Some Comments on Cheney's "Hunting" Accident

A Nov. 5, 2002 file photo provided by the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006, shows Vice President Dick Cheney hunting quail in Gettysburg, S.D., (AP Photo/David Bohrer, White House)

Even while I was sick this weekend, I was aware of the big news story where Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot 78-year old lawyer Harry Whittington in a quail hunting accident. I read about it Sunday evening through the internet, and have listened to it over the past three days via KGO News Talk Radio. So just about everything that can be said, has been said regarding this accident.

So I'll start here with a few of my own comments about this news story. First, I'll accept the statement that this is nothing more than a hunting accident on the Vice President's part. Consider this story through USA Today:

A Texas sheriff's office cleared Vice President Cheney of any wrongdoing in a shooting accident at a ranch Saturday. (On Deadline: McClellan grilled on Cheney)

Cheney accidentally shot fellow hunter Harry Whittington while both men were hunting quail Saturday. The Kenedy County Sheriff's Office near the South Texas ranch interviewed both men after the Secret Service called to notify them shortly after the shooting.

"The investigation reveals that there was no alcohol or misconduct involved in the incident," the sheriff's office said in a statement late Monday. "This department is fully satisfied that this was no more than a hunting accident."

Cheney did violate one small legal requirement, however. His office said Monday that while Cheney had a $125-dollar non-resident Texas hunting license, he lacked a required $7 stamp to hunt upland game birds such as quail. In a statement, his office said Cheney has mailed a $7 check for the stamp.

Press kept in dark

The news came after a day in which the White House worked to explain why it took almost 20 hours for the public to first learn of the accident.

"The first priority was making sure that Harry Whittington, Mr. Whittington, was getting the medical care that he needed," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. (Related video: White House briefing)

Whittington, 78, an Austin lawyer and longtime GOP activist, was in stable condition at Christus Spohn Hospital-Memorial in Corpus Christi, said spokeswoman Yvonne Wheeler. The hospital moved him from intensive care Monday.

Attorney Harry Whittington, 78, shown in his Austin, Texas, office was accidentally shot over the weekend by Vice President Cheney during a hunting trip. By Kelly West, AP


Cheney accidentally shot Whittington with a 28-gauge shotgun Saturday while quail hunting on a ranch in South Texas. According to ranch owner Katharine Armstrong, Whittington had left Cheney's group momentarily to retrieve a downed bird. He walked back to the scene without alerting Cheney, and when Cheney swung to fire at a rising bird, he accidentally peppered Whittington - about 30 yards away - in the face, neck and chest.

Hunting accidents are relatively rare in Texas, according to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. It reported 30 accidents last year, out of 1.08 million hunting licenses sold.

Duane Harvey, president of the Wisconsin Hunter Education Instructors Association, said if Whittington had made his presence known "that would have been a polite thing to do." But, he added, "it's still the fault upon the shooter to identify his target and what is beyond it."

Vice President Dick Cheneyat a luncheon in New York, January 19, 2006. The Texas lawyer accidentally shot by Cheney during a weekend quail hunt suffered a minor heart attack on Tuesday when some of the birdshot migrated close to his heart, a hospital spokesman said. REUTERS/Chip East

The problem I see with this accident is that the White House screwed up in trying to create a damage-control spin on this fiasco. The White House dawdled for 20 hours before alerting the public regarding this accident. And what was the White House's response to their delay? We're worried about Harry Whittington, is Scott McClellan's answer to the delay. Excuse me? Wittington is already in the hospital, getting the best medical care money can buy. I would say that the White House didn't want another scandal to become heaped on all the other scandals that they are fighting with. So maybe if we keep quiet, this will all go away? Wittington's in the hospital, the story is going to come out--sooner or later. You have two choices. One would be to issue the press release right after the White House learned of the accident, and take your political lumps then and there. Or the second option would be to sit on the story for a day or so, until a Texas newspaper publishes the story, citing the Secret Service as the source, before the White House could publicly respond. Now the Bush administration is under suspicion that maybe they had something to hide in this fiasco, or perhaps the administration failed to respond decisively to this small crisis. Whatever the answer, this shows another level of incompetence within the Bush White House.

But there's more. Consider this story White House Finds Humor in Hunting Mishap, in Yahoo News:

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.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan answers questions in the press room at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006, about how the White House handled the hunting accident involving Vice President Dick Cheney over the weekend. Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, spraying the fellow hunter in the face and chest with shotgun pellets. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

So now that Cheney has shot a fellow hunter, it is okay for the White House to joke about it. If the late-night comics can do it, we can do it as well? I'm sorry, but the White House is not the Tonight Show, and Scott McClellan is not Jay Leno. For the White House to make jokes on this issue, shows the callousness and disregard they have for Harry Whittington's condition. Especially now since Wittington has suffered a heart attack as a result of being shot by Cheney:

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The 78-year-old lawyer wounded by Vice President
Dick Cheney in a hunting accident suffered a mild heart attack Tuesday after a shotgun pellet in his chest traveled to his heart, hospital officials said.

Harry Whittington was immediately moved back to the intensive care unit and will be watched for a week to make sure more of the metal pellets do not reach other vital organs. He was reported in stable condition.

Whittington suffered a "silent heart attack" — obstructed blood flow, but without the classic heart-attack symptoms of pain and pressure, according to doctors at Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial.

The doctors said they decided to treat the situation conservatively and leave the pellet alone rather than operate to remove it. They said they are highly optimistic Whittington will recover and live a healthy life with the pellet in him.

Asked whether the pellet could move farther into his heart and become fatal, hospital officials said that was a hypothetical question they could not answer.

Hospital officials said they were not concerned about the six to 200 other pieces of birdshot that might still be lodged in Whittington's body. Cheney was using 7 1/2 shot from a 28-gauge shotgun. Shotgun pellets are typically made of steel or lead; the pellets in 7 1/2 shot are just under a tenth of an inch in diameter.

So tell me Scotty, what joke could you crack if Whittington dies as a result of his wounds? Would the White House still be in a joking mood, knowing that the Vice President has killed a man? What if the state of Texas decides to charge Cheney with manslaughter? Are you still joking?

Mr. McClellan, I do not expect the White House to make jokes about a hunting accident, especially where a man's life could still be at stake. I expect the White House to provide me with clear, concise, detailed information regarding this issue that is presented in a professional, business-like manner. If I want to find humor in the situation, I'll go to Jay Leno, David Letterman, John Stewart, or the other comics that provide satire on the political issues. That is what they are paid to do. Whether I like their jokes or not, my reflection on their humor will be based on whether I will tune into their shows again, as will the rest of the American public. You, Mr. Press Secretary, are paid to provide me with the important news stories that are taking place in this country--not to tell jokes about them!