Cheney shooting: What really happened

[Jemmons]

They were out there to enjoy the company of each other and playing around. Beer was definatly a factor as Armstrong is on record for saying so. The Armstrong sister was in the car, so that leaves Cheney, Whittinton and Pam Willeford

Armstrong gave this account of the accident:

Whittington, Cheney and Willeford saw two coveys on the ground, one directly in front of them, with dogs on point, and the other 100 or so yards to the left.

"The idea was to shoot the first, then for the group to move ahead and shoot the second covey," Armstrong said.

After Whittington shot the two birds, he moved away to look for them. He had trouble locating one, so he told the group to move ahead.

Cheney and Willeford moved to the second covey. Unbeknownst to either of them, Armstrong said, Whittington had walked back near the group and was about 30 yards to the right of the vice president when Cheney fired at birds emerging from the covey.

This is off course just a pack of lies, lined up to hide the awful truth: Cheney was pointing his gun directly at Whittington, not at some poor bird. Why he was doing exactly what every hunting instruction tells you never to do, we dont know yet. Whittington was not sneaking up from behind, but was clearly in sight either in front of Cheney or to his side. He was also not near the sun, or somehow made invisible by a low sun. He was also not 30 yards away but a lot closer, most likely around 15 yards away. This is the crucial point: Whittington was so close that he was totally clearly a human and not a bird, neither penguin nor quail. How do we know this? The fact that he picked up close to 200 pellets in a fairly small area marked in a drawing in the shooting incident report filed at the sheriffs office.
Why the trigger was pulled is the other big unknown, but perhaps not significant. Might have been carelessness combined with alcohol, combined with arrogance and a slight misstep of sorts.

My favorite guess for the first of two unknowns is that Cheney pointed the gun at Whittington in accordance with his character and as way to make a point. As Bush said “Sometimes a show of strength by one side can really clarify things”.

After the shot there is little guesswork involved: They check him out, calls for the medical team, which does the first aid there.

Damage control is still way down on Cheneys list because a) he really dont give a damned about public opinion and b) he didnt mean tohurt the old guy.

After a chat with Karl Rove its a bit different: Rove makes it clear how bad this will look and gives his advice on what to do. They start arranging for the right place to have him treated by someone loyal to Bush/Cheney: Blanchard gets a call. They still dont know how dangerous the situation is for Whittington and that is a key piece of information. Blanchard is willing and able to: a) give poor Whittinton class a treatment, b) give Cheney updates on the medical situation and c)serve sweet lies to the press.


The medical updates are critical for laying the communications strategy. When they learn that he is going to survive they decide to pull all the lies that they can possible come up with to explain away the above described scenario: It was an honest accident! Whittington was a bit of a fool to sneak up on them. He had been away to look for some birds, actually Cheney and Willeford had left him behind and moved to the next covey, where a quail got past Cheney who turn for it, only to hit poor Whittington. He was in the Sun! He was sneaking up on them. He was 30 yards or more away. Long distance. Sun. Quail. Sneaky bastard, almost asking for it.

Only thing was that they knew it wouldnt hold up to a real investigation. So as this was never meant to be something fed to an investigating officer they had to wait until they were sure that it would not be a manslaughter investigation, but just a minor hunting incident.

[papau]

1. George the third was not with hunting party - so where does he go

when wife is doing Cheney?

[Saynt]

2. Manslaughter? Don't you yanks have a crime

for grievous bodily harm?

[cyclezealot]

3. Remember Chapaquadic.

How the freepers have hassled Sen. Kennedy over the time it took to report the incident. What is the diffenrenc now applied to Cheney's shoot out. What is being hid.
Today Common Dreams present's John Nichols column about what Cheney is probably hiding in regards to his drinking problems and worse yet; the role of the Secret Service in likely covering for Cheney's potential crime. Should he have been drunk. Certainly room for suspicion.
We expect more from the Secret Service. Cheney never has sworn off the booze so says Nichols. The Secret Service involved in a cover up and not reporting a crime. We can't let this stand. It must be investigated.

[SpiralHawk]

4. Pam Willeford aka The Swiss Miss

is a Person of Interest.

[hwmnbn]

5. This thought keeps popping in my head.

two guys, and two women, everyone is drinking and "enjoying each other's company"

The pairings are Cheney and Swiss Miss, Whittington and Armstrong. Whittington maybe gets frisky and makes a pass or "puts a move" on the Swiss Miss.

Cheney all liquored and macho, takes exception, then takes aim. He teaches the lawyer to never ever hit on his main squeeze. Cheney's the Vice President after all, no one busts his balls!



like I said, it was just a thought.

[Jemmons]

8. I thought about something like that too, but to my mind it would just

ring too many alarm bells even in Cheneys head to come through. Arrogant carelessness fueled with a few beers is a lot more likely i think.


