# Cheney - what a son of a bitch
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [October 14, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141 "2010-10-14T16:11:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/1 "2010-10-14T16:11:21Z")
Remember back when Cheney accidentally shot his friend?
Turns out they weren’t really friends at all.
> [@](#):
>
> News accounts routinely described Whittington as Cheney’s “old friend” and “hunting buddy.” In fact, the two men barely knew each other. Before the shooting, they had met briefly only three times since the mid-1970s and had never gone hunting together before. “The most you could say is that he was an acquaintance,” Whittington says.
But remember how Cheney apologized to his… acquaintance? Yeah, nobody else does, either.
> [@](#):
>
> But did Cheney ever say in private what he didn’t say in public? Did he ever apologize?
>
> Whittington, who has been talking about his life and career for hours, suddenly draws silent.
>
> “I’m not going to go into that,” he says sharply after a short pause.
>
> Harry Whittington is too gracious to say it out loud, but he doesn’t dispute the notion, either.
>
> Nearly five years on, he’s still waiting for Dick Cheney to say he’s sorry.
I understand it was a hunting accident. I don’t want to be too blase, but these things occasionally happen.
But not even apologizing for shooting someone you barely know? What a son of a bitch.
[Full story.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/13/AR2010101307173.html)
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/2 "2010-10-14T16:14:22Z")
I can picture Cheney screaming "In your face!"right after.
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### Author:  [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/3 "2010-10-14T16:19:23Z")
Didn’t Whittington end up actually apologizing to Cheney?
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/4 "2010-10-14T16:23:06Z")
Well, his face did get in the way of the bird.
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### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/5 "2010-10-14T16:23:17Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#):
>
> Didn’t Whittington end up actually apologizing to Cheney?
“Hey, he ran into my bullet. He ran into my bullet ten times.”
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### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/6 "2010-10-14T16:34:21Z")
Whittington is probably still grateful it didn’t go another way.
“You know what you have to do. This \*cannot \*get out.”
“Mr. Vice President?”
“You heard me. _No witnesses_!”
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/7 "2010-10-14T17:25:23Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#):
>
> Didn’t Whittington end up actually apologizing to Cheney?
Yes. From the article in the OP:
> [@](#):
>
> 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.”
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### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/8 "2010-10-14T17:52:49Z")
Whoa.
I think the proper public response to Cheney was best said by Nickelodeon’s Pete (that is, Pete the younger):
“Bite my scab, blowhole!”
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/9 "2010-10-14T18:01:37Z")
So Cheney isn’t the nicest guy in the country? This is news?
Even when I was voting for the guy, without many reservations I must admit, I didn’t think the sun burst out of the clouds whenever he appeared. That never factored into my decision-making, though.
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### Author:  [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/10 "2010-10-14T18:17:05Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#):
>
> So Cheney isn’t the nicest guy in the country? This is news?
It’s one thing to be the living incarnation of Darth Vader. That, I can understand.
But to be impolite? That’s a step too far!
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### Author:  [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/11 "2010-10-14T18:34:00Z")
My memory is hazy, but wasn’t there some indications that they were trying to keep the incident hush-hush? Could be that Whittington didn’t play along with the plan to keep it quiet, and that might explain why Cheney never apologized - not that I’m saying that’s a good excuse.
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### Author:  [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/12 "2010-10-14T18:37:35Z")
> [@Ravenman](#):
>
> > [@Mr.Moto](#):
> >
> > So Cheney isn’t the nicest guy in the country? This is news?
>
> It’s one thing to be the living incarnation of Darth Vader. That, I can understand.
>
> But to be impolite? That’s a step too far!
I haven’t shot anybody in the face in several years (that I recall) but, if I had, you can bet I’d find it in my dark, evil heart to say I’m sorry – even it’s just a macho punch on the shoulder or a “Fuck you” spoken affectionately with a sardonic smirk.
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### Author:  [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/13 "2010-10-14T18:45:46Z")
I still picture Whittington holding a duck by the feet saying I got one just before Cheney saw it. How drunk or stupid do you have to be to shoot that close to people you are with?
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### Author:  [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/14 "2010-10-14T18:54:04Z")
> [@gonzomax](#):
>
> I still picture Whittington holding a duck by the feet saying I got one just before Cheney saw it. How drunk or stupid do you have to be to shoot that close to people you are with?
I’ve been told many times on this board that proper safety courses make guns pretty much 100% safe.
-Joe
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/15 "2010-10-14T18:57:04Z")
I was a dove hunt, wasn’t it? Good and bad there. Good in that he was shooting lighter loads, 8s instead of 4s. Bad in that he didn’t yell out “Duck” before firing.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/16 "2010-10-14T19:02:11Z")
> [@lieu](#):
>
> I was a dove hunt, wasn’t it? Good and bad there. Good in that he was shooting lighter loads, 8s instead of 4s. Bad in that he didn’t yell out “Duck” before firing.
He probably yelled “Heads up!”
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/17 "2010-10-14T19:08:45Z")
> [@voltaire](#):
>
> My memory is hazy, but wasn’t there some indications that they were trying to keep the incident hush-hush? Could be that Whittington didn’t play along with the plan to keep it quiet, and that might explain why Cheney never apologized - not that I’m saying that’s a good excuse.
The rumor was that they waited several hours before reporting the shooting because Cheney (and other members of the hunting party) had been drinking, which if I recall correctly was illegal.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/18 "2010-10-14T19:10:33Z")
Part I loved best was the part about the Texas H’way cops coming out to give “Big Dick” a breathalyzer test to see if there were alcohol involved in the shooting. Cheney had a staffer go out and tell them that he was not currently available, and would see them in the morning when he was feeling better.
I’d love to pull that sort of shit with a Texas trooper and get away with it.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/19 "2010-10-14T19:14:54Z")
Hell, I’d like to shoot someone in the face and then get them to apologize to ME!
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### Author:  [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheney-what-a-son-of-a-bitch/557141/20 "2010-10-14T19:50:02Z")
So, what I think I’m hearing you guys say here is that Cheney was an evil bastard? :eek: Given his cute and cuddly exterior and the sheer joy he exuded every time he was in public, I find that a bit hard to believe…
😛
[QUOTE=elbows]
Hell, I’d like to shoot someone in the face and then get them to apologize to ME!
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, but when you make a [grabbing motion towards someones neck while wearing black gloves](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://laweekly.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/force_choke_2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://laweekly.blogs.com/joshuah_bearman/2004/11/index.html&h=312&w=640&sz=41&tbnid=w2g-JDpLpTtjPM:&tbnh=67&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3DPicture%2Bof%2BDarth%2BVader%2Bneck%2Bchoke&zoom=1&q=Picture+of+Darth+Vader+neck+choke&hl=en&usg=__Ki60JNkbI1IwOt-CdumfSFzKYxU=&sa=X&ei=zV63TM_oFIX6lwfogoi_DA&ved=0CBsQ9QEwAQ) I bet they don’t flinch back and hope to continue breathing, right???
-XT
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