Actually the guy who was shot was named Whittington, not Mitchell.
Is this the first time a sitting Vice President has shot someone since Aaron Burr?
I don’t hunt, but aren’t you supposed to see what you’re shooting at before you pull the trigger? Could this be prosecuted as reckless use of a weapon?
Boy is that the understatement of the century…
I don’t do any bird hunting (more of a larger game type of guy myself) but I’ve seen enough of it to know that in general when hunting water fowl it is often the case that you try to follow the bird with your sights and then fire when you’ve got a clear shot (which is the challenge and sport of it, I guess.)
In hunting like that it’d be very easy to shoot someone if that person steps in your line of sight. From what I’ve read I definitely think Cheney wasn’t being a perfectly safe hunter, but I also think his hunting companion Whittington wasn’t being one either. While a responsibility is on the person shooting to not accidentally shoot anyone else, there’s also a responsibility of those with that person not to step into his line of sight while the shooter is tracing a target.
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Master & Commander, one of the scenes in that movie show how easily something like this could happen.
They were in grass, and he wasn’t at fault. His hunting partner messed up by not announcing his presence.
At least, that’s what we’ve been told.
Still the funniest thing i’ve heard all day…
I think it is hard to say.
Often times in a hunting accident both parties did something wrong along the way. However the onus is on the guy shooting to not shoot someone else by accident, now if someone recklessly gets in your line of fire, though, it’s understandable how the mistake can easily be made.
The transcript of the incident has just been released through FOIA:
[QUOTE=OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT]
Secret Service Agent: I am sorry Mr. Cheney, but I just don’t agree with your assessment that Divine Intervention saved your life when you visited Iraq. The hostilities were nowhere near you.
CHENEY: Whittington, what do you make of all this?
WHITTINGTON: I don’t even have an opinion.
CHENEY: C’mon, Whittington. Do you think God came down from Heaven and stopped the bullets?
BANG!
SECRET SERVICE: What the fuck’s happening?
CHENEY: Aw Man! I just shot Whittington in the face!
SECRET SERVICE: Why the fuck did you do that?
CHENEY: I didn’t mean to do it! It was an accident.
SECRET SERVICE: I’ve seen a lot of crazy-ass shit in my time –
CHENEY: – chill out, man, it was an accident, okay? You hit a bump or somethin’ and the gun went off.
SECRET SERVICE: The car didn’t hit no motherfuckin’ bump!
CHENEY: Hey, look man, I didn’t mean to shoot the son of a bitch! The gun went off. I don’t know why.
SECRET SERVICE: Well look at this fucking mess, man. We’re on a city street in broad daylight.
CHENEY: I don’t believe it.
SECRET SERVICE: Well believe it now, motherfucker! We gotta get this car off the road. You know liberal news media tend to notice shit like your driving a car drenched in fucking blood!
CHENEY: Take it to a friendly place, that’s all.
SECRET SERVICE: We’re in South Texas, Dick! Bush ain’t got no friendly places near Mexico! Fuck man, Cindy Sheehan’s moped is right behind us with a camcorder!
Even so, political experts say Cheney’s accident would probably have been forgiven had he not tried to field dress Mr. Whittington prior to getting him help.
For some reason I’m reminded of the “skeet” shooting scene in History of the World Part I.
Crap.
Ironic Google ad for this thread:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,184617,00.html
Happens quite often? Happens from time to time? Their host has been shot before?
So that’s what goes on in Bubbaville.
Yeah, he was being safie: for HIMSELF!!! Anybody else in that field was just throwing their lives aways!
A Dick Cheney Hunting Party: Only the Quail Are Safe!
Damn, it just as easily could have been Justice Scalia at the end of that shotgun.
I can’t wait for the next episode of The Daily Show.
Seems like in Cheney’s case, a hearse would be more practical.
That is some seriously funny shit.
This sounds like a sad accident, and I hope Mr. Whittington gets well soon.
What bothers me most about this is, that with a whole lot of tremendous events that don’t bode especially well for this administration going on in Washington this past week, VP Cheney jets down to Texas for a bit of hunting play. This really seems quite arrogant to me.
“Let them eat quail. Ha!” BLAM! OOps…