FACT: Cheney pointed his gun directly at Whittington. There is just no way that a shot aimed at some quail decided to chase down Whittington like a heat seeking missile. The gun was pointed at Whittington and all the lies are trying to obscure that naked fact.

If you rule out accident like the one invoked in the lies and you rule out any "shoot to kill or mame" you are left with a arrogant disregard for another persons safety and dangerous carelessness. Isn't that just how we know Cheney?

[dchill]

11. You are probably thinking about...

Democratic Ballistics, where all projectiles travel in a relatively straight line, with adjustments for "windage and elevation" - but the lesser-understood Republican Ballistics allows for extreme side-to-side lateral motion and certain "magic bullet" twists and turns. You can verify this with MY senator, Arlen Specter. Please bear this in mind, it's been documented.

:)

[Blue Belle]

6. I just read the "TIME LINE" on MSRNC... and a couple of things...

really stand out:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11335136/

<SNIP> 4 p.m.: Vice President Cheney begins an afternoon quail hunt with four other hunters on the private Armstrong Ranch in south Texas. They had been hunting earlier in the day, but took a break for lunch.

6:30 p.m.: Cheney accidentally shoots fellow hunter Harry Whittington while aiming for a bird. Secret Service agents and medical personnel with Cheney tend to wounds on Whittington’s face, neck and chest.

7:20 p.m.: An ambulance takes Whittington to Christus Spohn Hospital Kleburg.

7:30 p.m.: White House chief of staff Andrew Card tells President Bush there was an accident, but Card is unaware Cheney was involved.

7:50 p.m.: The head of the Secret Service office in McAllen, Texas, calls the Kenedy County sheriff to report the accident. The sheriff asks to speak to Cheney, and they schedule an interview for 9 a.m. Sunday. At the White House, presidential aide Karl Rove tells Bush that Cheney was the shooter, after talking to ranch owner Katharine Armstrong.


As someone who knows nothing about hunting or birdshot spray these are the questions that stand out in this "timeline of events":

1)The Vice President shoots the victim at 6:30 pm.

a) Is Texas the ONLY place on earth that still has daylight/visability at 6:30 pm in FEBRUARY?? I don't know about the rest of you, but in Oregon you'd need to have night vision goggles to see anything. I find it hard to believe that the Vice president could see the hand in front of his face let alone a bird or a person standing 30 feet away... so WTF is he doing out there shooting at anything AND how can Armstrong have an accurate "Eye-witness Account"?
b) If the victim is shot at 6:30 pm... why does it take them an hour to get him to the hospital? Yes, Cheney trravels with a team of mdical specialists... but it takes them an HOUR to get him in an ambulence?

2)7:30 pm The president is told of the accident - but isn't told that the VP is involved.

a) Isn't the identity of "The Shooter" an important element to ANY story?? Wouldn't it be important to know the names of the players involved?? Wouldn't it just be a knee jerk reaction to ask who was involved??? I know that this Administration has a problem with intellectual curiosity, but this is ridiculous.

3) At 7:50 the Secret service reports the accident and the Seriff's department scheduals an appointment to meet with the vice president the next morning.

a) is it normal proticol to schedule an appointment to view the crime scene and interview the parties involved almost 24 hours after the incident happens?? and if so... can I do that the next time I get into a fender-bender after having a beer at lunch?? or do different rules apply when there's and automobile involved as opposed to a 28 gage shot gun??

Not knowing anything about hunting and simply looking at the "evidence" that's out there I find that this fishy story doesn't pass the sniff test.

[fed-up]

9. 1st 5:30, then 5:50, NOW 6:30? to make up for delay in calling sheriff? nt

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. They sure cut out a few hours in the new timeline

Bastards.

The guy was shot at 5:30 PM and didn't go to the hospital until 8:30 PM! They are trying to get rid of the gap, but we've got quotes from DU on Sunday that will prove otherwise.

Tell MSNBC to cut the crap.

[Blue Belle]

12. Yeah... but even with the "New Edited Time Line"...

the story still has more holes in it than a hunting guest of Cheney.

[Jemmons]

13. Good point about the timing:

Can anyone with an astrology program check out where the sun is with respect to ASC if you punch in Houston and feb. 11, 6.30?

[file83]

7. New Cheney T-Shirt:

[nostalgicaboutmyfutr]

14. another t-shirt...

See Dick.


Run!!!!

[cyclezealot]

15. Remember Whittington knows which side his bread is buttered on

He has been on the take as a Bush crony fuel lobbyist. Wild eyed speculation occurs when an event is handled in the manner this event was. Hiding it from public view and those of law enforcement officials.
I read in the UK Independent. Two Sheriff officiers were summoned to Armstong's ranch the evening of the event and compound security refused to let them in. Bad, bad pr. Nothing to hide Armstrong should welcome the police. Anyone else read of this action.