiet, how would that be in effect now? You're suggesting that he still holds some kind of power behind the scenes.

The guy comes out and talks about the event, and makes no suggestion that he was forced to issue his apology. His depiction of events makes Cheney look like a total douchebag, but it appears that his apology stemmed from the fact that the guy is a gentleman, not from some kind of external coercion.

But whatever, you just want to rant about polticians you hate. Go nuts. Cheney's pretty much out of the whole picture now, so what's the point? It's just the same kind of polarized bullshit you see from both extremes these days, focused on demonization of particular people. You saw it against Clinton, and Bush, and now Obama.

[ReptileHouse]

Hunters shoot each other all the time (apparently a thousand times every year). Often while drinking. When it happens, it's not unexpected that they would cover for each other. I don't personally think alcohol and guns mix well, but it's pretty clear to me that these two knew what they were getting into. If you want to read something more sinister into this, like Cheney intended to murder him, you can go right ahead, but I think he'd be dead if that were the case.

I'm ranting about Timex shitting up the forum. I haven't expressed an opinion on Cheney's actions one way or the other.

[Andrew Mayer]

I'm hardly accusing Cheney of attempted murder. He barely knew the guy.

There's plenty of evidence that he did his best to shut down the story as quickly as possibly in his usual way.

[Timex]

I'm hardly accusing Cheney of attempted murder. He barely knew the guy.

There's plenty of evidence that he did his best to shut down the story as quickly as possibly in his usual way.
There's TONS of evidence of that. I didn't question that. There's also tons of evidence that Cheney is not a nice man, and a douchebag.

I merely questioned the specific notion that this guy apologized under duress, since it seems like if that were the case it would have eventually come out.

It doesn't even make sense for Cheney to exert that kind of pressure, since the guy's apology didn't exactly benefit Cheney.

[Anti-Bunny]

I'm ranting about Timex shitting up the forum. I haven't expressed an opinion on Cheney's actions one way or the other.
Oh, so you're just here to troll Timex. Nice job.

[Cubit]

Timex is the new Brian Seiler.

[nlanza]

Timex is the new Brian Seiler.

Eerily so. It's like we had a job posting out for someone to fill the vacancy.

Now we just need him to explain about how his crazy brains make him both believe in and not believe in Santa.

[AlanT]

Nah, Timex is clearly older and more self-confident than Seiler ever was, even if he is using the same playbook.

But this post (http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showpost.php?p=2424293&postcount=1247) made me laugh, so I don't think he's all bad.

[ReptileHouse]

But this post (http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showpost.php?p=2424293&postcount=1247) made me laugh, so I don't think he's all bad.

I'll grant him that. That was hilarious.

[Major Malphunktion]

But do you have any evidence that he did that?


Sure. Standard operating procedure for that White house was to delay as long as they could about anything right? SO.....

JIM VANDEHEI: What was unusual here is that the police did not talk to the vice president until the next morning. I mean, if I was in a hunting accident, would I have to contact authorities immediately and be interviewed but there was an agreement worked out between the Secret Service and the local sheriff to wait until the next morning while the medical care was given to Harry Whittington. I think the reason that there's this big uproar is that we don't know why there was that much of a delay and why there was a big delay in alerting the public. I mean, this is the vice president involved in a hunting accident which would be classified as fairly significant news, and for the White House to wait, you know, at least 14 hours to disclose it and then disclose it in a very unusual way, they disclosed it by asking the property owner to disclose it to a local newspaper as opposed to just alerting the press through the White House communication operation, which is sort of standard operating procedure, if you will.



So, there is Cheney doing his usual dance...I remember this one from Katrina...wait a long time, then release statements to non-standard news outlets...


OK, the victim...
You are right there is no evidence that he was forced or coerced into this.

But would you cross him? The list is long that Cheney went after, Paul O'Neil, Dick Clark, Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame are a few that we know about. The dude outs CIA agents, some rich 78 year old is not even a challenge to destroy.

[Anti-Bunny]

Uh.. It's pretty obvious why Cheney didn't see the cops until the next day: He was drunk.